“Want to get out of here for a while? The city, I mean. It’s not far.”

Leave the city? Shouldn’t we get some sleep? I’m tired enough as it is, and angry on top of that. I want to let my thoughts drain and forget the faces of the Recruits who became so much happier in one week than I’ve been in years. I want to forget how Mother and the twins saw the side of me I’ve kept hidden. They must be so disappointed in me now. Mother probably blames herself for not asking to help me when she had the chance.

I hate what I’ve done to them.

“You could use some air,” Victoria says. “The first week is always a little overwhelming.” She hands Glacia a keycard. “You remember where it is?”

I don’t know what ‘it’ is, but Glacia apparently does. They’ve been planning something behind my back.

“You don’t have a say,” Glacia tells me.

“Yeah, didn’t think so.”

Victoria waits to cross the intersection. She’s heading back to the Crown, which has become a shining beacon above the darker heights of the city.

“I’m waking you guys bright and early. Keep an eye on the time.”

“We will,” Glacia promises.

Glacia grabs my arm and pulls me toward the parking complex. I don’t resist. At this point, I have no other choice. Just go with the flow and hope it’s over quickly.

We enter the complex and ride an elevator up several floors. Then I follow Glacia down an aisle. She scans the keycard to unlock a car—Victoria’s car.

“She drives?”

Glacia shakes her head. “Not often.”

I open the passenger door and sit. I’m still trying to figure out why Glacia decided to do this tonight. We’ve had all week. She couldn’t have picked a more inconvenient time to go on one her adventures.

Glacia drives out of the complex. Victoria’s navigation system guides us to a ramp a few blocks from Ceremony Dome that descends underground: the Main Throughway.

The tunnel is bright. It’s easy to forget that darkness lies above us. I catch glimpses of black in the mirror whenever we pass the occasional ramp merging from the surface, but otherwise, night does not exist. The white walls and silver road stretch on forever.

“You’ll like where we’re going. Victoria told me nobody comes out here anymore.” In the corner of my eye, I see Glacia look at me. “So it’s your kind of place.”

I mumble a response.