And then he was gone. And I was left to try and pull myself together for another day of playing model student.

“Christ, if I don’t get out of here soon,” I told myself, rubbing at the stubble growing out into a lame brush cut on my head, “I’m going to be laughing at my own jokes in a padded room.”

I looked into the hall, noticing the eerie pink outside the window, coloring the sky in shades of thinning blood. I couldn’t remember what a pink sky meant, so I just got up and closed the door.

“All right. Game on.”

CHAPTER 24

RULES OF THE GAME

French

“I WAS A BIT WORRIED AFTER THE PEN INCIDENT, BUT you have managed to prove yourself. I believe, based on how you reported the theft in the kitchen and mitigated a potentially disastrous attack, that you were indeed telling the truth. You found the pen and did not use it.” Agent Mellin had an odd smile on her face, but any smile would have been odd on her face. “See? I am not without charity or understanding. What do you say?”

“We are so honored that you would meet with us. And both your power and your graciousness are well known, Agent Mellin,” Mitch jumped in to answer.

She narrowed her eyes at his ass-kissy response, then turned to me. “And you?”

I opened my eyes wide so I looked sincere. I had been learning in this school after all. “Thank you, ma’am. I am very lucky to have you as a supervisor. You are very kind.” I stuttered over the k in kind. Shit.

She closed her lips over her teeth and pushed her glasses up her nose, looking at her open laptop. “Now, let’s discuss next steps, shall we?”

Mitch shimmied to the edge of his seat. He gripped his hands together so tight his knuckles were white. He was more excited than I’d ever seen him. I thought about how when he was a kid, he’d work himself up so much on his birthday that nine times out of ten, he ending up puking chocolate cake before we even got to the presents. I moved my legs away from him, just in case.

“There are two threads to this decision, and so I will explain each one.” She pulled off her glasses and placed them on the desk, then leaned back in her chair and let it swivel a bit.

“First, the group that you were previously with is on the move.”

My bladder squeezed, and I flexed my thighs tight. They knew where Miig and Rose and the rest of them were? Please don’t let them be coming here. Please don’t let them be coming here…

“Oddly enough for you, I would imagine, but typical by my assessments, as I have been watching how you people behave for years now, they are not moving in this direction. They are, in fact, going in the opposite direction.” She paused to watch how this registered with me. I kept my body as still as possible. I didn’t know how to react. I was relieved that they weren’t near this horrible place. But then again, why weren’t they trying to get me? Wasn’t that what we did—stick together no matter what?