Chapters (49)
- COVER
- DEDICATION
- MAP
- ONE
- TWO
- THREE
- FOUR
- FIVE
- SIX
- SEVEN
- EIGHT
- NINE
- TEN
- ELEVEN
- TWELVE
- THIRTEEN
- FOURTEEN
- FIFTEEN
- SIXTEEN
- SEVENTEEN
- EIGHTEEN
- NINETEEN
- TWENTY
- TWENTY-ONE
- TWENTY-TWO
- TWENTY-THREE
- TWENTY-FOUR
- TWENTY-FIVE
- TWENTY-SIX
- TWENTY-SEVEN
- TWENTY-EIGHT
- TWENTY-NINE
- THIRTY
- THIRTY-ONE
- THIRTY-TWO
- THIRTY-THREE
- THIRTY-FOUR
- THIRTY-FIVE
- THIRTY-SIX
- THIRTY-SEVEN
- THIRTY-EIGHT
- THIRTY-NINE
- FORTY
- FORTY-ONE
- FORTY-TWO
- ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
- DISCOVER MORE
- ABOUT THE AUTHOR
- PRAISE FOR
A numb disbelief crept through Serina. She felt Nomi sag beside her. Her own shoulders wanted to slump, but she held herself rigidly upright. The whole point had been to give these women a choice.
“The vote is clear. When the boat comes, we’ll commandeer it and seek asylum in Azura.” Serina tried to hold her voice steady, even as her hopes for Renzo’s safety, for a new future for the women of Viridia, died.
EIGHT
NOMI
NOMI PACED TO the edge of the dais and back, her jaw aching from the force with which she clenched her teeth. Her future, Renzo’s future, crumbled to dust before her. For four days, she’d let herself believe that it was possible to have all that she wanted—freedom, Renzo’s safety, her family back together.
She couldn’t bear to look at Malachi. Everything he wanted, everything he deserved, was beyond his grasp now too.
The amphitheater filled with a clatter of voices. Arguments broke out.
“I’m tired of fighting.”
“You’re tired? I’m angry. Those bastards deserve our wrath.”
“I don’t trust the Heir. He’ll break every promise he makes. What man do you know who’s ever kept one?”
“My father. He promised to send me here if I refused to work at the factory. And here I am. If we don’t fight back, nothing will ever change.”
“I don’t care about change. All I want is a soft bed and fresh food. I don’t care if I ever see Viridia again.”
Nomi couldn’t stand it.
Just beyond the stage, Anika pounded her fist on her thigh. “We should go to Bellaqua. This is ridiculous. Fleeing our own country. Our families. Ridiculous.”
“The vote was fair,” Serina told her softly, her own disappointment showing in her furrowed brow. “We have to honor the results.”
Nomi pulled her sister away from the crowd, noting Val and Malachi’s heads tipped close together in their own private conversation.
“Nomi, there’s nothing I can do. I’m sorry,” Serina said. She was wearing her stoic big-sister face, but Nomi could see through to the dejection beneath.
“What about Renzo?” Nomi asked. “We can’t go to Azura and leave him behind.”
Her stomach churned. She couldn’t tell if she was about to retch or scream. She’d supported the vote, of course she had. She’d wanted to give these women a choice. But she’d been so sure they would vote to go back to Viridia and stop Asa.
Serina pressed her fingers to her temples and massaged in small circles. “We’ll have to take Val’s boat, I suppose. But there will be others who want it.… Anika wants to return to her family.… We’ll have to be quiet about it, I don’t know how.”