Pawn Read online

  “Are you crazy?”

  “No,” he said. “I love you, and I won’t let them separate us. If that means getting married earlier than I’d planned, then so be it.” He paused. “Do you not want to marry me?”

  “Of course I want to marry you, but you haven’t even taken the test yet, and what if being married to a III affects your rank? I can’t do that to you, Benjy. You deserve better than that.”

  “What do I deserve, Kitty? To lose you? I don’t care about the consequences.”

  At least he hadn’t fooled himself into thinking there wouldn’t be any. “You’d never let me risk myself like that for you, so I can’t let you, either,” I said, fighting to keep my voice even. “I’ve already made my decision.”

  “Kitty.” He held his arm up to stop me, and when I started to move past him, he wrapped it around my waist again and pulled me closer. “I’m not going to let you do this to yourself.”

  I tried to push him away, but his grip tightened. “I’m the one who has to clean up shit for a living, not you. You don’t get a say.”

  “We can run away,” he said. “We can go somewhere warm. Have our own cottage, grow our own food—”

  “Neither of us knows anything about farming. Besides, if a place like that exists, the Harts would have claimed it by now.”

  “You don’t know that for sure. There’s hope, Kitty. There’s always hope. Please,” he said quietly. “For me.”

  The way he watched me, silently begging me to say yes, almost made me change my mind, but I couldn’t do that to him. Running away would mean he would miss his test, and no mark at all was as good as a I.

  I’d failed, but he still had his chance, and I couldn’t let him throw his life away for me.

  “I’m sorry,” I said. His face crumpled, and he turned away, dropping his arm. The cold seeped in where he’d touched me only moments before, and my heart sank. I would have done anything to make him happy, but because of my stupid III, I was going to hurt him no matter what I did. At least this way I would be the one risking everything, not him.

  Every bone in my body screamed at me to run away with him, to get as far from D.C. as we could, but as we climbed the ladder to the manhole that opened up half a block from the group home, I knew two things for certain: Benjy would spend the entire afternoon trying to talk me into not going with Tabs, and I would do it anyway.

  * * *

  Nina was waiting for us in the kitchen of our group home, spatula in hand. It was still early enough that everyone was at school—everyone except me, now that I was seventeen, and Benjy, who wouldn’t have missed today for anything. Having Nina to ourselves was a rare treat, but all I wanted to do was climb into my bunk and hide.

  “How’d it go?” she chirped, but her smile fell the moment she saw Benjy. She looked to me for an explanation, and I stared at the floor, feeling even worse now than I had when I’d received my results. Nina was the only mother I’d ever known, and even though her attention was split between forty of us, she always seemed to have time for me. The last thing I’d wanted was to disappoint her.

  “They didn’t give me extra time,” I finally said.

  Without saying a word, she handed her spatula to Benjy and embraced me. All I could do was bury my face in her hair and swallow the sob that had been threatening to escape since the needle had first touched my skin.

  “It’s okay,” she murmured. “It wasn’t what you wanted, but you still have your whole life ahead of you, and good things will come your way.”

  She brushed her fingers against the back of my neck to see what my rank was, and I flinched. Nina sighed and held me a little tighter, but I knew what she was thinking: at least it wasn’t a II. At least my life was worth a job that wouldn’t kill me and enough food not to starve.

  But I’d been stupid enough to hope for happiness and something more than mucking around in the sewers for the rest of my life, and now the ache in my chest was the price I had to pay.

  Before today, I had never questioned the ranking system. It was there to give us what we deserved so we could make the most of our natural abilities. The smartest members of society could help people in ways that IIs and IIIs couldn’t, so they earned more. It was fair, and without the test, someone who had grown up in a disadvantaged family might never have their talents recognized. This way, no one would fall through the cracks. No one who deserved a VI would have to live the grim existence of a II, and the people who weren’t happy with their ranks only had themselves to blame.

  Benjy was right, though; I wasn’t stupid. I could do complicated math problems in my head, recite stories and poems and talk about what they meant—I just couldn’t make sense of written words. If the tester had bothered to talk to me, she would’ve seen that. Maybe I didn’t deserve a VI, but I didn’t want a VI anyway. All I wanted was to prove I wasn’t a waste.

  A long moment passed before Benjy broke the silence. “She was assigned to Denver.”

  Nina released me. “That’s halfway across the country,” she said, stunned.

  In other words, I would never see Benjy again if I got on that train. My resolve hardened.

  “Tabs is stopping by this afternoon,” I said, clearing my throat. “I’m going to talk to her.”

  A muscle in Benjy’s jaw twitched. “I can’t do this,” he said, glaring at a spot on the floor. “If you change your mind, you know where to find me.”

  Setting the spatula down on the counter, he walked away, and the soft click of the kitchen door made me wince. I watched it, willing him to come back, but the door stayed shut.

  “He’ll come around eventually,” said Nina as she went back to mixing. “Don’t you worry.”

  “I hope he doesn’t,” I mumbled. “It’d be better for him.”

  “None of that,” she said. “You need to focus on what you’re going to do, not how Benjy feels.”

  “I’m going with Tabs,” I said, perching on the edge of the worn countertop. “It’s not a bad life, and she seems to like it.”

  “Tabs is Tabs. That life might suit her, but that’s not the kind of trouble you’re built for. And don’t let her fool you—it’s a hard life. It might have its perks, but the things you give up...it isn’t worth it. Not for you.”

  “What would you know about it anyway?” I said, trying to snatch an apple from the fruit bowl. She slapped my hand away.

  “I know enough to be sure you’d be better off in Denver than sleeping with strange men.”

  My stomach clenched uncomfortably. “Tabs said she doesn’t have to do it that often. It’s mostly going to parties and clubs and stuff.”

  “Yeah? Did Tabs also mention that for recruiting you, she gets a cut of your pay?”

  I blinked. “She never told me that.”

  “Of course she didn’t, dear. And of course she’s going to pretend like it’s a good life. It’s hers, and she’s in too deep to walk away.” Nina touched my cheek with her flour-covered fingers. “Misery loves company, Kitty. Maybe she’s telling the truth and most of it isn’t so bad. But some of it will be, and those men will never see you as a person, not the way Benjy does. Not the way I do. You deserve better than that.”

  “I don’t deserve anything,” I said. “I’m a III.”

  “You’re more than the mark on your neck, and you damn well know it,” said Nina. “It might feel like a death sentence, but you’ll see soon enough that you can have a good life no matter where you’re ranked.”

  “Easy for you to say,” I muttered. “You’re a IV.”

  “And look at me now.” She gestured widely. “Cooking dinner for forty children who never have enough. What a grand life I lead.”

  “Oh, please. You love it. You love all of us.”

  “I do.” Her voice softened. “But because I love you, I feel it every time yo
u hurt and every time you’re disappointed. I understand how upset you are, Kitty. But it’s your life, not the government’s, and you can make something of yourself no matter what they tell you.”

  I stared at my hands and picked at a ragged nail. I wanted to believe her. I did. But how could I when everything was a mess? “Benjy’s going to hate me for doing this, isn’t he?”

  “I don’t think that boy could hate you even if you killed him,” she said. “Though if you get yourself killed, I suppose he might hate you for that.”

  I frowned. She was right. Of course she was right, which only made the unease in the pit of my stomach grow. “I did something stupid today.”

  “Stupider than usual?” she said, but there was a hint of amusement in her voice. At least one of us thought this was funny.

  “I tried to steal an orange from the market,” I said. “A Shield caught us, and we ran. I told him my name, so he knows I’m an Extra.” All Extras—second children of IVs and below, who were only allowed to have one—had the last name of Doe. Benjy did. Tabs did. Even Nina did. And because most Extras were sent Elsewhere when their parents couldn’t pay the fine, there were only a few group homes scattered throughout D.C. Nina’s was the only one within five miles of the market.

  “I doubt he’ll come all this way for an orange,” she said as she tapped her spatula against the side of the bowl. That was what I loved most about Nina: she’d heard it all, and nothing any of us threw at her ever surprised her. “You know, once upon a time, everyone could walk into a market and buy anything they wanted.”

  I snorted. “Fairy tales start with ‘once upon a time,’ Nina.”

  “It was a fairy tale of sorts, but that didn’t make it any less real,” she said, lowering the bowl to focus on me. “It’s frightening how much things change in seventy-one years.”

  “Yeah, and in another seventy-one, they won’t bother giving IIs and IIIs jobs,” I said. “They’ll take us out back and shoot us instead.”

  “There will always be a need for people to perform menial labor.” She crossed my path to get to the sink and gave me a kiss on the cheek. “The Harts won’t always be in power. They’re flesh and blood just like us. Things will change.”

  “Not in my lifetime,” I said, and a chill ran down my spine. Talking about the Harts like this was treason. I had nothing left to lose, but forty kids relied on Nina.

  “The world doesn’t exist because you gave it permission,” she said. “Things happen all the time that you and I and every other citizen who trusts the media never hear about, things the Harts don’t want you to know.”

  “Like what? If anything important happened, everyone would be talking about it.”

  “Not the people who want to live to see next week. The deaths of Yvonne and Jameson Hart, for instance.”

  “They died in a car accident.”

  “Did they?” said Nina, eyebrow raised. “Or is that what the media told you?”

  I eyed her. The prime minister’s wife and elder son’s funerals the year before had been mandatory viewing. Seeing the Harts gathered under black umbrellas and watching the coffins being lowered into the ground—it was the only time I’d ever felt sorry for them. “Are you saying it wasn’t a car accident?”

  “I’m saying even if it was, you would never know. But the world is out there, and it understands that the illusion of knowledge and freedom is not the same as the real thing. Eventually it will fade, and there are those who will do whatever it takes to make that happen sooner rather than later.” She set her hands on my shoulders, staring me straight in the eye. “Listen to me, because I will only say this once. You have a choice. You can choose to accept the hand the Harts dealt you, or you can pick yourself up and do something about it.”

  “What, like scream and protest and get myself killed? It’d be better than this, that’s for damn sure.”

  “If you’re going to shun the role the government gave you and live your life underground, then why not do something to change all of this, as well?”

  “Nothing I do will make this better. My rank’s already there, and it’s not going away.”

  “It only means something because the Harts decided it did, and we went along with it,” she said. “You are more than the number on the back of your neck, Kitty. Never forget that.”

  Never forget that if I’d been born a hundred years earlier, I would never have had to deal with any of this? “I won’t.”

  “Good girl.” She patted my cheek. “I trust you not to tell any of the kids about this. Not even Benjy. It’s safer for him that way, and I know you don’t want to get him into trouble. But you’re an adult now, and it’s time you learned what’s really going on. If you want to do something worthwhile with your life, all you have to do is say the word, and I’ll put you in touch with people who can help.”

  I hesitated. “Who—”

  A loud knock on the door made me jump. Nina wiped her hands on her apron and muttered a curse, and the tension in the air disappeared. “Don’t you dare touch anything,” she said, bustling into the hallway.

  The moment she turned the corner, I dipped my finger into the bowl and hooked a gob of dough. It melted in my mouth, and I let out a contented sigh, the weight of our conversation forgotten. My last meal in the only home I’d ever known would include my favorite biscuits. That was a nice surprise. And all I wanted today were nice surprises, not the kind that could get me killed. Maybe once Benjy had his VI and was safe, I would talk to Nina. Right now the only thing I could think about was how I was going to survive the next month.

  “Can I help you, gentlemen?” Nina’s voice floated through the hallway and into the kitchen, and I could tell by her tone that it wasn’t someone she knew.

  “Nina Doe?” said an authoritative voice. Moving silently across the kitchen, I peeked around the corner, and a gasp caught in my throat.

  An official dressed in black and silver stood in the doorway. Beside him, with a deep scowl on his face, stood the Shield from the market.

  II

  Auction

  “Is there something you need?” said Nina briskly to the men.

  I pressed my back against the wall and frantically searched for a way out. I could escape through the back door, but there was a chance they’d brought others. Besides, the fence was too high to jump without Benjy giving me a boost, and I’d have to go around the front way anyway.

  I was trapped.

  “Ma’am, I’m Colonel Jeremiah Sampson. I’m looking for Kitty Doe,” said the official, and I forced myself to take a deep breath. Panicking wouldn’t help. There had to be somewhere I could hide.

  My gaze fell on the cabinet underneath the sink, and I hurried toward it. It would be tight, but there was a chance they wouldn’t look there. I slipped inside and closed the door seconds before three sets of footsteps entered the kitchen.

  “I’m sorry, but she isn’t here,” said Nina. “May I ask what this is regarding?”

  “Government business,” said the Shield, and he didn’t need to elaborate. Nina and I both knew what that meant: a bullet with my name on it. But why was the official in the strange uniform there? Surely the Shield from the market was more than capable of pulling the trigger himself.

  The footsteps grew nearer, and I held my breath, keeping as still as I could. My back pressed up against a pipe, and I had to curl into a ball to avoid hitting the sink above me. The chemical scent of cleaner burned my nose, and my heart pounded against my rib cage, trying to get in every last beat it could before it stopped.

  The footsteps paused in front of the sink, and I winced at the rush of water when someone turned on the faucet.

  “I’m happy to tell her you dropped by when she comes home,” said Nina, her voice distorted from the water, but nearby. She was in front of the sink, blocking the cabinet. Di
d she know where I was hiding?

  “Do you mind if we look around?” said Sampson.

  Nina shut off the water. “Since when do you people ask permission?”

  Another shuffle of footsteps, this time from the other side of the kitchen. “Nina? What’s going on?”

  Benjy. My body went numb, and I groped around for some kind of weapon to use. If they touched him, if they even so much as looked at him the wrong way—

  “These men would like to know where Kitty is,” said Nina tartly.

  “Couldn’t say,” said Benjy, and his footsteps grew louder as he neared the sink. I heard a light slap of skin against skin. He must have gone for the biscuits. “We got separated.”

  “Turn around,” said the Shield, and for one awful moment I thought he was going to arrest Benjy. He couldn’t, though—Benjy was still underage.

  “Still as blank as it was an hour ago,” said Benjy. His neck. The Shield was checking his rank. “She’s not stupid enough to come back here, so if you want to find her, I’d recommend waiting at the train station. Or possibly the clubs,” he added. “She’s considering that, as well.”

  I opened and shut my mouth, horrified. Did he really hate the idea so much that he was willing to risk me being killed over it?

  “Very well,” said Sampson. “Thank you for your cooperation. If you don’t mind, we will have a look around before leaving.”

  “By all means,” said Nina. The men’s footsteps echoed out of the kitchen and down the hall, and above me I heard Nina mutter, “Politest bastard I’ve ever met. Is she back there?”

  Benjy must’ve shook his head, and she sighed. “Then let’s hope she manages to get out of here before they see her.”

  I didn’t announce my presence while the men searched, in case something was going on that I couldn’t see. Occasionally I heard the low murmur of them speaking in another room, and I froze whenever they sounded like they were coming back, but they never searched the kitchen. “Rotten, uppity nuisances,” said Nina after the front door opened and shut, and I knew the coast was clear. “Promise me that when you’re marked, you won’t turn into one of those VIs that thinks he’s better than the rest of us.”