“God save me from perverts,” I said, trying to keep the amusement from my voice.
Bradley just laughed again.
“You don't need God this time,” Kitten replied. “It'll be my pleasure to save you from Bradie boy.”
Bradley cleared his throat. “I'm really looking forward to your attempt, Cat.”
Kitten hissed again. “I warned you. You won't know when and you won't know where, but you'll pay for that.”
“Cat-y, cat, cat.”
I pressed my lips together to smother a chuckle. Thank the Lord I hadn't been shoved into this car alone. The battling pair had saved me from untold worry.
Unfortunately, a sharp turn, several more bumps, and a jarring stop later, we arrived at our destination. My stomach clenched, and I lost all hint of amusement, no longer able to keep the worry at bay.
“We're here,” Kitten said, sounding nervous.
“Yeah,” Bradley said, his voice broken.
We once again lapsed into silence, this one laden with heavy tension. My nerves sparked, a little raw. What was going to happen next?
The slide of a door sounded, then footsteps. Then…nothing. Wait. A rustle of wind, the sway of trees. The chirp of insects. My hands began to sweat. I wanted the hood and laserbands removed now! These feelings of helplessness and vulnerability were almost as terrible as being taken from home, from the only life I knew.
“All right, you three,” Roses said. I think he brushed his hands together in relish. “It's showtime.”
“What, you're going to make us sing and dance?” Kitten demanded.
“If you make the girls dance,” Bradley said, “can I take off my hood and watch?”
“We're not performing monkeys,” I muttered.
Roses laughed with genuine amusement. “You will be if I tell you to be.”
“We'll see about that,” I told him. “Maybe you'll be the one to dance.”
“Trouble,” Sweet Voice said. “Told you she'd be trouble. She's already back talking.”
Roses said, “This is what's going to happen, children. You'll be taken inside one at a time and led into a room where you will be interviewed. You will answer each question honestly.”
My brows arched. Not that anyone could see my expression. “And if we don't?”
Pause.
Then, “Answer and answer honestly,” he said with an ominous edge, “because you won't like what happens if you remain silent or lie. And before you ask how we'll know if you're lying, I'll tell you the answer. We know everything.”
My stomach twisted into a thousand tiny, painful knots. “Why ask us anything, then?” I so did not want to be here, playing cloak and dagger games while answering questions about my life. And they would be about my life, my choices. I knew it. They always were.
“Since you're so eager to speak,” Roses said, “you can go first, Phoenix. The rest of you will wait here. Don't try to leave the vehicle. I've already posted guards at the doors.”
Someone reached inside and latched onto my upper arm. I was dragged out of the car and onto my feet. My boots sank into something soft. Grass, probably. The darkness of the hood disoriented me, and I wobbled. “Remove the blindfold, at least.”
“You'll wear it until you're deemed worthy to take it off,” Roses said. “Otherwise, I'd have to blind you some other way.” His harsh tone suggested he'd just go ahead and rip out my eyes.
“The hood is fine.” Logically, I knew he wouldn't hurt me. Or rather, hoped he wouldn't hurt me. Camp counselors weren't allowed to injure their charges, were they?
That didn't drain my fear, however. I couldn't see his expression, didn't know him and what he was capable of doing—didn't know if the law even mattered to him.
I wasn't even one hundred percent certain what type of camp this was, despite—or maybe because of—Kitten's explanation. This was like no camp I'd ever encountered before. Everything from the hoods to the laserbands to the absolute secrecy was beyond my realm of experience.
Roses ushered me inside a building. I knew the moment I went indoors because the air changed. Suddenly there was no breeze. Only sterile-smelling air, as if some kind of cleaner had been used, blocking any hint of fragrance.
We turned once, twice, stalking down a long hallway, was my guess. I didn't hear other footsteps, didn't hear other voices.
“Nervous?” Roses asked me.
“No,” I answered with false bravado.
He tsk ed under his tongue. “Lying already. I warned you about that.”
“What are you going to do? Kick me out?” Pretty please with a cherry on top.
“Is that what you want? To be kicked out?” He tsk ed again. “I expected better from you, Phoenix.”
He was the first to expect anything good from me then. “I expected to finish the day at school, go home, do my homework, and take a nap in my own bed.”
“That's sad. You should expect more for yourself.”
“And disappoint myself as well as my mom? No thanks.”
He didn't say anything else. A few seconds later, he stopped. He released my upper arm, only to grip both of my shoulders and guide me a few inches to the side. “Sit,” he said.
Something hard bumped into the backs of my knees. A chair, I hoped. I eased down, concerned that he'd jerk the seat away at any moment and laugh. He didn't and I was able to settle comfortably on top of it.
My ears twitched when I heard someone sigh. The sigher was a few feet away, I estimated. There was a shuffle of papers and the squeak of syn-leather.
“Welcome, Miss Germaine,” a deep, scary voice said. “So glad you could make it. Now, why don't we get started, hmm?”
“Get started with what?” I asked, even though Roses had already told me I'd be interviewed. I was nervous and stalling for time.
He answered me anyway. “Why, deciding whether you live or die.”
5
“State your name,” the man said only two seconds after he threatened my life.
I didn't reply. Couldn't. There was a lump the size of New Chicago in my throat. This wasn't right. These people should not be allowed to threaten me like that.
I didn't want to be here. I wanted to go home. To what? A mom who's washed her hands of me? Yeah, good luck with that. Anything was better than this, though.
“State your name,” he insisted.
Again, I remained silent. I found myself really missing my dad all of a sudden. Why couldn't I be one of those girls with a father who rushed to her defense? A father who broke down doors and broke the law to save his little angel? Instead I had no one who would rescue me.