“I’m not an idiot,” I snorted. “There’s nowhere for me to go even if I escaped this room.”
“Finally accepted that, have you?” Harlan unfastened the straps on my legs first, then worked on my wrists. “It’s a shame you only figured that out on your last day here.”
Those words sucked the air out of my lungs. I choked on my surprise, then laid my head back on the surgical table. It was a trick. It had to be.
The Church had snatched me off the beach after I’d said goodbye to my friends on the last day of the school year. They hadn’t used a portal to reach me, because that would have set off all the Portal Defense alarms. Instead, they’d rolled up onto the beach in an inflatable boat. Five inquisitorial guards had spilled out of that boat, their weapons trained on my heart. If they’d come with fusion blades, I would have risked a fight with them. But the strange jinsei-powered firearms they cradled were ugly and potent weapons. I doubted I would have survived the encounter if I’d put up a fight. They’d bundled me up on their boat and motored out to meet an impressively armored yacht.
And I’d been in their custody ever since. They were very curious about the Eclipse core and had spared no expense trying to pry its secrets out of me. I’d held them at bay, but it had cost me. I was exhausted, and my core constantly ached from the strain of keeping my channels filled with jinsei to resist the Church’s tricks and tests.
“You’re lying,” I said.
“I’m not,” Harlan said. “The inquisitors have decided it’s best if you return to the School to begin classes for the new year.”
“People will want to know what happened to me, where I’ve been.” I waited patiently for Harlan to undo the final restraint. If I moved before he did that, he’d leave me chained up longer just to show me who was boss.
“Don’t worry about that.” Harlan unfastened the strap from my left wrist. “The Church informed your clan and the School once you were safely on Atlantis. They’re aware that you’ve completed your visit to the island. No one will know what a pill you’ve been or how much of the Church’s time and money you’ve wasted by your refusal to cooperate with us.”
“A pill? I’ve taken all your tests and answered your questions.” I’d also kept the real secrets they wanted to myself.
“You and I both know you’ve lied to us.” Brother Harlan released my right wrist. “Fortunately for you, the Empyrean Flame wants you alive and back at the School. The oracles have conveyed this message to your clan and Headmistress Cruzal. There’ll be no questions about your time here, and you’d be wise not to stir up any trouble regarding your vacation with us.”
The implied threat hung in the air between us, a cleaver’s blade ready to fall on my neck if I stepped out of line. The Inquisition had kidnapped me. They’d held me prisoner and tortured me for three months. They’d broken a dozen laws and turned sacred energy into a foul instrument to try to uncover my secrets.
And they were going to get away with it.
The urge to show them who they’d crossed kindled in my thoughts. I could beat Brother Harlan. I could beat anyone they sent against me. I’d break them against my Thief’s Shield, leech the jinsei from their cores, and leave them empty on the floor.
Of course, if I tried anything like that, I’d never make it off the island, but maybe that was okay. Maybe the important thing was that the Inquisition would think twice before they snatched another kid.
I smothered the fiery dreams of rebellion before they could inspire me to act on them. Killing a bunch of inquisitors wouldn’t make them think twice about anything. They’d decide that Eclipse Warriors were all monsters and deserved to die. They’d find out about Rachel and the outreach program, and those kids, who’d never had a chance to grow into their powers or know even a second of life without being hollow, would end up on Atlantis.
No. It was better to play along. I’d done it this long. I could do it for a few more hours if that’s what it took to leave Atlantis behind.
“I didn’t lie,” I lied, smoothly and easily. I’d gotten good at it now that it was a survival technique. “I did the best I could. I’m sorry it wasn’t enough for you.”
Brother Harlan stepped back from me and took up a spot next to the room’s only exit. He motioned for me to come to him, and then raised a hand when I was a few feet away. Just out of arm’s reach for a normal kid.
Good. I wanted him to think I was a stronger-than-average but still relatively normal kid. That was my story, and I was sticking to it.
“It would be so much easier if I could believe you.” Harlan sighed and pressed a button next to the door. It opened, impossibly smooth and utterly silent. “Step into the hall. We have a little trip to take, and then we’ll get you back to the School.”
Harlan thought making me take the lead would keep him safe. I hid my smile and did as he asked.
Just a little longer, and I’d be free.
“Walk straight down the hall, until I give you another direction,” Harlan said from behind me.
The hallway was not the drab hall that we’d used to reach the testing lab. The previous passage had been all chipped linoleum,
