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They would never have considered me if I had not stopped the attack simulation And maybe they wouldn’t have considered me if I hadn’t stabbed Eric by those elevators, or put et, the more popular I am with the Dauntless

Tobias looks at me I can’t be popular with the Dauntless, because Tobias is right--I’ent I am whatever I choose to be And I can’t choose to be this I have to stay separate from them

"No," I say I clear my throat and say it louder "No, you don’t have to vote I refuse my nomination"

Tori raises her eyebrows at me "Are you sure, Tris?"

"Yes," I say "I don’t want it I’ument and without ceremony, Tobias is elected to be a leader of Dauntless And I am not

CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE

NOT TEN SECONDS after we choose our new leaders, so pulse, two short ones I ht ear toward the wall, and find a speaker suspended fro There is another one across the roo’s voice speaks all around us

"Attention all occupants of Candor headquarters A few hours ago I met with a representative of Jeanine Matthews He reminded me that we Candor are in a weak position, dependent on Erudite for our survival, and told me that if I intend to keep my faction free, I will have to meet a few demands"

I stare up at the speaker, stunned I shouldn’t be surprised that the leader of Candor is this forthright, but I wasn’t expecting a public announcement

"In order to comply with these de Place to report whether you have an implant or not," he says "The Erudite have also ordered all Divergent to be turned over to Erudite I do not know for what purpose"

He sounds listless Defeated Well, he is defeated, I think Because he was too weak to fight back

One thing Dauntless knows that Candor does not is how to fight even when fighting see the lessons each faction has to teachthrough the world There is always so that is i’s announces it started with The Dauntless rush through the roo Dauntlessabout Eric Someone’s elbow presses me to a wall, and I just stand and watch the pande Candor knows that Dauntless does not is how not to get carried away

The Dauntless stand in a seation chair, where Eric now sits He looks more dead than alive He is slu on his pale forehead He stares at Tobias with his head tilted down, so his eyelashes blend into his eyebrows I try to keep s pull hen his lips spread--is almost too awful to take

"Would you like me to tell you your crimes?" says Tori "Or would you like to list theainst the side of the building and streaation room, on the top floor of the Merciless Mart The afternoon storhtning makes the back ofover my skin

I like the smell of wet pavement It is faint here, but once this is done, all the Dauntless will storm down the stairs and leave the Merciless Mart behind, and wet pave I ss with us Mine is a sack made of a sheet and some rope It contains my clothes and a spare pair of shoes I wear the jacket I stole from the Dauntless traitor--I want Eric to see it if he looks at me

Eric scans the crowd for a few seconds, and then his eyes settle on erly--on his stomach "I’d like her to list them Since she’s the one who stabbed me, clearly she is faa ant, but I notice that his fingers tremble when he moves them Even Eric must be afraid of death

"Leave her out of this," says Tobias

"Why? Because you’re doing her?" Eric s They just tie each other’s shoes and cut each other’s hair"

Tobias’s expression does not change I think I understand: Eric doesn’t really care about me But he knows exactly where to hit Tobias, and how hard And one of the places to hit Tobias the hardest is to hit me

This is what I wanted most to avoid: for my rises and falls to become Tobias’s rises and falls That’s why I can’t let him step in to defend me now

"I want her to list them," repeats Eric

I say, as evenly as possible:

"You conspired with Erudite You are responsible for the deaths of hundreds of Abnegation" As I go on, I can’t keep my voice steady anymore; I start to spit out the words like venom "You betrayed Dauntless You shot a child in the head You are a ridiculous plaything of Jeanine Matthews"

His smile fades

"Do I deserve to die?" he says

Tobias opens his mouth to interrupt But I respond before he can

"Yes"

"Fair enough" His dark eyes are ehts "But do you have the right to decide that, Beatrice Prior? Like you decided the fate of that other boy--as his na ht to shoot soht our way to the control rooht way to do so in my throat, like a ball of wax, so thick I can barely s, barely breathe

"You have co the Dauntless," says Tobias "We have the right to execute you, under the laws of Dauntless"

He crouches by the three guns on the floor near Eric’s feet One by one, he ele as they hit the floor, and then roll, coainst the toes of Tobias’s shoes He picks up the un and puts a bullet into the first slot

Then he uns on the floor, around and around, until un anymore I lose track of which one holds the bullet He picks up the guns and offers one to Tori, and another one to Harrison

I try to think of the attack siray-clothed innocents lying dead on the street There weren’t even enough Abnegation left to take care of the bodies, so most of them are probably still there And that would not have been possible without Eric

I think of the Candor boy, shot without a second’s hesitation, how stiff he was as he hit the ground next toif Eric lives or dies Maybe he is the one who decided that, when he did all those terrible things

But it’s still hard to breathe

I look at his in his face shine, and a lock of dirty hair falls into his eyes

"Wait," he says "I have a request"

"We don’t take requests fro, and has been for the past few et this over with so she can sit down again To her this execution is just an inconvenience

"I am a leader of Dauntless," he says "And all I want is for Four to be the one who fires that bullet"

"Why?" Tobias says

"So you can live with the guilt," Eric replies "Of knowing that you usurped me and then shot me in the head"

I think I understand He wants to see people break--has alanted to, ever since he set up the camera inbefore then And he believes that if Tobias has to kill him, he will see that before he dies