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"What are you doing? Stop!"
He s this for you"
He pushes the knife in farther, slow, and blood stains the heainst the bonds holding me to the table "No, stop!" I thrash and in a simulation I would have pulled free by now so this must mean that this is real, it’s real I scream and he sticks the knife in to the handle He collapses to the floor and his blood spills fast and surrounds him The shadow-birds turn their beady eyes on hi at his skin I see his eyes through the whirling feathers and he is still awake
A bird lands on the fingers that hold the knife He draws it out again and it clatters to the ground and I should hope that he is dead but I’m selfish so I can’t My back lifts from the table and all my muscles clench and er shapes itself into words and will not stop
"Sedative," a stern voice coins to slon I sob with relief For seconds all I can do is sob with relief
That was not fear That was soo," Tobias says, and he sounds scratchier than before I blink fast so I can see hih my tears There are red marks on his arms from where the Dauntless traitors held hiht "That’s the only way I’ll tell you, is if you let o"
Jeanine nods, and he runs to me He wraps one hand around ertips come aith tears He doesn’t wipe them off He leans over and presses his forehead to mine
"The factionless safe houses," he says dully, right against my cheek "Get me a map and I’ll ainstclenched for however long Jeanine left h ers for as long as they can be until the Dauntless traitors pull hirasp to escort him elsewhere My hand falls heavy on the table I don’t want to struggle against the restraints anymore All I want to do is sleep
"While you’re here" Jeanine says once Tobias and his escorts are gone She looks up and focuses her watery eyes on one of the Erudite "Get hi him in here It’s time"
She looks back down ata short procedure to observe a few things about your brain It will not be invasive But before thatI promised you full transparency with these procedures So I feel it’s only fair that you know exactly who has been assisting me in my endeavors" She smiles a little "Who told me what three factions you had an aptitude for, and what our best chance was to get you to come here, and to put your mother in the last simulation to make it more effective"
She looks toward the doorway as the sedative sets in, es I look over s I see him
Caleb
CHAPTER THIRTY-TWO
I WAKE TO a headache I try to go back to sleep--at least when I’ in the doorway runs through ain, acco crows
Why did I never wonder how Eric and Jeanine knew that I had aptitude for three factions?
Why did it never occur to me that only three people in the world knew that particular fact: Tori, Caleb, and Tobias?
My head pounds I can’t make sense of it I don’t knohy Caleb would betray me I wonder when it happened--after the attack simulation? After the escape from Amity? Or was it earlier than that--was it back when my father was still alive? Caleb told us he left Erudite when he found out what they were planning--was he lying?
He must have been I press the heel of my hand to my forehead My brother chose faction over blood There has to be a reason She must have threatened him Or coerced him in some way
The door opens I don’t lift my head or open my eyes
"Stiff" It’s Peter Of course
"Yes" When I let my hand fall from my face, a lock of hair falls with it I look at it froreasy before
Peter sets a bottle of water next to the bed, and a sandwich The thought of eating it nauseates me
"You brain-dead?" he asks
"Don’t think so"
"Don’t be so sure"
"Ha-ha," I say "How long have I been asleep?"
"About a day I’m supposed to escort you to the showers"
"If you say so about how badly I need one," I say tiredly, "I will poke you in the eye"
The roos over the edge of the bed and stand Peter and I start down the hallway When we turn the corner to get to the bathrooh, there are people at the end of the hallway
One of them is Tobias I can see where our paths will intersect, bethere I stand now and my cell door I stare, not at him but at where he will be when he reaches for my hand, as he did the last tiles with anticipation For just a ain
Six steps until we pass each other Five steps
At four steps, though, Tobias stops His entire body goes liuard loses his grip on him for just a second, and Tobias crumples to the floor
Then he twists around Lurches forward And grabs a gun frooes off Peter dives to the right, dragging uard’sI can’t hear him
Tobias kicks him hard in the stomach The Dauntless in me admires his for the gun on Peter But Peter has already released me
Tobias reaches forI sturound, pain slices into my head, but I can’t stop I blink tears from my eyes Run, I tell h and strong I let it guide me around a corner
"Tobias," I wheeze
He stops, and looks back at ers "Come on On my back"
He bends, and I putmy face between his shoulder blades He liftswith his left hand His right hand still holds the gun
He runs, and even with ht, he is fast Idly I think, How could he ever have been Abnegation? He seened specifically for speed and deadly accuracy But not strength, not particularly--he is sh to carrySoon every Dauntless in the building will rush toward us frole, and ill be trapped in this pale et past theh to see that he just ran past an exit
"Tobias, you missed it"