Page 93 of Group Studies

Mercedes glared at me.

“No.” I held my hands out. “I came to help. This isn’t…”

“You’re a frick’n little two-faced traitor,” Mercedes hissed. “No one needs your help. You’re the reason the MA’s here at all. Now look, your little pet agent will get all the revenge you’ve ever wished on me.”

I clutched my chest. “I never wanted revenge. I wanted to be left alone.”

Mercedes took a menacing step toward me. “So did I, and yet you stuck your overly juiced pussy between me and what’s mine.”

“Mercy,” Saffron started, but I cut him off by stepping forward.

“I shouldn’t have slept with Saffron,” I blurted.

Mercedes’ face turned red and her hands turned into claws as if she was imagining squeezing the life out of me.

“But, no one belongs to another,” I said, quieter. “Saffron doesn’t belong to you, and the MA doesn’t have the right to hurt us because we’re incarcerated. It’s another version of control, and no one should be controlling anyone.” I let out a breath and pushed aside my insecurities about my magic. “I should’ve noticed what was going on, but I didn’t.” They picked on Derek, messed with my roommate, even Gabe tried to rescue me from Ashe, though I completely missed it. “The MA left me alone because of Ashe and I didn’t look outside my bubble. Everyone’s scared. It’s not my fault, but I could’ve done better. You're right.”

“A,” Ashe began, but I shook my head.

“Mercedes, what were you going to do next?” I asked.

Mercedes narrowed her eyes. “I was contacting with my dad. I’m on video kicking the crap out of an MA agent who got handsy with me, and Saffron’s a lost cause. I’m forking out of here.”

I shifted from foot to foot, glancing between Saffron, Ashe and Mercedes. “You aren’t on video.”

Mercedes raised an eyebrow.

“But you are fucked,” Ashe added. “This is the agent who escorted you out of the cafeteria. You two were on camera coming to this location. It will be his word and bruises against yours.”

I glared at Ashe. “She’s only ‘fucked’ if you turn her in.”

“Kitten, Toby’s fucking watching and hearing all of this.” Ashe gestured to the bound MA agent.

“Then we need to get away from here.” I waved my hands around at the general world. “There has to be a way to keep Mercedes out of the MA’s clutches. They control everything, Ashe. I thought the Institute controlled us, but I was wrong. The Institute gives us the space to hang ourselves. We can make choices and have to learn to deal with the consequences. But the MA, they’re physically interjecting themselves into our lives and limiting what few choices we have. I don’t like the Aptitudes, but at least the system made it so we only dealt with each other – as badly as that worked out for some of us.”

“Hey, Skeleton,” Mercedes said, her phone in her hand. “Call Beryl. He’s not returning my text.”

I flinched. “Beryl?”

Before Mercedes could respond, Ashe moved his hand to his ear. “Copy. I have eyes on Mercedes and Toby.” I held my breath as he listened. After a moment, he spoke again. “Section thirteen, BS Red. Agent bound and gagged but otherwise uninjured. I don’t know how long I can stay. Aphrodite’s on the move.”

I blinked and cocked my head. I wasn’t moving.

Saffron darted forward, wrapping Mercedes’ bicep in one hand and mine in the other. He pulled us both toward the Institute. Ashe’s footsteps trailed behind us. Mercedes angrily pulled free of Saffron. As she did, he released my arm and we all sprinted toward the far side of the Institute.

“Beryl?” I asked again between gasps of air.

Mercedes looked like she was on an evening stroll instead of racing away from a crime scene. “Yeah, he’s my hook up for a line going out of the Institute. Connecting families is like his thing. My dad will fix all of this.”

My heart warmed. Beryl black market imported technology. He was trying to keep loved ones in touch. The family he always wanted.

“Assuming the MA doesn’t make you disappear before he gets here,” Saffron panted.

I pushed aside my fuzzy realization. We were all in trouble now.

Ashe grunted behind us. “They wouldn’t fucking do that.”

Saffron gave Ashe a hard look over his shoulder. “Maybe not all of them.”