“Yes, Austin.” Joi holds up a single finger, and the laughter in the room dies down. Flames flicker in her amber eyes, and her black curls seem to writhe like serpents. She’s no longer a schoolgirl. She’s a goddess. “I think it’s time for you to make a choice.”
Everyone sees Austin step back—away from Gwendolyn and into the crowd.
“I’d take that as a vote of no confidence. Wouldn’t you?” Joi inquires, staring down at the girl on the floor.
Gwendolyn doesn’t answer. She can’t seem to catch her breath.
Joi turns back to the crowd. “You gave her power. You can take it away. It’s your choice. What do you say?”
“Take it away,” says an Android.
“I’m sorry, what was that?” Joi asks. “I couldn’t hear you.”
“Take it away!” shouts another. The rest join in, and the chant grows until Joi raises her hand.
“I guess everyone agrees that the Dux needs some time off. So if there aren’t any objections, I’ll assume her duties starting today. Are there any objections?” No one speaks up. “Austin? How about you?”
“Nope,” Austin says, slipping over to the winning side. “You’ve got my vote.”
“Then I am honored to accept the position. I know I’m new to this school, so I’m going to let my co-Dux keep his title for now. Austin, why don’t you help Gwendolyn back to her room. The poor little creature looks like she’s about to have a seizure.”
Austin plucks Gwendolyn off the floor. She’s limp in his arms. There’s not a bruise on her body, yet her defeat is complete. And a comeback would be out of the question. Gwendolyn is nothing more than a joke now.
“Ella, would you mind showing everyone to the door?” Joi asks.
“Not at all,” Ella replies like she’s been Joi’s loyal lieutenant all along. “Okay, guys! Show’s over!”
There’s no need to shepherd the Androids and Ghosts through the gym door. They’re all rushing out to spread the news.
I’m the only one left behind. The door closes, and Joi fixes her amber eyes on me, like a tiger glancing up from a kill. I want to rush to her and grab hold of her and tell her how goddamned relieved I am. That she’s alive. That she’ll finally look at me. But it feels too dangerous to approach her right now. One sudden movement might break the spell.
“How did you know you could beat her?”
“She was Queen of the Losers,” Joi says. “She shouldn’t have forgotten who gave her the crown.”
“How did you know they’d just hand it to you?”
“I can see how this place really works,” Joi replies. “And in the kingdom of the blind, the one-eyed girl gets to be queen.” She takes my hand and leads me through the girls’ locker room to the shower stalls. She turns on the hot water in four of them, waits until the room is fogged with steam, and then pulls me into the fifth stall.
“Joi . . .”
“Shut up,” she says as she unbuttons my shirt. “I didn’t bring you here for a heart-to-heart. How do I get this thing off without hurting you?”
“Why are you here?”
“Because you never said goodbye.”
CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE
* * *
IN THE KINGDOM OF THE BLIND
I’m lost.
“Look around,” Joi ordered. “Tell me what you see.”
It was the morning after her triumph, and I was too exhausted to see anything. After we’d left the showers, I tried to follow Joi to her dorm. I wanted to stay overnight to defend her, but she beat me back and locked me out. In the darkness after curfew, I sat on the floor by my door, listening for movement outside on the balcony. I knew there was a chance that Mandel would send someone to dispose of Joi. I imagined finding her room empty the next morning. I envisioned her stripped bed—and then her lifeless body laid out on an autopsy table.
The moment my door unlocked, I headed straight for her dorm. Her things were still there, but Joi was not. I searched for almost twenty minutes before I found her, standing on the sixth-floor balcony, peering into the cafeteria. Her back was still facing me when she spoke.
“How did you know it was me?” I asked.
“The limp,” she replied, her eyes still scanning the cafeteria. “What do you see in there?”
The way Joi said it, I assumed something important had changed. So I studied the scene and realized Gwendolyn was missing. Otherwise, it was no different from any other morning. The Wolves occupied two tables in front of the unlit rankings screen. The Androids were scattered randomly around the large room, most with their heads buried in books. It was too early in the semester to officially label the Ghosts, but I already knew which of the students were likely to disappear.
Joi’s question worried me. She’d been out of the Suites for almost a week, and she still didn’t know what I’d figured out after a few hours upstairs. She’d vanquished Gwendolyn and anointed herself Dux, but even if the title had been official, Joi didn’t have what it took to keep the crown. I wanted to tell her everything, but I couldn’t. Not there—with everyone watching and at least one person listening.
“There are three groups here.” I pointed to the Wolves’ tables. “Those are the top twelve students—the elite. They run the place. Numbers thirteen through fifty are what I call Androids. They’re smart, but not quite smart enough. The bottom six students are Ghosts. They don’t have what it takes to survive. They’ll be expelled before the semester ends.”
I carefully enunciated each syllable of the word expelled so she’d know exactly what it meant.
“Sounds brutal,” Joi said.
“Our headmaster believes in the law of the jungle.”
“That’s what you see here?” she asked. “A jungle?”
Joi took a step forward, into the cafeteria. Someone must have been waiting for her to make her entrance because the moment Joi crossed the threshold, a bright light enveloped her as if she’d activated an invisible trip wire. I stumbled forward, blinking furiously, certain she’d fallen into a trap. But when my eyes adjusted, I could see she was safe. Safer than I could have ever imagined. The screen was lit. Mandel had announced new rankings three weeks ahead of schedule. As far as I could tell, he’d made only one change to the list. There were still two Duxes—Joi and me. Gwendolyn’s name wasn’t up there at all.
Every student in the cafeteria was staring at Joi. She accepted their lack of applause with a grin and a humble bow. Then she continued her foray across the room. Whatever plans she’d made, the news hadn’t changed them. As Joi approached their table, the elite Wolves slid apart, offering her Gwendolyn’s old spot in the center. She walked right past them, through the light cast by the rankings screen. Then she took a seat at an Android table.
I hurried to join her.
“You’re a Dux now,” I whispered. “You need to sit with the top students.”
“Says who?” Joi responded.
“You’re going to have to keep an eye on them,” I told her. “They’re dangerous.”
“Which makes them predictable. Look, Flick, yesterday was great, but I’m not in the market for a boyfriend or a bodyguard. I’ve got work to do. If you want to hang around, that’s fine by me. But please don’t interfere.”
I sat down, but it felt like I’d been knocked off my feet.
“Hey you!” Joi called out cheerfully to a girl sitting at the end of the table. “Come over and say hi.”
The girl slid down into the seat across from us. I couldn’t introduce her because I’d never bothered to learn her name. But I did feel a bit sorry for her. She was quivering like a chambermaid who’d been hauled before a new mistress.
“I’m Joi. This is Flick. What’s your name?”
“Lily.” She answered reluctantly, as though even her name might cause offense.
“Nice to meet you, Lily. How long have you been here?”
Nice to meet you?!
“This is my third semester.”
“What’s your major?”
“Technology.”
Joi glanced up at the rankings. “You’re number thirty-two. Why so low?”
The girl hesitated.
“You can tell me,” Joi assured her.
“My instructors say I’m too meek. I don’t mind stealing from big corporations, but I don’t like robbing the little guys.”
“And what are you good at?”
“My specialty is hacking Facebook. I have their source code.”
“Impressive,” Joi said. “Thanks for the chat. I’ll let you get back to your breakfast. Mind asking the guy at the end of the table to slide over here for a moment?”
“Are you planning to interview everyone?” I asked.
“Absolutely,” Joi replied. “How am I supposed to lead people I don’t know?”
“Then you really should start with them,” I said, pointing to the Wolves’ table.
“Are you kidding?” Joi snorted. “They’re the least interesting people here.”
I grabbed her and pulled her closer until I could whisper in her ear. “You can’t save all the outcasts.”
When I released her, she was furious. “Is that what you think I’m trying to do?”
The Wolves were watching as I rose from my stool. I could feel their eyes follow me across the cafeteria. I made it through the door and around the corner. Only when I was out of sight did I start to stagger. My father would never be punished. My brother would not be avenged. I’d hoped I’d be able to destroy the academy. But when Joi arrived, I’d abandoned that mission too. I had given up everything to save a girl with no interest in a boyfriend or a bodyguard. A girl who no longer had any interest in me.
I reached my room, and when I closed the door, a shadow slipped out of the bathroom. Gwendolyn wore a plain black dress with long sleeves. Without makeup, her pale face was the grayish white of a wraith.
“Here for my head?” I asked as I lay down on my bed. At that point, I might have let her take it.
“Mr. Mandel gave her my title, didn’t he?” Gwendolyn’s entire body was twitching. She tried crossing her arms, but she couldn’t hide it.
“You broke the rules, Gwendolyn,” I explained with a sigh. “You attacked Joi before the Immunity Phase was over. Joi won the fight, and she earned the Dux title.”
“Earned it?” Gwendolyn seethed. “Do you have any idea what I’ve had to do to stay Dux?”
“Yes,” I reminded her. “You did it to me.”
A tremor seemed to shake Gwendolyn. Her body swayed from one side to the other, as if she were experiencing her own private earthquake. “You were the least of it. Remember that field trip they sent me on right before you ended up in a coma?”
I remembered the folder I saw her open in Mr. Martin’s office. There was a picture of a man. And a little Baggie with two white tablets inside.
“Yeah. What did you do? Drug some guy?”
“And let them take pictures. Of me with some fifty-year-old nerd who kept rambling on about synapses and neurotoxins the whole time.”
I suddenly felt sick. “Jesus, Gwendolyn.”
She laughed at my squeamishness. “That wasn’t my first field trip either. It wasn’t even my tenth. I earned my title. I deserved it. What has she ever done?”
“You knew how the game worked, Gwendolyn. You knew from the start that Mandel doesn’t play fair.”
“Don’t blame this on Mr. Mandel. This isn’t his fault. It’s yours. That girl wouldn’t be here at the academy if it weren’t for you.”
“And I have a feeling Joi’s just as angry about that as you are.”
“Oh, please. The little mutt’s still in love with you. She kept you in the locker room showers for a while, didn’t she? Well, Mr. Mandel may have given Joi my title, but I’m not going to let her have you too. I’m going to tell her everything.”
I shrugged. “Go right ahead. She already knows.”
Gwendolyn knelt down by my bed and put a trembling hand on my chest. “She knows we were a couple. But the devil’s always in the details, isn’t it? I’m going to tell her things that she’ll never be able to get out of her head. I’ll even draw a few pictures if I have to. But from now on, every time she looks at you, she’s going to see the two of us together.”
I picked up her hand and threw it back at her. “I see defeat hasn’t changed you. You’re still a real bitch, Gwendolyn.”
“Defeat? Who said the game’s over? Mr. Mandel understands that I haven’t been myself lately. He’s giving me another chance.”
“Is that what he told you?”
“No, but he had the doctors increase my medication.”
“Medication? You never told me that you’re on medication. Is it for . . .”
“I’m not crazy!” Gwendolyn was shaking so hard that I reached out to steady her. “The pills just help me focus. So think of what I’ll be able to do now that they’re giving me three a day instead of just one.”
I remembered my father’s warning. “I think you should stop taking them. I’ve never seen anyone shake like this before.” The words were out of my mouth before I realized they weren’t true. I’d seen Leila shake too.
“Save your advice, Flick.”
“I’m serious, Gwendolyn. A bunch of pills aren’t going to help you take back the title.”
Her lips were so dry that they cracked when she smiled. “Maybe. But if it ever looks like I’m going to lose, you better bet I’ll make sure that nobody else gets to win.”
CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX
* * *
BURNING DOWN THE HOUSE
Ten hours later, Gwendolyn made good on her promise. She marched into the cafeteria at dinnertime and took a seat across from Joi at one of the Android tables. I don’t know exactly what Gwendolyn told her, but I know Joi never said a word. A minute after Gwendolyn’s lips started moving, Joi’s eyes left her guest and found me on the other side of the dining hall. There was no expression on her face. She just stared straight at me until Gwendolyn had finished what she’d come to say. Then Joi walked out, leaving a tray full of food behind on the table.
That was two and a half weeks ago. I waited as long as I could for Joi’s anger to cool. But the Immunity Phase ends in three days, on the first of June. Then the slaughter will commence, and I need to make sure she’s prepared for the horrors to come. She’ll finally look at me again. Sometimes we even share the same sofa in the Wolves’ Den. Joi’s quizzed me about the workings of the academy, but it’s the only subject she’ll ever discuss. I can’t utter a word of warning out loud—and Joi refuses to join me on the roof where we could speak in private. I write long, detailed notes instead. She reads my letters, rips them to shreds, and never replies.
Joi told me she was here because I never said goodbye. Maybe she came looking for me. Maybe she once wanted to save me. But now she’s determined to punish me.
• • •
The evening after she was named Dux, Joi paid her first visit to the Wolves’ Den. I’d just finished making sure that every beast was accounted for when she made her grand entrance. It was all the more remarkable because I don’t think anyone actually saw her arrive. The chatter in the lounge just faded away. One by one, the Wolves discovered her sitting among us.
I don’t know where she got her hands on a pair of tight jeans. Or a T-shirt that said Don’t Mess with Texas. Surrounded by sleek, designer-clad Wolves, Joi stuck out like a punk at a polo match. But when I scanned the room, the rest of us looked like little kids dressed up in their parents’ clothes. And I could see I wasn’t the only one who suddenly felt ridiculous. It was one of Joi’s most brilliant moves.
“Hiya,” Joi said.
No one replied. It didn’t seem to bother her, but I spoke up anyway. “Welcome to the lounge.”
“Thanks, Flick. Nice to know one of you has some manners.” If she hadn’t ended the sentence with a laugh, it would have sounded like chiding. “Cool clubhouse you got here. It’s like one of those sets down there in the Incubation Suites, doncha th
ink? Remember those? When you first get there, all the rooms feel like cages. Then Mandel puts up those weird sets and you think you’ll never get used to them. But the longer you’re down there, the more normal they seem.”
The observation was met with another silence that Joi had to break.
“So which of you has been here the longest?” she asked.
Everyone looked at Caleb, who took his time answering. Although his plan to seize power had failed, he didn’t seem ready to admit defeat. “I have. This is my seventh semester.”
“You’re human resources. Am I right, Caleb?”
His nostrils flared briefly at the mention of his name. “I’m the top student in human resources, that is correct.”
“Not anymore,” Joi replied. “But you’re still qualified to answer my next question. Since you’ve been at the Mandel Academy, how many people have been named Dux in their first week at the school?”
He didn’t want to say it. “None.”
Joi nodded. “Which means we’re all in uncharted territory now. So I think it’s a good idea to start mapping out some rules. You may have noticed that I’ve been interviewing the lower-ranking students. As Dux, it’s my job to assess the student body. And I want to make one thing absolutely clear.” She slid to the edge of her seat and leaned forward with her hands on her knees. “Until I’m finished, you’re all going to keep your grubby little fingers off those bodies. Nobody gets touched till I say so.”
Caleb’s eyes opened and shut in a lazy, lizard-like blink. “Has Mr. Mandel approved this study of yours?” he asked.
“He made me Dux, didn’t he?” Joi responded. “I think I’ll take that as a sign of his approval. Unless you disagree. Do you?”
“No,” Caleb demurred.
“Excellent. Second, I want to be kept up to date on all of your school projects. In other words, I would like to see your homework every evening before you leave this lounge.”
“That’s a rather unusual request, June—” Caleb started.