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Maybe I’m the one that should give it to him.

I look over at Shelly, her hand rubbing the spot on her wrist where I had hold of her and the reality hits me harder—I’m not any better than Anex. I hurt. I take. I abuse.

“You want to fight me?” I ask.

“More than anything,” he says, pushing up his sleeves.

I jerk my chin toward the stairs. Someone should have stopped Anex a long time ago. And even though I doubt this kid can take me, I should at least give him a shot.

Someone needs to stop me, too.

“You’ve got to stop doing this.” The bag of frozen corn lands on my stomach. I jump, as much from the cold as the aching pain in my side.

“I was made for this,” is my short reply. Born for it. Cultivated like the weed growing under Anex’s barn. Wincing, I lean over and shove my hand in my pocket, pulling out the wad of cash and tossing it at Levi. He lets it fall to the floor, like it’s too dirty for him to touch.

“You’re welcome.” I lift the bag and press it against my temple. That Royer prick may be a dumbass, but he’s got a solid right hook. Too bad for him, all those years of corrections make taking a few hits seem like a cake walk. More than that, I enjoy it—deserveit.

“There are other ways to make money,” Levi says, sitting on the chair across from mine. With his red hair in disarray, and slumped in his seat, he looks as beat up as I feel.

“Name one that I’m qualified for other than drug dealer or fighter.”

After Anex banished us, we were forcibly removed from the property. Tossed in the back of a van and driven miles from town. Dumped by Anex’s guards in a park with nothing but a bag of generic clothing and supplies. He’d given us both a hundred dollars in cash, along with our ID’s, but we had no idea what to do with it. Sure, I’d spent time outside the walls of Serendee, but due to my position as one of the Chosen, I had stacks of cash, nice cars, clothes, and access to clubs and restaurants. Living a life of secular poverty was an unknown.

We didn’t go quietly. At least I didn’t. I had one goal, get back to Serendee, breach the walls and find Imogene, Silas, and Rex. But as the hours passed, and Levi managed to get us a ride back to town, my plot altered. I knew getting inside the walls would be impossible, especially unarmed. We’d need supplies. Weapons. A plan. Intelligence.

I wanted my woman back in one piece and I wanted Anex dead.

To his credit, while I wallowed, Levi stepped up and found this crappy little apartment two miles from campus. It’s an efficiency. With a double bed, a scratchy couch, and an ancient, avocado green refrigerator that rattles all day and night. We at least had shelter. But we needed money. I’d heard rumors about the bar that held nightly fights and decided to check it out.

“There are legitimate jobs,” Levi continues.

I switch the bag to my swollen knuckles. “Have you had any success finding one of these magical jobs?”

He shoots me a resigned look. We both know he hasn’t. Why? Because we were raised with no real skills. Anex hamstrung us for living a life outside of Serendee. For living a lifeinsideSerendee.

“So, you’re struggling to find a job where you can lecture people in the glory of basking in the glow of Anex’s genius? Or no one will allow you to dole out Corrections for personal failures?”

“Elon…”

“Fuck, Levi, at least he taught Silas how to be a whore! He could survive out here! We’re just….”

“Fucked. We’re fucked, I know!” He shouts, the last thread of his patience snapping. “You don’t have to keep reminding me!”

If I thought rattling Levi would make me feel better, I was wrong.

Now I just feel like shit. Faith is all he has. It’s all he’s ever had and watching those beliefs slip away is like watching a man drown.

I sigh. “You know what I think about when I’m in the ring, letting those assholes get in a few punches?”

“What?”

“How much of our world was orchestrated by Anex. Did he sense who we are, who we could be, from childhood? I don’t misunderstand that he used us to build Serendee. At what point did he realize my body, my strength and power, could be honed to pressure and compel? To enforce? That Silas’s was nothing more than a vessel to be exploited, his body used to manipulate and convert?” Levi’s face pales, his hands gripping the arms of the chair, knuckles white. I continue, “Or when did he recognize that your mind, your faith and loyalty, would keep the rest of us on the path to Enlightenment even when we knew better.”

“Don’t—”

I’m not finished. I lean forward, feeling the burn against my rib—relishing the pain. “And what about Rex? The heir. Gifted and powerful. He always had the ability, and freedom, to become the greatest of us all. But was there ever any real freedom? Were we really friends? Were any of us more than pawns?”

“I don’t know the answer to any of those things.” His eyes are cast down and my heart sinks, because Levi always knows the answer to these questions. He’s always a rock, reliant on faith even when the rest of us aren’t. And if he can no longer draw on that, then what are we supposed to do? “I don’t know who I am outside those walls, outside the classroom and literature and books.” His gaze meets mine. “Outside of Anex’s approval.”