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MARA

H is body collapsed like a ragdoll, completely stunned. The subtle vibration of the stunner in my hand would have tickled were it not for the adrenaline pumping in my veins like fire.

The servants’ corridors were lit, and yet, somehow, they seemed as dark as ever. I knew security would be monitoring the halls of the palace, but dawn was breaking, and I knew the staff should have been roaming the mansion already to complete their day’s work.

Except they weren’t.

For being five in the morning, the house was strangely empty, devoid of personal maids and butlers. But it was heavily guarded, more so than usual. Nora and I had already taken out a dozen or so security personnel as we snuck in through the servants’ entrance.

“I don’t understand where everyone is.” I released the stunner’s battery clip, letting it clatter to the polished stone floor as my spare hand searched for another in my bag.

Nora’s eyes swiped one way and then the other, checking the massive servants’ common room—one of four, I was told—for any other sign of life. “The city’s revolting and District 3 is in chaos. I doubt anyone is coming in to work today. ”

I considered that, snapping the fresh battery clip into my stunner. It made sense. All serving staff were Subclass citizens. “What’s next?”

Satisfied with her search, my mother walked back, checking her weapon as she did. “Your father should be in the Presidential Office. With the city the way it is, he would have remained here. The Admin Buildings would have been too dangerous for him.”

I checked my tab—one hour and twenty-eight minutes to strike. “What’s the plan?”

“The office is on the third floor. We’ll use the servants’ passage to stay out of view.”

“Do you know the way through the passages?” I had only been through them one other time, back when Chelsea helped me escape the palace.

“A little,” my mother admitted, and I found myself curious to know how she would be familiar with the servants’ passages at all.

“But not well enough to guide us straight to the Presidential Office. Using them would be wise, however. We’ll be less likely to run into security or be detected on camera.

We’ll use the first set of stairs we find, go up two flights, and then we’ll navigate the third floor from there. ”

I nodded, shoving down the knot of tangled unease curling in my gut. It was amazing how much my body remembered this place. How much it responded with a primal urge to run. But I wasn’t running today. I wasn’t looking to hide or seek shelter.

I was hunting.

“Lead the way, mother dearest,” I said.

Nora arched a brow with a coy smile. “I rather like that, I think.”

I shook my head. “Don’t get used to it.”

“Noted.” She spun around, both hands gripping the silvery handle of her stunner. “This way, darling .”

I shook my head again at the pet name.

We prowled through the hallway, quick on our feet and silent as cats.

The corridor was all dark stones and depressing, dimly lit by the rugged utility lights along the wall.

It was a sharp contrast to the glittery crystals, refined white marbles, and gilded accents I knew to be the Presidential Palace.

It was almost as if Raúl and Belinda wanted the servants to always be reminded of their place in Telvian society—the lowest of the low.

Just because you served the Presidential Family didn’t mean you had risen from your place in the dark.

My face distorted itself in anger. To think that it wasn’t all that long ago I saw my personal maids in the same way.

Treated Chelsea like she was nothing. I was so misguided back then.

So desperate to be loved by my parents that I sacrificed my morality for false acceptance. The thought turned to acid in my veins.

“This stairway should take us up to the third floor. I just can’t remember what part of the house we’ll be in.” She started up the stairs, and I followed.

“How do you know the servants’ passageway?”

“Your Aunt Serena. It’s how I was able to sneak into the palace to meet with your father during the last uprising.” The stairwell curved, and then a doorway appeared. “This should be the second story. We need to go up one more.”

“You and Tía Serena were really close, huh?”

“Yes.” I detected the mournful tone of her voice. “It was through her that I met your dad, actually.”

I didn’t say anything…just let that knowledge sit with me.

“I think we should be just about—”

BOOM!

The ground shook under our feet and my hands shot out to grip the walls. “What the hell was that?”

Nora was bent over, one hand on the steps in front of her to catch herself from falling. She looked over her shoulder. “That sounded like an explosion.”

“It can’t be the airstrike,” I said. “It’s too early, right?” I double-checked my tab. We still had over an hour .

“No. If it was the airstrike, we’d already be dead,” she answered, righting herself.

BOOM!

Pieces of stone fell from the ceiling, and I cursed under my breath. “Then what the hell is that?”

“I don’t know. But we’ve gotta get out of here.” She started taking the steps two at a time, and I huffed as I kept up with her.

“Do you think the citizens are attacking the palace?”

“I don’t know, Mara,” she snapped at me. “Just keep moving!” Another thunderous sound—louder—caused more stone to crumble. “Move it!” she screamed at me. And then we were running, racing up the steps, rushing to get out of the stairwell before the ceiling caved in on us.

Another doorway appeared, and Nora led us through, making a right down another passage. I could hear shouting through the walls and then the sound of gunfire.

“This way!” she yelled at me, coming up to a stretch of wall that looked just like everything else. She ran her hands along it, fingers searching, pressing, prying, doing anything she could to find whatever it was she was searching for. “Come on,” she muttered to herself. “Where the hell are you?”

More shouts.

More gunfire.

Another resounding boom.

Click!

“Yes!” my mother whisper-shouted as the wall jutted inward toward us, and then crawled to the left. We dashed out into the hallway and heard shouting way too close for comfort.

“Damn it. We’re on the wrong side of the house,” my mother declared, grabbing my shoulder and pushing me down the hall to the right. “ We’ve got to—”

“There!”

I spun around, seeing a REG officer pointing at us at the opposite end of the hall.

“Go!” my mother screamed, shoving me ahead of her. I started running, coming up to a juncture, rounded the corner and slid to a skidding halt.

“Oh shit,” I mumbled.

Because directly in front of me was a throng of security—a mixture of Telvian Enforcement and REG officers. We were trapped.

“Mara, get down!” my mother screamed.

That’s when the security personnel opened fire.