Page 7 of Ruthless Chaos

“So you’re lying to get me into this place?” My voice shakes.

Uncle Laurent shrugs. “Your father agrees that it’s worth the risk. We don’t know who is targeting you. So long as you don’t tell anyone your real name, you’ll be fine.”

I don’t agree. “Won’t they realize it’s a lie, though?”

“Saint Frederic is a secretive university. The people who know of it, are the ones who need its protection,” he says matter-of-factly. “Nobody will question you unless you give them a reason to.”

My hands start to shake so I put them on my lap, out of his sight.

“Don’t worry. I made it as easy for you as I could.” He slides a passport toward me. “I’ve put together a new identity for you.”

I examine the passport. Instead of my French passport, this one is emblazoned with the United States’ national symbol. My date of birth is off by a few months. Instead of Alize Moreau, it reads Allie Clarke.

“Allie,” I test it out.

Uncle Laurent looks proud of himself. “Ingenious right? It’s one of your nicknames, so it won’t be too confusing for you.”

Not just any nickname. That wasDolores’nickname for me.

The thought of her is my breaking point.

Besides having my entire world upended twice over the last three months, I’ll have to cosplay as an entirely different person just to stay alive. And if I cannot keep up the façade, I’ll probably die.

“Don’t look so scared, Alize.” He cleans his glasses with his tie. “It’s a new world with new rules. Just try your best to fit in. You’re an intelligent girl. I trust you can do it.”

I don’t know what to think or feel anymore.

His plan is literally to hide me in plain sight, but he’s talking about it as if he just discovered the Theory of Relativity. He might as well just wrap me in a meat suit and drop me in a river filled with piranhas.

“It was a hard decision for me to make, Al.” He’s trying to look sympathetic again. I grit my teeth and look away from him. “But at Saint Frederic, you’ll have some sort of normalcy. You can make friends—within reason. You can have a college experience.” I ball my fists. I didn’t want to experience it likethis.“This will only be for as long as it needs to be. Once the threat on your life is neutralized, your father will pull you out.”

A small tendril of hope stirs to life in my chest, but I stifle it. I know better now. I will believe that when I see it.

“The name on file for your father will be Andrew Clarke. If you’re ever asked about your family, just say that they are private people,” he says. “They’ll try to read between the lines and come up with their own stories. Anything they can think of will be better than the truth.”

For a heartbeat, I wonder why anyone would even be interested in knowing so much about me. It won’t be hard for me to stick to the shadows, though. I’m used to it.

All my life, I have been invisible.

Trying to internalize everything, I nod slowly. I want to tell Uncle Laurent I don’t want to end up in a no-name town in Switzerland with the children of presumably psychopaths. But what’s the alternative? I literally have nowhere else to go.

This is the only choice I have, so I must make do with it.

I wish I had died with Dolores, and in a way I have. Alize Moreau dies right here, 30,000ft in the air over the Atlantic.

I’m Allie Clarke now.

At least I get to make her whoever I want her to be.

TWO

ALEXANDER

The water feelslike fire going down my throat and nose, chasing out the last bit of air from my lungs. A hand is rooted in my hair, keeping my head underwater. The world is spinning, and my vision is growing spotty, but I know better than to resist him.

It’ll only make things worse in the end.

We’ve been at this long enough that everything is moving in slow motion now. I’m near my limit. I close my eyes and focus on the silence below the water’s surface. It’s peaceful down here. Welcoming, even.