Appeal

     “Your…” I stammer. “Your true co-leader?”

     Ingrid barks out a laugh. “Don’t sound too surprised.”

     Co-lead a rebellion with Hector’s sister? Is she crazy? Last time I tried to rebel, Hector was the one who locked me up–who shattered me–who brought me here–

     Just so I could rebel again? No way. I’m not signing up for that. “I’m done fighting.” I fold my arms and move my gaze from Ingrid to Ari. “Shatterproof was enough for me. In case you didn’t notice, shattering didn’t change anything. The city is probably still going on, living the same way without us.”

     “That’s exactly the point though,” Ingrid says. “Think about it. You’re punished for marks of your imperfection in Shatterproof until you shatter, at which point you’re sent to a country where you’re punished for marks that signify criminal behavior–call it behavioral imperfection, if you will. Imagine my surprised when I shattered at the young age of eleven, only to wake up in a world that was nightmarishly similar.”

     My stomach clenches as though a fist wrapped around it. I can’t deny that I felt the same terror when I first awoke here. But so what? I shook myself to clear the thought from my head. So what if you thought like Ingrid? That doesn’t make you her “true co-leader.”

     Ingrid tilts her head to better catch my eye. “All I want is to repeal the tattoos law. I can’t do it. My case isn’t strong enough. But ever since Hec met you, he knew you were someone who could. I have the vision, but you have the drive.”

    I push past Ingrid and collapse into an armchair by the fire, hugging my knees against my chest tight enough to press the ache out of my heart. Hec. Well, if he believed in me, he sure had a funny way of showing it.