Revelation | ✓

Chapter 20

The plan goes into action late. Very late. Weeks late.

It's been almost a month since that conversation in our living room. A month. I'm impatient, but I need to wait. They need to grab three substitute leaders, and fast- I can feel our window of opportunity closing.

My mom snuck my uncle Caleb- who has no children or wife- into the compound weeks ago. It's snowed every day so far for the past two weeks. I think Mother Nature hates us. Or me. I suspect it's the latter, though I'm not entirely sure.

For now all I can do is wait.

And wait.

And wait.

/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\

The message comes exactly two weeks before Christmas.

It's short, simple. An all black envelope containing a black slip of paper, with only two words on it- it's time. The Dauntless seal is stamped on the back.

I grab the bag that has been hidden in my room for over month. I pull out a cotton black scarf that I usually reserve for school in the winter and pull it on, wrapping it around my neck and pulling it up so that it covers the lower half of my face.

My hands fumble with the straps of my backpack, checking and adjusting and securing. Another set of hands reaches down and helps. My hands are covered in black gloves with the tips of the fingers hacked off, while this person's aren't.

"You're crazy, Jack, going out there with no gloves."

He grins. "Am I, Vae? Am I really?" He's dressed the same way he was when I voiced my plan, but with a black coat on. He looks more like the Jack I've come to know, even with the shotgun and two handguns.

"You almost look like a fence guard."

"Mmhmm. Yep. Totally what I was going for."

"It works." I roll my eyes at him.

"Speaking of, how will we get past them?"

I grin. "Leave that to my dad, Tori, Bud, and Harrison. They could get even the worst criminal out of jail."

"Strange as it sounds, I don't doubt that." We both stand up, and he hands me my bag.

I look over at the door and see Ryde leaning against the doorway in black jeans and a black coat. His arms are crossed over his chest, and he has the same passive expression that I've grown used to. My heart aches, knowing that that same look used to fade when it was just the two of us.

I shake it off. Now's the time for action, not thought. Not unless we're captured. Then I can think. Now? Just shut up and do it.

I walk out into the main room of our apartment to find everyone accounted for. Maiya skips over to me. "Shit, now you've got two hot guys trailing you?" She makes an approving noise. "Girl, you better act on that."

I nudge her in the ribs. "Hey, shut up. They're not trailing me, for god's sake."

She raises an eyebrow at me. "You sure? 'Cause it looks like they're always trailin' you to me."

I roll my eyes. "Ryde's dating Elissa, remember?"

She shakes her head. "Nope. They broke up."

"No way. They did not."

She nods. "They did. He found out that she was cheating on him...again."

I groan. "Damn it, why does that boy always have to get involved with girls like her?"

She smirks. "One, you just cussed. And two, I have no idea." She sighs. "He's an idiot."

"Well obviously. How many times has this happened?"

"Too many to count."

"Exactly. He needs to find someone else."

Her smirk gets bigger. "Someone like...you?"

My face warms.

"Or are you and Jack a thing?"

I swear I turned fifty colors thirty seconds. "Me and Jack? What? No."

"Vae Cain." She muses. Then she shakes her head. "Vae Pedrad sounds better to me."

I smack her in the arm. "Stop making marriage plans for me. I'm only thirteen."

"Turning fourteen in two months." She reminds me.

I open my mouth to reply, but Tori walks over. "Vae, we need to go. You're up front with Jack, Ryder, and a few others. Okay?"

I nod. "That's fine Tori, thanks."

Maiya shoots me a we'll-finish-this-later-missy-look and skips over to Milla and her twin sister, Rachel. My dad says a few things and off we go. As we leave, I take a final look at the Dauntless compound, run my hands over the cold walls of the train one last time.

Man will I miss this place.