Sovereign (Sovereign Series) Read Online Free PDF

I’m pledged to the Guard.
    He
takes a deep breath and stares at me.  He can’t touch me for ten months .  I push away the fact that he already has touched me and
shove it far into the darkness somewhere.
    “You’re
a mystery to me, you know,” he says.  “And you frustrate me.”  His eyes
scrutinize me again, and I feel sweat beading on the back of my neck.  “You
seem to continually find new ways to frustrate me, actually.”
    “What
do you want from me?”
    “You
see, that’s just it.  I can’t decide.”  He tilts his head to the side,
wrinkling his nose.  “There’s a part of me that wonders if I could somehow
harness all that rage, all that energy--the skill even--and put it to good
use.  If you could channel your passion toward the good of the colony instead
of petty mischief...well, you’d make a hell of a soldier.”
    “The
other part?” I ask, regretting it almost immediately.  Why can’t I keep my trap
shut?
    He
stands, clasps his hands, and takes a few steps toward me.  “The other part,”
he starts as sweat drips down my back.  “The other part wants to make you
suffer.  To punish you for your blatant disrespect for my rules.  Your
disregard for the well-being of this colony and how it must operate.”  He’s
beginning to yell now, “The other part wants to squeeze the life out of you and
parade your body around as a trophy, so that everyone will know that I alone am
sovereign, not some punk kid with an attitude problem.” 
    I
don’t know how long I’ve been holding my breath, but I exhale at the same time
he does.
    “These
people admire me.  If you kill a seventeen-year-old girl for some ego boost,
they’ll revolt.  You’ll make a martyr of me,” I say as boldly as I can.
    “There
are many ways I can punish you.”  He rubs the bottom of his shirt to wipe off
dirt that isn’t there, smoothing it over a few times, casually.
    “Well,
you have ten months to decide.”
    A
cold, billowing laugh escapes him and sends a shudder through my bones. 
    “Cori. 
Little girl.”  He’s in my face now.  “In ten months, you’ll already be a model
soldier, or you’ll be dead.  Your delinquency has given me no choice but to
expedite your pledge.  I’ll see you at the funeral.” 
    Just
like that he’s out the door and I’m staring at the wall, listening to his
footsteps falling farther and farther away.  I can’t be sure but I think he
just told me I’m joining the Guard early. 
    The
Guard means a chip in my neck, and living in the military sector of the
underground facility.  Under the same roof as Nathan.  The Guard means security
cameras, locked doors, and no windows.  The Guard means I cannot escape.
    I
jump when two hands grab my shoulders, and I jerk away from the touch
immediately, even though I know it’s just Dylan and he means well.  He always
means well.  I wait for him to tell me it isn’t true.  I wish he would tell me
Cornelius is still alive, and I still have ten months to escape.  I wish he would tell me I’ve just woken up from a nightmare.  But he doesn’t. 
    “I’ll
make you a new set as fast as I can.  I’ll start tonight,” he whispers.  We
both know it’ll take at least a week to forge a pair of wings without being
caught.  Somehow I doubt we’ve got that much time. 
    “We’ve
got to get you out of here,” I say as I walk to the door.  I push him behind it
as I peek outside, finding the hall is bustling with girls.  I close the door. 
I point at the air vent and walk over to it.  He doesn’t follow.  “If you crawl
inside this vent, go left and take it all the way down, it will lead you to a
return vent in the girls’ room, where the laundry chute is.  Go down the chute,
climb into the vent directly above it, and go right.  In ten yards you’ll reach
the vent in your room.”
    He
rubs his brow, looking completely baffled.
    I
try to assure him, “It’s okay, I replaced all the screws on the vent