Rise An Eve Novel

west who’d inspired the colonies to come forward, in the wake of the failed siege. When I thought of Arden leaving the boys and instead taking a horse east, I was certain she deserved a permanent place in the Palace (though that term—“Palace”—was being used less and less these days).
    “There will be a place for you as well,” Arden said. “And Charles. He’s been invaluable in accessing your father’s files inside the City. The rebels said none of the others would help with the transition.”
    In the days after the rebels established control, I’d been deposed, giving a long account of the events leading up to my father’s death, including the days I’d spent in the wild. I’d given a detailed account of Moss’s death, though his body still had not been recovered. They suspected he’d been buried in one of the mass graves near the south end of the wall. An exact number had never been confirmed, but they believed several thousand died in the initial siege and the violence that followed.
    As Arden started toward the door, I stood, the sudden movement rooting me in place. I rested my hand on my stomach, which was so swollen now I could no longer hide it beneath my shirt.
    “What is it?” Arden asked, taking a few steps toward me, quickly closing the gap between us.
    I pressed my palm to the spot where I’d felt it, waiting for the swift, sudden movement to come again. I’d noticed a strange, fluttering feeling before, but it had passed quickly.
    “I think I felt her.” It was a subtle tensing, almost like a muscle spasm, so quick I wondered if I imagined it.
    Arden stood beside me, frozen, her hands outstretched but not taking my own. She seemed uncertain as she studied me. I kept my fingers right below my belly button, and the tensing came again. I started laughing, the strangeness of it startling me.
    “Eve,” Arden said, this time folding my hand in hers. I could see it in her face, feel it in the way her fingers squeezed mine. Since I’d told her what happened to Pip she’d grown more concerned, watching me closely in the weeks following her arrival. “Are you all right?”
    I looked around the room, seeing it as if for the first time. The bed that was only mine, Caleb’s T-shirt pressed beneath the pillow. The door that had no keypad beside it, no code or lock to keep me inside. Even the City looked different now, the sky outside the plate-glass window a clear, unadulterated blue.
    “I’m fine,” I said, letting my hand slip from my stomach, feeling as if that was genuinely true. “We both are.”
    MORE GIRLS FILED OFF THE TRUCKS, A LONG LINE OF THEM , clutching their packs to their chests, some holding hands. It was the second wave of refugees from the Schools, coming nearly twelve hours after the first.
    “Single file,” one of the volunteers called out. She stood in the front entrance of the Mandalay apartments, directing the girls inside. I wandered through the empty lobby, half in a daze. It was nearly one in the morning, and I hadn’t slept since the night before.
    “Which one is this?” a volunteer asked, starting toward me. I recognized her as one of the workers from the adoption centers. Her short blue jumper gave her away.
    “A School in northern California,” I said. “Thirty-three.” She watched me, expecting me to go on, but my thoughts had already drifted back to Clara and Beatrice. I’d been waiting for them, half hoping they’d be among this group. Califia had sent word that several women were returning to the City once they reached one of the liberated Schools. Trucks had been dispatched to collect them, along with Benny and Silas. They had to be a few hours away, no more.
    I turned to go, but the woman still stood there, studying me. “I’m sorry,” I said. “I’m a bit distracted.”
    “Weren’t you saying you were looking for boys from the Lake Tahoe area?” she asked, her face softening. “I heard that they just brought new survivors in. They’ve all been set up in the MGM.”
    I scanned the lobby, trying to orient myself amid the chaos. It had been assumed the boys from the dugout hadn’t made it through the initial siege. None of the doctors had reported survivors from that area, and Arden had checked among the injured. Still, I started toward the exit, wanting to at least know for myself.
    Two soldiers trailed behind me, whispering something I couldn’t hear. I stepped out into the night. With the smoke gone, the stars were