Rise An Eve Novel

constant twisting pain in my stomach, like it had been wrung dry.
    “The end is near,” Moss whispered. Then he rapped his fingers on the books. “And you will be ushering it in.”
    “I should be able to get inside.” I’d thought about the circumstances under which I could get into my father’s suite, how I’d ask to speak with him, make up some sort of reason to talk. “But once I’m there?”
    He smoothed his hand over the cover of the book, working at the worn gold embossing. “You’ll have to get into the drawers beside his bathroom sink. Your father has a bottle of blood pressure medicine that he takes. Each pill should come apart in two and have white powder inside.”
    “Then I’ll replace it,” I said, glancing at the book.
    Moss nodded. “Exactly. In as many as you can—at least six or seven pills. You have to be careful, though. Make sure you don’t breathe it in or have any residue left on your hands. There was trouble procuring the ricin—this is dried oleander extract. It’s not ideal, but it will suffice. Leave the pills at the top, where they’ll be taken sooner. It should take only a few doses.”
    “Then we just wait?”
    Moss rested his finger on his brow. “Once your father shows signs of illness, you’ll have to leave the City, at least for a month or two, until the fighting stops. With the troops from the colonies, we have a better chance at ending the conflict swiftly. When I’m settled as the interim leader, and we set up elections, you can return. It’ll be too dangerous for you here in the meantime. I know where your loyalties lie, but it’s not something I can or will share with the majority of the rebels—not initially. It would be too dangerous.”
    I thought of the remaining tunnels beneath the wall. Only one of the three had been discovered when Caleb was shot. Moss had often described the locations of the other two, reminding me where they were in case our connection was ever discovered. “That’s what the radio and the map are for, then,” I said. “The knife. I’ll leave the City as soon as he gets sick.” Anyone who lived inside the walls would recognize me. I was the King’s heir, the girl on the front page of the newspaper, on the electric screens that hovered on the sides of the luxury buildings. In the wild, I would be safer, less known.
    “There’ll be some provisions waiting for you when you leave. Make sure to use the south tunnel.” Moss glanced down at the table, staring at the crumbs from the blueberry scones. I’d picked them apart, repulsed by the dry, floury smell. He flicked one onto the floor with his finger. “A few days’ worth, enough to get you away from the City without having to hunt. And please—stay away from the hospital and the girls, at least for now.”
    “Who told you I was there?”
    “One of the rebels. Seema—an older soldier, red streak in her hair.” He stared at me, but I couldn’t remember seeing the woman the previous night. “Your being there raises questions. Let’s keep with this plan.”
    I slid the chair back from the table. “While everyone is here, moving in for the siege, I’m supposed to just flee? Won’t that confirm everyone’s suspicions?”
    “Once the fighting has settled and I establish some control internally, you’ll come back. A month or two—that’s all.”
    “ If I come back,” I said. “How can we predict what’ll happen after the siege?” Moss seemed confident that once the fighting stopped and the King was killed, the City would naturally move toward democracy; that as each citizen learned about the conditions at the labor camps and Schools, even the soldiers would turn toward the rebels.
    Moss covered my hand with his. “There’s lodging throughout Death Valley—the rebels have hidden supplies at a point called Stovepipe Wells. They’ve used it as a stopping point on their way to the City. The radio codes I passed along a few weeks ago will be the same. We can discuss it more once your father is sick, but it will work. Trust me.”
    I nearly laughed. Could there be a place more ominous sounding than Death Valley? “What about Clara? And Rose? What will happen to Charles once the rebels take power?”
    Moss pressed his lips together. “I can try to offer them protection, but they’re associated with your father. They’ve lived in the Palace for years—they’re easily recognizable. Charles has been working for the King.”
    “I can take them with me,”