1: I Hate This, and That, and Definitely YOU
“June, can you tell me why the Western and Southern regions opted to secede from the United Factions of America?”
My head whipped forward, catching sight of my professor as she paced the front of the classroom. Crap… I racked my brain for the answer. Not the real answer, but the right one. The one that would keep me alive and my identity a secret.
“Miss Huang?”
“Looks like she failed to do the reading, Professor Watkins.”
I snapped my head around and glared at Tim Harris with his stupid beady gray eyes and his stupid blond hair. He snickered, tapping Javier on the shoulder.
I swear to god, one day I’m going to stab that jack—
“Miss Huang,” Professor Watkins snapped at me.
I faced forward again, trying to ignore the two jerks three rows behind me. “Yes, Professor?” She sounded so exasperated with me, and I couldn’t blame her. Watkins had always been patient with me. But it was hard to regurgitate one history when you were taught a completely different set of events for your entire life.
She shook her head. “This will be on the Initiate Exam. I’d hate to see your application for graduation denied simply because you’re not doing your homework.”
“Somebody’s not graduating,” Tim drawled once more from the back row. “District 3, here comes Junie.”
“Es demasiado inteligente para estar en Distrito Tres,” another voice sang from the back.
I gritted my teeth. If there was one person I hated more than Tim, it was Javier.
“Whatcha say, man? Whatcha say?” Freakin’ Harris sounded damn right giddy. “Please tell me you called her Subclass Trash?”
I swiveled my head around.
Javier tucked his chin, glancing at me under hooded eyes. The stupid jerk was gorgeous with his glossy lengths of straight black hair and brown eyes so dark they actually looked like obsidian. Our coloring was similar, but where my skin looked like fine white china, his skin was tanned, deliciously kissed by the sun. He was the epitome of tall, dark, and ruggedly handsome. But he was full of himself, thinking that saying god only knows what in Spanish would cause any girl to drop to their knees. And the worst part was…he was freaking right! I absolutely hated it.
“Something like that,” he confirmed, never taking his gaze off me. He was smoldering. How the hell did he make jackassery look so damn good? And how was it that guys could smolder? I wanted to smolder. But whenever I tried, I just looked like an idiot.
“Speak English,” I snapped back at him. “At least have the guts to insult me in a language I understand.”
I watched him lean forward over his desk with a sexy arched brow. “Acculturate yourself, mi vida. Then see if you have the courage to face me.”
I chewed on my cheek, seething. I hate de la Puentes.
Watkins clapped her hands, bringing the attention back to her. “Enough, Mr. de la Puente. And please, speak in English.”
I smirked. Thank you, Professor.
“Miss Huang,” Watkins faced me again. “Do you know the answer or not?”
I inhaled deeply, trying to calm my temper. It was not my best quality. I looked at my teacher. The West and South didn’t secede from the UFA. Raúl murdered their ruling families in cold blood after earning their trust, and then separated from the rest of the United Factions to form Telvia. That was the real answer.
I cleared my throat. “The West and South seceded after the third civil war, when the people rose against their monarchical presidents because they desired a true democracy and the power of choice. At the time, President de la Puente was General of the West. He took control of the Western faction and promised the people a free election.”
Professor Watkins smiled. “Very good, Miss Huang.” Her eyes finally left mine and scanned the room. “And why did the United States become the United Factions of America to begin with?”
Sally raised her hand. She was one of the few people I actually tolerated around here. “The Great Drought, Professor. Because of climate change, erratic weather patterns emerged and led to a severe, sustained drought, food shortages, and natural weather disasters that devastated the nation.”
“Excellent, Miss Miller. And how did climate change alter the future of the USA?”
Sally glanced my way, and I offered her an encouraging smile in return. These were all questions we needed to know for the Citizenship portion of our Initiate’s Exam. In a week, we would all graduate as long as we passed the exam tomorrow.
Movement two rows up caught my attention as Chase raised his hand. He was arguably one of the most popular boys at the Telvian Academy, rivaled only by the de la Puente cousins—Javier and Jacob. Chase was the exact opposite of Javier in his appearance—blond, bright green eyes, angular features, and a jaw that looked like it could crack marble. More important than that, he was a good guy, and he was my friend.
“Mr. Beckham?”
“Due to the lack of natural resources caused by the weather, the states grew greedy with what resources they had. No one wanted to share. Fighting broke out, and the country experienced the second civil war, causing the USA’s government to collapse.”
“Well done, Mr. Beckham.”
Chase smiled, clearly pleased with himself. I smirked. Show off. That was the only thing about Chase…he could be a peacock.
The bell rang. Professor Watkins pulled back the sleeve of her blouse, glanced at her mini-tab, and then smiled at the room. “Enough review for today. Please be here bright and early tomorrow. The exam starts promptly at eight.”
Thank the stars. I couldn’t have been more ready to leave. While everyone else was going out with friends, I had more important things to do. I grabbed my backpack, shoved my e-reader in it, and got out of there like a bat out of hell before Sally had a chance of asking me to study with her tonight.
The hallways were a mess of students, and there was a clamor of chatter, laughter, and locker doors banging. I reached mine and typed in my code. It beeped, flashing a little green light, and unlocked. In my opinion, lockers were pointless. No one had actual books anymore, especially in Telvia. Raúl had them all destroyed when he took power and proclaimed himself the president of the Western and Southern factions of the UFA. He curated which books were allowed, keeping just enough classic works to keep the people from suspecting censorship.
But he was censoring all right. He was censoring big time.
In fact, the whole freaking city was being censored from the rest of the world. Nobody realized that the rest of the continent was alive and thriving. I blew out a breath. It was the hardest thing knowing the truth and trying to pretend like you didn’t know squat.
“Hey!”
I jumped. “Damn it, Sally, don’t sneak up on me like that.” This girl had no idea who she was dealing with. She was so freaking lucky I didn’t stab her with my daggers. I had two—one attached to each thigh under my navy-blue uniform skirt. And they had names: Honor and Glory.
“I’m sorry. You just left class so fast, and I wanted to talk to you.” Sally was a sweet, mousy thing. Small and petite, with auburn hair and blue-green eyes hidden behind round glasses. But she was always nervous and lacked confidence—a by-product of being from District 3. No one from District 3 had much of anything, especially confidence.
I shook my head, biting my tongue, and pulled out my gym clothes. It was my last class, and I absolutely hated gym. Not only did I have to leave my daggers behind, but I had to pretend like I couldn’t hand every guy his own ass on a silver platter.
“About what?” I slammed my locker closed.
“About the party this weekend…the graduation party. Are you going?” She smiled brightly.
“Harris’s party? Oh no,” I said as I backed away from the locker. “You know Harris and I don’t play nice.”
She gripped my shoulder, skipping along beside me. “Please,” she begged. “He’s going to be there, and I really need you,” she said, pouting her bottom lip.
I stuck my finger in my mouth and made an obnoxious gagging sound.
She glared. “Don’t be that way. Jacob’s really sweet.”
I rolled my eyes at her. She wasn’t wrong. For being the son of Telvia’s president-turned-dictator, he wasn’t bad. Full of himself, just like his cousin, and grossly flawed in his politics, but significantly better than some of the other District 1 snobs. That district was nothing more than a collection of society’s elite—the Noble Class. Just a bunch of rotten, no-good wealthy politicians that kept Raúl in power.
Sally was from the Subclass, and I was assigned District 2 status when I entered Telvia undercover. Three districts. Three castes. And they all varied hugely in status and wealth. But everyone received the same education at the Academy. From five until eighteen, everyone attended the same brick-and-mortar building, getting the same brainwashing crap as everybody else.
A dying earth, destroyed by our own hands.
A conflicted nation tearing itself apart.
Civil war. Government collapse.
And the rise of an independent country—Telvia.
It wasn’t all BS. In fact, all of it was true. The lie was how Raúl de la Puente was going to reintroduce democracy to the two factions he took by force.
That part was the lie.
Because once he tasted sweet power, he never let it go. And now, almost two decades later, half of the former UFA still believed that the world beyond their giant freaking wall was nothing but desert infested with marauders. Telvians believed the rest of the UFA had completely collapsed after the last war—The Loyal War.
Idiots.
But I shouldn’t be so hard on them. For nearly twenty years, Telvians were taught that the rest of the world was gone. No one could go beyond the wall unless you had military clearance, and all media was scrutinized and controlled. Nothing got in and nothing got out. It was like living under a freaking dome. How people hadn’t gotten fed up and taken up arms already, I didn’t know.
“So will you go?”
I turned my attention back to Sally. “I don’t know, Sal”—I dodged someone rushing down the hall—“I’m pretty busy.”
She skipped in front of me and planted herself like a damn rock. Hands on her hips, Sally Miller stared me down. “Doing what, June? Tomorrow’s the exam and then it’s done. It’s all over.” She narrowed her eyes. “What could you possibly have to do?”
“Uh…” Rebel stuff. You know, report to my commanding officer, be briefed on my mission, and then get the hell out of Telvia before I get caught.
“Damn it,” I muttered.
“Yes!” Sally hopped, clapping her hands.
Stepping around her, I hustled down the hall, already running late for freaking gym. “I didn’t say I was going,” I tossed over my shoulder.
“But you have to go!” She grabbed onto my arm again. “You know I can’t go unless someone from a higher district takes me. Please, June. Pretty please…for me?”
There it was. I looked at Sally once again. She looked like she was about to cry, her hands up like she was praying to the universe.
I groaned. “God, Sally, I hate you so much,” I groused.
“Does that mean you’ll go?”
I wrinkled my nose. “I’ll think about it,” I said, hating that I was even considering going to Harris’s damn party.
She threw her arms around me, hopping once more. “Thank you, thank you, thank you!”
“That wasn’t a yes,” I muttered, untangling myself from her arms. “Thank me once I agree because there’s a huge chance I’ll say no.”
Freaking Telvians.
“I know you won’t,” she gushed. “See you after school!” Then she was gone.
I trilled my lips. Of all the damn things, it had to be Harris’s party. I shivered. I hated Harris. The jerk deserved to have his eyes pecked out by a chicken.
I groaned again as I stepped out into the light of the afternoon sun. Everything was concrete and artificial turf around here, but at least the sun was real. I soaked it in as much as I could before I shoved open the double doors to the gymnasium only to be smacked by the smell of sweat and rubber. And when I looked across the massive indoor basketball court, blue rubber mats were all over the floor.
Dread filled every corner of my five-foot-seven frame. Not today. It was the last day of gym. Why the hell were we doing this today?
“Huang!” Coach Bill yelled across the room. “Get your ass in your gym clothes. Let’s go!”
I closed my eyes, gritting my teeth. Sparring. Why the hell were we freaking sparring?
I hated sparring.
I hated gym.
I hated this stupid Academy.
I hated the caste system that kept good people like Sally stuck with less.
I hated Tim Harris.
I hated Telvia.
I hated all of it!
“Huang, did you hear me?” Coach shouted again. “Get ready and get on the damn mat.”
My name’s not Huang, I thought to myself.
I kicked ass and took names with two blades I was lethally trained to use. And one day, we were going to tear this Academy down brick by freaking brick, lie by fucking lie. One day soon, the Telvian people would be free, and the entire de la Puente family would pay for the crimes they committed against the United Factions of America.
My name is Liddy Le, and I am most definitely ready.
2: Cleanup on Mat 2
Sparring was an essential part of gym class because it allowed the Telvians to see if you would be any good for a career in military or enforcement. It was only in your last year at the Academy, and only done a few weeks before Initiation. They gave you very little instruction on what to do or how to do it.
And why would they? The last thing a dictator wants is his citizens to be armed or trained for combat, right? Such things would only arm the people to take back control.
But graduation was this Saturday, and the Initiation Ceremony would determine our future caste, careers, and the rest of our lives. In Telvia, everything you did at the Academy from age five to eighteen was an assessment. One big, long-ass test for the Telvian Council to determine your strengths and weaknesses. They took all that info and determined where they thought you belonged.
The wealthy, powerful, and strong were in the Noble Class—District 1.
Those too smart for their own good were typically in the Middle Class—District 2. Intelligent people were an asset to the Telvian government but could be hard to manipulate. District 2 gave them just enough status to keep them happy without the same power and control as the Nobles.
Those deemed as feeble and a drain on society were in the Subclass—District 3. But it also housed the troublemakers—those individuals considered problematic to the Telvian Council. They lived on the fringes of society, receiving less than everyone else, and barely survived each year.
Raúl’s philosophy was to keep those who supported his reign and ideals happy and in a position of power. Those who could overthrow him needed to be kept weak and in line. And everyone else sat in the middle.
Wanted to move up? You had thirteen years to prove you deserved to be promoted to a higher class while at the Academy. That was it. That was your shot. After that, your life was set in stone, and you were stuck. Chances of being promoted following the Academy were rare, and you were far more likely to be demoted into a lower caste. And absolutely no one wanted to be dropped a class.
I tugged on my gym shorts, trying to cover more of my thighs as I walked onto the court toward the four blue mats set up like a game of four square in the middle of the gym. Coach stood in the middle where all four corners met. A quick glance at the bleachers showed me that several members of the Initiate Committee were here.
Ah…I get it now. This was a final assessment before graduation. One last look at who had enough brutality in them to be assigned a career in Telvian Enforcement or the REG—Rebel Enforcement Group. Figures…I should have known better.
“Mat 1, Huang.” Coach pointed to the upper righthand corner.
Blowing out a breath, I started walking to the mat, watching as Chase threw down some redhead on Mat 4. The coach blew his whistle and ordered him off the mat.
Chase offered the redhead a hand, pulled him up to his feet, and then stepped off the mat before walking my way. His bright green eyes caught mine, and I couldn’t help but smirk as he leaned down to whisper something to me. Shoulder to shoulder, I looked at him.
“Is your pride stuck in show-off mode, Beckham?”
His eyes gleamed. “There’s no harm in showing them what I can do,” he answered with a smile.
I gave him an exaggerated eye roll. “I don’t know why I expected anything less.”
He leaned in close, lips coming to my ear. “It’s the last day. No harm in showing them what you’ve got, either.”
I pulled back just enough to see that stupid, charming face of his. I liked Chase. But not like that. We were just friends. And even if I did like him like that, it was going to be a hard pass on his part. Because he had his eyes set on one girl and one girl only. And that girl sure as hell wasn’t me.
I smirked at him. “Yeah, we’ll see.”
“Huang!” the coach yelled again. “Mat 1!”
I groaned as Chase patted me on the back. “Go get ’em, June.”
I turned my attention back to the mats and kept walking. A nervous girl with curly black hair was waiting for me on Mat 1. I pulled my long, sleek, raven-black hair into a ponytail, and then stepped onto the blue rubber, feeling it give under the weight of my body. The whistle blew, and it took me all of five minutes before she tapped out.
I didn’t even try.
It was kind of sad. I looked at the bleachers and watched as the Initiate Committee took several notes. Unless the girl was brilliant or wealthy AF, she was heading straight for District 3 if she wasn’t already. I advanced onto Mat 2.
My next opponent was a boy with a buzz cut and gangly frame. Licking my lips, I stepped back onto the mat. He was going to be more of a challenge, hopefully. The whistle blew, and I crouched down, ready to move. The boy charged me, but he was sloppy and off balance. Way too low and yet, somehow, not low enough. I evaded him easily, shifting left. He spun around, hands out like he was going to grapple with a tiger or something, leaving his face and sides totally exposed.
Idiot. Drop your damn arms.
He charged me again. I swept to the right this time, dodging him once more. But this time, as he passed me, I shot out my left arm in a karate-chop motion, smacking him hard in the kidney. He groaned, and I winced for him. I knew that had to hurt. I just hoped I didn’t hit him hard enough for him to pee blood tonight.
I spun around and watched as he arched his back, one hand cupping the spot where I hit him. I grimaced. Poor guy.
“Fucking bitch,” he muttered.
Never mind. I no longer felt sympathy for him. I crouched back into my fighting stance. “This bitch is ready to deliver again whenever you’re done crying.”
He glared at me, and then charged. Had he learned nothing?
I let him close the gap, and he was just as uncoordinated as before. But instead of dodging, I dropped, swung out a leg, and sent him crashing to the ground. Before he moved, I pounced like a jungle cat and grabbed his arm, twisted it behind his back, and applied enough pressure to incapacitate him.
“How does that feel?” I asked, increasing the pressure by just a hair.
“Ow!” he yelled, his face smothered in the rubber mat. “I’m done!” He tapped the mat twice with his free hand, and I let him go, backing away quickly.
The whistle blew, and the coach yelled out, “Mat 3, Huang!”
I split my hair into two and pulled, tightening my ponytail as I stepped off the mat. The boy grumbled as he got up, muttering obscenities under his breath as he called me several more unpleasant names. I flipped him off.
Jackass.
I twisted my head, cracking my neck as I stepped onto Mat 3. The boy across from me was facing away, watching whatever was happening on Mat 4. All I saw was the back of his blond head until he finally turned around. Gray eyes met mine, and a sneer that would have curdled milk.
“Shit,” I muttered under my breath.
Tim Harris laughed. “Oh, today is my lucky fucking day! I would have given anything to spar with you, Huang.”
I narrowed my eyes at him as I stepped across the mat. “Didn’t think you’d be so desperate to have your ass handed to you, Harris. Especially in front of the Committee.”
He laughed…like Santa Claus. Grabbed his abs like it was a bowl full of damn jelly. But Harris was anything but jelly. The guy was built like an ox with broad, bulky shoulders and a neck so thick it looked like a damn tree trunk.
I slowly dropped into my fighting stance.
Tim shook his head as he crouched. “It’s like an early graduation present,” he said with a cocky grin. “I’m going to do you a solid, Huang. I’m going to drop kick your ass into District 3 and save you the embarrassing walk of shame as my personal graduation present to you. Because I’m a nice guy like that.”
Now I knew why Chase told me there was no harm in showing off—he knew exactly who was waiting for me on the mat. I smiled, feeling adrenaline and pure elation pumping through my veins. I was going to give Harris a taste of his own medicine.
I’m going to kick your ass so hard, you’re going to shit sideways. I snickered at my thought. “Bring it on, Harris. Let’s show the Committee your true colors.”
The whistle blew, and it was on.
3: Kicking Ass and Taking Names
I toyed with him. Harris was big and strong, but he was slow, and he gave every move away with a little twitch in the arm or leg he planned to use next.
So. Freaking. Obvious.
I easily dodged him, and then…
SMACK.
Twirled to the right…
PUNCH.
Spun left…
KICK.
He huffed. He groaned. He coughed. He growled.
But no matter how much he came at me, I evaded him easily. It was kind of fun, actually, and I was tiring him out. All of his lumbering punches took a lot of energy, and he was growing fatigued.
“Enough, Huang,” he growled at me as I slipped past him again. I spun around and kicked him in the butt, sending him falling forward onto his face.
The entire gym broke out laughing. And not just little titters. They were rolling. Even the Committee was chuckling in the stands. They were trying to hide it, but they were doing a piss-poor job of it.
I watched Harris as he climbed to his feet, beet red and looking like he was about to explode.
“I thought you were going to send me flying to District 3, Harris?” I held my hands out, palms up. “What happened? I was looking forward to the flight.” The vein in his left temple bulged, and I swore I could see steam blowing out his ears. I stood up straight, placing a thoughtfully pointed finger on my chin. “Now, Tim, be careful with your blood pressure. I wouldn’t want people to think the only reason I kicked your sorry, Noble butt was because you had a heart attack on the mat.”
The dude screamed. He clenched both fists and gave out a primal, guttural yell that truly looked like a gorilla getting ready for a throw down. Oops. I might have poked his pride just a little too hard.
As if to confirm, he lunged at me. But for once, he didn’t have that stupid twitch, and I didn’t know which arm he was coming at me with. I guessed and moved left.
Missed me again.
Except he didn’t.
As I spun past him, he whipped out and grabbed my ponytail, wrapping it around his fist with one fluid roll of his wrist, and yanked. I fell backwards onto the mat, landing hard on my back. Instinct and training took over, and I let out a big kiai, expelling all the air from my lungs to keep from having the wind knocked out of me. And then I was being dragged.
My hands shot to my scalp, gripping the base of my ponytail as Harris pulled me along the mat by my hair.
The whistle blew. “Illegal move, Harris!” It was the coach. He blew his whistle again, but Harris gave me one more good, hard yank by the hair, before letting go.
“You son of a—oof!” Tim kicked me right in the stomach.
“Tap out, Huang,” Coach yelled from the side of the mat.
Like hell I was going to tap out. I snapped my attention back to Tim as he swung his leg forward to kick me again. But I was ready this time. I caught his foot and twisted it so fast he didn’t have time to react. He came crashing down like a freaking tree, face into the mat. I rolled onto my back and kicked up, snapping onto the balls of my feet from the ground. Several people in the crowd cheered in awe as I leapt onto Harris, grabbed his arm and twisted it behind his back in an elegant, unnatural looking S.
He squealed as I applied pressure. “Tap out, Harris,” I said through gritted teeth. What I should do is break your freaking arm. Harris was a bully, and everyone knew it. But his daddy was the general of the REG, so he never got the punishment he deserved. I couldn’t count the times I saw him pick on the little kids during lunch or demeaning those from lower districts. He was the guy that would have grown up torturing dogs and cats if Telvians were permitted pets. He was a serious menace. A freaking sociopath in the making.
“Go to hell, Huang,” he spat on the mat.
“Now, Tim…” I twisted a little harder, listening to him inhale sharply. “That’s not very nice. Tap. The fuck. Out. Or I swear to god, I’ll break your wrist.”
He growled, but there was literally nothing he could do. I had him. With a yell half muffled by the mat, Tim tapped his free hand twice just as the school bell rang.
I let him go and backed away fast, making sure I stayed clear of both his hands as I stepped off the mat. He came to his feet, and the look on his face screamed only one word as his storm gray eyes collided with mine.
Murder.
They screamed that if he was ever given the opportunity, he was going to flat out murder me.
He pointed at me, but he didn’t dare come closer. “This isn’t over, Huang. I swear you’re going to regret messing with me.” Then he turned and walked back toward the lockers.
“I think you’ve made an enemy,” a smooth, accented voice whispered in my ear.
I spun around, instinct taking over as I swung my right fist through the air, aiming to clock whoever the heck it was, right in the temple. But with a swift lift of his left arm, he blocked me just as he swiped out with his right hand and snagged my wrist, yanking me close to his beautiful face.
Black waves of hair.
Sinful onyx eyes.
Lips twisted in a devilish smirk.
Freaking Javier de la Puente.
“Let. Go.” I pushed the words out through my clenched jaw. I was so focused on Tim, I let this jerk right into my personal space.
“Eres violenta,” he whispered, his face way too close to mine.
I narrowed my gaze at him. “What did you say to me?”
He tipped his head to the side. “I said you’re violent.”
I yanked my wrist, but his grip only tightened. Inhaling deeply, I tried to calm my temper. I wasn’t scared. Not even a bit. I could take Javier down just as easily as the gangly boy on Mat 2, no doubt. But he was a de la Puente, and we weren’t sparring. School was officially over, and taking down the Telvian president’s nephew was the fastest way to blow my cover and have my ass shipped off to a reeducation camp. Then I would never see the light of day again.
“You know, it’s rude to speak about people in a language they don’t understand. I told you already, if you’re going to insult me, have the guts to say it in English.”
He finally loosened his grip, and I yanked my wrist free. But I didn’t back down. Oh, hell no. I just dropped my wrist and dug my nails into the flesh of my palms.
“Maybe it wasn’t an insult.” He flashed me a grin. “Maybe it was a compliment.”
I squeaked, taken aback. Javier chuckled.
Keep it together, Lin. Keep it together. I took a deep breath. I wanted nothing more than to tell him where to go and how to get there, but he was off limits. I exhaled and leaned a hair forward, our noses millimeters from grazing each other. His eyes flickered, and the dark abyss of them shifted to my mouth.
Good. He can read my lips. “You’re. Not. Worth it,” I whispered slowly. And I meant it. There was only one de la Puente worth anything in this stupid city, and she wasn’t my responsibility.
I stepped back away from him, keeping my narrowed gaze on his.
He held his head high. “Maybe one day, mi vida, you’ll find me worthy of you.” He smiled. The jerk actually smiled at me.
“Not likely.” I spun around and marched back to the locker room, leaving him in the dust.
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