Shatter Me. Tahereh Mafi

even play nice with your cellmate.”

      I flinch without intending to. The burn of betrayal blushes up my neck.

      Green Eyes looks unexpectedly amused and I’m suddenly mortified. “Well isn’t that interesting.” He snaps his fingers. “Kent, would you step forward, please.”

      My heart stops beating when Adam comes into view. Kent. His name is Adam Kent.

      Adam flanks Green Eyes in an instant, but only offers a curt nod of his head as a salute. Perhaps the leader isn’t nearly as important as he thinks.

      “Sir,” he says.

      I should’ve known.

      I’d heard rumors of soldiers living among the public in secret, reporting to the authorities if things seemed suspicious. Every day people disappeared. No one ever came back.

      Though I still can’t understand why Adam was sent to spy on me.

      “It seems you made quite an impression on her.”

      I squint closer at the man in the chair only to realize his suit has been adorned with tiny colored patches. Military mementos. His last name is etched into the lapel: Warner.

      Adam says nothing. He doesn’t look in my direction. His body is erect, 6 feet of gorgeous lean muscle, his profile strong and steady. The same arms that held my body are now holsters for lethal weapons.

      “You have nothing to say about that?” Warner glances at Adam only to tilt his head in my direction, his eyes dancing in the light, clearly entertained.

      Adam clenches his jaw. “Sir.”

      “Of course.” Warner is suddenly bored. “Why should I expect you to have something to say?”

      “Are you going to kill me?” The words escape my lips before I have a chance to think them through and someone’s gun slams into my spine all over again. I fall with a broken whimper, wheezing into the filthy floor.

      “That wasn’t necessary, Roland. I suppose I’d be wondering the same thing if I were in her position.” A pause. “Juliette?”

      I manage to lift my head.

      “I have a proposition for you.”

NINE

      I’m not sure I’m hearing him correctly.

      “You have something I want.” Warner is still staring at me.

      “I don’t understand,” I tell him.

      He takes a deep breath and stands up to pace the length of the room. Adam has not yet been dismissed. “You are kind of a pet project of mine. I’ve studied your records for a very long time.”

      “What?”

      “We’re in the middle of a war,” he says a little impatiently. “Maybe you can put the pieces together.”

      “I don’t—”

      “I know your secret, Juliette. I know why you’re in here. Your entire life is documented in hospital records, complaints to authorities, messy lawsuits, public demands to have you locked up.” His pause gives me enough time to choke on the horror caught in my throat. “I’d been considering it for a long time, but I wanted to make sure you weren’t actually psychotic. Isolation wasn’t exactly a good indicator, though you did fend for yourself quite well.” He offers me a smile that says I should be grateful for his praise. “I sent Kent to stay with you as a final precaution. I wanted to make sure you weren’t volatile, that you were capable of basic human interaction and communication. I must say I’m quite pleased with the results.

      “Kent, it seems, played his part a little too excellently. He is a fine soldier. One of the best, in fact.” Warner spares him a glance before smiling at me. “But don’t worry, he doesn’t know what you’re capable of. Not yet, anyway.”

      I claw at the panic, I swallow the agony, I beg myself not to look in his direction but I fail I fail I fail. Adam meets my eyes in the same split second I meet his but he looks away so quickly I’m not sure if I imagined it.

      I am a monster.

      “I’m not as cruel as you think,” Warner continues, a musical lilt in his voice. “If you’re so fond of his company I can make this”—he gestures between myself and Adam—“a permanent assignment.”

      “No,” I breathe.

      Warner curves his lips into a careless grin. “Oh yes. But be careful, pretty girl. If you do something . . . bad . . . he’ll have to shoot you.”

      Adam doesn’t react to anything Warner says.

      He is doing a job.

      I am a number, a mission, an easily replaceable object; I am not even a memory in his mind.

      I didn’t expect his betrayal to bury me so deep.

      “If you accept my offer,” Warner interrupts my thoughts, “you will live like I do. You will be one of us, and not one of them. Your life will change forever.”

      “And if I do not accept?” I ask.

      Warner looks genuinely disappointed. His hands are clasped together in dismay. “You don’t really have a choice. If you stand by my side you will be rewarded.” He presses his lips together. “But if you choose to disobey? Well . . . I think you look rather lovely with all your body parts intact, don’t you?”

      I’m breathing so hard my frame is shaking. “You want me to torture people for you?”

      His face breaks into a brilliant smile. “That would be wonderful.”

      I don’t have time to form a response before he turns to Adam. “Show her what she’s missing, would you?”

      Adam answers a beat too late. “Sir?”

      “That is an order, soldier.” Warner’s eyes are trained on me, his lips twitching with suppressed amusement. “I’d like to break this one. She’s a little too feisty for her own good.”

      “You can’t touch me,” I spit through clenched teeth.

      “Wrong,” he singsongs. He tosses Adam a pair of black gloves. “You’re going to need these,” he says with a conspiratorial whisper.

      “You’re a monster.” My voice is too even, my body filled with a sudden rage. “Why don’t you just kill me?”

      “That, my dear, would be a waste.” He steps forward and I realize his hands are sheathed in white leather gloves. He tips my chin up with one finger. “Besides, it’d be a shame to lose such a pretty face.”

      I try to snap my neck away from him but the same steel-toed boot slams into my spine and Warner catches my face in his grip. I suppress a scream. “Don’t struggle, love. You’ll only make things more difficult for yourself.”

      “I hope you rot in hell.”

      Warner flexes his jaw. He holds up a hand to stop someone from shooting me, kicking me in the spleen, cracking my skull open, I have no idea. “You’re a fighter for the wrong team.” He stands up straight. “But we can change that. Kent,” he calls. “Don’t let her out of your sight. She’s your charge now.”

      “Yes, sir.”

TEN

      Adam puts on the gloves but he doesn’t touch me. “Let her up, Roland. I’ll take it from here.”

      The boot disappears. I struggle to my feet and stare at nothing. I won’t think about the horror that awaits me. Someone kicks in the backs of my knees and I nearly stumble to the ground. “Get going,”