At Quiet End, Priya is outside the employee entrance at the back. She looks around to make sure that no one else is in the vicinity then swipes her Vocation card.
The indicator light stays red. She swipes again. It refuses to turn green. Priya knows what this means: her access has been revoked. She hangs her head in her hands.
But then she hears footsteps from inside — someone is coming out. She hides behind the door as it swings outward and an employee exits. As they walk away, Priya moves stealthily and grabs the door before it shuts. She waits until the employee is out of sight then slips into the building unnoticed.
Inside, Priya sneaks into an office and grabs a folder from a desk. She opens it and scans the list of the day’s Welcome Releases. She is intent on finding the people on the list, but just as she’s about to leave the office, Zuriel enters.
“Priya? You’re not on tonight.”
“Nope. Just checking my Vocation Allowance for this week.” Priya tucks the Welcome Releases folder behind her body.
“It’s the same as any other, no?”
“I couldn’t remember exactly. I want to open my Housing Funds nice and early like my parents did. They paid theirs off speedy-quick.” Speedy-quick is a phrase Priya has never used in her life, but on account of nervousness, it escapes her.
“Lot of good that did your father,” Zuriel chuckles. “He Left.”
Priya ignores the jab.
“Seen Darius lately?” Zuriel asks.
Priya shakes her head and shrugs her shoulders. “No. He’s your Life Match.”
Zuriel glares into Priya’s blue eyes. “For your own good, I suggest you go. You’re forcing me to make a phone call.”
Zuriel motions toward the phone as Priya runs out of the office.
Instead of running out of the building as Zuriel would suspect, Priya sneaks into the never-used Welcome Release Viewing Room. It is behind a one-way mirror, so she won’t be spotted.
A car pulls up in front of Priya’s house. It just … waits.
Priscilla glances out the front window at the sound of the idling vehicle. She takes a very deep breath, wondering what’s in store for her.
Abram sits in his office and watches as the burly men who stole Darius from the Underground throw him across the room.
Darius is bruised and battered, and he curls up on the floor.
Abram gets up from his chair, walks over, and spits on Darius. The others laugh. Abram shuts them up with a flick of his hand.
Abram kneels to get right in Darius’s face. “In the name of Zalmon, shame on you!”
The men scatter to the other side of the room to distance themselves from their furious leader.
“You will not deface all that I have worked so hard to provide!” Abram froths at the mouth.
“What, exactly, you son of a bitch?” Darius speaks up.
The men return to Abram’s side, but he motions for them to keep back again. He’s got this. All but the dumbest one obey.
“Our reward, Abram?” the man asks.
Abram shoves the man away and keeps his attention on his prey. “You thought you could outsmart me?” he asks Darius.
The man Abram shoved doesn’t leave well enough alone. “Mr. Job, with respect —”
“Do not address me!”
“Sir, we just want what was promised to us.”
“Your reward is the good you’ve done.” Abram smirks. “For Zalmon.”
Mourning the life-changing rewards he believed he was in for, the man jumps on Abram, who, with nothing more than a look, summons the other three to turn rabidly on their dim-witted comrade. They hoist him and remove him from Abram’s office, kicking and screaming.
News bursts on a screen. The all-too-familiar photo of Darius is displayed. A newscaster reads, “Breaking news this evening in Zalmon. Violent Datura Darius Anah has been detained by the good people of Zalmon. Stay tuned for more information.”