The Revolution (Book 3 of The Exiles series)

Arina

As soon as Arina left her guard duties in the Capitol for the day she sprinted down to the basement for her telescreen. She set down her scary automatic gun and waited impatiently for the telescreen to load. As she waited, she tried to assure herself that this would turn out fine. Avalon was with the soldiers on her search for Arina's brother; surely she wasn't keeping tabs on Arina's whereabouts and doings.

After an unbearably long amount of time, the main screen popped up. Arina located the contacts icon in the corner of the screen (in other words, the one she didn't use) and tapped on it with her finger. "Access denied," the telescreen taunted in a deadpan, much to Arina's bewilderment. For the first time that she could remember, she got angry and slammed her palm against the table. A small cry escaped her throat at the pain of bony hand on metal.

Arina narrowed her eyes in concentration. "Ok, we'll try this instead," she murmured, exiting the contacts page and imputing an override code into her settings. It took forever to load, but to her relief, when she tried the contacts again it worked just fine.

She scrolled through the short list of names. Arina checked the M's and the D's, but didn't find the person that she was looking for. She leaned back in her chair and sighed. Apparently she would have to manually enter the name in.

A cool voice asked what the name of the contact she was looking for was. "Maxwell Drake," she whispered as loudly as she dared, and when the name popped up she nearly burst into happy tears. She clicked on the name with her finger, and when the telescreen began to buzz and ring she adjusted the volume. On the fifth ring, someone picked up.

"Hello?" A tired voice answered Arina's call for help. Even though she hadn't heard that voice in months, she still recognized it from the many times its owner had come to the Capitol.

Arina took a deep breath. "Max, this is Arina Wilcox."

Max sighed wearily. "I don't believe you, and I don't find this funny. Arina Wilcox was murdered last December."

She swallowed, her breaths quickening in desperation. "Max, please listen to me. I don't know where you are, but right now Avalon is on her way to capture Magnus and Talia, and there will be an unfair trial, and...there's no way they'll survive unless you bring people here. Please."

It was silent on the other end. "In the Capitol?" he clarified, sounding almost hesitant.

Arina nodded. "Yes," she said. "Avalon Chase is going to get them, so I can guarantee that the outcome won't be good if you don't send someone down here for the trial...I think it's in three days, but I'll figure it out for sure."

Max breezed past what Arina had said. "Magnus and Talia are alive?"

Arina huffed, impatient, confused as to why he was asking her that. "Yes. Why wouldn't they be?"

"What about Nicole?"

Arina's face scrunched in confusion, knowing that the name sounded familiar, but not having a clue why. "I don't know."

Max didn't speak into the phone for a long moment. Arina could hear noise in the background, people talking. Someone was swearing. "Hello?" Arina almost shouted.

Suddenly, she heard footsteps. Arina whirled around, searching for the source of the sound, and glimpsed a lone guard patrolling the hall nearby. He turned to glance at Arina, and shouted, "Hey!"

Swallowing hard, Arina turned back to the screen. "Max, hurry, please, Avalon's on her way to kill you all!" she hissed, before swiping out of the program and turning to face the guard. She grappled for her gun, but heard it clatter to the floor before she could reach it.

The guard advanced, wearing a suspicious expression. "Who gave you orders to be down here?" he asked, lowering his gun but not appearing any less apprehensive.

Arina drew in a shaky breath. "Avalon Chase," she lied through her teeth.

The man glared at her, though his eyes widened at the off-hand mention of his superior's name. "I doubt it. Please return upstairs."

To her surprise, Arina's resolve grew. She scowled at the guard and uttered a single word: "No."

The guard seemed taken aback. "No?" he repeated. "That wasn't a question. I gave you an order, Private."

Arina's lip quivered, but she stood her ground. "My duties have been served for the day."

The man took a step towards her, glaring openly. "All hands on deck are needed at this time, so I'll ask you again to go upstairs."

Arina quickly considered her options. She could stay down here and defy the guard...but such treason risked death. If she wanted to live, she would have to go up a floor to the holding area where she could help her brother if Max and the others didn't show up to get him out. The choice seemed clear.

Arina bowed her head in defeat. "Of course," she said submissively, refusing to meet her superior's gaze. The man headed for the exit, and reluctantly she followed him there, her tired brain tuning out the guard's ramblings about her "dangerous behavior" and that soldiers should never question their superiors.

Finally she reached the floor above, and made her way down the long, vacant corridor. The guard's eyes followed her all the way to her station outside the doors to the holding area. She wanted to be asleep so she couldn't feel the fear for her brother that consumed her.