Champion: A Legend Novel by Marie Lu Page A

I told him. ‘This. All these years.’
    “Now Metias was studying my face intently. Long seconds passed. ‘
This,
’ he finally replied, emphasizing the word, ‘can’t happen. You’re my subordinate.’
    “Then I asked, ‘But it means something to you, sir. Doesn’t it?’
    “Something joyful and tragic danced across Metias’s face. He drew closer. I knew that a wall between us had finally formed a crack. ‘Does it mean something to
you
?’ he asked me.”
    Again, Thomas pauses. Then, in a softer voice, he says, “A blade of guilt twisted painfully in my chest, but it was too late to turn back. So I took a step forward, closed my eyes, and—I kissed him.”
    Another pause. “Your brother froze, like I thought he would. There was complete stillness. We drew apart, the silence heavy around us, and for a moment I wondered whether I’d made a huge mistake, whether I’d simply misread every signal from the past few years. Or perhaps,
perhaps
he knew what I was up to. I felt a strange sense of relief at that thought.
Maybe it’d be better if Metias figured out Commander Jameson’s plans for him. Maybe there’s a way to get out of this.
    “But then he leaned forward and returned the kiss, and the last of that wall crumbled away.”
    “Stop,” I suddenly say. Thomas falls silent. He tries to hide his emotions behind some semblance of nobility, but the shame is plain on his face. I lean back, turn my face away from him, and press my hands to my temples. Grief threatens to overwhelm me. Thomas hadn’t just killed Metias knowing that my brother loved him.
    Thomas had
taken that knowledge and used it against him.
    I want you to die. I hate you.
The tide of my anger grows stronger until finally I hear the whisper of Metias’s voice in my head, the faint light of reason.
    It’s going to be okay, Junebug. Listen to me. Everything is going to be okay.
    I wait, my heart beating steadily, until his gentle words bring me back. My eyes open, and I give Thomas a level stare. “What happened after that?”
    It takes Thomas a long moment before he speaks again. When he does, his voice trembles. “There was no way out. Metias had no idea what was going on. He’d fallen into the plan with blind faith. My hand crept to the knife at my waist, but I couldn’t bring myself to do it. I couldn’t even breathe.”
    My eyes fill with tears. I want so desperately to hear every detail and at the same time for Thomas to stop talking, to shut this night away and never return again.
    “An alarm cut through the air. We jumped apart. Metias looked flushed and confused—only a second later did we both realize that the alarm came from the hospital.
    “The moment broke. Your brother snapped back into captain mode and ran toward the hospital entrance. ‘Get inside,’ he shouted over his earpiece. He didn’t look back. ‘I want half of you in there—pinpoint the source. Gather the others at the entrance and wait for my command.
Now!
’
    “I started running after him. My chance to strike had vanished. I wondered whether Commander Jameson had somehow been able to see my failure.
The Republic’s eyes are everywhere. They know everything.
I panicked. I had to find another moment, another chance to get your brother alone. If I couldn’t do it, then Metias’s fate would fall into much harsher hands.
    “By the time I caught up with him at the entrance, his face was dark with anger. ‘Break-in,’ he said. ‘It was that boy we saw. I’m sure of it. Bryant, get five and circle east. I’ll go the other way.’ Already your brother was on the move, gathering his soldiers. ‘He’s going to have to get out of the hospital somehow,’ he told us. ‘We’ll be waiting for him when he tries.’
    “I did as Metias commanded—but the instant he was out of earshot, I ordered my soldiers to head east and then snuck away into the shadows.
I have to follow him. This is my last chance. If I fail, I’m as good as dead, anyway.
Sweat