Revolution -Eric Coulter-

Chapter 25

Riley's one happiness, being near Tobias when she died, was gone. They had been separated the moment they were back at Dauntless. She had never been inside this part of the building. It was Jeanine's area, off-limits to them. Tobias was being used as her test subject first. If it went wrong, they would kill him and try again with her.

There were three other Dauntless guards with her. Eric was one of them. Although injured, he persevered and now served as one of her personal guards. There were three others, but she didn't recognize them. Riley made sure to keep her head down, eyes off of Eric. He had betrayed her trust, but it was her own fault. Tobias had given her a warning. She ignored him. That was on her.

The raven-haired man spoke in a soft tone to Eric, a nasty look on his face. None of them were under simulation. This was all free will.

There was a plus side to being Divergent. It meant Riley was smarter than everyone else in the room, which was how she managed to slip out of her handcuffs ten minutes ago. All she had to do now was wait for the perfect moment to escape.

Eric walked around the table, keeping his eyes off of her. "Peace will be restored once all the Divergents are dead," one of the men spoke. Riley finally looked up at Eric, a scowl on her face. He refused to meet her gaze. "It'll be safer."

"Safer," she scoffed. "From who?"

"You."

"We aren't the ones killing innocent people."

The man stepped towards her, but Eric put a hand on his chest to stop him. It shocked him. "Eric-"

"Give it up, Brian," it was a demand. His tone was cold as ice.

"Whatever." The man glared at Riley. She wasn't sure why Eric had stopped the man. If anything, he should let him attack her. They didn't care about Divergents.

Suddenly gunshots erupted from outside, causing all eyes to go to the door. "Stay with her."

Eric rushed out the door, leaving the other guards with Riley. They were too far away to attack. If she moved now, they had plenty of time to shoot. "You know what I love about being Divergent," she began with a smile. The two glared at her, wishing she would stop talking. "I love being smarter." Most Dauntless men were hot-tempered and easily agitated when their egos were at stake. "Dauntless may be brave. But they have nothing going on in their heads."

The blond man slammed his hands on the table and approached her. "Shut up!" He punched her in the jaw.

Riley groaned but smiled again. "You want to know why I'm smarter?"

The man grabbed her jaw, forcing her head up. "Enlighten us."

"Cause I escaped these cuffs ten minutes ago." Riley moved at lightning speed. She grabbed the man and slammed his head into the corner of the chair. Brian dashed forward, his gun aimed. However, he had no clear shot.

Riley shoved the man into Brian and jumped up from the chair. As he swung, she ducked and grabbed his arm. Using her knee, she kicked straight up—the sound of bones cracking echoed around the room. The man fell forward, and she kicked him in the face. Brian lunged at her, throwing her against the wall.

Riley's head slammed into the wall, and she stumbled to the side. Brian shoved her against the wall, pinning her body against it. "What are you going to do now, princess?" She wanted to roll her eyes at the man's cockiness but didn't. Instead, she stomped down on the man's foot. Brian's grip loosened just enough for her to slip out of his grip. Using her leg, she wrapped it around the man's calf and brought them both to the ground. Riley rolled over him and picked up a metal rod. Brian spun around as she did, but her hands moved faster. The rod hit him straight in the head, and he fell back.