Luxor (Under major revision)

The Part Where I Get Punched in the Face

****A/N: First, I'd like to say thank you so much for everyone who has commented, voted, fanned, whatever! You guys are awesome, I hope you continue to enjoy this story(: chapter dedicated to HaleyyElizabeth cause she's awesome and she made my cover!****

(SHADE POV)

I am an idiot.

I am a complete and total, utter idiot.

One decision has completely uprooted my life. I can't show my face to the Faults again. This isn't just some stupid mistake; this is blatant disregard to orders. This is assisting a convict. 

Since when has begging ever affected my decision-making skills? But she looked up with me those big, hazel eyes and I was gone. Me, Shade Cole, defied my orders, my training, my superiors, and my government all for a pair of goo-goo eyes. That is the exact opposite of what any Fault is taught to do. Not to mention, the girl is a Charmer, and a powerful one at that... Not that she could use any magic with as weak as she was, but Faults and Charmers don't have the best relationship regardless.

My thoughts wander back to those eyes, to the moment I realized I'd just thrown a half starved teenage girl on the ground. It's her eyes I can't get out of my head. The expression... it was like she seen her entire world obliterated, crushed into ruins. Because of me.

If it would have been anyone else pinning her to the ground, it probably would have been...

She was desperate; that much was obvious. Little did she know, I could relate to her situation more than she could imagine.

So here I am, in a freaking catacomb with an unconscious girl in my arms, being chased down by probably the entire Konar security force. I'll wring his neck, I think bitterly, remembering Caine. That's just the way he's always been; he sucks up to Anna and all the other Elites so he can move up in ranking. No doubt in my mind that they're scouring the forest for us now, using every asset available to track us down, with him advising their every move.

What have I gotten myself into? All for a pair of puppy dog eyes... Mercy really isn't my thing. I have a one track frame of mind: follow orders. But I can't just abandon her, throw her to the dogs just because I'm told to. Could I? She's a Red, that much is clear. I saw the mark on her palm, a burnt circle branding her high risk.

I know, because I have the same one. I clench my fist, a natural reaction whenever I think about it.

If she was caught trying to escape, they would show her no mercy. She's too dangerous to their system to risk compassion, or actual feelings. 

I've mentioned before that Faults are generally cold, unfeeling people...calculated and obedient to those above them. But compared to the Konies, we're nothing. Most of them are composed of a mixture of humans and Charmers. There aren't many Faults around; we intimidate them... not that a Charmer would ever admit it. But these are no normal Charmers and humans at Konar; they know exactly what they do to these kids. And they do it willingly, cheerfully even. They think they're benefitting the world, punishing children for the sins of their parents.

The kids that are Charmers have it worse. They go through Extraction.

I don't understand the entire process, obviously, because I'm a Fault. But from what I hear, it's not pleasant...at all. Charmers will probe through their minds and slowly suck away what little powers they have as adolescents, until they are left there, defenseless. Without powers, Charmers are even weaker than humans, easily controlled. And the worse part is, those powers don't just disappear into the universe... They're transferred into the Konies that have been Extracting from them like parasites. Leeches.