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“You need to get up now,” he said, and there was a note of panic in his voice that made me leap to my feet immediately. “Julius’s secretary called me a minute ago and said he wants you for a surprise dinner tonight.”

Instantly, my palms were clammy. “You think he knows.”

Hamilton gave a short nod. “Here’s what we have to do: you have to let me turn you in.”

Whatever I thought he was going to say, it wasn’t that.

“What?” I demanded. “Are you serious?”

“He needs to believe I’m still on side,” he insisted, folding his arms. “For that, I need to report you. I’ll act like I only just put it together. Then he’ll still trust me to guard you at the festival, which is where you said the action is happening.” He paced the room.

“Assuming Julius doesn’t straight up kill me before then,” I shot back fiercely, but I was cold with fear.

“He won’t as long as you stay useful to him,” Hamilton said, sounding resigned. “I’ve been around the man for long enough now to know that much.” He stopped and pinned me with a serious look. “We need a plan. Frankly, I’m not convinced that the White Rose exposing this is gonna have the impact you’re hoping. They’re a rebel group; there’s too much skepticism around them. We need someone in a position of public trust.”

His eyebrows raised expectantly at me. The plan I’d made with John was crumbling before my eyes, and there was no way to tell him. Hamilton sensed my hesitation and frowned.

“You asked me to trust you, Ainsley, and I did. Now, you need to trust me. There’ll be risk involved, but it’s the only way. Trust.”

I let out a long breath. His eyes were earnest in a way I’d never seen before.

“Alright. Tell me what I need to do.”

For the dinner, Julius requested that I once again visit him in his quarters under the Pyramid. Despite Hamilton meeting with him earlier and informing him of my transgressions, Julius didn’t mention any of it when I took my seat at the dining table. On the contrary, he was perfectly courteous, and that made me suspicious. I wondered if he was trying to catch me off guard.

“You look well,” he said as the server poured him his customary glass of wine. “Have you been looking forward to the summer festival next week?”

I hesitated briefly, but then merely nodded. “I’m to give a speech, am I not?”

“Yes, it’s all prepared. There will be a teleprompter, and increased security to avoid any…unfortunate incidents like the one at the library.”

As usual, he danced around what really happened, but I said nothing. Anxiety churned in the pit of my stomach, but he only made idle chitchat throughout the salad course. When the server later returned with an appetizer—warm gougères that smelled divine—I gave him a questioning look. Dinner had typically only been three courses during our past meals.

“Ah, yes, for this special evening, I’ve ordered a rather spectacular five-course menu,” Julius said with a smile that was probably meant to put me at ease, but had the opposite effect. “I hope you enjoy it. After your festival appearance, you’ll be on much simpler fare for a time.”

Panic rose inside me instinctively, but I managed to keep my tone even. “What’s special about tonight, and what’s happening after it?”

His smile took on a much more sinister edge. “We’re celebrating.” He raised his wine glass in a toast that I didn’t match. “The Sole Survivor is to become a handmaiden of the Sire. A great honour.”

My throat burned with bile that I swallowed down. “What’s that?”

“I’ve chosen you as a handmaiden,” he replied, as though that answered everything. “There have been several throughout my tenure, ever since the Fall. None as celebrated and famous within the compounds as you, but they performed their duties nonetheless.”

“Which are?” I prompted. He was enjoying this far too much.

“Handmaidens of the Sire bear my children,” he said, twirling his wine glass between his fingers, as though this were a casual conversation between friends. “I believe that extraordinary people must have many children to pass on their superior genes. Indeed, the scourge of our world is that the lowest of the low tend to be the ones who breed like rabbits. I’ve always endeavoured to save humanity from its own mediocrity; the compounds are proof of that. My children are another.”

I gawked at him; I couldn’t help it. I had no inkling that this was coming. My previous meetings with Julius contained nothing to suggest he desired me; if anything, the opposite. “I don’t…”

I trailed off, dumbstruck. Julius, humourless as ever, took a sip of his wine.

“Of course, as a beloved public figure, we’d have to orchestrate a bit of theatre to ensure that the public believes you’re being treated fairly,” he continued, as though I hadn’t spoken. “So, at the festival, you’ll announce our engagement.”

This time, I couldn’t hold back.

“What?” I sputtered. “You want to marry me?”

He chortled. “Of course not. I’ve never married. But they don’t have to know that. As far as they’re concerned, you’re retiring from public life to be a good little wife to their Sire. You’ll make the occasional appearance after you’re pregnant to maintain their good will. No marriage will be expected—or desired, on my part. You’re a handmaiden, not a wife.”