Chapter twenty – nine – Plans for the Future


I was getting ready for my morning, attending a meeting with Max to report to him about my findings concerning the upcoming initiation. I was well aware of that man wanting things to go smoothly, he didn't care much for the drama. So I'd be quick about it, only stating the facts.

Eric surprised me by suddenly speaking up from the doorway, "Don't be nervous, you can do this. I checked the report and it was fine. Go with that and your meeting will go by smoothly."

"I figured that much." I met his gaze in the mirror, "I'll only state the facts and nothing more."

Eric folded his arms across his chest, his tight black tee showing off his muscles. It reminded me of when I raked my nails down his back last night and touched him all over. It left me dumbfounded at how much I desired to bed the man who murdered my mother. If I didn't focus on my project to save the innocent I'd crumble.

"Do answer any questions he has." Eric's tone got a lot colder as he continued, "Even if they have nothing to do with the upcoming initiation. Max values loyalty above everything else, so be truthful."

I didn't want to ask him the burning question, but the words slipped out of my mouth before I could stop myself.

"Are you loyal to Max?"

He held my gaze for a while, I knew very well he was trying to get inside my head. We both knew where we were standing so he wasn't suspicious as to why I asked that of him.

"My loyalty lies with those wanting to change the world."

I turned around to face him, "That doesn't answer my question."

Eric's lips twitched, it surprised me that he smiled at me, "My relationship with Max is amiable, that's all you need to know."

He wasn't outright telling me that he was loyal to our main leader, it meant that his loyalty lied somewhere else. Another faction, another leader. But he was on friendly terms with Max which meant that Max was aware of what was going on in his faction. It was painful realizing just how many people were ready to betray their own faction. If things got bad I could only assume that the Dauntless we knew was going to get divided. Divided into two groups. People who followed the rules of the old manifest and then you had people who followed the new manifest.

"If you don't hurry up you're going to be late and Max will get grumpy."

Snapping out of my thoughts I turned my back to Eric to finish with my make-up. Satisfied with my bold eyeliner and nude lip I walked past my husband and entered the living room. I sighed when Eric stopped me by grabbing my wrist and spinning me around to face him.

"I'm not wearing clothing you find indecent." I muttered, "My bra isn't showing and I'm not showing any skin either." I continued.

"Rose, I don't mind you wearing those clothes."

I didn't buy that, he always made me cover up whenever he felt like my outfit of choice would turn heads. He was the possessive kind of man who liked to state to those around him that I belonged to him. It was a turn on, but sometimes it could get suffocating. Especially when I needed that type of outfit to get things done.

"Only if it's for your eyes, I assume?"

He chuckled, "You know me so well." He joked, then his eyes darkened which told me that he was done playing around. "You knew what you got yourself into when you decided to give up everything to be with me.'

"I don't regret anything if that's what you're asking of me."

He tightened his hold on my wrist, "I wasn't asking you anything, I was stating the facts. Don't get your panties in a twist because I couldn't state the facts to you. Mind your own business and don't snoop around, trust me on this one."

He was warning me, whatever was going on in the shadows of Dauntless was more dangerous than I anticipated.

"I'm minding my own business." I told him, hoping my voice didn't shake.

"Good."

He let go of me and smiled, "Good luck."

"Thanks."

Leaving the apartment I headed to Max' office. Eric's words were lingering, making me feel paranoid. I had no idea how many people were working for Erudite. I also didn't know just how many people were following Eric and Max without asking questions. I was sure about Wes having Eric's back no matter what. Trevor and Four were both aware of the situation, while Four was working in the shadows together with me to help the innocent, Trevor remained silent. There was just no telling who would help us when we needed people to stand up against those who ruined the faction.

"Come in, Rose."

I swallowed, realizing a little too late I was standing in front of Max' office without making a move. I must have looked like an idiot to him. Pushing through the door I closed it behind me and stalked to his desk, taking a seat across him. He looked amused by my behavior which only caused my nerves to get worse.

"No need to be nervous, this meeting is more or less like a verbal summary of what happened during your meetings with our instructors and Dauntless leaders."

"Yes, I realize that but I don't want to mess this up." I admitted to him.

He chuckled, "I appreciate your candor, Rose. Trust me, you can't mess this up. Let's start with the topics they couldn't agree on."

I started giving Max a full report on what happened during the meetings, not holding anything back. He listened intently to what I had to say. He asked questions about initiation only when I summarized everything and half an hour later I was dismissed.

"Oh and Rose."

I turned around to face Max, "Yes?"

"I'm proud that you are so dedicated to your faction, but sometimes change can be good too."

He was warning me, it was subtle but it didn't go unnoticed by me.

"I'll keep that in mind."

"That's all I ask of you." He smiled at me.

Leaving his office I closed the door behind me and let out a sigh of relief. I had no idea what my dear husband was up to, but I hadn't seen him around. Wanting to discuss my findings with someone, I walked up to the control room, hoping Four was around. I didn't have the clearance to enter the room so I knocked and stepped back, patiently waiting for someone to answer the door. The door opened after a few minutes revealing a confused looking Nate.

"Rose?"

I greeted him with a small smile, "Nate, is Four around?"

"Yeah, I'll get him."

Nate didn't ask questions, he never pushed me. He was the type of friend who was there when you needed them and had your back without hesitation. He was a good man and Xenia was a lucky girl to have him in her life.

"Rose, what are you doing here?" Four quietly asked, closing the door behind him, "There are cameras everywhere." He reminded me.

"I'm aware." I whispered, "We need to talk."

"Meet me at the pier before dinner."

I left him after that, not wanting to be seen together with him for too long. We'd be meeting later today, I could share everything which was bothering me then.


"We can't make a habit out of this." Four told me.

"I'm aware."

He stood across me, his jacket zipped up all the way to his neck because of the cold. I had zipped up my jacket as well, the cold still seeping into me though. I wrapped my arms around my body trying to keep some of my heath so I wouldn't shiver like crazy.

"Then let's meet every Friday night, never at the same place."

"That's good, Eric will be occupied. How do we settle on a location."

"Dropping subtle hints." Four smiled, "I think we both know each other well enough to get which location we're talking about."

My face lit up, "I agree."

He stepped closer to me, wrapping me up in his arms, "It's driving me crazy seeing you like that."

I doubted he was talking about me shivering because of the cold nightly air. I leaned my head against his chest, trying to snuggle as closely as possible to him.

"Working on this project is the only thing which keeps me sane."

He tightened his hold on me, "Don't say that."

"It's the truth." I whispered, "I'm sleeping with my mother's killer and sometimes I like it. Other times I feel like jumping off a building."

He laced his fingers into my hair and tightly held on. It didn't hurt though, I barely felt his touch at all. I was either numb because of the cold or the guilt was taking over me once again.

"It's still not too late, Rose."

It was beautiful thinking of future which Four wanted to offer me. I could picture walking down the darkened halls of Dauntless together with him. I could picture us having dinner with our friends, everyone being all smiles. I couldn't have that in my life though. It would be selfish of me to go for my own happiness when there were lives on stake.

"The man from Abnegation is telling me to be selfish?"

"I'm no longer Abnegation."

I wrapped my arms around his waist and smiled into his chest, "You're very much Dauntless." I agreed, "But sometimes your selfless side pops up." I titled my head back and met his curious gaze, "It's what makes you a better man."

A better man than Eric is what I wanted to tell him, yet the words never left my mouth.

"What did you want to discuss?"

I pulled away from him and folded my arms across my chest again. I hated losing his heath to keep me warm, but when it came to this subject I needed to stay focused. Getting lost in fantasies wasn't going to do anyone any good.

"I've read the completed file on the serum. They'll find Divergents much easier now, their goal is to find as many test subjects as possible. Shipping them off to Erudite."

"Resulting in death." Four continued.

"Most likely." I quietly agreed.

"We need to save as many as we can." Four told her.

"While keeping an eye on Erudite, if we find out why they need so many test subjects maybe we can put a stop to it."

"I think I can arrange that."

"You know people who we can trust with this?"

Four nodded, "Yeah, for the greater good it's best if we work together."

"Who are they?"

"Let me discuss this with them first, I'll let you know once I've settled things with them."

He sounded so sure about it, she had no idea what Four was planning but she trusted him with her life so she didn't doubt him for even a second.

"We also need to find a way to save those Divergents."

Four's look softened which made her unconsciously step back, "We can't save them all, Rose. Those I inject myself during the simulation I'll try to save. But those who are injected during the aptitude test most likely will end up as test subjects."

"We save as many as we can. That's all we can do."

I didn't like it, but it was our reality. We just couldn't save them all, some people would end up in the hands of Erudite.

Four placed his hand upon my shoulder, giving it a squeeze, "Let's head back."

Leaning into his touch I pressed a kiss to his cheek. Pulling away from him I headed back to the train first. I heard Four following behind me, neither one of us spoke up though. We rode the train in silence both of us preparing for falling back into character. Me as the perfect wife to a corrupt leader while Four would play his part as betrayed friend. I warmed up a bit when Four reached for my hand and laced our fingers together. We stayed like that until we reached the compound. He gave me the strength to keep moving forward, letting me know I wasn't alone. That there was someone who actually cared about me. It helped just a little bit with making the guilt fade away.


"So glad you could finally grace us with your presence." Wes joked.

I shot a glare at him, hating how he just couldn't keep quiet about me joining their table later than usual.

"Didn't know arriving on time for dinner was also part of my duties."

Wes held his hands up in defense, "I was just joking around, Rose, no need to get so defensive about it." He leaned forward, his eyes gleaming playfully, "Are you behaving like that because you have something to hide?"

I felt Eric tense beside me. If I didn't speak up I could lose his trust forever. A betrayed Eric was for scarier than anything I've ever witnessed. I also knew what would happen to those who betrayed him. So I needed to fix this mess.

"I needed some air after my meeting with Max." I shot the man an apologizing look, "It's not that I disliked it, but I was barely keeping it together."

Max laughed, "I didn't mean to scare you, it was just some friendly advice."

I glanced at the curious looking Wes, "So I jumped on a train and pulled myself together while I took a ride around the city. Now if you don't mind I'd like to have dinner. I'm starving."

Eric leaned into me, his lips pressing against my jaw. He was showing affection in front of the others. He rarely did that. When he did, it was because either he was blinded by his desire or because he was proud of something I did. I figured it was the latter this time.

"You're cute when you get all embarrassed like that." He told me quietly.

I met his gaze, placing my hand upon his thigh underneath the table, "It's not cute." I told him quietly, trying to look as intimidating as possible.

He chuckled at my effort, "Now that you've been through that I'm sure you'll do great next time you're meeting him."

"He's sure too." Max told them, causing the moment to be ruined.

We pulled away from each other. I cleared my throat and focused on filling up my plate while Eric glared at Trevor who thanked Max for ruining our moment so he could actually enjoy the rest of his dinner.
I still had Eric's trust which was the most important thing here. The plan I made together with Four could only work if my husband didn't suspect anything. We we're still in the clear for now. I needed to be careful and take my role more seriously. I also needed to be more cautious of Wes.