by Kristin Cast
Elodie shook her head back and forth against the painted white wall. “We’re not going to survive.” Her teeth clacked as fear pulled the glacial cold of the concrete wall through her uniform into her quaking bones. “No one survives.”
Aiden pressed his palms against the wall, framing her head. Warmth rolled off him, and his breath caressed her lashes. He was too close. But every part of her clamored to draw him closer, fit him against her as a shield.
“I promise, Elodie.” His moss-green gaze clung to hers. “Nothing is going to happen.”
Her heartbeat quickened, and her palms glued themselves to the wall. “Aiden—” A breathy sob spilled from her lips.
“You’re braver.” His elbows bent, drawing him closer, wringing the air from the space between them. “Stronger than you think.”
She sipped shallow breaths. The moment numbed her frigid, trembling limbs.
The telltale hiss of the ELU doors opening awakened Elodie from the blissful few seconds of confidence Aiden had gifted.
“In and out, gentlemen,” the woman hollered. “You two, scan the halls.”
The boots began again.
Closer. Closer.
Elodie hardened. “They’re killers, Aiden. They’re Eos.”
Aiden stiffened as the soldiers rounded the corner. His hands slid down the wall as he pushed himself away from her and stepped in front of the Eos soldiers, their helmets the same golden orange as the rising sun.
“She’s with me.” Aiden fisted his hand, rested it over his heart, and bowed sharply.
The masked soldiers nodded and bowed, fist over heart. “After the storm comes the dawn,” they chanted in unison, before turning and marching back to the ELU entrance.
Elodie clapped her hands over her mouth. The shriek seared her palms.
XXV
Elodie stumbled backward. Her hands smacked against the concrete wall as she used it to keep herself from falling.
Aiden was one of them. A member of Eos. Her friend. Her confidant. Her Aiden.
No!
The word screeched between her ears. It tore her to shreds. She could feel it—pain pooling in her gut. She clutched her stomach and tried to run, but her body betrayed her. It always did when she was with him. It told her she should trust him, care for him, like him.
Hot tears distorted her vision. She pinched her eyes shut and swiped at her face.
Her body had deceived her. And Aiden had deceived her too.
“Elodie.” Aiden stood there. In front of her. He’d gotten so close to her so quickly. “I can explain,” he said, though his words were slow and hushed, drowning under the thoughts that tore through her.
You are matched. You have friends. A career. This is what you get for not being satisfied. For being greedy. Needing more, more, more. You deserve this mess. You deserve this!
“Stop! ” Elodie screamed at Aiden, at herself, at the world for allowing this to happen.
She backed away on wobbly legs, ricocheting against the wall as she tried to replace the image of the Aiden she cared for with the picture that had come to life in front of her. “Stay away from me!” The wall was her crutch, and she slid along it, using the cold concrete to carry her away from Aiden and Eos and any other monsters he had yet to reveal.
But the wall opened up behind her back and Elodie fell into a room filled with dizzying lights and beeps and whirrs.
Aiden’s footsteps followed her and he was next to her in seconds. He reached back and scanned his cuff under a sensor and the door hissed shut behind him.
He’d gotten lucky. She’d corralled herself. And now she was trapped. Alone with—
She scrambled backward until concrete slammed against her shoulders. “Who are you?”
Aiden’s breath caught. His chin trembled slightly. “It’s still me. I haven’t changed.”
“You’re one of them!”
A stumpy yellow bot zoomed between them, its crate filled with empty tubes. They were in the room that had started it all. Where she’d dashed off to when she’d felt brave and determined. Had that really only been a few days before? Now she was plastered against the wall, sweat slicked and reeling, her life as she knew it coming to an end.
Elodie forced her legs under her and hefted herself to her feet. “There are cameras, Aiden. People will know that I came down here.”
As he stood, he cast a glance at the white orb hanging from the ceiling. “We have it handled.” He thrust his chin toward the camera. “And Eos would never hurt you. I would never hurt you.”
“Then take it back!” She was crying again. Waterfalls cascaded down her cheeks. She could flood this room. “Tell me you were lying!”
“I won’t lie to you!” He clutched his shirt, over his heart. The fabric stretched under his grasp. He’d kept Eos in his heart, locked just under his fist. Is that where he kept her too?
“This whole time has been a lie.” She pressed herself away from the wall. “You’re a lie.”
Now we’re as healthy as the lies you told.
“That’s not fair,” he said.
Elodie would have laughed if her breath wasn’t strangled in her throat.
Aiden inched toward her, palms up, and out. Despair painted pools in his eyes and knotted itself between his brows. “I was trying to keep you safe. Us safe.”
And he had. Hadn’t he?
She tightened her hands into fists and locked her body back under her control. “I should have known better.” She eyed the closed door behind him. “You aren’t interesting and fun. You’re dangerous and deceitful.”
Aiden set his jaw and stepped away from the door. “Get back upstairs before Key Corp soldiers head this way. You’re safe with Eos, Elodie. Safe with me.” His lips parted slightly and he whispered, “But I understand if you can’t believe that.”
Elodie’s heart ached. “They’re killers, Aiden.”
He shook his head. “Promise me you’ll take a real look at what happened here.”
Elodie opened her mouth to speak, but her mind, her body, her heart, all yearned for different things. She couldn’t make any promises. Not even to herself.
Aiden passed his cuff under the scanner.
The door slid open and Elodie raced out into the hall. The terrorists didn’t give her a second look.
XXVI
Elodie had taken the stairs two at a time back up to her unit and arrived at her nurse’s station just as the MediCenter’s Emergency Violet Shield clicked on. Holly materialized in front of the elevator, hands folded against her pristine skirt now painted a light lavender as the Shield shone through her holographic form.
Goosebumps flashed across Elodie’s neck and her heartbeat quickened.
“Hello, Elodie. Please gather your things and exit the building as quickly as possible. This is not a drill.” As Holly spoke, the elevator doors opened behind her.
Elodie balled her trembling fists and attempted to calm her breathing. “What’s going on?”
“The Key has received a threat from a known terrorist organization and Key Corp soldiers are currently addressing the matter.” Holly tilted her head and smiled. “Please, do not be alarmed. The Key will keep you safe.” With that smile, she could make almost anyone believe almost anything. “Please take the elevator to the lobby and exit the building.”
Elodie slung her backpack over her shoulder and clutched her textbook against her chest. “My patients . . .”
Holly nodded and motioned toward the elevator. “Thank you for your concern, Elodie. The Corporation will look after your patients. The Key will keep all its citizens safe.”
Normally Elodie would have argued, demanded to speak with whoever was in charge of looking after her patients in her absence, but right now nothing was normal. Elodie rushed past the purple-stained hologram and into the open elevator.
Holly turned as the doors began to close. “Don’t forget to activate your Personal Protection Pod,” she said, her perfect smile firmly in place. “And, remember, no touching today for a healthy tomorrow.”
Encased in her own purple orb, Elodie wove through the surge of MediCenter employees all pretending to be calm as they made their exit. She couldn’t be in the building another second. Her legs itched to break into a sprint and carry her to the MAX stop as quickly as possible. She needed to be home, buried under her blankets until this day was over and the rising sun reset her world.
Elodie pulled on her beanie and kept her chin tucked against her chest as the train lumbered up to the curb. The pristine floor of the MAX glinted through the purple haze that coated the inside of the car. Elodie perched on the edge of the seat against the back wall of the MAX. Her clammy palms seemed to stick to the slick cover of her textbook as she rested it against her lap. By now, everyone knew about Eos’s MediCenter invasion. Everyone.
She flicked her gaze around the car and its Violet Shield encased occupants. Silence blanketed the MAX. The same thick silence that had invaded days earlier. But what happened at the MediCenter wasn’t the same as what occurred at Tilikum Crossing. There was no violence. No people laying with Xs across their chests. This was different. Didn’t they see that?
The MAX lurched forward, beginning its journey into Zone Two. Soon, Elodie would be home. She chewed the inside of her cheek. Was Aiden headed home too? Had he done what she had and left the MediCenter as if nothing had happened?
It’s still me. I haven’t changed.
Heat pricked Elodie’s eyes and she pressed her lids closed. She couldn’t think about him. She shouldn’t. Tears forced back, she cracked open her textbook to the dog-eared page. She needed a distraction.
“Meet Tanner Kerns,” Zane’s boot-clad foot clanked against the marble tile as he gave his best squinty-eyed, pensive Marlboro Man impression. With his squared jaw, broad shoulders, and the featherlight creases around his eyes, he wasn’t far off.
“Tanner Kerns?” Vi folded the Arts section of the New York Times and tossed it onto the velvet couch cushion next to her. “How does the Office come up with these names?”
Zane shrugged and his cowboy boots creaked as his weight shifted.
Vi ran her fingertips across her lips. “Those pants are . . . tight.”
Zane turned and wiggled his butt before completing his spin. “Nice, right? All that gym time paid off. Tanner has the firmest ass.”
Vi reached out and grabbed Zane’s hand. “And, right now, it’s all mine.” She yanked him down onto the couch. A wave of sandalwood and whiskey brushed against her as he cupped her cheeks and rested his forehead against hers. Goosebumps crested across her skin as she and Zane sat in a moment of sweet contentedness.
“Have I told you today how much I love you?” Zane’s lips grazed hers as he spoke.
Vi closed her eyes and brushed her nose against his. “How much?”
Heat met Violet’s lips as Zane pressed his mouth against hers. She relaxed against him as his tongue swept between her lips and explored her own. Vi didn’t need his words. This was answer enough.
Too soon, the kiss was over. Zane caressed her shoulder as his hand slipped from her cheek. Having him close felt so good, so safe, so comforting. For as long as Vi could remember, she’d been looking out for herself. It wasn’t until Zane that she’d learned what it meant to be taken care of, and she would never let the feeling go.
“We might have a problem, Zane,” Vi said. A soft smile creased her cheeks as she twined her fingers with his. “I might be in love with Tanner Kerns.”
The train car shook as it put on its brakes and approached its next stop, forcing Elodie’s attention from the butterflies that Vi’s romantic life had loosed in her stomach. Back when Death by Violet had been written, people spent so much time touching each other. Now, it was so wrong—illegal. Elodie smoothed her hand over her own goosebumps. But the thought made her breath hitch and her heart race, and not out of fear.
A bright beacon of sunlight had broken through the MAX’s windows and shone directly through her protective orb and onto Elodie’s textbook. She snapped the book closed. The light frayed her nerves and forced her to hide under her itchy beanie. She pulled it down past her brows to lock in the bomb of a secret ticking behind her eyes as the MAX’s Helper Holly continued to make a sport of giving “up-to-date” and “real time” alerts of “Eos’s attack on the MediCenter.”
Promise me you’ll take a real look at what happened here.
Had it been an attack? She’d seen no one harmed. As she raced back to her own unit, she’d seen that Eos had literally sealed employees in their offices and labs. If, as the Key continued to purport, Eos’s sole purpose was destruction and the perversion of the safe and right way of life, they’d definitely missed their mark. More than that, Eos, the terrorist organization that always left behind bodies, had gone above and beyond to ensure no one was injured. Even the explosion they’d used as an entry point had been in an empty storage closet.
As she clicked off her Violet Shield and trudged up the steps to her front door, Elodie’s hair stuck out from under the black fabric in sweaty clumps against her forehead. Her backpack thumped against her rounded spine as her shoulders sagged and she curled in on herself.
You’re safe with Eos, Elodie. Safe with me.
The front door opened noiselessly. Elodie filled her chest and waited for the click of her mother’s heels.
Nothing.
She closed the door behind her and let loose a relieved exhale as she freed herself from the sweltering cap.
Sharp clicks splintered her reprieve.
“Oh, Elodie, my darling, darling girl!” Gwen’s high-pitched hysterics reached Elodie before her mother’s pointed stilettos carried her into the foyer.
Elodie let her backpack slide down her arms and crash onto the porcelain. “Mom, I can’t right now.”
With a tissue, Gwen dabbed her own rouged cheeks. “I’ve been beside myself with worry. Simply beside myself.” She pressed the folded corner against her dry lashes. “Thank goodness Rhett was here.”
Of course he was.
“Everything’s fine, Mom.” Elodie’s attempt at cheerfulness fell flat. She couldn’t muster a fake smile. She barely had the energy to move forward.
Gwen wrung her hands, her bottom lip in a pout. “I was so nervous, Elodie.” She lowered her voice dramatically. “Eos was at your workplace.”
“You don’t have to whisper. They can’t hear you.” Elodie slogged past her mother, pausing before she reached the living room’s plush sectional, spotless glass tables and clear view to the kitchen. To Rhett.
“How can you be so glib at a time like this?” Gwen’s claws pinched her hips. “My only daughter was in mortal peril, and I couldn’t reach your father.” Her hands flew to the pearls draped around her neck. “You know how my nerves can get the best of me.”
Through the doorway, Elodie watched Rhett’s white hair, white shirt, and white skin ghost through the white kitchen on his way to the fridge. He disappeared for a moment behind the door before reemerging, thick hands full of snacks.
“Thank goodness Rhett was here,” Gwen repeated. As if Rhett needed anymore propping up.
Elodie dragged the damp beanie down her face, wiping away the residue of her real emotions and replacing them with a tight, forced smile. “Rhett, thank you so much for coming over,” she began as she mustered the strength to stride through the living room and meet him at the kitchen island. Gwen’s heels clacked behind her like a stalking reaper. “But you definitely don’t need to stay. I’m sure they’re desperate for your help back at the MediCenter.”
Rhett stuffed a handful of baby carrots into his mouth. “Gosh, El,” he managed around the orange chunks. “I’m surprised you’re doing so well.”
Gwen rounded the island to stand next to Rhett. “But you do look dreadful,” she told her daughter, “which is to be expected after the absolute fright you’ve endured.” She plucked a carrot from the bag and rolled it between her fingers. “But it is odd that you’re so—” She waved the carrot around. Her inflated lips pressed into a straight line. “Well, we know how sensitive you are.”
Why did they keep saying sensitive like it was something to be ashamed of? Empathy was never a bad thing.
Gwen pressed the tip of the carrot against her lips, thought better of it, and set it back down on the counter. “But this time you have every right to be. The attack was right in your building. Merely floors beneath yours.”
Elodie stiffened. “It wasn’t an attack,” she countered.
Rhett popped another carrot into his mouth. “Everything from Eos is an attack. An act of terror. That’s what they do. It’s their whole purpose.”
Elodie’s fingertips dug into the thick beanie limply hanging from her balled fist. “Then why aren’t you at the MediCenter? Isn’t dealing with Eos your whole purpose?”
Rhett stopped chomping. He and Gwen blinked at her, slack jawed.
Rhett pushed his plate away from the edge of the counter and brushed off his hands. “I was wrong. This has you shaken up more than I expected.”
“I, for one, did expect this.” Gwen wagged her finger in the air. “We watched the attack live. There were soldiers crawling all over the MediCenter. Rhett was expertly fielding calls, managing his subordinates from afar. The attack—”
“It wasn’t an attack!” This time Elodie spat the words. She was tense and ready, armor coated.
Gwen slowly rounded the island. “You are in denial. You’ve been traumatized and your mind has blurred the entire event so you don’t . . .” she waved her hands in the air like she was batting flies, “end up with a terrible mental disorder. You’re not seeing this clearly.” Her stilettos whispered against the marble as she cautiously approached her daughter. “You can’t be. I know you are no sympathizer.”
