Cheating Time

by T. R. Graves

  Yeah. That's what I'm afraid of, you piece of shit.

  Barone grabbed up the document after slipping on a pair of MicroGlasses. He snapped a picture and had his retina scanned in order to certify the signature as his. Then he handed me the lenses. I stood still while the red light verified who I was and certified my signature and our genetic codes.

  I kept the lenses on until I saw the document had been emailed to Jayden and myself. Our agreement had been signed, sealed, and delivered.

  I'd sold my soul to the devil in order to save Tawney and protect my family, Jayden's family, and Thorne's family. I'd done all I could do.

  Resigned to my fate, my shoulders slumped. Barone took that to mean I was relieved.

  "I know you're only seventeen, but I think this all calls for a toast."

  Barone dashed over to a bucket of ice and pulled out a bottle of champagne. The explosion that came when he popped the cork was loud enough to make the Surrogate standing guard quickly poke his head around the tent's flap in order to make sure the president was still safe. Barone was oblivious as he poured the champagne into two tall flutes.

  Standing in my personal space, he handed a glass to me and offered a toast. "To the most beautiful woman I've ever seen… the woman I'll one day marry… the woman who'll one day have our children. Thank you for agreeing to this. You have no idea what it means to me."

  Barone pinged my glass and took a long drink. I followed his lead and took my own gulp. It was quite literally the best-tasting drink I'd ever put in my mouth. Somehow, I'd gotten thirstier than I'd been hungry earlier. Rather than stop with one gulp, I drank until the entire flute was empty.

  I'd eaten little because I was so upset over my negotiations, so the drink went straight to my head. The MicroPharm was having trouble metabolizing the alcohol, probably because of how fast I drank and because it was already being taxed while trying to manage the remaining effects of the snakebites.

  As soon as my first glass was empty, Barone refilled it. Ignoring the beginning buzz I was already feeling, I drank that glass down just as quick.

  "Carlie, I'm going to let you celebrate tonight, but I don't want to see you drinking with anyone but me. Do you understand?"

  I nodded, giggled, and put my glass out for him to refill.

  He chuckled and filled my glass again. I felt lighter and less stressed than ever in my life. I closed my eyes and began swaying to the music playing in my head. I completely understood why people drank. There was something liberating about not worrying about everything… about everybody.

  Sooner than possible, I'd drunk my fourth glass. When I turned in the direction where I thought Barone was standing, I tripped. Barone caught me and pulled me into his chest and squeezed me tight.

  "Carlie, I think you've had enough. One more glass and you'll officially be drunk."

  I touched the glass to my cheek and said, "Please… just one more. I feel so good. I-I've never been so worry free in my life. I like how it feels. I like not feeling like the weight of the world is on my shoulders. I like feeling like I'm a normal teenage girl whose worst problem is making friends at the academy."

  I'm not sure where they came from, but tears sprang to my eyes and I began crying. "I-I've been so sad about Tawney. I don't want to lose her. I love her so much," I sobbed.

  Barone pulled me into his chest again. This time he kissed my forehead. "I know, sweetie. You and I are going to save her. I promise we will. We'll go down in history as the couple who eradicated lymphoma. Just wait and see," he consoled.

  I nodded and leaned my head back so I could wipe the tears from my eyes. When I did, Barone bent down and kissed me. Like before, it was sweet and gentle. There was nothing urgent or deep about it. It wasn't exciting like Jayden's.

  When my drunken self realized I'd never again kiss Jayden, that I'd never again have my heart race and my stomach flutter in anticipation, she sobbed more, and I pushed Barone away from me. I grabbed my knees, bent over, and cried harder.

  "I'm sorry, sweetie. I know you're upset. I promised I wouldn't do that, and a few minutes later, I kiss you again. I think that proves just how hard staying away from you is going to be for me," Barone said, swooping his arms behind my knees and picking me up. "You need to get some rest. You can sleep in my bed. I'll have them set up another on the other side of the tent for me."

  I wiggled and squirmed. "No. No. I need to go back to the infirmary. My MicroPharm needs to be refilled. I have to go back," I insisted.

  "The hell I can't go in there!" I heard from outside the tent and knew Jayden had arrived.

  Chapter 30

  Immunity

  Carlie

  "Humph!"

  With that wince of pain, I knew Jayden had thrown at least one punch.

  The next thing I knew, my Surrogate Soldier was in the tent. He was as enraged as I'd ever seen him, as hurt as I'd ever seen him.

  "What the hell is this?" he asked as he waved a document my way.

  I knew it was the contract I'd just had sent to him in order to make sure someone besides me knew about its existence.

  "I can explain," I slurred.

  I never would have thought he could become more incredulous, but he was when he saw the condition I was in, that I was in Barone's arms.

  "Are you drunk? Were you drunk when you signed this?" he asked hopefully.

  I jerked until Barone had me once again standing on the ground, but the tent felt like it was whirling.

  "Jayden… I-I was not… drunk… when I signed that. We need to talk, but… we can't do that with John here," I said, clumsily slapping John's chest with the palm of my hand.

  "St. Romaine! What are you doing in my tent? I know you and Carlie are close, but you're going to have to learn there are boundaries where she's concerned," Barone said, matching Jayden's rage degree for degree.

  "What have you done to her? What are you doing to her? You can't marry her. She's… she's too young for you. For God's sake, she's not even seventeen."

  Barone put his hands up and said, "Nothing is going to happen until she's twenty. She'll be an adult and able to make her own decisions. You don't have to worry that I'll do anything before then."

  Jayden looked like he might punch the president out. It was at that moment that my body's reaction to extreme stress—and its attempts at detoxification—took over. I slapped my hand to my mouth and searched for a bucket. I was going to throw up, and the last thing I wanted to do was to upchuck on the floor of the president's tent.

  As soon as I saw the trashcan near the desk, I dived for it, held my head over it, and let every bite of food I'd eaten and every ounce of liquid I'd drunk expel itself from my body.

  Jayden was as my side quicker than I'd found the trashcan.

  "Jesus! What's going on here? What's wrong with you? I need to know," Jayden pleaded.

  "St. Romaine, help me get her back to the infirmary. You can talk to her in the morning. In the meantime, I'm going to assume my agreement with Carlie is safe with you… that you won't share the first word of it because there's a confidentiality clause in it that holds Carlie responsible for your indiscretions," Barone warned.

  "If you weren't ashamed of what you're doing, you wouldn't care who knew about this agreement," Jayden countered.

  "Neither Carlie nor I have to vet our decision through a Surrogate… even if that Surrogate is the Lead Surrogate. Now, do as I asked and help me get her back to the infirmary. She's sick and needs Angleton's help."

  Jayden was taller and stronger than Barone. Before I knew what had happened, he had me up off the floor, in his arms, and on my way to the infirmary.

  Behind us I heard Barone. "I'll wait here. Tell Angleton to call me after he's refilled her MicroPharm."

  Under Jayden's breath, he mumbled. "I'll tie a noose around your neck and hang you in the middle of the camp before I call you to come check on her."

  I put my finger up to Jayden's lips, shushing him.

  "I've bought you
r immunity, but if you keep talking to him like that, he's going to have you killed anyway," I said.

  I was a lot more sober than I'd been twenty minutes ago.

  "What the hell have you done, Carlie? Are you trying to make me lose my mind? Do you think I'm going to let you marry that twisted fuck? Do you think I'm going to let him lay one hand on you? I'll kill him first. I swear to God I will," Jayden seethed.

  I leaned up and into his ear and said, "Please… for me… Please don't say those kinds of things. It's hard enough for me to know that I-I'm stuck with him. If he did anything to you, I'd kill myself. I will. I thought I was going to die without you for the last six months. I couldn't imagine a world where you didn't exist. Just do this for me, Jayden."

  He groaned. "You're sick. I want Thorne to check you over. Then you're going to sleep. In the morning, you and I are going to do the talking we should have done today. If you and I had talked, you'd know I had a plan for getting you, Thorne, and Rorie out of the camp and to the safe house Gran had set up. None of this would have happened if we'd talked."

  "If we'd have run, we wouldn't have been able to save Tawney. She's going to live because of this agreement. All of you are going to be safe because I've agreed to give him what he wants," I said.

  "Yeah… I believe every single word a glorified pedophile says," Jayden whisper-shouted.

  "Shh! That's what I mean. You can't go around saying things like that. He has a plan to gradually introduce me, increasing the frequency to the point were our marriage will be a logical progression in the eyes of the nation's citizens."

  "You honestly think they won't have a problem with a president seeing and marrying a woman twenty-five years his junior?"

  "That's his problem, one he'll have to deal with. I've done all I could to make sure research for lymphoma becomes a priority and that all of you are safe." I huffed.

  A few seconds later, we were in the infirmary and Thorne was studying me as if I were a conundrum. "Have you been drinking?" he asked.

  I glanced to the side of the bed and saw Rorie. "I had a few glasses with my meal." To her, I said, "It was the best food I've ever eaten… by the way, Ro."

  She beamed at me like my compliment was the thing most precious to her.

  "Rorie, go to bed. Carles is a patient. I need to care for her, and you need to be sleeping," Thorne said like he was out of patience with his sister. Based on her reaction, it might have been the first time ever he'd ever been really cross with her.

  "If you're angry with me, take it out on me. Don't be mean to her."

  Jayden came to Thorne's defense. "Don't take this out on him. He's not the one who's thrown his future away for a piece of shit who wants to use you to make himself more money and to gather a more fierce following," Jayden snapped.

  Thorne couldn't believe the vengeance behind Jayden's words. "Look, she's sick. Let me assess her. In the morning, we'll all sit down and talk about the mess you seem to think she's gotten herself in," Thorne said reasonably.

  I nodded and closed my eyes. As the list of people with immunity scrolled through my mind's eye, they popped back open, and I struggled to sit up.

  "Where are Sean and Simon?"

  It was Jayden who gently coaxed me back down and answered. "I gave them our camping gear. They're camped out somewhere no one will find them. They've promised to stay put until I give them the all clear to leave."

  "They don't have to run. Simon is safe. Barone promised."

  Jayden stared at me like he wasn't quite sure what to do with me. Like he was proud of me.

  "You might be the only person in the world who could've negotiated the unconditional safety of two Surrogates and two genetic anomalies… two of which are being actively hunted for treason."

  I grabbed Jayden's hand as if it were a life preserver and I was drowning. "That's just it, Jayden. I realized that through him I could make a difference. I could use him… even if he doesn't know he's being used. It would certainly serve him right." I bit my lip, the place where I already had a scar, until it began bleeding again. "I can do what I need to do as long as I have people around me that I love and trust. That list is that for me, and I hope I gave you and Thorne the people you needed most in the world… because I have a feeling we're all going to be doing a lot of things we don't necessarily want to do."

  Jayden's eyes went black and cold. "I won't let him touch you. Not ever. I'll kill him first. I don't care about anyone in the world but you. Sean, Simon, and my surrogate mother… under other circumstances, they'd be among the first people I wanted to save, but I've never really known them. I know you. I love you. I won't let him touch you, and I mean it. I'll do whatever I have to in order to keep that from happening." Jayden fumed once again for good measure and so I knew he was serious.

  "I asked you to stop saying things like that. I've told you I need you near me. If he hears those types of comments or feels your animosity, he's going to keep us apart. I can't bear the thought. Those six months were enough to last a lifetime for me. Please just do this for me. Please," I begged.

  Jayden leaned down and kissed me on the forehead, but he never agreed. He never said a word that let me know what his thoughts and plans were. When he pulled me into his arms and hugged me so tight I couldn't breathe, I knew he meant what he'd said about Barone touching me.

  "We have three years, Jayden," I whispered in his ear. "We'll find a way to be together before then. I swear. Let's use the time to test Barone's word… to see what all we can get done as it relates to changes in the government, ones that'll give Surrogates and genetic anomalies the same rights as the Procreates… ones that'll put more and more money toward research geared toward eradicating diseases like lymphoma. You, Thorne, and I have a lot of work to do and very little time to do it. After that, we'll run away together, even if that run is taken only in our dreams."

  Jayden's gulp was loud. "Let's run now. Let's get away from him. He's promised you the world because he knows that's what you want. He's done the same with your mother for years. It's just been different because he was too scared of Sam to make this same offer. That's why he's been on the outskirts of your life since you were born. He wanted to be your first because he knew… like predators do… that you will be eternally loyal to your first.

  "Please, Carles, I'll never ask you to do another thing for me. Just please, let's go."

  I was so torn. Jayden had never begged me for anything before. Not ever. I loved him enough to give him anything. I needed some objective parties.

  I pushed him back, and I glanced toward Thorne who was going out of his way to pretend he was busy gathering supplies for the nonexistent procedure he wasn't going to be performing.

  Loud enough for him to hear, I said, "We need to let Thorne know what's going on. I want his opinion. Then I want you to find a way to get in touch with Gran so you can tell him the conditions of the contract. If both Thorne and Gran agree with you… that I should run away and ignore the once-in-a-lifetime offer Barone has given me, I'll leave with you and never look back. If not, I want you to agree to see this through with me."

  Thorne spoke up. "I'm not deaf. I've overheard most of what's been said. There are a few blanks that need to be filled in, but I think I've gotten the gist of what's going on. Barone has made you an offer you can't refuse… not because it will benefit you. In fact, I suspect you're going to be the only one paying the price for his offer. How close am I so far?"

  Jayden said, "So far, you're doing damn good."

  Thorne nodded. "What did he offer you? Your family back together and safe?"

  "That's some of it," I mumbled.

  "Enlighten me," Thorne insisted.

  Jayden took my silence as permission to fill in the blanks. "Well… he wants her to marry him. He's justified his pedophilia by agreeing to wait until she's twenty before marrying her… after their long courtship filled with philanthropy geared toward masking his fetishes.

  "For the honor of marrying a man her fath
er's age and giving up the chance to marry someone her own age, Barone is going to put every research scientist at her disposal. A cure for lymphoma their shared mission. Her cousin's life her only concern.

  "In order to make this ridiculous agreement more palatable for the two of us, she's made Barone guarantee in writing that her immediate family, you, Rorie, your parents, and me and my brothers and mother will be granted immunity. We'll be cared for and pampered close enough to Carles for her to stay in contact but far enough away that we won't be able to do anything but watch our dear old president paw at her like he's a cat and she's catnip.

  "I've been adamant that I don't want her to sell her soul to the fucking devil. She's too stubborn to care what I say. She wants you and Gran to hear the offer and weigh in on her decision. Seems she respects you and what you have to say more than me and what I have to say." Jayden ended his speech on an accurate but still sarcastic note.

  "Rorie will be granted immunity. Does that mean no one would ever be allowed to hurt her?"

  I nodded.

  "But you'd have to marry Barone and have his kid."

  "Kids," I clarified.

  Both men's eyes widened and their brows shot up.

  "To hell you will." Jayden fumed. "To hell you will."

  Thorne's response was a lot less knee-jerk. He loved his sister and didn't have the luxury of putting anyone else before her. He busied himself, thinking about how wonderful it would be to not have to worry nonstop about Rorie's safety. At the same time, I suspected he was no happier about me being with Barone—having Barone's kids—than Jayden.

  Finally, he turned toward the two of us. "Here's the thing. Neither Rorie nor I can condone any situation whereby you would be married off and raped—because that is what it'd be—by anyone. Our lives are no more important than yours, Carles. Your intentions were great, but we would never agree to that."

  Thorne stared down at my hands as if he couldn't quite look me in the eye. I reached over and put my hand over his. His stare snapped up, and I smiled. I wished I were a better person, but I loved the way these two men were refusing to let me settle for Barone, regardless of his miraculous offer.