His eyes move to mine and I see the question in them, but I don’t respond. I can’t. His eyes fill with a tinge of suspicion before they turn back to Mother.
“I’m not sure I understand what you’re trying to tell me,” he says, a bit tense now.
“No. You’re just a foolish Surface Dweller, but not as simpleminded as I had first thought. You were able to get Evelyn wrapped around your finger in only two days. I have to admit I’m impressed.” She gives him another smile when he doesn’t say anything. “Impressed enough that I have decided to honor her request and grant you the privilege of making a decision.”
His eyes cut to mine again and I meet them without hesitation. I hope he realizes I’m not betraying him. The suspicion is still there, but he doesn’t say anything to me.
“What decision?” he finally asks.
“We’re offering you the chance to get out of this cell. Permanently.”
His eyes bore into mine. “And what is the cost?”
She laughs, but her eyes are considering. “Very smart,” she says. “I think Evelyn may have made a good choice.” She pauses. “The cost is you will have to couple with her.”
His jaw drops. “Excuse me?”
I try very hard not to laugh. It was probably the last thing he expected her to say.
Mother, on the other hand, doesn’t bother to conceal her chuckle. “Evelyn has decided you are superior to her choices here and wants to be Coupled with you.” She walks around him again, studying him as if he’s a test subject, while he keeps his eyes glued to mine. “I think she may be right,” she says. “Of course, we will have to do a full genetic workup to be sure. But before that can happen, we need you to make a decision. Will you couple with her?”
I hate that she hasn’t given him the full choice. That if he says no, he’ll die. But I fight the urge to plead with him using my eyes. He needs to make this decision on his own. There’s no way to tell him the consequences should he refuse.
To my surprise, he doesn’t even hesitate before he answers, “Yes.”
“Smarter than I thought,” she mutters. “Very good. We’ll run the genetic testing to make sure you are the perfect match Evelyn thinks you are. I’ll let Evelyn handle that since you seem to trust her.” She walks to the door, pausing when she’s next to me. “You have made a very wise choice.”
She gestures for the Guards to open the door. As she leaves, she says, “Get Evelyn a genetic testing kit.”
Out of the corner of my eye, I see the Guards exchange a look, but one rushes off to do her bidding. The door shuts with an ominous click, which echoes throughout the room despite the soundproofing.
Gavin hasn’t taken his eyes off mine. “Would you care to explain what the hell just happened?” There’s no inflection to his voice. For some reason that bothers me more than if he was angry.
I turn around and face the opposite wall, twisting my hands together before I force myself to let them fall to my side.
“Mother questioned me when I got back. She was not happy you haven’t answered questions.” I pause to give him time to realize I haven’t shared the information he gave me. “She was going to execute you. The only thing I could think of to buy us time was coupling. I just blurted it out. To my surprise, she agreed and now we’re here.”
He still doesn’t say anything and my nerves stretch to breaking. When I can’t take it anymore, I turn around and see him staring at me. His eyes are blank.
The silence actually feels heavy. As if each tick of the second hand piles another brick over my head and I’m just waiting for them to fall on top of me.
“Please say something,” I whisper.
“What did you trade for this?” His voice is soft, but there’s an edge of steel underneath.
Of course that would have to be the first question he asks. “Nothing important.” No matter how hard I try, I can’t meet his eyes.
“Evelyn. What. Did. You. Trade. For. This?”
I close my eyes and say in a voice barely loud enough for me to hear, “My ability to choose my coupling partner if your genetics aren’t good enough.”
He’s silent again, so long I’m forced to open my eyes to try and see what he’s thinking.
His eyebrows are knit together. “I thought you’d already lost it.”
“No, she gave me a time limit before. I had to choose on my own and quickly, or she would choose for me. But now I will have to go with whomever she chooses, which will probably be the young Guard. She seems to have a fondness for him.”
Just then the doors open and the Guard in question hands me a testing kit. He leans down to whisper in my ear. “What are you doing? He’s beneath you.”
I narrow my eyes, straighten my shoulders and stare him down. “I am aware of this. However, Mother and I have plans that you are not privy to and are none of your concern. Also, I do not like to be questioned in such a manner, sir. You will leave at once or I will tell Mother of your impropriety.”
Without waiting for an answer, I spin on my heel and go to Gavin, who is smiling at me.
“What?” I ask when the Guard shuts the door.
“That was really hot,” he says, and winks at me.
I kneel to the floor and remove the materials I will need. “What was?”
He joins me and bumps his knee against mine. “The way you told him off like that. Most of the time you seem like this little docile creature, and then you do something like that. It’s pretty hot.”
“Actually I was going for cold. Hot would imply I haven’t—”
His laugh cuts me off. “No. I thought it was sexy. Hot equals sexy in my world.” His fingers graze lightly against my fingertips as a slight blush heats my cheeks. Then he clears his throat. “So, um, what’s up with all this stuff? Isn’t it just a blood test?”
I let out a breath and pull out a cheek swab. It looks like a bristled cleaning brush except smaller. “No. In order to make sure we get a good sample and make certain it’s done right, I’m going to grab everything. Hair, saliva, skin, blood. And then I’ll take it to the lab myself. After his outburst earlier, I don’t trust the Guard to make sure the samples get there. Open your mouth.”
He obliges and I swab the inside of his mouth with three swabs, then get a scraping of his skin, a sample of his hair, and draw some blood. When I finish I pack everything as neatly as possible back in the kit and stand to leave. “I can’t come back until the tests are done, but I’ll let you know the results if I can.”
He nods, and I gesture for the Guards to let me out. The young Guard appears immediately at my side and walks with me as I go to the lab. The labs are near the Residential Sector, on the complete opposite side of the complex from the Palace Wing. To get to them we have to pass through the Square.
As we pass through the Square, it seems like it’s taking a hundred times longer than it should and I feel the Citizens watching me. Not in the normal way, but because the truth of what I’m doing feels like it’s written all over my face. And I’m sure that one of them is going to see it and go running off to Mother, but they all just smile and nod in greeting.
When we pass one of the alleys, I feel a flash of déjà vu and have to stop. I don’t know why, but I’m drawn to the end of it.
At the end of it, I press my hand to the brick wall. An image of a smaller version of the Square flashes through my mind so strongly that it has to be a memory. I stumble backward and knock right into the Guard, who can’t quite catch me before I fall onto the ground.
Immediately, he helps me up and asks if I’m okay, but I’m still staring at the wall. What was that? I press my hand against the bricks again, but nothing happens this time.
“Miss Evelyn,” the Guard asks, drawing my attention back to him, and the rest of the memory fades as if it was never there. “Are you okay?”
“Y-yes. I just—” I stop myself from blurting it out. I shouldn’t tell anybody until I know for sure what I’ve seen. “I just wanted to touch the bricks. I
like the roughness,” I tell him, turning around and leading the way out of the alley, making sure to trail my fingers over the bricks as we leave.
He doesn’t say anything, but I know he doesn’t believe me.
When we finally get to the DNA lab, I poke my head in and immediately spot my best friend, Macie, sitting at one of the microscopes. The lab hasn’t changed in the six years since I first remember seeing it. The walls are all white, as is the floor and the ceiling. There is no view of the ocean, and it always makes me wonder how Macie survives working in such a claustrophobic environment.
There are three long rows of white lab tables with a dozen microscopes per row. Lining the walls are more white lab tables with all sorts of strange unidentifiable things placed over their surfaces.
Macie hasn’t changed all that much, either. Her hair is shorter and no longer in the twin braids she wore when we were ten, and the glasses she used to wear were recycled after the surgery she had last year, but other than that she looks the same.
I don’t remember how we met, but I know she is the one person I consider a true friend. I trust her almost as much as I trust myself. I hope that she feels the same way about me, because I need her help.
“Macie!”
She looks over and smiles at me, showing off her burgundy lips. “Well, look what the catfish dragged in. Been a long time.” She gets off her stool and gives me a hug. She’s taller than me, but only by a few centimeters.
I return the hug. “I know. I’m sorry. Time seems to slip by sometimes and I don’t know where it’s gone.”
She laughs. “Isn’t that always the case? I was just talking to Nick about that the other day. I get so wrapped up in this stuff I forget about our dates.”
“So, you’re still seeing him?”
“Yes.” Her blue eyes sparkle when she says, “We passed our genetic matching. We’ve been approved for coupling.”
“Really? That is so great! I’m happy for you.” I give her another hug.
She returns the hug. “Thanks. Though I think this is all going too fast for him. He’s been humming some children’s song the past few days.”
I chuckle. “Probably just imagining those pretty babies you’re going to make.”
She pulls back and I notice sadness in her eyes. “I’m sorry.”
“For what?” I ask. She couldn’t possibly know what’s happening. I doubt even the Guards really know, and besides Mother—who won’t say a word—they’re the only ones who could.
She gives me a strange look. “I heard Timothy disappeared. I know you were really close to him.”
“Who?” I furrow my brow. That name is familiar to me and my knees feel a little weak at the mention.
Macie’s eyes narrow and then she lets out a disgusted breath. “She did it again. I knew she wouldn’t leave you be.”
So, Gavin was right. Mother is Conditioning me. And apparently everyone knows it but me. My hands tighten into tight little balls, my nails biting into my skin. But I can’t let on that I’m aware of what’s going on, so I just say, “I’m sorry?” and force my fingers to relax.
She shakes her head. “Never mind.” She gestures to the kit in my hand. “If that’s about Three, take it to Tony. He’s handling all that. Won’t let anyone near it but him.” She rolls her eyes.
My heart somersaults at the mention of Three, but I frown. “It’s not about Three. What’s wrong with Three?”
She shrugs. “The master won’t share, but I heard some Guards complaining about leaks the other day. Anyway, how can I help you?”
A leak? How can there be a leak? I was just touring the mining operation yesterday … or was it longer than that? I press a hand to my aching head. I can’t remember.
I hand Macie the kit with all the samples. “I need you to run this.”
“Another Suitor?” She shrugs and looks back into the microscope. “Fine. Just put it on the corner. I’ll get to it in a minute.”
I hang on to it and glance at the cameras around the room. They’re all off. They won’t turn on unless there’s a security breach. I just have to hope Macie won’t consider what I’m doing a security breach … but we’ve been friends for so long, and she’s never liked Mother. I don’t see her turning down the chance to do something behind Mother’s back, especially something as simple as making sure the results are what I want. The only problem will be the other Technicians around the lab. The closest is on the far side of the room, but I still have to be careful.
When I don’t put the kit on the table, she looks over with a frown. “What’s wrong?”
I step closer and lower my voice. “This is the DNA from the Surface Dweller.”
Her eyebrows jump up. “What?” she says loudly.
I glance around quickly, but no one seems to have noticed her outburst. “Shh. Please. I need your help.”
She glances around and leans toward me. “Of course. Anything. You want me to say he’s inferior?”
“No. Just the opposite. Whatever the result, I need you to get his DNA into the computer.”
She wrinkles her nose. “A Surface Dweller?”
“He’s not like what Mother makes them out to be. He’s really … nice.” I bite my inner cheek to keep from making the same mistake I made with Mother.
She smiles and her eyes sparkle like they had when she talked about Nick. “What’s his name?”
“Gavin.”
“You like him,” she says, her voice soft and knowing.
My heart leaps into my throat. “I suppose. He’s pleasant enough.”
“I mean you like him.”
I frown. Is it that obvious? “What in Mother’s name would make you say that?”
“Because like recognizes like.”
“What?”
“Never mind. Don’t worry about it. Just tell me what you’re going to do.” She leans closer, the huge smile still on her face.
“I don’t want you to get in trouble, so I’m not going to tell you. But, please, it’s important.” I grip her hands tightly in mine. “Mother has to think that Gavin is a perfect match. I need his DNA in the computer. Will you do that for me?”
“Sure. Of course.” She nods and can’t hide a smile. “I knew you’d come back to us and that witch wouldn’t keep you under her thumb for long.” She grabs the kit from me. “I’ll get started on this right away, Miss Evelyn.” She raises her voice and winks at me. “Tell Mother she can expect the results within the hour.”
I mouth thank you to her. “Very well. We appreciate your assistance in this matter.”
The Guard is still waiting for me when I leave the lab. The whole walk back he steals glances at me. I’m concerned he eavesdropped, but I doubt he’d have heard anything. Although I’m sure he’ll report back to Mother that I’d spent entirely too much time talking with Macie.
“It’s nice seeing her again,” I say, keeping my eyes forward.
“I beg pardon, Miss Evelyn.” He glances at me.
“I said, it’s nice seeing Macie again. It’s been entirely too long. We had a lot to catch up on. I apologize for making you wait so long.”
He grins at me. “It’s not a problem. A woman should never have to rush.”
I smile, grateful for the manners classes Mother insists all children take. Good manners are the mark of a civilized people.
An hour. That’s all I have to wait. Just an hour. I can handle that, as long as Mother keeps her end of the bargain.
CHAPTER NINE
An Enforcer must be ready to act at a moment’s notice. Even a second’s delay can mean the difference between life and death.
—ENFORCER STATUTE 105B.4
Mother comes for me herself in exactly one hour and fifteen minutes. She seems pleased, which worries me.
“Good news,” she says, and actually claps her hands. “The lab tells me Gavin is indeed a perfect match for you.”
Relief washes over me, but I only say, “That is good news.”
“However,
” she continues, and my stomach clenches. “You have a habit of changing your mind. So, since I do not wish to waste any more time on this, the coupling will happen tonight.”
I frown and feign reluctance while my insides jump around like rubber balls. “But it takes three days for the paperwork to be processed.”
She smiles wider. “I am the one who approves the paperwork, and I’ve already approved it.”
I sigh as if I’m not happy with the situation. “Very well, Mother. I will prepare for tonight.” I turn and start to my rooms.
“No,” she says, and I stop in midstride. “You will inform Gavin of the plans. I’m not going down to that filthy place again. Once is quite enough for me.”
“Yes, Mother. As you wish.” I silently cheer, smiling to myself.
I will indeed inform him of the plans.
* * *
Back in the cell, Gavin and I sit on the floor in the corner. I’m not sure if it’s necessary anymore, but I block the camera again and wonder if she’s ever even watched us. I can’t imagine her not using that against me.
Or she’s playing me like a drum and watching every move we make, waiting to see what I do and pouncing when the moment’s right.
The thought doesn’t exactly fill me with confidence.
“So?” Gavin asks.
He’s acting like he doesn’t have a care in the world. As if his life and my freedom aren’t waiting on this information and the plan trying to form in my head as we sit here. His legs are stretched out in front of him and crossed at the ankle. His arms rest loosely at his sides, but he might as well have them crossed behind his head, as calm and collected as he appears. Not even his eyes give anything away.
It’s a little unsettling, actually. Only Enforcers can cover their emotions so well. It makes me wonder if he’s as good at faking them as he is at covering them.
I push the thought away. Now’s not the time. “So, you’re a perfect match,” I say with a smile.
“Seriously? Wow.” He goes a little pale, but he smiles and there is a little sparkle in his eyes. Just that little bit of emotion makes me feel so much better.
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