by Jenn Vakey
Whatever hope I had earlier in the week about making it out of Eden alive had disappeared after dealing with the Sentry in the woods. I saw firsthand that they had no problem killing. They took pleasure in it. Chances were, that was what would happen to me. I didn’t want to leave Lillith, but I knew Dallin and Paxton would take care of her. Rhydian knew that I trusted both of them, and I was certain that he would take them into Alkwin and keep them safe.
The only time that realization really hit me hard was when it came to Rhydian. I didn’t want to leave him. I didn’t want him to hurt, which I was now fairly certain would happen if I didn’t make it out of there alive. But Lillith was too important.
I paid little attention to anything during my morning shift or lunch. In fact, I was so caught up in my thoughts as I walked around after leaving the dining hall that I didn’t hear anyone approaching me until I felt a hand grab mine. I looked up in shock as Rhydian held it and led me across camp and through the tree line.
“Where are we going?” I asked, realizing this wasn’t a way I had ever been before. I smiled slightly at the fact that he had just held my hand as we walked through the openness of camp, not caring at all if someone saw.
“I need your opinion on something,” he said, more excitement there than he usually displayed. He looked almost carefree. It was a good look on him. “We’re going to be expanding camp. There are a couple areas to choose from where we can start building new houses.”
“Why expanding?” I questioned, actually grateful for a little break from my thoughts. I was also glad to have some more time with him before I left.
“We haven’t really told anyone yet, but we managed to get a list of suspected Tainted the last time I took a trip into Eden,” he explained. There was so much enthusiasm and pride there, which caused me to question how he had been acting in that week after he got back. Was that what he had been so happy about? I had assumed it was because of the princess or the king. Could it have been this instead? I actually found myself hoping that it was. That he hadn’t been elated about killing and kidnapping. That would definitely fit into the picture of the Rhydian I had gotten to know better. The one I really wanted to believe he was.
“We’re going to start trying to get people out before there’s as much risk,” he went on. “That means building another garden and more houses. Depending on the ages, we might need to expand the schoolhouse.”
I looked over at him and smiled, my fingers tightening in his where he still held them. I knew we couldn’t be going too far out if we were talking about houses, and I started to wonder if we had slowed to the pace we had just so he could hold it longer. It was probably a silly thought, but I wouldn’t have minded. I needed that today.
“How did you get into this?” I asked. “Being one of the leaders?”
Rhydian answered with a shrug and let go of my hand as he held a tree branch back for me to pass, but I could see his facial muscles tightening slightly. Like he was trying hard to keep from showing any reaction. He also knew me well enough to know that he couldn’t just make something up and hope that I believed it. He was holding something back. Hiding something. Not wanting to tell me about the things he had done. The people he had killed.
“It’s in everyone there, you know,” he said, completely avoiding my question. “The council might deny it, but everyone in Eden carries the genes. It’s just dormant in the people who haven’t displayed, and the test only detects it when the abilities are active.”
Like so many things I had learned after Lillith’s abilities started, that completely rattled me. I wanted to laugh it off as a ridiculous idea, but I couldn’t. It had been four hundred years since the wall was closed off. The abilities seemed to just show up randomly in people, some that had never had any hint of it in their family lines. In a lot of ways, it actually made perfect sense.
“That’s how Lillith has the abilities and I don’t,” I said, nodding. “We’re identical twins, so it would be impossible for her to have gotten the genes and not me.”
Rhydian met my eye and nodded.
“Eventually the city will either have to change its rules or everyone will have to flee,” he said.
I couldn’t even imagine what that would be like. An Eden where Tainted people weren’t hunted. Where people could just live without fear. It sounded good. Really good. Changing the system.
“We just need to have enough people come into their abilities for it to happen.”
I looked over to where he was walking a few feet away now. His tone said something his words hadn’t. Like he wanted to say something but couldn’t. I wasn’t going to let it go. “Can it happen? Without having to wait another century?”
His face twitched again, and he was silent for several long moments. I was certain he was going to avoid this one too, hiding something that I wasn’t supposed to know about, but then he looked up and met my eye.
“Noella is working on a serum that will bring them out,” he said cautiously, his eyes working over my face like he was judging my reaction. “It will activate the dormant genes and give people access to their abilities.”
I didn’t bother hiding my shock. What he said would have earned that reaction from anyone. That wasn’t the only reason I was feeling it, though. They were planning an attack on Eden. To activate people’s abilities in such a great number that the government would have no choice but to change the way things were.
I hesitated slightly, unsure how I actually felt about that. He didn’t give me time to figure it out. He quickly moved closer and took my hand again, pulling me off to the side.
“Here’s why I like this spot,” he said, leading me through the trees until they opened up into a large clearing. When my eyes found the other side of it, I let out a gasp I couldn’t keep hidden. It was the river. But not just the river. From this spot, there was a perfect view of a waterfall feeding into the river just thirty feet away. It was the most beautiful thing I had ever seen.
“This is where I was thinking about building my house,” he said, stopping beside me. His fingers brushed gently over the back of my hand, reminding me that he was still maintaining his hold. He sounded almost nervous as he said it. I looked up and found the same reflecting in his eyes as they looked ahead, which wasn’t something I had seen on him before. “Walk out to that view in the morning.” His eyes moved from the waterfall down to mine. “What do you think?”
I couldn’t hold his gaze. If I did, it felt like he would be able to see right into me. Know everything that I was thinking or feeling. So I looked back ahead like I was studying the view.
“It’s stunning,” I said honestly, pulling out of his hold as I walked toward the bank.
My mind was racing. Why had he brought me here? Was he wanting me to be with him, in the house he planned to build? No, that was a silly thought. Things had changed so much between us in the weeks that we had known each other, but it still had only been just that. Weeks.
I knew the way things worked in Eden. A lot of people barely knew each other before they started courting. Especially when the guy was worried that someone else would get permission to court her before he could. Then came the time that they got to know each other in an attempt to determine if they were a good match for marriage. Was that why he was showing me this? Part of the courting process in Eden was to show each other what they could offer. What better to show a girl than where you would be living together if there was a future.
But things were so different here. I didn’t know how all of this worked. What the rules were. We were already doing things that even courted people didn’t do. Not even people who were engaged.
Then there were also the people who dated in Alkwin, not wanting any real commitment. So I didn’t know what this actually meant to him.
Still, even the thought that he might see me as someone he’d rather court than date made my heart race violently. If things were different, that was probably exactly what I would want. Him, this house. I wished that thi
ngs had gone differently that night we left Eden and Lillith had made it out with me. That way I wouldn’t have to make the choice I knew I had no option but to make.
To leave him.
“After four years in the dorm, it will be nice to be away from everyone else,” he said, oblivious to the tornado of emotions ripping through me. I wiped it all from my expression, then turned to face him. He still looked a little nervous, but there was so much eagerness there. I loved seeing it. Even more, I hated that I would be taking it away in less than a day.
“I already have the plans drawn up for it,” he said, stepping back and looking around. “I'm hoping to have it done before winter is over.”
Listening to him talk about it only made everything hurt so much more. I knew that I couldn’t ever be with him. Not the way I wanted to. The way I hoped he wanted to be with me. Even if I made it back, everything that had been going on with us would end when I told him the truth. He would never forgive me.
“What’s wrong?” he asked, walking toward me.
I looked up and realized that I had zoned out, had let what I was feeling show. “I was just thinking about my sister,” I said, which technically wasn’t a lie.
Rhydian closed the gap between us and wrapped his strong arms around me, letting me fall into his chest. “I lost almost my entire family because of this,” he said gently. We hadn’t talked about his family. Nothing more than that they didn’t know he was Tainted. That he hadn’t made it out of the city clean. I could only assume that the government of Eden had found out what he was. Had gone after his family. It made sense that he would be so shut off to people after that. If I had been Tainted and left my family without telling them they were at risk, only to find out that it had found them, I don’t think I’d ever be able to forgive myself.
“That’s why it needs to end,” he added, more confident than before. “So no one else has to go through what we have.”
I nodded, wondering if he was right. The thought of attacking Eden to do it still rattled me, though. Made me think about the people there, people like Dallin and Pax, who weren’t part of the wrongness of Eden.
“So, how many new houses are going to be built?” I asked, needing to change the subject. I could feel myself breaking down, losing control. He looked so light. I didn’t want him to worry. Not now.
“A dozen to start with,” he said, not fighting when I moved out of his hold and faced the river. “We have enough up right now to put people in, but they would have to share. Ideally, we want enough built that every family will be able to have their own. Then we’ll keep building so the people living in the dorms will have a house when they’re ready.”
It sounded so good. Camp expanding and growing until it really was a small city. One that, unlike in Eden, people moved around carefree. Happy. I just wished I would be around to see it. Maybe if I just told Rhydian now that the city was holding Lillith things would be different. They could do something to help me.
Or they could lock me up and waste time I didn’t have trying to verify my story.
I wished Dallin was here. He always helped me see things clearly. Even if he couldn’t tell me there was another way to do this, he could still make me feel more secure. Tell me I could do it. That I wouldn’t fail.
“Has anyone heard anything about Dallin?” I asked.
“He’s okay, Leeya,” Rhydian said, walking back up behind me. I sank into him when he wrapped his arms around me and rested his chin against my head. “I have someone watching him. I don’t want to pull him out unless he’s in danger, because having an ally in the Sentry is good for us. If there’s even the slightest hint that they will go after him, though, our people are ready to get him out of the city.”
I smiled, unbelievably happy he would have even thought to look after him for me. Again, though, it made me so sad. Everything Rhydian did just made him look better and better in my eyes. Made me want to be with him even more. I hated Adler so much for ruining all of that. I hated myself for not just being honest with him from the beginning. For not having the courage to tell him the truth now, before everything happened. Before it was too late.
I knew now more than ever that I would never have been able to do what Adler wanted me to do. This was bigger than just me and my sister. Rhydian and the people here were trying to save everyone. Trying to fix the things that were wrong with the system so everyone would be safe. If I had been selfish and given his life for hers, all of that would have been ruined.
“Things will get better,” he said, his voice low and soothing. “We can fix this whole messed up thing. Take our city back.”
“How?” I asked. Whether I was here for it or not, I wanted to know the details. I needed to know that I was making the right decision. Not just one based on my feelings. “Can you tell me?”
Rhydian sighed, his warm breath moving over my neck and sending shivers through my body. I had expected him to say no, but he nodded. After pressing a kiss to the side of my head, he pulled away and took me by the hand again, leading me away in silence.
We stayed in the woods as we circled around Alkwin. I didn’t press him for information. I was just happy to be touching him, feeling his warm fingers squeezing gently against my hand. Then, after about ten minutes of walking, we stopped in front of a building I hadn’t seen before. One away from the city, hidden from sight in the trees.
Rhydian pulled a set of keys out of his pocket and unlocked the door, then placed his hand on my back and directed me in. Looking around, I knew instantly where we were. The lab Noella would disappear to. There were tables set up that were covered in equipment. Some of the stuff I recognized instantly, like the blood patches and the skin gel.
To the other side of the room was a bed, though I couldn’t guess as to what it was doing in there. Maybe it was for late nights of working, or for people to rest on when they tested out the things she was making.
The sound of locks turning made me look back at Rhydian. He was securing the door behind us. I was confused, but it also sent an excited shiver through me. I was locked in a room with him.
“The door always has to stay locked,” he said when he caught my curious eye. “Even when someone’s in here.”
I nodded, then started walking around the tables. “She figured it out,” I said, looking at the excited marks written on the notes next to the skin gel. I knew she had been trying to replicate it, and it appeared that she finally had. That was good. The people here needed everything they could get.
“You really helped us out a lot bringing in what you did,” he told me. He stood back and watched me as I moved around, folding his arms and leaning against the edge of the table. “We’ve even been talking about trying to find an ally within the Healers in Eden. That way we will know when new tech is introduced.”
I nodded, moving over to the next table. This one had little vials of a golden liquid. It wasn’t anything I had ever seen before. We didn’t use liquids for anything as far as Healers went anymore. Everything was either pills or patches.
“Is this the serum?” I asked, looking back to Rhydian. His eyes moved down toward it and he nodded. So much in our world would change if people could obtain their abilities when they wanted to. Since arriving, there had been several times that I had wished I had them. Especially when it came to fighting for my life. For others. “Would it work on me? If I take it, will it give me access to my abilities? Make me Tainted?”
That could be the extra bit of help I needed to get my sister out of there. It could give me a better chance of making it back alive.
When I turned back to face him, I caught a look of indecision on his face. Like he was considering telling me something. I waited, only to see the moment that the decision was made and I knew he wasn’t going to.
“It’s not finished,” he said when he did answer. “And I’m not letting you take it until it’s been tested and proven safe.”
I knew he could see my disappointment as I walked back around and slid o
nto a stool that was sitting at the end of the table. He wouldn’t understand the meaning behind it. Had he not been there watching me, I might have taken it anyway. Even if there was a chance that it wouldn’t work. Or that it could hurt me. I didn’t care. I just wanted my sister back.
“What are you going to do with it?” I asked, turning so that I was facing where he still stood a few feet away.
His face twisted a little, then he shrugged. “That’s still up for debate. Some of our people want to put it in Eden’s water supply. Activate everyone’s abilities at once. Then it would be impossible for the government to do anything to Tainted anymore. Others want to offer it to anyone who wants it. Let people choose.”
“What do you want?”
Rhydian sighed and ran his fingers through his hair. “I don’t honestly know. I don’t know if it’s right to force it on people, but that would be the easiest way to ensure that things changed.”
I could see why he was questioning it. Even if hundreds of people stepped forward and wanted to take the serum, the Tainted people in Eden would be the minority. The council would still try to fight for control. How many people would die before things actually changed? At the same time, forcing it on people would just prove what Eden had been saying about Tainted all along.
“Why do things have to be so hard?” I asked, feeling the weight of the entire situation pushing down on me. “Why can’t they just let people leave without hurting them? Let them live outside of the wall.”
“In a house by the river?” he asked, his eyes looking almost hesitantly into mine.
I nodded.
His gaze started moving around my face, his breathing speeding just enough for me to notice the change. Even with him fighting hard to try to keep it from showing. He was nervous. It made my heart throb with anticipation. “Is that what you want, Leeya?”
It was such a simple question, but at the same time it wasn’t. He wasn’t asking if I wanted to be free of Eden. If I wanted things to be easier for Tainted. He was asking me if I wanted that house on the river. If I wanted to be with him.
