“I’ll keep that in mind,” I say, handing him the healing wand. “Just press the red button and hold it over the gash. It’ll do the rest.”
He studies it for a few seconds. “This is that thing you used on me, right?”
“Yes.”
“How does it work?”
I watch his fingers as they hold the wand. They’re long, like a musician’s hand. “Do you play an instrument?” I ask.
He gives me a strange look. “No. Why?”
“Your fingers. They’re long, and I thought…” I trail off and blush when he grins. “Never mind. We use the wand instead of sutures, which really only make things worse and invite infection. It super accelerates the body’s own healing processes. It only works on small to moderate wounds, though. Anything severe would just retear, which is … not ideal.”
He considers this, nods, then does as I ask. His face lights up as he watches the wound knit itself back together. “There. Good as new.” Before he releases my hand, he presses a kiss to where the wound was, keeping his eyes on mine.
Tingles zip up my arm and I can only stare at him as he takes the antiseptic towel and gently wipes it across my face, cleaning the dirt and blood from it.
His eyes are sad, and cold air fills the space he vacates when he pulls away. It makes me shiver, so he pulls me closer again, chafing my arms with his hands. “It’s really cold down here.” I don’t have anything to say to that, so I don’t say anything; I just let him continue to rub my arms, enjoying the warmth of his skin on mine. He clears his throat a minute later. “Feel better?” he asks.
I nod. “Thanks,” I say, and although I find now that I don’t want to, I pull away. Our time here is short. It won’t be long before Mother comes looking for us.
I dump out the contents of my bag and reorganize it, while taking an inventory.
There are two first-aid kits. The stupid map that didn’t help at all. Some small, waterproof case that clinks when I move it. My extra set of clothes, which I set off to the side so I can change. And a few rations of food, which won’t last very long, especially not with two of us eating it now.
Gavin stops me and gestures to the case. “What is that?”
“I don’t know.” I pull it out and flip open the flap, then pour the contents into my palm. It’s a series of vials, each with different caps: a smaller version of the DNA testing kit and an envelope made from some kind of slick material.
Frowning, I tear open the envelope.
CONGRATULATIONS! YOU’VE BEEN SELECTED AS MOTHER’S SPECIAL FEW.
Since you’re reading this, chances are you’re facing an emergency of a fairly large scale that you are unlikely to escape from alive. But, good news! You’ve been hand-selected by Mother to preserve your genetic makeup for a special new program that will allow Mother to use your DNA to repopulate Elysium in just this type of event.
Before you report to your assigned evacuation location, please follow all instructions as carefully as possible. Maintaining a quality sample is crucial, so don’t rush! When you’ve collected all required samples, seal them in the waterproof container provided.
If you are currently undergoing a Surface Dweller attack, please make sure to place the sample in one of the safe, but accessible places noted on your map. In case of flooding, or other facility failure, place your sealed container as close as possible to one of the exterior walls of the facility and activate the flotation device at the top of the container. The device is only sufficient to bring your samples to the Surface, so please don’t attempt to use it as a personal flotation device.
No matter what cataclysmic event you’re facing, please be sure to double-check the seals on all of your samples and the tamper-proof container before reporting to your designated evacuation area. Thank you for your generosity. Long live Elysium!
I can only stare at the letter with my jaw hanging open. I have no idea whether to laugh or cry.
“Evie? What does it say?” Gavin asks and, wordlessly, I hand him the letter.
At first, he looks confused, then he starts laughing, and he looks over at me. “Is this serious?” he asks, but even I can tell he’s being sarcastic. “She actually wants you to stop running for your life and take the time to not only fill these vials with God knows what, but then hide them safely? No wonder that map led us down here. She has no intention of letting you—or anyone—escape. And you want to stay here? Unbelievable.”
I blink, looking again at the kit in my hands. In some small way, I almost admire Mother’s efficiency. But that feeling is overwhelmed by shock and … revulsion. How could anyone be so calculating?
“Evie?” Gavin asks when I haven’t moved for some time. I slowly raise my eyes to meet his. He seems angry as he takes the vials from my hands. “Want to know what you can do with these?”
“What?”
“This.” He drops them onto the floor, then smashes them under the heel of his shoe. He smiles at me. “That. Now, is there anything in that pack that can actually help us?”
I shake my head. “Maybe the first-aid kits?”
He grimaces. “Let’s hope we don’t need those. So … what now?”
I don’t know. The first order of business is to change in case we have to move quickly. Running in heels is not ideal. I’ve almost twisted my ankle twice in these things. Gavin is in a pair of jeans, but he’s still wearing his dirty, torn T-shirt.
“Put this on.” I toss him the extra shirt I’d grabbed for him. It will probably be too tight for him, but it’s too large for me—I sometimes use it as a nightshirt—and I hope it’ll be big enough to do for now. “We need to disappear, and the dirt and blood on your white shirt is like a beacon.”
He removes his other shirt and pulls on the one I handed him. It’s a little tight, but it looks really good on him, showing off the lines of his muscles. Somehow, it’s almost more alluring than seeing his bare chest.
To distract myself, I start to change my own clothes. That’s when I realize I need to strip in front of him. “Turn around,” I say.
He spins in a circle, his arms at the ready to defend himself. “What? Why?” He frowns at me.
“I need to change. I can’t keep running around in this silly dress and stiletto boots.”
He laughs and covers his eyes with his hand, making a show out of peering through the crack between his fingers. “It’s not like you haven’t already shown me almost everything in that cheap excuse for a dress already, you know.”
“Keyword is almost.” I wag my finger in a circle, and wait until he turns around with a sigh and a muttered “Harsh.”
I wiggle out of the dress, then ball it up and toss it in the bag. Never know when it might come in handy. Then I pull on the black skirt and shirt. They’re loose enough to be comfortable, yet tight enough not to be a hindrance if I need to fight. I pause in the middle of straightening my shirt.
Fight? And just what exactly do I think I could do in a fight? Garden them to death?
When I glance up to tell Gavin he can turn around, I see the mirror on the far wall. His eyes stare into mine perfectly. He has a grin on his face.
Who the hell puts a mirror in a supper club cellar?
“You could have told me there was a mirror there,” I say, fighting my blush.
“What’s the fun in that?” He turns to face me. “Besides, I didn’t see anything. I closed my eyes. For most of it.” He grins at me again.
I roll my eyes, but sit back on the floor, then pat the floor next to me. “We need to figure out our next move. We can’t just stay here. Someone will come down eventually and then we’re finished.” I pause, because it looks like something is bothering him.
“What’s up with the lighting here?” he asks.
“I’m sorry?”
“The lighting. Everywhere you’ve taken me is all dark and dingy. The only places with normal lights are the Palace Wing, the prison place, and the Square. It’s like I’m in a creepy horror movie.” He shudders.
I want to be angry he considers my home creepy, but I can’t, because I’m terrified of his world, too, even if I am sort of curious. It’s supposed to be hell on Earth, with demons running around killing one another. Huge animals that kill you in your sleep. Insects that burrow into your skin and use you as a host until they control your mind.
I push those thoughts aside. Gavin isn’t the animal skin–wearing savage I’d expected of a Surface Dweller, and when he talked about his home in the cell, he made it sound not so bad. And it seems Mother has lied about more important things. It wouldn’t surprise me if she’d lied about the Surface as well. What better way to make sure people didn’t want to leave the relative safety of Elysium?
“Citizens tended to congregate where there’s more light, and after the Enforcers … became necessary, the shadows served another purpose. Now Mother keeps the places where she doesn’t really want people to gather the darkest, while the places where she wants people are the brightest.”
“That, sadly, makes a lot of sense,” he says, but then frowns. “Okay, so, Mother is the Governess? How’d that happen?”
“It’s kind of a long story, but Mother had this city built during the War. She wanted to have a safe place away from all the bombings and fighting that happened on the Surface. She hired a few top scientists, and then recruited other people to live down here. But they had to fit the image of the ideal person.”
“There is no such thing as the perfect person,” he interrupts, then gives me his lopsided grin. “But you’re pretty damned close.”
I place my hands on my hips and let a small smile form. “According to Mother’s scientific data, I am the perfect person.” I tug on my hair. “Blond hair, blue eyes. Pale skin. The people she recruited even had to pass an intelligence and psychological test. She started the city with only fifty people. And we grew from there.”
“You said Mother started this place?”
I nod.
“That’s not possible,” he says. “There is no way your mother started this facility.” He crunches his face up in concentration.
“Sure it is. Why not?”
“The War was over fifty years ago, Evie. Your Mother doesn’t look any older than thirty.”
“Fifty years ago? That’s not possible. I was one of the first children born here. The city is only maybe twenty years old. And Mother started this when she was in her early twenties. So, she’s in her forties, at least.”
“No, Evie, it can’t be. There’s no freakin’ way. If she started this during the War, then it’s over fifty years old. So, either she’s lying about when she started it, or she’s lying about who started it.”
The silence drags out while I consider this information. If he’s telling the truth, then Mother’s been lying to everyone for a long time. But how did she fool the people that have been here from the beginning?
Suddenly a speaker over our heads crackles to life and Mother’s voice flows into the room, causing us both to tense as if our muscles are made of violin strings and someone is turning the pegs.
“Attention, Citizens of Elysium,” she says. “We have an emergency.”
Gavin and I exchange a look as a chill fills my body. She knows we’re gone. I’d been hoping to have a course of action before this happened.
“The Surface Dweller has escaped our Detainment Center, and it appears that he has kidnapped the Daughter of the People. For your safety, and that of my daughter, please report any sightings to the nearest Guard or Enforcer, but do not approach them. I repeat, do not approach them. The Surface Dweller is possibly armed and definitely dangerous. Your cooperation is appreciated and will be rewarded.”
She follows the announcement with a description of Gavin—paying special attention to mention his gray eyes and darker skin—and then repeats the announcement.
The blood freezes in my veins. There’s no way we’re going to be able to get around now without being seen. I’m too noticeable and so is Gavin. We won’t last a minute out there.
CHAPTER TWELVE
Mother’s word is law. Everyone must follow the law. If you do not, then you are a traitor and will be treated as such.
—CITIZEN’S SOCIAL CODE, VOLUME III
“What do we do now?” Gavin asks. He’s already standing. He’s tensed as if to run, but I can only tell because the ropes of muscle stand out against his shirt. His eyes are calm and direct as they watch me.
I don’t know, I want to scream, but only say, “We’re going to have to find another escape tunnel. And we’re going to need to get away from the Enforcers and the Guards.”
“How long do we have here? It doesn’t look like anyone’s been down here in ages.” He runs his finger along the box and holds it up to me, showing me the dust on the tip. “I doubt they’ll come anytime soon.”
“Mother gave me that map. She’s going to know I used it. This is the first place they’ll look. Maybe not here specifically, but one of the ‘safe zones’ marked on the map. We need to find somewhere safe where there aren’t people and not on the escape map. The Residential Sector is probably our best bet. There are vacant quarters. We can find one and that’ll give us at least a little while to plan.”
He thinks for a minute, his eyes staring at the ceiling. He huffs out a breath and crosses his arms over his chest. “It’ll have to do.”
I kneel to draw in the dust along the floor. “Here, pay attention. In case we get separated, you need to know how to get there. I don’t know how much of what Mother said she thinks is true, but on the off chance she honestly believes you kidnapped me … if we’re caught, you’ll be safer if I go back to them willingly.” He watches my hand as it draws on the ground, but now his eyes jerk up to mine. He opens his mouth to object, but I keep going, pretending I don’t see it. “You need to make sure to run as fast as you can into the shadows and to here.” I mark an X where the entrance to the Sector is. “I’ll meet you there when I can.”
It’s quiet while I draw the rest of the map of the Square. I can’t trust the accuracy of the map Mother gave me, so I have to take the time to draw this one.
“It’s important to stick to the shadows. Your eyes and skin will give you away. No matter what happens, you have to make sure to get to here. Do you understand?”
He doesn’t say anything, and from the fact that his jaw is clenched and he won’t look at me, I know he’s angry with me. Hesitantly, and fighting the urge that wants me to not do it, I cup his cheek in my palm to try to get him to look at me. “Please. Promise me.” I let my hand drop to my side. “Please. No matter what. If you get caught, we’ll never get another chance to do this.”
He sighs and then nods. “Fine,” he says shortly. “But how long do I wait if you don’t come?”
“Twenty-four hours. If I don’t come for you, that means I’m physically unable to. Whether I’ve been confined, or Conditioned, or—”
“Killed.”
My heart jumps into my throat, but my voice is devoid of emotion when I say, “Or she kills me for defying her. Yes. That’s why it’s important to memorize this map of the city. If for some reason we get separated and I don’t meet you at the rendezvous point in twenty-four hours, you’ll need to find another escape tunnel by yourself.”
It’s quiet again while he takes a few more minutes to memorize the layout of the city.
“I don’t think that’ll happen,” I say when I’m sure he has the route locked in his memory, “but an ounce of prevention is better than a pound of cure.” I swipe a hand through the dust, erasing the map.
I gather my pack and sling it over my shoulder, then head to the side door. I hold my breath when I open the door and don’t release it until I see there’s no one around to hear the door’s squeal. I gesture for Gavin to follow, then make a dash for the deep shadows along the wall.
If we can stay there, and as long as we can move silently, we should be able to avoid detection. Unless we run into an Enforcer, which I pray we don’t. When I feel a
hand on my shoulder, I glance behind me and smile—Gavin hadn’t made a noise.
Must be his hunter training. I have to admit I’m impressed.
We creep along the edge of the building slowly. Each step seems to take forever, but rushing headlong into anything without looking could be disastrous.
If I could have had time to plan this all out appropriately, I’m sure Gavin would be on his way home by now. But because I’ve had to wing it, we’re stuck slinking in shadows and hoping for a miracle.
I’m so lost in my thoughts, I almost scream when Gavin squeezes hard on my shoulder. I turn to scowl at him, but he places a finger over my lips and tilts his head to our left. That’s when I hear it: running footsteps. I halt, pushing myself as far against the wall as I can. He does the same and we both hold our breath as a group of Guards rush past. I hope the shadows are dark enough that we won’t be seen. Or that the Guards will avoid looking too deeply into the shadows, which they should. No one wants to run into an Enforcer.
“A woman says she spotted them over by the fountain,” one Guard is saying. “It’s probably not them. If he managed to kidnap the Daughter right under Mother’s nose, I don’t think he’s dumb enough to be out in the open after that announcement.”
Gavin raises his eyebrows at me, while I stifle a laugh with my hand. When they pass, we move even quicker toward the Residential Sector.
Several times along the way we have to pause and wait for more Guards to pass by, but I don’t notice a single Enforcer. Where are they? Mother wouldn’t entrust something this important to the Guards alone.
Then, without warning, we lose the ability to use the shadows. We have to cross an alleyway that is brightly lit and there are dozens of Citizens around. If we take the chance and run for it, we’ll be spotted. But the longer we wait, the more likely someone—probably an Enforcer—will find us. The thought causes a shiver to sputter up my spine.
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