by Coralee June
“Maverick!” I yelled, rushing over to Jules and cradling her shoulders just as she fell to the floor. She leaned back against me as loud footsteps ascended the stairs.
“What’s wrong?” Jacob asked. He was the first to arrive upstairs, and his eyes immediately went to searching the room for the source of our distress. Once he saw me cradling Jules, he bent down to assess her.
“What happened? Is she okay?” Jacob asked.
Behind him, Maverick jogged up the stairs and followed suit. He took Jules’ wrist in his hand and began feeling for her pulse. Jules felt feverish to the touch, and the three of us simultaneously recognized the reality of her condition at the same time. I didn’t think I'd ever forget the look on Maverick’s face when he realized his sister was dying. It was quite possibly the most painful expression I had ever seen in my life.
“How long have you felt this way?” Maverick asked. He took her from my arms and began descending the stairs, only pausing to look at the lipstick stain numbers on the wall.
“I started feeling sick yesterday, and by morning, I knew that it was the rejection,” Jules answered.
“Why didn't you tell us?” I asked. Although Jules seemed lethargic this morning, I didn't consider the possibility that she was...sick.
“Because I didn't see the point. Isn't it funny? It wasn't enough that my family rejected me. The vaccine had to reject me, too.” She laughed just as Maverick made his way over to the lab tables and laid her down gently. She still wore the wine-colored dress.
Maverick immediately began hooking her up to machines. His fingers fumbled and twitched, and it was jarring to see him so flustered. Usually Maverick maintained a calm composure, but now, he was like static energy reacting to every stimulus and allowing it to affect him. After watching him struggle to tape a monitor to her chest three times, I took it from his hands and applied the adhesive myself.
The doors to the lab opened, and in strolled Cyler who had six garment bags draped over his arm. “I don't get why we have to dress up for this fucking event,” he said with a growl, oblivious to the disaster happening around him. Allaire followed behind and, upon seeing Jules on the table, immediately jumped into action.
It took Cyler a moment longer before he realized what was going on. But even after seeing her weak body on the table and Maverick’s distress, it didn't quite hit him. “What's going on?” he finally asked.
For a moment, we all just stood there staring at one another. Several truths were right in front of us, but no one willing to admit to a single one. Maverick still didn't have a cure. Jules still was on the outs with her family. And we still were stuck in Ethros. Nothing about this was fair or right. And I knew that, in the end, it would absolutely destroy two of the men I loved. Then there was the selfish part of me, the part that craved a family and a friend. Why must this disease take someone just as I started to connect with them?
“I'm dying,” Jules said lightheartedly. She let out a manic chuckle before coughing again.
We all waited for Cyler's response, but after a few minutes, we realized that he was in shock. In my short time with their family, I'd grown to expect Cyler to be the man of action. Which is why I found his response to Jules being sick so jarring.
It was Maverick who finally broke the silence.
“No. You are not. Allaire, let's finish that code. We’ll test the first batch on Jules.”
Once they started moving, Cyler's shock finally wore off. He didn't say a word. He didn't react, other than glassy eyes and shaky fingers. He simply walked to his sister, sat down by her, and grabbed her hand. There was no hate or malice between them. I just wished that they could survive long enough to actually enjoy their newfound relationship.
Chapter Twenty-One
I didn't want to attend the execution. Jules getting sick changed everything. We were stuck somewhere between not having enough time and also having too much. Tallis wasn't expected until tomorrow, but Maverick’s tear-stained face hinted that Jules didn't have that long, and none of us were willing to leave her to die alone, despite her many protests.
"Do you even know how to apply makeup? You look like a raccoon,” she coughed out as I tried and failed to put on the metaphorical war paint Dominique sent over. Cyler, who was holding her hand and staring at the monitors, snapped his head up.
"Pretty soon,” I said, “you won't be able to speak. Do you really want to insult me with what little energy you have left?" I teased with a chuckle, making Jules break out in a weak smile.
I dug through Dominique's bag until I found pink nail polish. I showed it to her, and when she nodded in agreement, I tossed it to Cyler.
"What do you expect me to do with this?" he asked us. It was his first full sentence in the three hours since we found out that Jules was sick. Jules perked up at the sound of his voice.
“How about you paint my nails instead of sitting there like a sad sack of shit,” Jules whispered.
Jacob, who was sitting at her feet, burst out laughing. “Any other colors? I want to paint her toes lime green,” he forced out. Jacob seemed to step into the role of caregiver while Cyler battled his grief and Maverick battled the complex mutation of the vaccine. He took on Kemper’s selflessness and Patrick’s desire to smooth out tension, all while being physically there for Jules.
Before, I understood why Jules fell in love with Jacob. It was nearly impossible not to fall in love with his charm, kindness and good looks. However, now that I saw their dynamic more clearly, I understood that her feelings for him were inevitable. Jacob instinctually cared for her, and it made me love him all the more.
“We don’t have green, but I think I saw black in here somewhere?” Once more, I dug through the bag until I found the second polish and handed it to him. Our fingers brushed against one another, and we lingered for a moment, each providing the other solidarity and support, before I made my way back to the leather couch.
Cyler didn’t say a word, but followed Jacob’s lead as he began clumsily painting Jules’ nails. It was an adorable sight. She fell asleep before they were finished, but I was glad that she saw them care for her. I forced myself to remain calm and disconnected from my worry and grief, but seeing Cyler so...empty, was distressing. I knew that, should Maverick not finalize the cure, they would be broken by the guilt of losing Jules. Especially now that they were on the cusp of rebuilding their relationship.
Allaire cursed while typing away on the main computer just as Kemper came jogging through the door. He had spent the last hour trying to find the soldier schedule for the signal station. The dim look on his face didn't ease my anxiety.
“I have news,” he began with a whisper while watching Cyler and Jacob finish up painting Jules’ nails. “Because the signal station is essentially the information hub of Ethros, it's heavily guarded. Tonight, they will be short-staffed thanks to Cavil’s narcissistic homecoming party. But…”
Kemper looked at Jules who was lying on the table. Sweat had begun to gather on her forehead, but occasionally she shivered. Before I could respond, Patrick and Huxley entered the lab. They had spent the last hour or so walking the streets, trying to find clues as to what Cavil had planned for the evening.
Patrick looked to Jules with a sympathetic frown before speaking. “There will definitely be an execution tonight. No confirmation that it's Josiah, but I spoke with a Walker, and he mentioned that there was a bulk order sent to Cavil’s estate for alcohol.”
So not only would the soldiers be short-staffed, but they would be distracted and under the influence, too. It would have been perfect for escaping, but again, we all looked to Jules and realized none of this information mattered.
“Well. I think we all agree that we shouldn't go anywhere until Maverick can administer the cure to Jules,” I said. I refused to even vocalize the alternative, which was that Maverick could fail.
The guys looked to one another, and Maverick ignored our conversation. He was too absorbed in his work to pay attention.
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“We could always split up?” Huxley suggested, and an immediate scowl hit my face. I felt it like an anvil of frustration, weighing down my expression.
“Absolutely not,” I responded. I watched as they exchanged glances full of meaning. Jules let out a loud cough, distracting us from the conversation at hand. We all stood there for a moment in silence before Maverick spoke up.
“You should probably go get ready, Ash. The party starts in an hour, and Cavil is expected to arrive in three. The only thing we do know for sure is that you need to be there. I’m putting together what we’ve got. It’ll be ready to administer within the hour, but...” Maverick trailed off before resuming his furious typing.
“We need to keep Cavil from the lab. If he knows that we’re testing out our findings, it’ll just put us one step closer to outliving our usefulness, like Josiah,” Huxley added.
“Alright,” I mumbled, still not completely sure what we were doing or how we would get out of this mess.
“Huxley and I will get ready, too,” Kemper added just as Huxley rolled his eyes at the pile of wrinkled suits on the tiled floor. I felt better knowing they would accompany us. “I want to be as close to the signal station as possible should Cavil try anything. Maverick is more of the hacker between us, but I think I found a code to get it to shut down for at least thirty minutes,” Kemper explained.
“What a coincidence,” Huxley began while pulling a lighter from his pocket and igniting it. “I found a way to shut it down indefinitely.” The small flame caused shadows to dance along his jawline while he smiled mischievously.
“No!” Kemper screamed, shocking us all. “Whatever you do, do not try to explode the signal station,” he quickly added.
Kemper ran to the digital screen, momentarily distracting Maverick from his work. “There’s a failsafe at the station. It will automatically send out a signal to anyone wearing a fetter, activating the kill switch. It’s why this is so...difficult. One wrong move, bam. It’ll lock up. It keeps Walkers from tampering with it. Everyone is too scared that it’ll kill them all.”
“There is a four digit code, and I’m about eighty percent sure it’s right, but…”
“Four, seven, nine, six?” I asked, recalling Dominique’s cryptic message in red from earlier.
Everyone turned to look at me in shock.
I felt their hard stares on me as Jules began coughing again. I looked at her sweaty forehead before explaining myself. “Dominique left a code on the wall. I think she’s too...damaged...to escape herself, but I think she wants to watch us try.”
“If she’s known the code, why hasn’t she tried to escape, herself?” Patrick asked incredulously. He had a point. What was keeping her here? We looked around to one another, and it was Allaire who spoke up.
“I’ve heard rumors about all Dominique has endured. Her loyalty is bred by pain and extenuating circumstances. I could go into all the psychological trauma and the repercussions, but the bottom line is—people can’t endure that much without it affecting them. And…” Allaire drifted off before pulling a beaker out of a cabinet and handing it to Maverick. Somehow over the past week, they’d become a well-oiled machine, anticipating each other’s needs and working seamlessly together.
“And what?” I asked, eager to understand.
“And she has a son. Lackley’s son. When Cavil brought her here, she was pregnant. He’s three and he stays in the Walker quarters. She wasn’t sterilized like the others. Lackley wanted to impregnate her. She doesn’t talk about him often. She hopes that if he keeps out of sight, Cavil will forget about him.”
For a moment, all we could hear was the beeping of Jules’ monitors and her shallow breaths. The reality of Dominique’s life sank in, and I couldn’t believe how much she had suffered.
“Cavil wants everything of Lackley’s, and he’ll do everything he can to take it,” Allaire finished.
I got ready in a haze, not really bothering to apply makeup aside from the red lipstick Dominique included in the bag. I wasn’t exactly sure why I put it on, but after hearing her story, it felt more like showing solidarity with her than submitting to Cavil’s will.
Downstairs, the guys were whispering, but they went silent upon seeing me. Huxley and Kemper wore black suits, and my cheeks flushed at how handsome they looked.
“Why are you wearing the Companion lipstick?” Huxley asked.
“It only has power if I allow it to. I know who I am. I know who we are,” I replied. In a lot of ways, the red shade represented the awakening I experienced in Ethros. I wasn’t the same girl from Galla, or even a freed Walker in Dormas. I was an Ethros fighter. I was a combination of all three environments and no longer a victim of status and circumstance.
Huxley bit his lip. He was attracted to my confidence, and I knew that if in a different setting, he would show me just how much he appreciated this new version of myself. But instead, he simply walked towards me and placed a light kiss on my lips, thus making the red stain attach to his. He didn’t attempt to wipe it off. He just smiled, wordlessly showing me that he supported me. That he was willing to let the world know that he was just as much mine as I was his. I wasn’t the only one changed by Ethros.
Maverick coughed, bringing our attention to him. Jules still hadn’t woken up. “Here’s the first trial. I’ve run several scenarios. We won’t know for sure for a few hours. There is also the possibility that it acts as a catalyst. It could make it worse.”
Allaire took the vial from Maverick’s hand, obviously seeing the indecision on his face, before injecting it into Jules’ IV. “We’re all forced to make hard decisions, figure at least this way you won’t blame yourselves. Hopefully this will stop whatever is triggering the mutation. But since it has already started, there could still be long-lasting side effects. We won’t know for sure.”
Cyler finally spoke up. He was clutching her hand and staring adoringly at her face. “We’ll take what comes.”
Chapter Twenty-Two
I didn’t want to leave the guys behind. There was something ominous about our goodbye, but I didn’t dwell on it. I was determined to remain optimistic about our situation. We would get out of here. Together.
The party at Cavil’s estate was massive. Women in fine dresses and men in suits walked beneath twinkling lights while sipping champagne and listening to music. I saw the other Walker Companions from my night in Cavil’s ivory room, but they all wore white again. Soldiers grabbed them around the middle as they walked by and carried them off. Their giggles sounded forced but they didn’t complain.
Huxley and Kemper stood on either side of me. “I’m going to check the transport dock,” Hux said. “I want to see which direction Cavil arrives from, as well as see if Tallis has anymore painted notes on the shipping transports.” He kissed my cheek, leaving me with Kemper. I watched him walk away, then turned to follow Kemp away from the crowds.
According to an announcement made thirty minutes ago, Cavil would be arriving soon. I itched to visit Josiah one last time but also knew it would be pointless.
I leaned into Kemper’s chest, and for a moment, I wondered what would happen if we weren’t on the edge of destruction. Would this be a date? Would he take me off to another room, strip this dress from my trembling body? Would he make love to me as the band played outside?
“What are you thinking?” Kemper asked.
“This feels an awful lot like a date. I was just daydreaming, I guess.”
Kemper pulled me close, looked around, then placed a tender kiss on my forehead before stepping backwards, deeper into the shadows of our secluded spot. “Wanna pretend again?” he asked softly.
“Yes,” I whispered back. Kemper pulled me against the wall and pressed me against him, leaning his pelvis against me while twirling my hair around his finger.
“Close your eyes, Ash,” he whispered.
I did as he requested and allowed the veil of my dark lids to shut out the stress around us. I turned down the volume of my
thoughts and focused on Kemp’s voice.
“You’d walk up to me wearing that delicious dress, and I’d have to catch my breath because you’re so breathtakingly beautiful,” he began while trailing his hand down my arm. “And we’d hide in the shadows to steal some kisses, but it wouldn’t be enough. You’d want more. You’d need to feel me.” My breath caught as Kemper spoke. I heard footsteps walking by, but Kemper continued, ignoring them.
“We’d find a spot to sneak off to. Maybe your room at the Walker quarters. I’d follow you inside, pausing only for a moment to stare at you. I’d question if this is the right time or place, but not for long. Then I’d hold you close and explore the slit in your dress, rising slowly, following your inner thigh with my hand until I felt nothing but your need. I’d spend hours making you feel good, Ash. I’d bring you to the edge and pull away again and again, teasing you just because I could.”
Huxley approached us then, although my eyes were still closed, I sensed him near. I was so attuned to them now. Could he see the flush on my chest? Was he wearing that smug smile I loved so much?
Kemper leaned in closer to whisper in my ear. “Then I’d show you how much I loved you. I’d let the best parts of yourself bloom just for me. I’d show you a future where we were together and nothing else mattered, pouring my love into you so that there’s no room for doubt. Then I’d make you walk back to the party with your hair a wild mess, because I’d want them all to know what we were up to. I’d want them all to know that I was the lucky bastard that got to worship your body.”
I opened my eyes just as Kemper stepped back to greet Huxley. I looked down to see Kemp’s tented pants and forced myself to keep my hands to myself.
“I leave for a minute and come back to see I’m missing out on all the fun,” he said to me before rolling his eyes at Kemper. “Time to focus now, though. Cavil’s fleet just arrived.”