Conspired: A Young Adult Dystopian Romance (The State Series Book 6)

by M. J. Kaestli

  He tuned out all reality, the State, and just dreamed of a life together where they found their happy ending. “We are going to be great together, you’ll see. You will even love me, eventually. Someday, I’ll sneak into your office to see you when you’re the Head of State.”

  She laughed at his remark. “Well, there is the access in Victor’s office you could use.”

  His chest burned at her remark. She seemed to be open to slipping into this fantasy with him. Maybe she loves me, in her own way.

  “I know we can never be coupled, especially not now. But that doesn’t mean we can’t still be together. We just won’t be together as much as a regular couple is all.”

  They both drifted off to sleep, bodies intertwined. He slept like he hadn’t done so in years, taking great comfort to have his love, the one highlight of an unfulfilling life at his side. Freya seemed to melt into him and hardly shifted until morning.

  When it was time to go, he removed himself from the small bed and gathered his clothing from the floor. His eyes narrowed as he saw something small and dark off to the side of his clothing. As he leaned down, he realized it was the button he tore from Freya’s uniform.

  He held the button out to her on display. “Oops, looks like I destroyed some State property.”

  She rolled her eyes and took the button from his hand, placing it on the table beside her. “I may have never destroyed a uniform in this way before, but as a greenhouse worker, my uniforms need replacing regularly.”

  The truth was, it was a first for both of them, and most likely their last. He may get to see her a few more times, but nothing would be as passionate as tonight had been. It was the best night of his life.

  “You better hold on to that, just to be safe. I bet it can get mended easily enough.”

  “I’m sure the person who takes care of laundry can see to it.”

  Freya stood and kissed him goodbye, then turned to her bathroom to shower. He hesitated, standing above the military access. They may be on different sides of the war, but she didn’t know that. Maybe she would start to love him, if he could stall on the Head of States assassination.

  The spacecraft hadn’t yet landed. Maybe they still had time.

  Chapter 25

  Lewis

  It was his favorite time of the day, when Freya commonly finished working in the State House grounds. He laid down in her bed to wait for her, double-checking the time. It was getting late. He figured she must have lost track of the time; it wasn’t as though she ever left the State House.

  Dr. Rhetta had pulled him in for a meeting earlier, telling him it was time to act. Freya was on the opposing side of Victor over the transport device debate, the perfect time to pull the trigger.

  It may be the best time to kill the Head of State, but he was sure the High Council could still manage to sway the vote in Freya’s favor before she took office. If they wanted her to control the placement of the transport device, then they would find a way regardless of the timing of Victor’s death.

  Although he pretended to play his part, he lacked motivation to carry through with his assignment. And the way he figured, if Dr. Rhetta didn’t see the flaw in her plan, that was her own damn fault. Loyalty can only fuel a man so far. What motivation could he possibly have to kill the Head of State when it would end his life and tear him from the woman he loved?

  Interfering with a mission was treason, and he knew it; he just couldn’t bring himself to care. He didn’t view himself as disloyal; he knew the State was the only way humanity could survive. They were necessary, and they needed to thwart the rebellion. He didn’t want the State to fail, he just didn’t think they needed the Head of State to die as quickly as they had planned.

  I just wish we had longer together.

  If he hadn’t pushed her so hard on their mission, perhaps she would have eventually gone undercover with him again. Even with his newfound stall tactics, it wouldn’t give them enough time together. Nothing would. This was the end. He accepted it, but he hated it. He hated that their time together was so short, that he hadn’t appreciated it more, loved her more openly.

  Lewis closed his eyes, and somewhere between the stillness and his own thoughts, he heard muffled voices. He sat up, thinking Freya must be on her way. While behind closed doors, the voices escalated. He waited, listening, getting closer. Something was wrong.

  There was an argument; definitely a male and female. But who? Neither Freya nor Chastity seemed like the type to raise their voices. He continued to press against the door, and then the argument seemed to stop. The voices dropped to a barely audible level.

  He moved away from the door, but a shock wave rippled through his body. A gunshot reverberated through the door and into his soul.

  His body froze in place, his mind a whirlwind. Without conscious thought, he reached down into his ankle holster and retrieved his gun. Slowly, he pushed open the door, and inched his back to the wall between Freya’s apartment and the Head of State’s office. He chanced a quick glance into the room but couldn’t see anyone.

  Lewis spun around, gun drawn. He first saw the Head of State’s body at his desk, hunched over, blood oozing onto his work area. Freya was standing on the adjacent side of his desk, typing on Victor’s tablet.

  This was it. She had done it and he would never see her again. He felt as though his heart stopped beating in his chest. The temporary glimmer of joy was over. Now, no matter how much he loved her, he had a duty to fulfill. No longer could he ignore that she was on the opposite side of a war.

  He came up behind her, just as she turned around. “Dammit, Freya!”

  He raised his arm with the gun in hand and struck her. She was instantly knocked unconscious. Tears streamed down his cheeks as he reached out to catch her falling body.

  There wasn’t much time; he couldn’t be the only one to hear the shot fired. He gently caressed her face, pushing back a few loose hairs. Time stopped. This moment looking down at her for the last time felt like an eternity but was over in a flash. With one final, tender kiss, he carried her limp body back into her room and laid her out on the floor.

  It was time to leave her. Forever.

  Lewis got up and looked around.

  This is it, this is goodbye.

  He scanned her tiny apartment, trying to imprint everlasting memories. Something small and black caught his eye on the table: a button. He smiled softly at the memory. A moment of pure passion between them. The only time in his life he took one moment for himself to feel love, to feel joy, to feel something.

  He grabbed the button, slipping it into his pocket. This would be his totem, his reminder of their time together. It had happened. It was real. A moment stolen from someone else’s life.

  Love wasn’t for the military, only duty.

  He slipped down the access, hoping Dr. Rhetta’s actions would be honorable. He deserved a swift, painless death.

  His gaze stayed locked on the ground as he dashed down the hall. If he ran, whoever they sent to apprehend him would use force. It was best to keep his head down and return to the bunk-room. Maybe Dr. Rhetta would send a message instructing him of a meeting location. Publicly arresting the military was always bad for morale.

  “Lewis!”

  His head snapped upwards.

  Dr. Rhetta’s short, stocky frame hustled toward him. “Security got a message from Chastity. She said she thought she heard gunfire.”

  Lewis nodded. “It’s done.”

  Her stumpy legs came to a halt. She turned and waved him along. “Come quickly. I need to get you out of sight.”

  Lewis jogged and swiftly bridged the gap between them. He took long strides while she struggled to keep his pace, even though she was running. Sweat beaded around her hairline as she huffed in exertion yet persisted.

  She was not a young or robust woman. He wondered if her heart might give out from the strain.

  Don’t get your hopes up.

  A part of him wanted to carry her—they mig
ht travel faster together if he did—but an old hatred burned too deeply in his core to ever willingly touch her.

  They jaunted along for what felt like an eternity. Her lungs wheezed continually. It appeared they were traveling South, and he wondered where she was taking him.

  The trek started to seem ridiculous to him, especially with such exertion on a mature woman. His face was equally well known as it was anonymous in all parts of the dome. Any location she had in mind for his execution held equal risk of witnesses.

  Finally, they turned a corner and started up a stairwell. She gripped the railing tightly as she struggled to catch her breath until they emerged inside a medical clinic. In the bright sterile lights, he realized she was soaked with perspiration, yet a fierce determination propelled her forward.

  As they rose in a lift in what he thought was an independent living structure, he gave pause for the first time. Maybe she wasn’t leading him to his execution, for now. But what purpose would he serve in independent living?

  She continued in silence until they stepped inside an apartment, and she secured the door behind them. “This was Freya’s apartment after your mission.”

  He looked around the simple space, trying to grasp why he was brought here. Suddenly, it clicked. “So, it has no monitoring system?”

  “Of course not.” She leaned against the counter, still struggling to catch her breath. “We couldn’t risk her having nightmares, muttering things in her sleep, and having Security report her. Or what if she had tried to do some actual spy work? We would have had a mess to clean up.”

  She turned to the cupboard and helped herself to a glass of water.

  Lewis looked around again, still not sure what he was missing. “How long am I to stay here before I’m executed?”

  Her head cocked to the side. “Why do you think you are being executed?”

  His face flushed, hating that he still couldn’t grasp her plan. “Because I killed the Head of State.”

  Her brows knitted together. “Yes, you did exactly what I asked of you. You killed the Head of State in a way that the rebellion will believe it was Freya.”

  Suddenly, he was so exhausted he had to lean into the wall. Part of him wanted to tell her that despite her low opinion of Freya, she had come through. But he didn’t think it would matter. Mission accomplished. Time to move on.

  “But am I not to be blamed amongst the military? Don’t you need someone to pay for an assassination?”

  She dropped her chin, looking up at him in her condescending manner that always lit his soul aflame. “No, Lewis. No one is ever punished for retiring a Head of State. That’s why we had to hurry, to get you into hiding. Yes, we will tell Freya and perhaps Chastity that you confessed to the crime and were executed for treason. But why would anyone else need to know he was shot? Victor was old, much older than any man should have been. We will report he died naturally in his sleep.”

  He leaned his head against the wall. Lewis was ready to die. When he let himself fall deeply in love with Freya, he never imagined he would have to grieve her loss.

  “I’m sorry, but you can’t ever leave this room.”

  He nodded, closing his eyes. “And what do I do now? What is my mission?”

  Dr. Rhetta drained the last of her water and placed the glass down on the counter. “Right now, you rest, and you hide. Just play on your tablet and sleep, but you must refrain from exercising other than light cardio. We need you to trim down.”

  “Okay, then what?”

  She straightened her shirt and smoothed back her humidity-frizzed hair. “I can’t explain everything to you now, but I will be in touch. I must get back immediately.”

  She abruptly exited the apartment. Lewis collapsed to the floor the moment the door closed.

  This is a prison. After everything I’ve done for the State, she puts me in prison.

  I wish she had killed me.

  Chapter 26

  Chastity

  She raised the small pill to her lips and hesitated, peering at herself in the mirror. Her breath hitched as she realized she hardly recognized the person staring back at her.

  Between the dark circles around her eyes and her blanched skin, she looked ill, and wondered why no one had inquired about her health.

  Her gaze flickered back to the small pill in her fingers before she lowered her hand back to the sink.

  What am I doing?

  She placed the medication back in its bottle and secured the lid. Taking sleeping pills was so habitual to her she hardly thought about it. Maybe it was her startling reflection that stayed her hand, but maybe she just accepted that not even mood-altering drugs could save her.

  It was odd; she thought Freya becoming the Head of State would lessen her anxieties, but it had taken an opposite turn. Freya had already done so much to change the State. Too much. Chastity knew the High Council wouldn’t take much more. It almost seemed too easy, as though they agreed with Freya’s changes.

  Not possible.

  Through her experiences while coupled with Lance, and spending years standing beside Victor’s and Freya’s desk, Chastity had deduced that Dr. Rhetta was more than the Head of Psychology.

  She has to be High Council. No one that cruel could be anything less.

  From her firsthand experiences with Dr. Rhetta, Chastity knew in her gut that the High Council had to be up to something. And whatever it was, it wouldn’t end well for Freya or anyone else under the dome.

  Freya seemed oblivious to any misgivings from the High Council, or maybe she knew but was stubbornly set on her path that she wouldn’t back down.

  If Ursa’s dying wish was to ensure Freya became the Head of State, then Ursa had to have believed in Freya’s capabilities. If Ursa could see Freya now, she knew Ursa would be proud.

  I know I am.

  Freya had guts, more so than Chastity ever dreamed, more than her anyway. But she had always been a little idealistic. Did she really think she could go toe to toe with the High Council and win?

  Ursa had asked Chastity to help both Freya and her son. Surprisingly, Colin had been the simple part of that promise to uphold. One meeting and they had a plan. But Freya, Chastity wouldn’t rest until she was safely on the colony world.

  This is it. This might be the only chance I get.

  Freya had just left her office to take her daily break in the State House grounds. She tucked inside her office and closed the door, moving behind the desk and retrieved Freya’s tablet.

  As the State House administrator, it was easy for Chastity to override the identification controls and log in under the Head of State’s user profile. This was a risky move, but she couldn’t think of another way to both keep her promise to Ursa and keep Freya safe.

  She activated the secure line that only the Head of State could use to contact members of the High Council.

  The monitor flashed on the wall before a small light glowed above the screen, letting her know she was being observed even though the screen remained dark.

  “Chastity,” a male voice said after a moment’s hesitation. “I am sure you are aware that logging into the Head of States private tablet is treason. And I know that with your intelligence and wealth of experience, it couldn’t be an accident you stumbled onto this call button.”

  Thank the stars it’s not Dr. Rhetta! I don’t know if I could have the strength to face her head on like this.

  She squared her shoulders and held her head high. “I’m aware of that, but we are in the most unusual of times.”

  The male High Council member remained silent.

  With a deep breath, she continued. “I think Freya is out of control, and something needs to be done. She could destroy our way of life.”

  Another lengthy pause came through the monitor. Her skin blanched as she questioned if the High Council member had abandoned her to order her arrest.

  “I would like to offer my assistance in the matter.”

  After another interminable pause, he finall
y responded lazily. “What do you propose?”

  A nervous twitch flared in her left eye as she tried to look casual. “I’m in an excellent position to take care of her, preferably before she does more damage.”

  “You? I thought you were close to her.”

  Chastity gave a curt nod. “Which is exactly why I am the best candidate. She wouldn’t suspect me.”

  “And you hold your loyalty to the High Council in higher regard than your loyalty to Freya?”

  Chastity started directly at the light. “Of course, it is. I wouldn’t risk her catching me in her office like this otherwise. Although Freya and I were close in her younger years, I find her far too radical. It appears her authority has gone straight to her head.