CHAPTER TWENTY-EIGHT #2
I glanced around the room, ensuring we were alone. “And Gregory?”
“I thought you might have figured it out. He hasn’t been careful lately.
He’s angry. We were both up for new Mates again.
I was matched with William, while Gregory was assigned a Minor mating.
Then he found out about you and Collin. I have never seen him so angry.
He wanted to know why you and Collin could be matched but we weren’t. ” Nora poured us both tea.
“You’ve known one another since your first mate?”
Nora smoothed out her dress. “Yes, since Edward. Gregory was Edward’s best friend throughout the Academy.
A troublesome pair. Nothing serious, but they were always up to no good.
When I bled, the Illum decided I should be Mated.
I was sixteen at the time. I was Mated with Edward.
My immaculate genes, as they called them, would further our society.
He was five years older than I was. We were all so young.
We attended a few balls that the Illum said we should.
It was all fine and good—the dancing, gowns, drinking.
” Nora stared out the windows behind me like she was lost in the memories.
“Then, it was time for the actual procreation. I had seen the videos. I knew what was coming, but I was terrified. I couldn’t do it the first time.
Edward wasn’t pleased. He raged and broke things.
When I missed our procreation window, I told him I would be ready the next moon, but he changed.
Became cruel. I think a part of me did too.
When the second moon came around, I couldn’t bring myself to lie with him.
” Tears welled in Nora’s eyes as she met my gaze.
“He didn’t take that well. We had all been together that night leading up to it—me, Edward, and Gregory.
Gregory had noticed the change in his friend.
When I told Edward no, he became physical with me.
Gregory heard and broke into the room. He—it was a mess.
He beat Edward, badly, and carried me from the room.
He stayed with me those next few nights.
He kept Edward away.” Nora took a shaky breath.
“Nora, I am so sorry.”
“It is okay.”
“It isn’t.” My heart ached at what she had been through, at hearing more about the kind of man my birth brother was. “So, you’ve loved him since that night?”
Nora shook her head, a tear falling, “No, I loved him long before that moment. It happened in stolen moments on the dance floor, in the middle of the night, with only the stars to see. I told him a dream I thought only I could see, but he saw it too. The moment, it doesn’t matter when.
I know deep down that I loved him long before I met him.
I will love him in this life and whatever comes after it. ”
“Even if you can’t be together?”
“Yes.”
“What if there was a place you two could be together?” I pressed on.
Nora’s eyes went vacant before shaking her head. “Emeline, such a place doesn’t exist.”
“What if it did, in the Underworld, where the Majors are?”
“Emeline,” Nora warned.
“But it isn’t the same as up here. It’s different.” This was dangerous territory, but my heart wanted to know that two people who loved each other could be together.
“I don’t know why you know that. I don’t want to know,” Nora told me. “But even if it were an option, I wouldn’t take it.”
“How can you say that?” I demanded.
“They have my offspring at the Academy. I will undergo anything they ask to keep them safe. They will not fall victim to my selfish choices.”
I paused in understanding. “What about Gregory?”
“Gregory would never ask such a thing of me. He—” Nora fell silent, looking over my shoulder toward the breakfast room.
My heart beat fiercely against my ribs. I knew what I would see before I even turned.
Collin walked into the room, holding a glass of amber liquid in his left hand. He was dressed in a black suit again, the image of Illum nobility, his midnight hair styled perfectly. His huge frame moved toward me with lethal grace. Power emanated from him, as if he were death incarnate.
“Sister,” Collin greeted. “Mate.” His eyes raked over me.
“Brother,” Nora responded, tipping her head toward him, her brows pinched. “I thought you said you were working late.”
“I was, but—”
“But Phillip is a dirty little snitch,” Nora interrupted.
“Phillip works for the Illum. He was obligated to tell me. You should know better than to change my Mate’s MIND,” Collin told Nora.
“I thought someone should check in on Emeline,” Nora replied, “which I believe I have told you every night.” She took another forkful of cake, smiling sweetly. Masking everything we had been talking about.
“I’d like a word with my Mate,” Collin stated, crossing his arms. “Alone.”
Nora looked at me like she wouldn’t leave unless I was okay, and my chest warmed at her protectiveness.
I couldn’t avoid Collin forever. I nodded.
She stood, tucking her book under her arm, and grabbed the cake stand and her fork, scrunching her nose at me.
“Wouldn’t want this to go to waste. I’m here if you need me, Emeline. ”
“And if I want more cake?” I challenged.
“Then you’re out of luck,” Nora remarked. “I’ll bully them into a weekly informal tea for us. No one should be alone. Good night.”
“Good night, Nora. Thank you for everything,” I told her, and meant it. She waltzed from the room, her tiny frame carrying the massive cake a sight.
“She’s always eaten desserts like that. I tell her she’s lucky she’s Elite, and our supplements make it so it doesn’t affect her,” Collin commented.
“Lucky, hmm?” I said mildly. I didn’t know if you could call it lucky after all the things Nora told me she had suffered as an Elite.
His eyes pierced straight to my core, as if piecing together what Nora and I might have discussed. He didn’t press further, though, and instead looked to Nora’s vacant seat before seemingly thinking better of it, perching on the edge of the table instead.
“She is right, though.” Collin stared into his glass of amber liquid.
“I should have reached out. I should have checked in on you before now. I thought . . . given what you expressed the last time we were together, that perhaps you would want your space from me. Then I got the report that your levels are optimal.” Collin took a long drink.
“I assumed that meant I had made the right choice. However, we do need to maintain our public appearances. The Press and Elite want to see you more. See who you are to me, to the Illum.”
“I think the Elite know what I am,” I said deliberately. He raised a brow at me. “They bowed to me after you told them I sent the man to his death.”
“Tabitha wanted to send the right message.”
“The right message,” I echoed incredulously, my anger clawing its way up my throat. “That what? I am subservient to you and the Illum?”
“Everyone below the Illum is subservient to them, including the Elite,” Collin shot back.
“Well, everyone except you.” He stood, and I ground my teeth as my anger engulfed me.
He shrugged off his jacket, tossing it aside as he slowly made his way to a bottle of brown liquid that sat on his bookshelf.
He poured another glass, his back to me as he continued. “I got another report about you.”
Dread roared through me, my heart twisting viciously in my chest. Willing myself to calm, I grabbed my glass of bubbles and took a sip. Collin remained silent as he took a drink.
“I did tell you, very little happens in this city that I am not aware of.” His voice was pleasant, but terror pulsed through my veins. “I told you when it comes to you, I am aware of everything.”
“What report did you receive?” It was more breathless than I intended it to be.
“You took a run to the river the morning after the meeting,” he stated, a dangerous edge to his voice. “You stayed there for some time before returning to your living quarters.”
“The dinner was unsettling,” I retorted, clutching my glass to prevent it from shaking, from giving me away.
Collin turned slowly, finally looking at me. I couldn’t read his face. “Your heart rate was elevated several times. After you stopped running.”
I worked to swallow, the feel of Hal’s lips on mine swarming me. Had my MIND registered that? Or was it from me hurtling myself off the edge? How much did those cuffs scramble?
“The message from Tabitha was off-putting,” I said. “I enjoy running, and the water is relaxing.”
“Must be. Your oxytocin and dopamine levels were elevated when you returned to your living quarters.” He tilted his head. “Why do you think that is?”
“The water is relaxing,” I repeated dumbly, panic rising to a feverish pitch.
“So you said. Relaxing by Low Town where the cameras are outdated,” Collin mused, his eyes dipping to the glass in my hand.
I willed it to remain steady. “Seems like a poor place for your cameras not to work. I’d have thought the Illum would want to watch the Majors.”
“Tabitha agreed with you when it was brought to the Illum’s attention that my Mate was in an unapproved area.”
There was no hiding my shaking now, and I placed my glass down, lacing my fingers together tightly.
“So instead of leading the retribution I planned, I was sent to fix a flaw you found while simultaneously coming up with a valid reason for why you were there.”
“Sorry to take away your chance to hurt more Majors,” I spat.
Collin rolled his shoulders. “They seemed to manage well enough without me. The Majors were more prepared than the Illum anticipated. Rumor is the Reaper got hurt in the process and bailed.” Collin threw back his entire drink.
The Reaper had gotten hurt. My mind whirled.
“The cameras by Low Town now work, and the Illum have a new spy to give them feedback on Minors.”
I didn’t miss the bitterness in his voice. It left me off-balance. “Who?”
Collin locked eyes with me. “You.”
I shot to my feet, choking on shock. “Excuse me?”