CHAPTER EIGHTEEN
Castor
I couldn’t care less about this communications blackout.
I’d already tried leaving twice, but Jacinta had hidden my keys and instructed security and staff to notify her whenever I went near the garage.
Della and Grandfather had been gone for hours, and no one would tell me where they were – but I knew it had something to do with Nova.
Nova.
Nova was my Pain Carrier.
This was my fault. I hadn’t asked enough questions when Grandfather said he’d break the rules for me.
I had no way of knowing she’d enter the Freedom System, but I’d guessed why.
The campervan accident had caused her to miss shifts at work, and at eighteen, she was already carrying the weight of her family’s bills.
She was so strong for those around her. From the moment I’d met her, I’d wanted to be the one strong for her, while she lived her life in bliss.
Instead, I’d given her my helical disease.
And just yesterday, I’d told her how attractive I found her while she carried my pain. I felt sick.
A knock sounded at my door, and I had half a mind to cuss out whoever was on the other side. I still had another twenty-four hours of this media blackout, and no way to be there for Nova.
Perla peeked in. I sighed and motioned for her to come in. She handed me a solisTablet, then my keys.
‘I might’ve messed with the security cameras for your getaway,’ she said quietly.
‘I couldn’t find your phone, but get going.
You have a twenty-minute window, though I doubt you’ll need that much time.
’ She smiled softly. ‘This took me back to when I used to help Gemma sneak out to parties in high school.’
I grinned. ‘Thanks –’
‘Don’t thank me yet.’ She nodded at the article filling the holoscreen.
‘I didn’t understand why your family wouldn’t have at least brought Nova here to discuss things with her.
But I think they were keeping you separated on purpose.
This went up an hour ago for the evening news segment.
I’m guessing they didn’t want you talking her out of it. ’
Goosebumps prickled along my arms. My gaze roved over the headline: PAIN CARRIER FELL FOR DOMINION’S PRODIGAL SON, AGREED TO WAIVE RIGHTS.
What the hell is this?
I scrolled, my anger growing. There were behind-the-scenes photos, moments of Nova hugging her family, shaking hands with Grandfather while he smiled. Then the sound bites – Nova talking about what it meant to be a Pain Carrier. Nova agreeing she’d waived her anonymity for me.
‘Take a deep breath –’ Perla started, but I couldn’t. I seethed.
Dominion – my family – had made Nova agree to frame this as her choice. As though she’d fallen for me and couldn’t wait to carry my pain. Then, while all these articles swirled online, they blocked me from her. My heart crashed to the pit of my stomach as I read the comments pouring in.
Ekhemsworth785:
This is gross.
Lolamane:
He’s only with her for her body – literally.
Luk3Johns:
At least Castor got a hot Pain Carrier. Most of them ratchet.
The comments didn’t stop. They weren’t limited to the news and gossip sites. They filled the social feeds, dragging Nova down. And she was going through this alone. My blood boiled.
I stormed out my room.
A guard yelled after me and I flipped him off, making it to the garage and hopping into my AMG One. The main gate had barely lifted open before I drove off. Without my phone, I couldn’t call Nova or check her address, but I’d memorized it. I’d never forget anything about her.
I passed Caféology and the South Alta Community College campus – studio vans and cameramen in front of both.
The wolves were out, and so were the protestors, using the opportunity for airtime.
Police quietly broke up the gatherings, but I noticed new signs as I passed city hall, Brenson Moorehouse leading the crowd: WE DEMAND TRANSPARENCY IN THE FREEDOM SYSTEM.
I parked my car around the corner, hopefully out of view.
I should’ve taken the campervan. There were so many things I should’ve done.
My gaze caught on the signs in Nova’s neighbor’s yard: a large middle finger followed by FREEDOM SYSTEM NDAs.
Out of all the growing outrage I’d seen from protestors against Dominion these past few weeks, that message felt on point.
I knocked on Nova’s front door, pulling up my hood. Down the street, a television crew went house to house trying to find the Williams residence. I rocked on my heels, trying to calm down. I’d yell at my family later. Right now, I just needed to see her.
I knocked again and the door finally cracked open. Relief flooded over me, but I still tensed. Nova’s brother, Leo, towered over me, built like a linebacker. He gazed down the street to the reporters and back at me.
I drew a deep breath. ‘Hey, I’m Cas –’
‘Shut up.’ Grabbing a fistful of my shirt, he pulled me inside. ‘You’re the reason my sister couldn’t sleep last night.’ He double-locked the door behind us.
‘That makes two of us,’ I said, but as soon as the words left my mouth, I realized my feelings – my anxiety – were nothing compared to what she was going through. Nova was the one being objectified, used.
She sat on the couch, hugging a stargazer lily-shaped pillow I knew had been sewn by her mom.
Her eyes were red and blotchy, and she wasn’t looking at me.
Instead, she focused on a spot far off in the corner – a trash can full of bills, PAID scrawled across them in red ink.
On the floor, another pile of papers stuck out a notebook and folder labeled SIX MONTHS UNTIL DEBT-FREE.
My brows knitted together. Just how much debt was her family in?
I should’ve asked why she became a Carrier.
Why didn’t I think to ask?
Everything I wanted to say got stuck in my throat.
Mr Williams eased himself to his feet. ‘Why are you here? You’re the reason my daughter is crying. You’re the reason her best friend won’t speak to her. The reason reporters have been calling all day. Her face is everywhere – all over the news. She can’t leave the house. She –’
‘Daddy, I can go off on him myself,’ Nova said, without breaking her stare from the corner.
I startled at the hurt in her voice. She’d gone through something I should’ve been there for. I should’ve been the one being torn down.
She avoided my gaze, and I didn’t think I’d ever been more pissed at – and disappointed in – myself for letting her go through this last day without my support.
I couldn’t form words. ‘Nova … I …’
‘I don’t want you here. Your grandfather promised me the Foxes would leave me alone. That was the whole point of all of this – something agreeable for both parties.’
I sucked in a breath. She included me in that. I was one of the Foxes she wanted nothing to do with. ‘I deserve that,’ I said. ‘I’m sorry, I messed –’
‘You didn’t mess up. Your family set me up to fail.
No one asked me if I wanted the proximity requirement waived.
No one asked me if I wanted to be made into some lovestruck Pain Carrier.
They presented their offer with no other choice if I didn’t want to face the consequences of breaking the Freedom System NDAs.
’ Her eyes filled with tears, still focused on the pile of bills in the corner as though they were the only thing giving her the strength to get through this conversation.
‘They used me. Then they gave me no protection against the press.’
My nostrils flared. I didn’t know that. I didn’t know anything. ‘Nova, I –’
‘No one is trashing you online. You still have your support and your cherished reputation. Meanwhile, Estelle won’t answer my calls.
I tried to tell her about you before, but –’ She stopped and shook her head.
‘She doesn’t believe me. She thinks I chose to carry the pain of a billionaire heir. I wouldn’t want to talk to me either.’
Nova finally met my gaze, and my breath caught in my throat. The sharpness in her eyes pierced through me.
‘I’m – I’m sorry. I’ve been locked in the house with no contact. I didn’t know what they were planning until Perla helped me break away just now. You should’ve been coached and prepared for every step.’ I swallowed. ‘I watched the clips. You did so good in the interview. You looked strong –’
‘Fuck looking strong.’ Leo glowered at me. ‘Why does she have to be the strong one?’
I shook my head. ‘You don’t understand. I meant it as a compliment.’ I felt helpless standing there. I hated that this was happening.
‘No. You don’t understand,’ he shot back.
‘Dominion is using my sister’s strength to make themselves look good.
But it isn’t working, because people are beginning to question the Freedom System – and the Foxes too.
Any company with a total monopoly over an industry has a high chance of corruption, and that corruption always goes right to the top. ’
I exhaled slowly, running a hand through my hair.
This was far from what I’d expected when I rushed over here, but Nova wasn’t countering anything Leo said.
I didn’t want to argue with him, but it sounded ridiculous – like a conspiracy theory, just as wild as those environmental groups going on about another solar flare.
‘I’m not sure what that has to do with what happened between me and Nova, but I think corruption is taking it a bit far. My family has done everything they can to advance the solradiance research behind helical disease. My grandfather’s Freedom System gives people a chance.’
‘Your people a chance,’ countered Leo.
‘My family might not be perfect, but they aren’t corrupt.’ I looked at Nova, but she only shrugged.
I flinched. Please tell me she doesn’t believe all this. She was hurt and had every right to be. But this wasn’t some bigger cover-up. They’d broken one rule for me. That was it.