20. Chapter 20
Maryn
Vera was gentler tonight as she rested soft curls on my bare shoulders.
“Are you sure I should show so… much?”
Her eyes met mine in my bathroom mirror.
“This is your dating phase. Remind him why he chose you.”
She lifted both brows. “Stand.”
I did, and Vera moved behind me, sweeping my curls aside. The kiss of cold air on my naked shoulders made me shiver.
Blue silk slid across my throat, and I touched it. “Vera—”
Her sharp gaze cut me off before the rest of the words left my mouth.
“Do you trust me?”
I stifled a snort.
Her scowl deepened.
“Fine. You have no reason to trust me.”
She exhaled a breath.
“I don’t think you understand how this works. Stylists who get girls at the bottom get cut.”
Her hand rested on her hip.
“When they paired me with you, I knew.” She bit her lip. “I knew they were trying to get rid of me.”
Her brows pinched, and I turned around to face her.
“When the Cannon baby was born—”
She waved a hand in front of her face.
“Maryn, I’m lucky to be alive.”
I reached for her, wrapping my arms around her.
She was a woman surviving on borrowed time. Not someone with a plan. Just someone who knew exactly how disposable they were.
I released her and she searched my face.
“Look. I don’t want to scare you, but girls from the Middle don’t make it this far in the trials.”
I squeezed her hand. “I know.”
Her eyes widened.
“Do you also know girls don’t usually go home at this stage?”
I stilled, goosebumps rising along the nape of my neck.
She released my hand, backing up. “I’m sorry. That’s not true. I was just trying to scare you.”
I stood, my hands finding each other behind my back and lacing together. “I have to go down.”
Vera turned, picking up bottles and tubes, organizing my vanity. “Good luck."
***
I stood with the other matches in the foyer, our skirts pressed together in the tight space. My eyes met Nami’s as I laced my hands behind my back.
The front door swung open, and the first chaperone waved Sera and Lydia forward.
In groups of two, we slid into our driverless cars, chaperones wedged in beside us.
I tugged layers of tule into my lap as the door clicked shut beside me.
Phoebe glanced over. “Your dress is…”
“I know.” I sighed.
The car zipped down the road. Within minutes, we stopped beside a thatched gazebo, millions of tiny yellow lights twinkling like stars above a wide open lawn.
The door opened, and I stepped out as a man in a gray suit extended a hand. Along the street, matches stepped out of their cars, assisted by attendants.
One by one, in our order of selection, we moved under the gazebo, filing into an open space, filled with more people than I’d ever seen in one place. There must have been hundreds of people milling about, dancing, drinking.
Unlike Middle balls, people here weren’t segregated by sex. As my gaze swept over the crowd, it also became clear that none of the other women here was single. Not a stitch of white dotted the outdoor ball apart from the eight girls I had arrived with.
Phoebe bumped my shoulder, moving me forward.
My dress was a statement, from my bare shoulders to the skirts as wide as my arms, but a quick assessment of the crowd told me I wasn’t the most scantily clad by half.
Cleavage spilled over the tops of gowns and high slits up full skirts showed off skin all the way to the knee. My cheeks heated when a woman spun, her thigh exposed to anyone watching.
“Wine?”
I accepted a glass from the waiter, taking a long drink.
Loud laughter had me turning in time to see a man press his mouth to a woman’s throat. I gasped, spinning away.
A hand wrapped around mine, and I glanced down.
“Come on.”
Heat rushed up my neck as I let Nami drag me to the center. She leaned closer, whispering in my ear. “It’s sick, isn’t it? But we’re on camera. Don’t let them see your thoughts.”
Her words were a bucket of ice on my flushed skin. I wrapped my fingers around hers and smiled.
A cheer rose, glasses clinking together, and soon, the other matches had joined us.
“Hello. Hello,” Elias said from somewhere on the other side of the ball, his voice amplified by the drones hovering overhead. “Are you glad to have me back?”
Another cheer from the crowd.
A spotlight dropped from the sky, illuminating Elias’s blond head.
“Oh, I guess not.”
He held a hand to his ear. The responding cheer rattled the glass in my hand.
“Awwww. I missed you, too.”
Champagne flutes clinked as Elias approached us.
I watched him, but his eyes never strayed to me. A chill skated over my skin. Last night, he’d listened to me, shared his dinner. This man was the one I'd grown up watching on TV.
He held up a hand. “I have some exciting news.”
My grip on Nami’s hand tightened.
“Okay. Calm.”
The crowd stilled.
“Before I share the results of this week’s trial, I want to tell you all what I learned.”
Elias turned to me, and my knees locked into place.
“You all love Maryn don’t you?”
The spotlight rushed to me, burning the top of my head. I pasted a smile on my face, blinded by the light.
“There’s something about her charm.”
The spotlight moved, finding the center’s favorite golden boy again.
“Her love for Middles and Lowers.”
Murmurs of agreement.
“Maryn showed us that people in the Middle can be just as enchanting.”
A few clinked glasses.
“That’s why we’re hosting a raffle.” He spun around the room. “This week only, all eligible, unmatched Middle ladies may go to their designated Covenant House to register their name.”
A roar of approval erupted. Elias waited a moment, raising his hands to quiet them.
“And one lucky winner will be given a day in the center—”
The crowd was wild, whistles and cheers, shouts and clapping.
He motioned for silence and more slowly this time, they stilled.
“I was going to say with me as their host,” he winced when a few cheers broke out, “but I think news of a special guest was enough for you lot. Anyway, dance.”
He stepped out of the spotlight, and it clicked off.
The world was momentarily black as my eyes adjusted.
When the shapes around me solidified, Nami released my hand, facing me. “That was surprising.”
I nodded, but my mind had already moved on.
What else was he capable of? What else might he already be doing?
I spotted Elias dancing with Abi.
It shouldn’t matter that he hadn’t asked me to dance after calling attention to me.
“I'm going to get another drink,” I said, raising my nearly empty one. I needed to think and I couldn't do it so close to the music.
Nami nodded, and I moved through clusters of people, grateful Vera had given me flat shoes for the uneven terrain.
I leaned against a sign with instructions about path difficulty. During the day this place must have been an exercise park. I had heard of them. Spaces for Elite to walk with varying degrees of intensity on an outdoor track. It was prettier than I had imagined.
I leaned back, spying a trail that disappeared between hedges. Glancing around, I slipped onto it and ran a gloved hand along the bushes, exhaling a slow sigh.
Music and light chatter drifted over the hedge, but with the barrier between us, I breathed easier.
Something tugged at my arm and my ribbon sailed to the ground. I frowned, leaning down to grab it, but a dark figure materialized from the path beside mine and I froze. They were tall. Not a woman.
I was alone.
With a man.
I backed up, sharp branches scraping my back as I turned toward the entrance to the trail and picked up my pace.
My ribbon was still somewhere behind me and my head was spinning. What was worse? Being found with a man in the dark or losing my ribbon? I would get Nami and go back for it. No one would ever know.
Ahead, light widened. I moved faster.
Warm fingers wrapped around my wrist.
I yelled, spinning around, my heart in my throat.
A slash of light cut across Calden's face, and the terror drained out of me—replaced by something only slightly less alarming.
“You scared me to death.”
He dropped to a knee without releasing my wrist.
His eyes met mine as his free hand lifted, wrapping blue silk in a bow.
My pulse thrummed wildly as the ribbon tightened around my wrist.
“You should be more careful.”
I backed up a step, but he didn't release me, his fingers trailing up the inside of my arm as he stood.
My throat went dry.
We stared at one another, my heartbeat loud in my ears.
He opened his mouth.
“Maryn?”
I spun around, his fingers still loosely circling my wrist behind me.
“Elias.”
Calden’s fingers slid free. Cold spread in their absence.
Elias glanced over my head, but I didn’t dare turn.
“What are you doing out here by yourself?”
I forced a breath through my nose.
“I needed air.”
He searched the dark behind me again.
“Will you dance with me?”
I nodded, grabbing his hand, and dragging him back to the party.
His arm rested lightly on my back, and I bit the inside of my cheek when his fingers traced the line the bushes made. He searched my face, saying nothing as he clasped my hand in his and led us into the dance.
Our circle was wider than at previous balls, the song nearly reaching its end when we finished our first pass.
He stepped back, dipping his chin to me. “Stay close. The Rite is about to begin.”
I tensed at the note of warning in his voice. But I was nearly certain he hadn’t seen.
I curtseyed and strode to Nami, standing beside her.
“Where’s your drink?”
“What?” I glanced at her.
“Did you finish a second already?”
I glanced down at my empty hands.
She grabbed my fingers. “ I’m nervous too.”
Elias cleared his throat, and we turned toward him.
“As you know, Trials Five through Seven aren’t public, but the results are.”
His audience leaned in, hungry for any slip of news about the secret trials.
“Are you ready to see how they did in Trial Five?”
A short “Yes!” from the people around us had Elias holding up his tablet.
“First,” he glanced up, “Maryn Veil.”
Someone in the audience whooped, and my heart pounded.
He quieted them. “This will go faster if you let me finish.”
They stilled.
“Second. Sera Cannon.”
I darted a look at her place at the front of the line.
“Third, Rakel Ceilo. Fourth. Nami Caine. Fifth. Phoebe Morrow.”
His gaze trailed the line of matches. “Sixth, Lydia Cannon. Seventh Beth Ward.”
He stopped.
Held his head in his hand.
Looked up.
“This isn’t easy for me.”
A pause.
“Abi Hymn.”
Abi broke from the line, going to stand with him. He bowed low, kissing her hand. “I’ve enjoyed getting to know you, Abi.”
She nodded, but it wasn’t sadness I saw. She was… relieved.
Vera’s words in my room came back to me.
Elias escorted Abi away, and I watched.
Nami turned to me. “First! That’s impressive. You beat Sera.”
I stood very still. It should have been impossible. And yet—
I faced her. “You did great, too.”
In moments, Elias returned, striding across the dance floor.
He held out a hand to Rakel.
Nami and I moved off the dance floor and I watched them spin, heads tipped together.
***
In my room, I slid my shoes off at the door and crossed the room, flopping onto the bed.
I lay for a moment, face down.
Slowly, I pushed up onto my elbows and slid off the bed. I lifted the mattress, tugged out the black folder and climbed back onto my bed, glancing at my window.
After the strange meeting with Calden that night, I half expected him to climb through my window a second time.
When no face appeared in the dark, and the hall remained silent, I flipped it open. I ran my thumb along the edge of the first page. Slicker than synth. Thinner.
Blood Test
Elaine Veil—former rebel operative. Elaine Veil to provide blood sample to Geneticist Knox. Result: Success.
I turned the page.
Bio Signature Entry
Access requires one of three Hale family members.
Inside the home: Blight and Ruin. Elite trained attack dogs. Command word: Unknown.
Halls monitored by camera and guard 24/7.
Private wing: Dogs and one guard only.
Office: Desk, chair, wall of old war photos. Two guards stationed outside.
I slid off the bed, reading the contents a second time, memorizing them and tiptoed to the bathroom, folder in hand.
I turned on the faucet, holding my wrist under it, waiting for the water to warm.
Then, I thrust the folder under, watching as the contents began to dissolve. Dark sludge pooled in the sink, circling the drain. In moments, it was gone.
Someone had put that folder together. Someone who had been inside Hale house. I stood for a moment, water still running.
I washed my hands and reached up, tugging the bow loose from my neck. My dress slid to the floor. I stepped into the thin fabric laid out on my bed and climbed in, exhaling a long sigh as I stared up at the crack I'd drawn in the ceiling.
Just like home.