22. Chapter 22
Maryn
Elias held out his hand, and I took it. We stepped into an elevator made of glass and I leaned into the wall as it shot up. The view was disorienting, but I much preferred this to his suggestion of a blindfold.
He squeezed my gloved hand as we slowed. The doors slid open.
But I couldn’t move.
Elias moved ahead of me, turning back when he realized I hadn’t followed. The world beyond him was enormous, open and very high. My grip tightened on his hand until my knuckles ached.
"Whoa. You okay?" He wrapped an arm around my waist.
I stared at the distant horizon, fighting the tilting feeling.
“I think so.” I glanced at him, warily. “I’ve never been so high before.”
His lips tipped up.
I inhaled a deep breath and loosened my grip. “I’m okay.”
Elias kept his arm around my waist but released my hand and guided us toward the center of the rooftop. The farther we traveled from the elevator, the faster my pulse raced, but I focused on slow, steady breaths.
We stopped beside a table and chairs.
I craned my neck around, taking in the space. It was the opposite of our previous date in every way. Where the last had been densely populated with flora and fauna, a cocoon from our harsh world, this space was open and exposed. At any moment, a storm could roll in, forcing us to seek shelter.
“Did you… choose this place for me?”
Elias slid my chair back.“ I chose it for the view.”
His grin was the easy one I’d watched my whole life on television. But was it more? Genuine?
I let my gaze slide beyond the edges of the wall for the first time, wrapping my fingers around the bottom of my chair to still their trembling.
“The lake.”
Elias took his seat across from me. “I had no idea you were afraid of heights. I hope you can bear it?”
I nodded. “I can handle anything for this view.”
Now that I saw it, I couldn’t look away. I watched tiny waves roll over the surface of a sparkling blue backdrop.
“Good. I hoped this would please you.”
I glanced at his wide smile, then back at the expanse of navy rolling into an infinite distance.
For a moment, some of my terror eased. “I love it.”
My voice was a whisper; I wasn’t sure he’d heard, but his hand slid across the table, tugging my arm until I released the edge of my chair. The world rocked, and I squeezed his fingers.
His smile fell. “You really are terrified, aren’t you? We can go down.”
I tore my gaze from the lake, meeting his eyes. “No. I don’t run from my fears.” His hold on my hand slackened, and I looked down, lacing our fingers together. “And you’re here.” I looked up, meeting his steady blue stare. “You wouldn’t let anything happen to me.”
He smiled again, and I grinned back.
He signaled to a man standing by the elevator door, and the man stepped inside, pressing the button to descend.
“I want to show you more. Do you think you can handle getting closer to the edge?”
I swallowed, pulse skyrocketing as I looked past him. “Promise not to let me go?”
He nodded, sliding back his chair. “I promise.”
True to his word, he held my hand as he moved around the table and I stood, forcing my fingers to relax.
He wrapped an arm around my waist once more, but this time, he lifted me off my feet.
The chaperone by the elevator doors stepped forward, but Elias held up our hands still clasped together, and she stopped.
Wrapping the hand still holding mine around my waist, he moved us toward the edge.
My ribs ached from the lack of air filtering into my lungs through clenched teeth. A tiny squeak escaped me, and he halted.
“Okay?”
I nodded, inhaling a slow breath. “Yes. Keep going.”
We approached the wall and my dizziness grew.
“Close your eyes. I’ll tell you when to open them.”
I squeezed my eyes shut.
“You can open them.”
I peeked through one eye, my heart pounding.
Elias pressed his mouth to my temple, and everything in me went still. “I've got you.” His breath was warm against my ear. “I won't let you fall.”
I nodded, opening the other eye. My heart didn’t slow, but it didn’t matter. The view was breathtaking. The lake was larger than anything I had ever dreamed. It stretched endlessly, swallowing the horizon.
To our right, the Center was manicured and orderly. If I looked back, I would see the wall, possibly the tiny dots that were the houses and buildings in the Middle. But in front of me, as far as the eye could see, it was nothing but blue.
“Look down.”
“Elias, I can’t.”
His warm breath tickled my ear. “A quick peek.”
I wrapped my free arm over his and leaned, trusting him to hold on. The world tilted dangerously, but I searched the lake edge. “What?” I whispered.
“Do you see that glass dancefloor they’re constructing?”
I scanned the line of metal and brick until I spied men working, a crane dropping massive panes of glass atop newly constructed pillars. “It’s on top of the water.”
Elias chuckled. “They’re building our space for this week’s Rite ball.”
I leaned back, pressing against his broad chest. His heartbeat was steady at my back, unhurried and certain, and against my will, mine began to slow.
He turned, walking us back toward the table.
“Will you be okay if I set you down?”
I nodded, and he lowered me gently until my feet touched the ground. I slid into my seat, one hand still wrapped around his as he rounded the small table and sat across from me. His eyes met mine again, the brightness in them momentarily taking hold of me.
The line of his jaw had softened. The camera-ready smile was gone. He was just looking at me.
“I had them build it for you.”
My chest tightened.
A man who wanted to win me over would say that. So would a man who wanted me to win.
I blinked. “But…”
“Let’s get out of here?”
Before I could respond, he was on his feet, tugging me up with him. “Now? What about dinner?”
“We can eat somewhere else. On the ground.”
He pulled me after him, and we raced for the elevators.
***
Elias came around to the passenger side of his car and held the door wide. I stood, my stomach only slightly steadier after our rooftop encounter. The diner he’d taken me to was small, and patrons frequently glanced our way.
He’d ignored them all.
He stretched out a hand and I took it.
We walked up the steps, stopping at the door to my temporary home.
“I enjoyed our evening,” he said, searching my face. His shoulders were hunched, making him seem unsure of himself for the first time.
“I had a wonderful evening.”
He straightened, lips parting in a soft smile, and reached into his jacket, producing a velvet case. I watched as he cracked it open, turning it toward me.
Two sapphires winked up at me, deep blue—the exact shade of the ribbon looped around my wrist. A shiver rolled through me. I squeezed my hands at my sides to still them, eyes widening.
His smile grew as he watched me.
“Elias—”
"Put them on."
I held his gaze for a beat, then reached into the case, lifting one then the other and sliding them into my ears.
He leaned in.
My breath caught, eyes sliding closed.
Soft lips brushed my cheek.
I blinked up at him, my skin burning where he'd touched it.
"Goodnight, Maryn."
I opened my mouth. Closed it.
I nodded.
He turned, moving to his car in a few long strides and I stood, watching as he drove away.
***
Inside, Nami rushed to me, wrapping an arm through mine. The move was so much like Ruth’s that I squeezed it to my side reflexively.
"Maryn, you're flushed. Are you okay?"
I nodded. The kitchen noise pressed in around me—Rakel's voice, laughter, the clatter of glasses—all of it reaching me from somewhere far away.
I moved past the girls at the island, reaching into the cupboard for a glass.
Nami released my arm, leaning back against the counter.
I turned the faucet on, watching the cup fill.
Behind me, Rakel’s arms swung wildly over her head as she recounted her date from earlier in the night. I tried to block it out. Tried to breathe.
My cheek burned. A kiss. My first kiss.
“And there’s an entire museum dedicated to illegal books.”
I turned off the water, reaching for the glass.
My stomach rumbled. I’d tried to eat at dinner, but my stomach was still too full of knots. I set the glass down.
“Women can’t even get in without someone with high-level security clearance,” Rakel went on. I scanned the pantry shelf for anything appealing. “They have some of the worst in there! Behind glass, of course.”
“Do you remember what they were?” Beth asked.
From the corner of my eye, I saw Sera and Lydia step away from Rakel. I ignored them, reaching for an apple, then a second.
“The Handmaid’s Tale and… oh! The Hunger Games.”
I turned back to my glass and raised a brow. Sera and Lydia scattered as though they’d been caught. I exhaled a sigh.
“The Awakening,” Rakel said, and Beth gasped.
“No!”
Rakel nodded.
I reached for my glass, but Nami beat me to it, snatching it up and dumping its contents out. She glanced up. “Never leave your drinks unattended in this house.”
She set the glass into the sink and reached for a new one.
I stared between her and the sink for a moment before taking the new one and filling it.
“Thanks.”
She nodded. “Now tell me everything about tonight.”
My hand itched to touch where his lips had been, but I squeezed my fingers at my sides.
“You first.”
Nami’s smile stretched ear to ear. “Well, it was better than last time. But…”
She looked down. The ringing in my ears quieted as I searched her face. “But?”
She looked up. “He didn’t kiss me.” Her cheeks darkened. “I know he didn’t have to. It doesn’t always happen during private dates.” She bit her lip. “But it’s a good sign. You know?”
I nodded numbly.
She straightened. “Your turn.”
My fingers lifted to my cheek. “He kissed me.”
My tablet buzzed in my pocket. I slid it out.
Welcome to Trial Six.