Chapter 20
Cayden is standing at the bottom of the stairs, waiting for us when we arrive. He’s wearing a different set of jeans and a hoodie, his face softening as I step out of the car. Cayden looks happy to see me, as if I’m not here to watch his every move.
He looks at me like I’m just a normal girl, not an assassin.
“Hello, darling.” My heart flutters at Cayden’s voice. It’s like a comforting blanket wrapping around me that only he seems to bring. In a second, his arms wrap around me and his chin rests on top of my head. I could stay like this forever.
The world is so quiet when I’m wrapped in his scent, his warmth.
I ignore the fact that Wolvrin can still see. That the SUV is still parked behind us as Bella steps out. PX-3 would play along, I’m just playing my part.
You’re being watched. The warning fills my ears, sending a fresh wave of dread over me. I wrap my arms around his neck, pulling him in closer. “Cayden.”
“I’m here, beautiful.”
His scent, musk and something uniquely Cayden, fills my senses, and my body instantly relaxes. My heart instantly calms from the race it’s been in all afternoon. Play the part until you’re alone, Darlia.
But I’m not so convinced I’m playing anything anymore. As much as I keep telling myself I don’t want this, I also don’t mind being this close to Cayden.
“So, where are we going?” I pull away just far enough to look up at Cayden. He looks so calm right now, a version of him I’ve never seen before. It’s beautiful.
“You’ll see, love.”
Taking the bag from my shoulders and throwing it over his own, Cayden takes my hand and leads me inside to the kitchen, Bella following behind us.
He walks straight to the kitchen and makes me and Bella both a hot drink, something sweet I’ve never had before.
It’s chocolatey and creamy, and absolutely delicious.
“This is so good, you need to keep your boyfriend,” Bella teases. She sits down at the table while I sit on the counter, Cayden watching my every move.
“Not my boyfriend.” But I would be lying if the title didn’t make me feel a strange twinge at my heart. Cayden, my Cayden, is making me feel things I never once imagined feeling. Safe.
“Not yet, darling.”
Fuck.
“Not at all,” I say quickly. Cayden doesn’t falter for a second. His dimples are on display as he looks at me; he’s always smiling when he looks at me. With my free hand, I trace the scar in his eyebrow, surprising myself with how gentle I am.
“It doesn’t hurt. It’s okay, love.”
“What happened?”
A brief moment of…something, flickers in his eyes. Almost looking pained before he takes a deep breath.
“Before the world went to shit, there used to be schools for everyone. Anyone could go anywhere, be anything. I went to one of the schools with my sister. One of the older kids was hurting her, so I stepped in. He had a knife I didn’t see, and cut me when I turned around.”
“How old were you?” My voice is barely a whisper as I register what he’s saying. The government took over fifteen years ago, and from my limited knowledge on the before, school started at five. He could’ve been just a baby.
“I was eight.” Twenty-three. Cayden is twenty-three.
“When’s your birthday?”
“October 10th.”
I nod, trying to process all this information. Cayden is four years older than me. He’s only just an adult, yet The Academy want him dead, or at least they will. And when the time comes, I know I will be the one forced to do it.
But can I? Will I still be able to do it when the time comes?
“What did you do, Cayden? Why do they want to know you so badly?”
He sighs, taking a step back and running a hand through his hair. Looking around the room, his eyes land on Marcus, who I didn’t even notice enter.
“Cayden, please tell me something, anything.”
But he shakes his head. His eyes meet mine, and I see the exhaustion in his eyes. He wants to tell me, but he’s scared. “I won’t tell you, but I’ll show you something. Then I’ll answer any questions you have.”
I can live with that.
“No more hiding?”
He rolls his eyes, his lips forming that perfect smile again as he shakes his head. “No more hiding, love. But first, you both need to change.”
?
Cayden leads me out to a car from before the world fell apart.
It’s much smaller than an SUV and the doors open up instead of to the side.
“It’s a sports car, love. Don’t worry, they are still common on this side of town, it’s not suspicious.
It’s more suspicious to be in your Academy SUV than this. ”
“Sports car?”
He grins widely, opening the door for me offering me the driver’s side.
“I don’t know how to drive,” I protest immediately, but Cayden doesn’t listen, getting into the passenger side and sitting down. Hesitantly I sit in the driver’s seat, realising I can barely reach the pedals.
“I don’t fit…” I make a point to point my tiptoes at the pedals, and he laughs before pressing a button that moves the chair forward.
“Oh, thanks.” Well there goes my one excuse.
Cayden reaches over, grabbing the seatbelt and pulling it over me. I feel his breath on my neck, and that tingly sensation in my stomach returns. Close, he’s too close. But then he pulls away, clicking the seatbelt in and pressing the engine button. And then I hear the engine of the car. Oh.
“The left pedal is the brake, the right is the gas.”
“No pressure, just both our lives in my hands.”
“I thought you could do anything? If I was wrong I’ll happily—”
I move the control into reverse and step on the gas, albeit a bit too much, but I get us out of the carpark in one piece before changing into drive and taking off down the driveway.
I feel the hum of the engine on my fingers from the vibrations on the wheel, the engine only getting louder every time I press on the gas.
We speed down a few roads before I finally get used to the force needed to speed up smoothly.
When we get to the end of the road, I press down on the brake, pressing a little too hard on the pedal and throwing us both forward, making Cayden laugh.
“Trying to give me whiplash, love?”
I roll my eyes, stepping on the gas again and speeding down the road before I finally realise I have no clue where we’re supposed to be going. “Cut me some slack and tell me where to go.”
“Eyes on the road, love. Don’t worry, I’m watching.”
With that reassurance, I take off down the road again, waiting for any directions, but he doesn’t give any.
Cayden lets me drive around freely until finally he warns me, “Slow down a bit, love. You want to take the next left, then the first right after that.” I nod, following his instruction and ending up on a highway leading into the citizen zones.
“Where are we going?”
“Zone Two, love.”
“The guards…there’s guards in every Zone stop. Won’t they know who I am?”
“Why do you think you changed your clothes?” I force myself not to panic. If I’m panicking, it’s obvious I don’t belong.
I try to focus on the road, the lights passing us by, the broken white lines on either side of us fading into one solid line.
It’s a thrill to drive, to be so in control, so free, able to go anywhere I want.
I could escape right now, and no one would ever find me if I was careful, but Bella is in the car behind me and I’m sure Cayden would stop me if I tried.
“Let me do the talking, love.”
Nodding again, I slow down as we approach the Zone Three checkpoint.
Seeing it myself for the first time only makes me realise how flawed they are.
There’s a single barrier stopping a car from driving through with a single armed guard.
If someone was going fast enough, they could break it instantly, and the guard wouldn’t have enough time to stop them.
The new order must trust our citizens a lot.
“Hey Cayden, who’s the chick?” the guard asks from his post, walking up to the car and bending down to see through the window Cayden made me put down.
“My new driver, figured it was time to give myself a few minutes to relax.” The guard chuckles softly, shaking his head in disbelief.
“About time! Nice to meet you, new girl.” And with that, the barrier goes up, letting us through. Gently, I push the car forward and we take off again, now in Zone Three.
“You did well, darling. Keep going, you can do this.”
“I don’t like this, Cayden.”
My hands tremble slightly with an uncontrollable wave of anxiety. I’ve always been in control, I’ve always had control, but right now I’m at the mercy of Cayden and whatever guard is at the next barrier stop.
“I won’t let anything happen to you, Darlia. I promise.”
We pass the next checkpoint just as easily, the guard also recognising Cayden by name while Cayden gives the same lie about me being his driver. Apparently, it’s believable because neither guard questions it and lets us through.
The streets of Zone Two are deserted. It’s past curfew, so all the normal citizens are required to be in their homes; the high-rise apartment buildings the government supplied as part of the new order.
There are rows of high-rise buildings, each with fifty floors of apartments for the citizens. We house the homeless.
Putting the car into park outside of an old warehouse, there’s no obvious symbols or any branding to prove this is a part of some sort of company or government building. It just looks empty. Abandoned.
“There’s something I want you to see, come with me.” Cayden steps out of the car, walking over to the driver’s side and opening the door before leaning down and unbuckling my seatbelt. I feel his breath on my neck again, and it sends a shiver down my spine.
He places a gentle kiss to the side of my neck, and a sound I’ve never made before escapes me. I’m actually going insane, but Cayden just chuckles, finding my demise hilarious.
“Come on, beautiful, we don’t have all night.
” Leaning out of the car again, he offers me his hand and I take it, our fingers intertwining as we walk up to the door of the warehouse.
Cayden stops, turning to check on me, brushing hair out of my face.
“I would never lie to you, remember?” His voice is so soft, soothing.
“I remember.”
“Good girl.”