Chapter 6
Six handsome suitors vie for my hand in marriage in front of the Council. One is Flynn, dressed in a fine suit I made him in my shop—the one I would have opened if I’d stayed. He looks dashing with his golden hair shining in the lights of the Council room, a warm smile across his lips as I enter wearing a yellow gown. Surely the members of the Council will see we are the best match.
Out of curiosity, my attention drifts from my crush to the other five men, each seeming qualified in his own way. When I reach the last of the suitors, my jaw drops. “There’s been a mistake.”
“We don’t make mistakes in the choosing of the suitors, Maribel.” Lady Raven glares at me from her perch high above us. “The Council chooses each suitor based on DNA testing, personality surveys, and observation. These six are the best matches for you.” She folds her hands on her podium. “We will now decide which of the six is your perfect match.”
I can’t look at him. My cheeks flame in embarrassment. How can the Council let an Undesirable stand beside five worthy Citizens? I crack my knuckles and look up at Flynn, the one person keeping me sane in this situation.
Lady Raven brings down her gavel as the Council reconvenes. “We made our decision. Your perfect match is Bastian Hale.”
My heart pounds rapidly as I sit up in my bed and take in my surroundings. It’s dark except for an oil lamp burning on top of the bookshelf casting shadows around the tiny room. My head is pounding, and I touch a bandage crossing my forehead. A dark-haired man sleeps in the other bed beside me, a pair of glasses on the floor by the mattress.
“Levi,” I whisper. When he doesn’t stir, I try again, but throw a rolled-up sock at his head. “Levi.”
He turns and sits up when he sees I’m awake.
“How did I get here?” I know the answer, but I need to fill the silence. Talking with my friends always got me through tough times, like when my dad left. The dream still echoes in my soul, filling me with an odd combination of longing and dread.
He lifts his chest and raises his shoulders to give himself the appearance of a large man. He curls his arms and puffs his cheeks, making me laugh.
“And where is he?” I trace a pattern in the quilt, knowing his presence and not Bastian’s, in the other bed is intentional.
He points at the ceiling. “Sleeping.”
Is Susan with him?
He drops to his knees on the floor beside my mattress to touch my bandages. Concern creases his forehead.
“I’m ok,” I say, laying a hand over his. Scarring mars his skin, something rarely seen in Avren. “I need to take my training seriously, or this might turn into an everyday occurrence.”
He provides a weak smile as he drops his hand and holds onto mine.
“Why are you so good to me?” I grieve my friends in Avren, so he is a comfort to cling to in this strange world. “I’m a Citizen. You’re supposed to hate me like the rest of them.”
He sets his lips in a pout and shakes his head, holding his palm over his heart. First, he points to me, then forms two fists, holding them above his chest and pulling them apart as if he is a prisoner breaking free from his chains. “You are Redeemed.”
“I hardly think any of your housemates would call me that.” In my eyes, the word is a badge of courage to them—one that is earned after hundreds of fights and thousands of bruises. “My life was much different from yours. I don’t belong here like you do.”
He furrows his brows and takes my hands in his, pulling me to my feet. Pain screams at me from my head and lower back. I bite my lip to keep from revealing it. He tugs me across the room, opens the door, and leads me to the kitchen.
When he lifts his foot to the first stair, I pull him back with my hand. “What are you doing?”
He frantically spells something with his free hand, his tugging insistent. I stare into the darkened stairwell, drawing in a breath. No one wants to be disturbed up there.
Not willing to stop, he continues to pull me, one reluctant step at a time, to the top of the stairs. Three closed doors branch off from the landing. He reaches for a handle, and the door opens with a loud creak.
Something rips him from my hand. A large arm wraps around his neck, connected to Grayson.
“What the hell?” Grayson drops his arm and signs to Levi, speaking out loud so I can hear him. “You know better than to sneak up on us at night. I thought you were a Supe. I could have ripped your head off.”
Levi signs to Grayson.
Grayson turns to me, his eyes still heavy with sleep despite the scare. “He wants me to interpret for you. He doesn’t think he can communicate it the right way. Says it’s important and can’t wait.”
Levi conveys his message to his older friend. The two exchange looks I don’t understand, like the ones I used with my closest friends in Avren.
“He wants you to know you’re kin. You’ve lost your mother and father, so we’re your family now.” Grayson glances at the other two doors in the hallway. “You know Evie and Bastian don’t want to hear you talking that way.” He holds his hand out to me. “She’s only been here a little over a day.”
I watch Levi sign something else to Grayson, who nods along with their conversation.
“Yes, I feel the same commitment to the orphans of Avren.” Grayson gives me a sideways glance. “And yes, I feel the connection too.”
What connection is he talking about? I hate only hearing one side of the conversation. “Can you translate what he’s saying so I don’t feel like you’re talking behind my back?”
“He’s talking right in front of you. It’s not his fault you don’t sign.” Grayson pinches the bridge of his nose and closes his eyes. “This is a conversation for another time, not in the middle of the night when I need my beauty sleep.” He turns and walks to his bed.
Levi laces his fingers in mine and pulls me out of the room, closing the door. “I’m sorry. There’s so much I want to tell you.”
My heart warms looking at him, feeling his fingers in mine.
We are kin.
“I’ve never had a brother,” I say into the darkness of the stairwell. “I always imagined what it would feel like to have someone to confide in besides my parents.” Tears sting my eyes. This man, who barely knows me, wants to embrace me as his sister. I’m not sure what to think of that, but it ignites something deep inside me.
He keeps his hand in mine as we descend the stairs to my bedroom. The oil lamp burns on the bookshelf, casting a warm glow. He settles on the other mattress.
I crawl onto my bed and rest my back against the wall, watching him lay his head on the pillow. “Where do you usually sleep?”
He props his head up on an elbow. “This is my room.”
“You gave up your bedroom for two Citizens?”
He nods and gives me a smile.
“I don’t mind sharing with you.” I twiddle my thumbs in my lap, feeling more like the intruder than the owner. “Where did you sleep last night?”
He quirks the corner of his lip and points to the ceiling. “Bastian.”
A strange feeling of jealousy hits me as I wonder what it’s like to sleep in the same room as the Commander. Does he snore? Talk in his sleep? My mind drifts to what it would be like to share his bed, and I immediately put a stop to my internal wanderings. “I’m sorry you had to go through that.”
Levi waves a hand at me and lays his head back down on his pillow. It’s late, and we’re both exhausted. After my beating, Bastian will have to let me sleep, even though I’ve been out for hours.
I stare up at the ceiling. All my life, I’ve known who I was—Maribel Nexis Windsong, future seamstress and owner of an upscale shop. Without the identity Avren, my parents, and the Council bestowed on me, I feel lost. The protection of the walls of the city is gone, leaving me exposed. Who am I without others telling me about my future?
Maybe I’m afraid to find out.
The soundof feet shuffling on the wood planks of the floor wakes me. I wrap the quilt tighter, building a cocoon and trying to block out the chilly morning air. I peek out through a break in the blanket. It is still dark, but I can make out Levi walking to the door and Bastian standing at the threshold. He clamps a hand on the younger man’s shoulder as he passes. Levi only hangs his head.
Bastian’s heavy boots clomp over the floor, and he stops at the foot of my mattress. “Wake up, Mari.”
“Go away,” I grumble as I bury my head beneath the blanket. The aches and pains from my injuries the day before are out in full force today. My left eye feels almost swollen shut.
When I don’t hear the retreat of his boots, I peer out.
“You can’t hide from a Supe.” Without warning, he rips the quilt from my body. “You need to train.”
Shivering, I clutch my pillow, trying to stay warm. “You’re an asshole. Leave me alone.”
“And you’re a stuck-up princess who’d rather lie around and degrade our lifestyle than learn to save her own life.” There’s no passion in his voice, only a matter-of-fact tone, as if he’s telling me about the weather. “Get yourself together and meet me in the yard.”
I mumble curse words, shoving my foot into my boot and lacing it up. This is not the life I want to live, but I have no choice. Either I walk away from Grayson and his band of orphaned misfits, or I embrace them. It’s all I have.
My fingers pull my hair into a messy ponytail as I walk across the yard to Bastian, who is sharpening knives again. “If you don’t use them, don’t they stay sharp?” Everything with him is a show.
“Who says I don’t use them?” He doesn’t look up from his task until he’s done. When he lifts his head, his eyes bore into mine. “You’ve been out for fifteen hours, which doesn’t make you the best authority on how I spend my time.”
I bite my lip to prevent any more quarreling with my trainer. “Thank you.” My pride is at basement level, and I’ve never really been good at expressing my feelings—not like Levi. “Thank you for saving me from Susan.”
He turns and lifts a quiver from its spot beside a tree. “She was out of line. I train people from the Grove because they’re our neighbors and we’ve got to look out for each other.” He adjusts the strap of the quiver across his chest, where it looks as natural as any other feature of his body. “She’s not kin and knows better than to threaten my family.”
A rush of cold sweeps through me, sending an electrifying shiver down my spine. When did this change happen? I don’t know what to say.
“Just because you’re kin, doesn’t mean I like you.” He lifts his head, hair sweeping over his eyes. “Levi might think you’re Redeemed, but with me, you need to earn it. The only thing you’ve shown me so far is how to get your face beaten into the ground. The city’s made you weak.”
“And you think that’s my fault? Life Givers created me in a test tube with the right mixture of my mother’s and father’s DNA. From the second I was born, people waited on me hand and foot.” Tears build as I recall my childhood—good times with my parents, my father leaving, learning to sew from my mother, my friends. “You’re asking me to do things that were forbidden in Avren.” I clench my fists, feeling an emotion building like fire in my veins. “You’ve got to have patience with me.”
“Yeah, well, it’s never been my strong suit. You’ve been here for less than two days, and you’ve already had a werewolf and a vamp on your trail.” He lifts the bow and hands it to me. “Be thankful I’m not the patient type.”
He tromps through the woods to the training ground. Afraid to follow too close, I keep a ten-pace distance, just far enough that he can hear me scream if I’m attacked. When we reach the open meadow, he digs into his pack and removes two apples, tossing one to me.
I sit down on a log and take a bite, still amazed by the freshness of the food in the wilderness.
“Gray will take you to your assignment this afternoon. We already received a warning because you didn’t show up yesterday. If you’re not there today, soldiers will come knocking on our door sooner or later. You won’t know your duty until you check in.” He takes one last giant bite of his apple and chucks the core into the woods, sending squirrels and various birds scattering. “My guess is dish duty.”
“Dish duty?” I take another bite and contemplate his words. So much has happened since I left Avren. I haven’t had time to think about the blue ring around my ankle and what it means. If I don’t arrive at my scheduled time, soldiers from Avren will come looking for me. “They have to recognize my skills as a seamstress.”
He quirks an eyebrow as he brushes his hands on his pants. “You sew?”
“Yes.” I stand and throw my apple core. It lands with a satisfying thump beside Bastian’s. “The official plan drawn out by my parents and approved by the Council was for me to open a shop when I turned eighteen.”
“Oh.” He tugs on the bottom of his shirt, exposing a gaping hole in the material. “Do you think you could help me out? You know, I give you a vamp ass-kicking lesson and you mend my shirts?”
“How about I teach you how to mend your own shirts? A Supe’s bound to kill me one of these days, and you’ll have to rely on yourself.” I kneel beside him and lift the material to inspect the hole. “The seam’s come undone. It won’t be difficult to fix if you can find me a needle and thread.”
He watches my fingers dance along the material. “I won’t let anything happen to you, Mari.”
I’m suddenly aware of how close we are, and my hands freeze. With one swipe of my finger, I could touch the bare skin of his stomach through the hole in his shirt.
He sucks in a breath and stands, leaving me alone on the ground and ashamed of my thoughts. “I mean, Levi seems to really like you, and I can’t have him moping about for days on end because a werewolf tore you to shreds.”
I stand and brush the dirt from my pants. “No, we wouldn’t want that.” The bow is resting against a tree, so I pick it up, ready to hit a target today. After being so close to him, I half-wish Rafe and his entourage would show up to distract me.
The angle of the sun tells me it’s later than when we stood in the meadow yesterday. Bastian’s not taking any chances. I take the stance he showed me, determined to demonstrate improvement.
He circles me, his gaze moving from the position of my feet to the angle of my arms, making my traitorous heart flutter. My dream was just a dream and nothing more. The Commander is only assessing my position like he would with any other recruit.
“Your spaghetti is a little firmer today.” He nods and holds out his hand, and I place the bow in it. “I want to show you a couple of things.” Bow and arrow in hand, he raises them to shoulder level, once again looking like a god. His piercing blue eyes never waver from his target as he releases the arrow and hits the center of a tree. “Keep your back as straight as your arm. Never let your eyes wander from your goal—hitting your enemy. Don’t drop your weapon until you hit your mark.” He hands me the bow and draws another arrow from the quiver.
I raise the weapon, notch the arrow, and pull back on the bowstring, setting my sights on Bastian’s arrow buried in the tree. Before doing anything else, I straighten my back and root my feet into the ground. I imagine the tree bark is the living, fluid being who killed Tanner. This is my one shot.
Keeping my body as stiff as Bastian’s, I release the arrow, only closing my eyes after it whizzes through the air.
“Why are your eyes closed?” he says, tapping me on the arm. “Look what you did.”
I open my eyes to find my arrow buried in the tree right next to Bastian’s. I smile, more out of a nervous shock than anything else.
He rubs his hands together and shoots me the first smile I’ve ever seen on his face, elevating his appearance tenfold. “She can be taught.”