Chapter Nineteen
The ruckus of voices faded as I scurried from the auditorium. I understood the demonstration had been distressing, but what had Torz charging from the room without warning? Without me?
Apart from the assortment of security guards lining the walls, the clean white corridor of this government floor was clear. But there was no sign of him.
“Remi!”
I stopped, turning to Saul. He stepped away from the wall, frowning with confusion.
“Where did Torz go?” I asked.
“He left.” He pointed behind me. “And he told me to wait for you.”
I cursed, once again bewildered at Torz’s adamance to protect others above himself.
I hurried down the corridor, pushing through the heavy doors at the end and meeting the daily grind of pedestrians. Through the bustling crowd, I scanned the vast atrium for my dark-haired commander, well aware Saul was trailing me like an unwanted shadow.
Far in the distance, taking three steps at a time, Torz climbed the main atrium staircase; the broad white stairs a blinding contrast against his black uniform.
I launched after him, zigzagging through the crowd of civilians going about their daily lives.
I doubted any of them had any idea what was being discussed behind the government doors I’d just exited.
And even if they did, would any of them raise an eyebrow?
Ignoring Saul’s plea to slow down, I hit the very top of the enormous staircase, my eyes frenetically sweeping the area.
Torz was a way off, marching down the white-walled corridor.
His fingers raked through his hair, signifying his anxieties, and I felt it then—the deepening despair raging through our bond.
The strength of it had me staggering to keep walking.
Apart from in my dream, I’d never witnessed it so strong, so overbearing.
Still with my eyes locked on his back, I scurried after him, recognising the vast open corridor with balloon arches adorning multiple doorways.
Dancefloors, elaborately dressed dining tables, and party decorations arranged in varying styles all waved at me as I passed each function room entrance lining the walls.
A pull of nostalgia weighed on my mind, recalling the black and grey balloons from my graduation…
the smell of cheap aftershave, the elegant dresses, and fake jewellery.
I remembered how lonely I’d been walking into the very room I was passing now, until a certain charming eighteen-year-old, dressed in a fancy suit, asked me to dance.
Ignoring the ache in my chest, I pushed on. None of what happened back then was relevant. Right now, I needed to find my friend.
I could no longer see Torz in the distance, but glimpsing the sign overhead, I knew where he was heading. The one place I was eager to avoid.
Still with Saul in tow, I powered towards Fakes Park, but my legs ached as if I was trudging through a strong current of water, willing me to turn back.
I’d convinced myself I never wanted to step foot in Titus’s largest biodome again.
It would be too overbearing to face the place where I’d first kissed Torz, where I’d panicked at the sight of our spiralling Damson magic.
The place I made the biggest mistake of my life.
My steps slowed when the huge frosted-glass door came into view, the image of a blossoming tree etched into its surface. It hissed open, and I sucked in a stabilising breath, forcing my feet forward across the threshold into the bright biodome.
My boots crunched over the pebbled path as I took in the rows of white and yellow flowers thriving among the green grass and scatter of small trees. High above, the biodome’s roof stretched for an eternity, its polarised glass making the darkness outside look a pale blue.
The smells were wonderful—fresh, natural, tugging on my body, inviting me in. A moment of tranquillity washed over me, calming my nerves, and I closed my eyes, relishing the warm air and sounds of flowing water.
Children laughed nearby, and a young family lounged on a picnic blanket adorned with an array of food, whilst an elderly couple sat together on a bench at the top of a grassy mound, looking out over the sparkling lake.
As I rounded that hill, the full length of the turquoise lake came into view, and I paused.
I’d forgotten how far it stretched, how beautiful it was.
Reeds and grasses grew along the banks where butterflies fluttered and danced.
Water trickled from a flowing stream where it cascaded down tiers of small rocks before meeting the main lake.
I’d forgotten how much I loved this place.
My final school exams had been on Titus over a span of two months.
I always came here to relax, to clear my head, especially when my mum died.
It was its own piece of heaven within an artificial environment where I knew I didn’t belong.
Nobody did. Humans weren’t destined for the cold darkness of space.
Where our ancestors had come from, nobody really knew.
There were theories, but no evidence to support them.
Had it been a world as green and colourful as Fakes Park?
Glancing back at Saul, I crossed the arched wooden bridge over the rocks and flowing stream. Up ahead, in the distance, a large willow tree came into view, its bowing branches bobbing in the lake and sending ripples across the span of water.
And standing between the tree and me, with the lake before him, was Torz.
He stood with his back to me, one hand in his pocket, the other twitching, proving his anxiety. His broad shoulders were slightly hunched as he stared ahead towards that very weeping willow.
I looked over my shoulder at Saul again, my expression gently pleading. “Can you give us a moment?”
Saul raised his eyebrows in surprise, but as if he suddenly understood, he nodded. “I’ll go…look at the flowers.”
I thanked him as he walked away, then blew out a reluctant breath.
A jumble of emotions, fronted by fear, longing, and helplessness, grew stronger as I approached Torz.
Hesitancy slowed my steps as I neared, concerned about how he’d react when I appeared.
He’d left me at the auditorium. Maybe he wanted to be alone.
But the thought didn’t deter me. As I came within two paces of him, I reached for his hand, gently brushing my fingertips over his palm.
“Torz,” I softly pressed, relieved he didn’t flinch or pull away. Instead, his fingers closed around mine, his eyelids shutting as his nose flared with a heavy intake of breath. “Torz, are you okay? I know…I know that demonstration was shocking, but—”
“She’s toying with me,” he whispered, reopening his eyes and returning his gaze to the willow across the slim stretch of lake. “It’s bad enough that she’s manipulating the pitiful Puran Human Rights Act…that she intends to kill them all. But this…” He shook his head. “This is personal.”
Consumed by a new sense of worry, I rested my free hand on his forearm and squeezed reassuringly. “How so?”
“That woman…the one she murdered in front of everyone…” He cursed, throwing his head back and scrutinising the glass roof.
“Torz, who was she?” With my hand still clasped around his arm, I wasn’t sure if I was concerned he’d flee again or simply pull away, but I needed to ground him. Allow him time to shed whatever was eating away at him.
As if he heard my actual thoughts, his eyes lowered to my hand, pensively lingering there for a tangible moment. He then swallowed thickly and said, “She was one of the people arrested in relation to my father’s death.”
His sorrowful eyes met mine, the tips of his eyebrows nearly touching from despair, and I was no longer looking at my commander.
I was looking at the fourteen-year-old boy I’d found cowering in the academy cupboard, too scared and humiliated to leave.
I remembered how he tried to deny the reason why he didn’t want to go home, but when I’d coerced him out, discovering the bruises across his cheek and under his eye, I knew his father had lashed out at him. Again.
Full of confusion, I frowned. Torz had resented his father. But why would that woman’s death trigger such dread within him? “I’m not following, Torz.”
My heart dropped when a tear bud formed, threatening to shed. He clenched his eyelids together, sucking it back.
“By using her in that demonstration,” he whispered. “That’s Zuli’s promise…if I don’t do as she demands, my…my mother will be next.”
I frowned. “No. Torz, no, your mother died. Years ago.” She’d died a few months after his father had.
To lose both parents in quick succession had been tough for Torz, but especially his mother.
He’d adored her. She was an astro-scientist, and I was informed an experiment had gone fatally wrong.
Though—I pondered—Torz never spoke of it.
“I was told to say that.” Pushing his free hand into his hair, he released an exasperated breath.
“My father found out about her illegal supply runs with the Purans. He gave her seven days to surrender the rebellion leaders’ identities.
When she refused, he promised to turn her in.
His own wife.” A snarl rippled across his mouth, the tension in his fingers becoming so rigid my palm slipped from his, and he pulled away.
“My father died a week after that. I didn’t think anything of it at the time, but…
three months later, my mother was arrested.
Turned out she conspired to kill him. And that woman who they murdered today… she was the one who did the deed.
“Back then, I was still a captain under Chief Kalu. Thankfully, he swept the situation under the rug and announced her death by lab accident. She’s been in Pura prison ever since. I haven’t been able to speak to or see her since the day she was arrested.”
A silence fell between us, one so thick I could’ve sliced it with one of my daggers.