Page 2

Rex.

Now he’s a shell, broken down by his father for Regressive intent, for daring to choose me.

I watch the door, praying that Elon will kick it down, the hinges cracking under the force. Levi will follow him through it, all traces of pain and betrayal clear from his face. Silas will be there too, scooping me into his arms, tell me everything is okay, kiss me—

“Imogene.”

I blink, looking up from the cutting board and the sweet potato diced in a pile. I’m chopping air. Margaret stands in the doorway, hand on her belly. “Sorry.” I brush my hands together and hope she doesn’t see the flush on my cheeks. “Did you say something?”

“There’s a new addition in the waiting room.”

“Oh,” I say, coming back to myself. “Yes, of course.”

She smiles gently. Despite everything that happened with Anex the night he banished Elon and Levi from the community and punished the rest of us, she’s remained true to our bond. “Sisters” is what she calls us. But like everything, there’s a power imbalance, and like always, I seem to be at the bottom.

“I think you’ll be excited to greet our new housemate,” she says, walking down the hallway.

I’m not sure why she says that, not until I walk into the registration office and see her. Maria, my best friend from the Domum. My eyes drop to her stomach and under her cotton dress is the smallest swell. Pregnant women are required to report to the child center once they reach the second trimester.

“You’re pregnant,” I blurt, unable to present the happy façade I give to every expectant mother that walks in the door.

“Three months,” she says, not quite making eye contact. No one does. The whole community is aware that I’m being punished for sleeping with men other than my mate. What they don’t know, or believe, is that Anex commanded them to train me. He set me up.

“Welcome.” I force a grin. “We’re here to celebrate the growth of our community and ensure the future by nourishing the body, mind, and soul of the mothers and children born here.”

The words come on command, memorized from my training with Healer Bloom. Margaret watches me carefully, probably aware of my history with Maria. How we’d been so close when we were teenagers—before we were Ordered. I don’t reveal my true feelings, how I mourn for who Maria was before she walked into this facility.

It’s not a place of care and support.

It’s a noose tightening around our necks, and like everything else in Serendee, Anex is holding the rope.

2

Rex

Every part of my body aches.

My back, my legs, my cracked and bleeding knuckles. Manual labor sucks, and I’ll be the first to admit it, I had no fucking clue how shitty most of the jobs in Serendee were before I was forced to do them myself. The farm work I’ve been assigned to isn’t just back breaking. It’s soul crushing.

Never think my father doesn’t know exactly what he’s doing.

At the end of the day, I’m too exhausted to think about running. I’m too hungry to worry about anything but my next meal. My brain feels fuzzy. My reaction time is slow. Every symptom is intentional—a way to make me complacent.

“Pick up the pace, Rex.”

I don’t look back to see who’s speaking to me. It’s a guard, assigned specifically to follow me around all day. They rotate, and I know them. Grew up with them. The one following five steps behind me right now, Erik, lived in my Donum. Another one of my father’s games.

God, I want to kill him.

Hence the guard.

I take a small amount of pride in knowing that despite how run down I’ve become in the last month, Anex still views me as a threat. More than the others. I know Elon and Levi, wherever they are, won’t be able to see it, but my father gave them a gift. Freedom. He’s kept me a prisoner because he knows this is the worst punishment he can give.

He took my money, my cars, my ability to move in and out of Serendee. He took away my job of recruiting rich, attractive women into the community. All those privileges I didn’t fully understand until they were gone.

And none of them are even the most important.

“Seriously, man,” Erik says, nudging me along with a hard shove. “You do this every day.”