Page 39

Warm, prickly heat coats my body. My armpits and neck. Bile thrusts up my throat and I bend, arm across my stomach, trying to hold back the gag.

“I know it’s a lot to take in,” she says, placing a hand on my back, “but it’s right. You have to understand that.”

I understand nothing, other than the fact that my fate was sealed long before my awareness kicked in. Nothing will change the course of Anex’s will. My mind slips away, along with the urge to fight or rebel. It’s done nothing but make things worse all along.

Maybe Margaret is right.

This is The Way.

And there’s nothing I can do about it.

16

Elon

The envelope arrives on a Monday. Tucked between the stack of mail Camille carries into the kitchen. I recognize the paper right away. Handmade from recycled materials.

“Stop.” The words are harsh. Blunt. “Give me that.”

Camille’s eyebrow raises. “What are you talking about?”

“It’s from Serendee,” Levi says, striding into the room. “The paper. It’s unique.”

Every muscle in Camille’s body tenses, but she doesn’t relinquish the envelope. She just stares at it, long and hard, until she asks, “Did you give them this address?”

Levi shakes his head.

“No,” I reply. “But it’s not unlikely that he’s had an eye on you this whole time, you know that, right?”

I’ve felt his eyes on us since we arrived. Nothing I can confirm. Just a sense. It could just be paranoia from years of living under his rule, but it feels like more.

“There have been threats over the years from a variety of groups that don’t like us helping the families of their victims.” My jaw tics at the word “victim.” “You realize Serendee isn’t the only cult out there? It’s not even the only one in this region.” She grabs a knife and wedges the tip into the corner of the flap. The sound of tearing paper fills the kitchen. Levi and I watch as she pulls out a single card. It’s handwritten, the curling cursive writing printed across the paper. Camille’s eyes flick over the words and she says, “It’s an invitation.”

“To what?” I ask, heart thudding in my chest. Something is off. Weird. Wrong.

“To a ceremony.” She tosses the card on the table, turned so we can read it. I see, not only her name listed, but mine and Levi’s as well. My eyes jump to read what it says, but Camille beats me to it. “In two days, Anex is Mating with my daughter and he wants all of us to come.”

Camille doesn’t say much after reading the invitation. Just excusing herself and taking the stairs to the second floor. A moment later a door clicks shut.

I, too, feel the need to move. And I run upstairs, grabbing the bag Levi picked up at the apartment, and head back to the front door.

“Where are you going?” Levi asks, hot on my heels.

“Out.” I clear the steps, but stop when I feel his hand on my shoulder.

“Elon, wait.”

I spin, glaring at my friend. “I can’t sit around here and just do fucking nothing while all of this is going on, Levi. I can’t log all my feelings into a journal, or meditate to the fucking Way, hoping everything will work out.”

“So what then?” I don’t miss the hurt in his eyes at every jab I make about his values. “What the hell are you going to do?”

“Not what I want,” I say, hitching the bag over my shoulder. “But the only thing I can. I’m going to go hit something.”

Or someone. Hopefully one of those frat boy pricks down at the bar. It always feels nice to hear the smack of my fist against their pretty faces.

I pass the bus stop and head north. It’s not the best part of town. Seedy hotels and abandoned buildings. Drug dealers lurk in the shadows. I’m familiar with the area because of Serendee’s drug trade. It’s not the neighborhood anyone chooses to live in, not anymore.

“You’re not taking the bus?”