Page 84

Story: Indulgent

Sitting here like this reminds me of the day up on the cliff, the day we first spoke, when we’d both just lost everything. The difference now is that we’re no longer divided by power. By Anex’s rules, or the lure of The Way.

We’ve found one another. We’re true.

We’re mates.

I feel it in my chest, when he looks at me with those brilliant blue eyes or touches me with his strong, steady hands.

The veil that kept us separated has been torn down. We’ve learned the truth and have survived. We escaped and will flourish. We went against all our beliefs but for the first time in my life, I feel it.

Enlightened.

Epilogue

Imogene

Three Weeks Later

Music fills the darkened room and I lurch up, body moving like I’m pulled by strings. Anex. He’s calling us for a lecture.

“Hello?” A low voice says. A light flashes, glaring in the dark and the weight of a hand on my hip draws me back to the present. We’re not in Serendee. We’re at Camille’s house. Anex is in jail.

“You’re safe,” Silas says, drawing me to him. “That’s just Rex’s cell phone.”

I exhale slowly as Rex speaks low into the phone. “Now? Okay. We’ll be there.”

Silas and I both sit up and Rex comes back to the bed, sitting on the edge. He’s wearing nothing but a pair of shorts, his body filled out after months of starvation and abuse.

“Who was that?” Silas asks, stretching his arms over his head.

“The jail.”

Panic grips me. “Is something wrong? Did Anex—”

“Thewomen’sjail. Margaret’s in labor.” He looks at me. “She asked for us—me and you—to come to the hospital.”

“Oh.” My heart still pounds. Two scares too close together. I push back the cover and swing my legs over the side of the bed. “Do you know what she wants?”

“Nope,” he shakes his head and offers me a hand, “but I guess we’ll find out.”

The car is quiet as Rex drives us to the hospital in my mother’s car. The streets are empty in a way I’m unfamiliar with. I’m still not used to being in this world, the freedom of picking up at 2 AM and getting in a car, wearing jeans and an oversized sweatshirt, hair still messy from sleep.

“They didn’t say anything else?” I ask. “Just that she wants us at the hospital?”

“That’s all,” he says, hands tight on the steering wheel.

“Then I’m sure everything’s okay.” I settle back in the seat, willing that to be true. I have no fondness for Margaret, she’s responsible for much of my hurt as Anex, but that baby is an innocent. I just want it to arrive in this world safe.

Rex grunts and it’s like every muscle in his body is tense. I rest my hand on his thigh and squeeze. “Are you worried?”

A car’s lights flash as it drives past, highlighting the tick in his jaw. “No.”

He’s been a little distant, but it seemed normal to me. He watched his father get arrested, our whole life crumble, we’ve had to move from the cabin back to my mother’s house. There are hearings and trials coming up. Testimonies and depositions. It’s been scary and unknown.

He pulls into the hospital driveway, easing the car into an empty spot in the visitor lot. Turning off the car he clutches the keys, unmoving. “Rex, what’s going on?”

“We need to talk,” he looks out the window, up at the bright hospital sign. “But I don’t think now is the right time.”

“Why not?” I ask. “We have no obligation to go in there just because Margaret wants us to. She can wait.”