Page 133 of Border Control

Fuck, she’s still at it. Brushing away the Selthiastocks, I sit up. “What will it take for you to understand, Samara? He’s not a threat.”

She whirls to face us, glaring at Dom. Her blue spikes flare up: somehow, I can see them right now. Maybe because I was so close to Dom, we were one being.

“Samara, I can see you’re afraid,” I say, and the courtroom quietens. After what we’ve just been through, though, having the attention of a whole court is nothing. “I understand what you’re trying to do. You just want to protect your society, your way of life.”

I can’t confront her on why her ‘civilization’ doesn’t deserve the name, how it needs to be destroyed, how fucked it is that clones can be treated like throwaway things and not people. It’s a battle I won’t win right now.

I need to go for one victory, just one small chink in the system first, a single place for a crowbar to be shoved in later and crack it wide open.

I point to Dom. “We defined a safe clone as being under control with abilities understood. I am in charge of our abilities.I understand them, now. And he’s under control. My control.” And his own, I add silently.

Dom stands apart, arms held by his guards. He shoots me such a warm look I can’t help but smile back.

Samara trembles. She’s starting to lose her cool, and that makes her unpredictable.

She orders Dom, “Tear one of your hearts out for her.”

“No!” I scramble upright, plant myself between her and him. The wall of Sanitatums reach toward me.

“He has to obey,” Samara snarls.

Behind me, there’s a clank. I glance over my shoulder to see a Parthiastock has let Dom’s right arm go, and he raises it up to his chest, chains clinking.

‘I’ll live, Law-rah. I have two hearts,’he reminds me.

‘But she’ll just demand something else of you. She’s trying to get you to refuse a direct order, she’ll keep going.’

‘And so will I. I won’t disobey, she won’t find me lacking.’

I can see it now, Dom and Samara in a constant escalation. She wants to break him, but Dom won’t. He’ll endure pain, agony, suffering, all of it.

What could I offer as a true test, something that would show everyone who he really is?

I know.

My cheeks flush hot, but my heart pounds with certainty. I can’t lose him. If I have to give up a part of myself to do it, then… that’s the price I’ll pay. For Dom. For everything he means to me.

I take a breath, summoning every ounce of courage I have. “I know what would be a real test,” I say, trying to keep my voice steady as Samara’s gaze sharpens on me. “Something I've forbidden him to do.”

Dom’s scales darken to violet, hardening. He knows what I’m suggesting before I say it. He understands me deeper than anyone else ever has, and he's not even using the mind-sync.

“No,” he says, his voice a low growl. His defiance sends a shiver down my spine. “I won’t do it.”

I meet his eyes, my heart aching. I know what I’m asking him to accept, but I also know what’s at stake. “Dom, this might be the only way.”

He doesn’t flinch, doesn’t blink. “I won’t do it. You once asked me to swear to tell you lav-en-dar if something sounds too much or ever becomes uncomfortable for me. I’m telling you now, this is too far. Lav-en-dar, Law-rah.”

My eyes sting with tears as my heart swells. He’s willing to endure so much to protect me, sacrificing himself just to keep a part of me from being laid bare before this unforgiving audience. He’s always been ready to die for my sake.

But I won’t let that happen.

“What is it?” Samara asks, eyes positively gleeful at finding something Dom’s refusing to contemplate.

I raise my chin. “I have a strict boundary with my… lovers. I'm saving myself for my husband, my mate, a man I'm going to be with forever. Someone who sees all of me, who completes me and complements me in all aspects of my life. Who can put up with me being a control freak, who's as freaky as me and accepts it, welcomes it, even.”

Dom's shape blurs beyond my tears.

Him.