Page 26

AREZOO

A rezoo sat cross-legged on her bed, staring at the phone in her hands. Ruvon's number glowed on the screen, saved just hours ago at the playground. The first phone number she'd ever received from a man who wasn't family.

She should delete it. That would be the smart thing to do. Delete the number, forget about the bar, forget about the mortifying embarrassment she'd felt when he'd asked her mother's permission to take her out on a date and had gotten dismissed like a bothersome pest.

Her thumb hovered over the delete button.

A sharp knock on her sliding glass door made her jump, the phone tumbling from her hands onto the bedspread. Her heart raced as she stared at the closed shutters. Who would be knocking on her door at this hour?

Maybe it was Azadeh? Her cousin wouldn't be out this late, and if something happened to anyone in her family, they would come through the front door instead of knocking on her screen.

The knock came again, more insistent this time.

Arezoo remained frozen. Should she call for her mother?

When her phone buzzed with an incoming text, she grabbed it, and the name on the screen was enough to clarify who was banging on her shutters.

It's me outside your door. Let me in .

Arezoo exhaled slowly, tension draining from her shoulders. It was just Drova.

She typed back quickly. I can't open the shutters. They come down automatically at night .

She'd tried, but the button wouldn't respond.

The answer came in a moment later. Turn off the lights first, dummy . It's a safety mechanism to prevent someone from accidentally raising the shutters when the lights are still on .

That made sense. Why hadn't she thought of that?

But wouldn't the sound of the shutters opening wake her mother?

What if it did, though? It was just Drova. Her mother might disapprove of the timing of the visit, but she would allow it. Probably.

After switching off the lights, Arezoo pressed the button again, and the shutters responded, rising with a mechanical whir and a rattle that seemed impossibly loud in the quiet night.

Drova's silhouette appeared against the starlit sky, tall and impossibly thin, her large eyes reflecting the scant light available.

"Finally." Drova stepped in after Arezoo unlocked the door and slid it open. "You can close the shutters now and turn on the lights."

When illumination flooded the room, she found Drova examining her space with those unnerving eyes, taking in the neat desk, the bedspread, the complete absence of personal touches.

"Your room looks like a hotel," Drova said. "Where's all your stuff?"

"This is my stuff," Arezoo said, gesturing at the few items she'd accumulated since arriving at the village—some clothes in the closet, a few books on the desk, her phone charger.

"Sad, but familiar." Drova flopped onto the bed with less grace than usual, her long limbs sprawling.

"I was in the same situation when I first got to the village.

We came with nothing, even less than this.

You need to get a couple of posters to liven up the space, or a lava lamp.

It was one of the first things I got for my room. "

"Did you come here to critique my decor?"

"No." Drova sat up, her expression turning a little scary.

Determined. "I came to break you out of this prison.

" She sounded dead serious. "The bar. Tonight.

You and me." Drova's grin didn't soften her friend's predatory determination.

"You're not a child, and it's time your mother acknowledged that. "

Arezoo could practically hear her mother complaining about Drova being a bad influence on her. This would prove her right and endanger the only friendship she had in the village.

"Absolutely not." She backed away from Drova.

"You can't let your mother control you forever." Drova bounced on the bed, looking excited by her own rebellion. "You're nineteen. You're an adult, and that's why we have to go."

"That's not how it works in my family."

"It's how it worked in your family when you lived in Iran. You are free now to live however you want. No one is going to stop you unless you do something illegal."

"Like what?"

Drova winced. "Like compelling people to steal things for you. But we are talking about you now, not me."

Arezoo sank onto her desk chair, wrapping her arms around herself. "Family is not just about respecting or disrespecting traditions. It's about caring for one another and not being selfish. It's about obligations."

"Bullshit," Drova said succinctly. "It's about fear. Your mother is afraid of losing control, and you're afraid of disappointing her."

The words stung because they were true. Arezoo had always been the good daughter, who never caused trouble and was always helpful.

But then what choice did she have? Her father was a controlling, borderline abusive jerk, and her mother was bitter but still doing her best to raise three girls.

She'd needed Arezoo's help, and she needed it still.

"You don't understand," she said. "My mother needs me."

Drova sighed. "I know, but you can be there for her and still have a life, right? You are working at the café, earning your own money, and meeting people. You just need to set boundaries."

Arezoo snorted. "She'll just tell me that as long as I live under her roof, I have to obey her rules."

Drova leaned forward. "Then maybe you should move out.

As an adult, you can apply for housing and get to live with a roommate instead of your family.

" Her black eyes flickered red for a moment, taking Arezoo aback.

"We could move in together. Get our own place.

I'm not eighteen yet, but I'm a Guardian in training, and I'm considered an adult in the Kra-ell community.

I can convince them to approve it." She grinned.

"And don't worry. I won't be using compulsion.

My persuasion powers and charm should be enough. "

That sounded tempting, but premature. "I can't. Not yet, anyway."

"Why not?" Drova pinned her with a dark glare. "Your mother would disown you? Drag you back by your hair? She might get upset at first, but she'd get over it."

"Are you unhappy living with your mother?" Arezoo asked, deflecting from her own situation.

Drova shrugged. "Jade doesn't try to control my life or anything. And Phinas, her immortal mate, is cool. But I'm ready for my own space. Aren't you?"

Arezoo tried to imagine a home where she could do what she wanted and could come and go without explanation. The image was thrilling, but she wasn't ready for that much independence yet.

Until Drova came up with the rebellious suggestion, it hadn't ever crossed Arezoo's mind that she could move out and live on her own. She needed time to get accustomed to the idea, to prepare her mother and her aunts, so when the time came, they wouldn't be as shocked.

"I can't right now," she said finally. "My mother and aunts need me, especially now, with the store they're planning. Someone has to watch the children, help with inventory, be there for them."

"You can do all that while living somewhere else," Drova pointed out. "It's not like you'd be moving to another planet. Just to a different house in the village."

"I need time to think about it," Arezoo said.

Drova's expression turned skeptical. "Sure you do. Just like you needed time to think about calling Ruvon, or standing up to your mother, or to think about actually living your life instead of just existing in it."

The words were like a series of punches to her stomach, each one finding its mark. Arezoo wanted to protest, to deny the accusations, but her throat felt tight with unshed tears.

"Come to the bar with me," Drova said, her voice softer now. "Just for an hour. One drink—hell, one mocktail. Take that first step. Trust me, rebellion gets easier with practice."

"You sound like you're speaking from experience."

"I am." Drova's grin returned, sharp and proud.

"First time I defied my mother, I thought lightning would strike me down.

When it didn't, I realized the sky wasn't going to fall just because I made my own choices.

They were bad ones, but they were mine, and everything worked out okay.

Using my compulsion was wrong, but it revealed my powers, and Kian decided that instead of punishing me, he could use me, and I got to join the Guardian Force. "

Arezoo's resolve started to waver. The idea of walking into the bar and sitting down like she'd seen young women do in the movies was exciting, liberating. The rebellious aspect was much more tempting than meeting Ruvon.

"My mother would know," she said.

"So what? Let her know. Let her rage, cry, and guilt you. Then what? She can't actually stop you." Drova stood, stretching her long limbs. "The door's right there. All you have to do is walk through it."

"With you."

"With me," Drova confirmed. "I'll be your bodyguard against maternal guilt. I'm very good at being intimidating, and I don't mean compulsion. I'm scary enough as I am."

She was, and her arguments were convincing, but so were Arezoo's.

The bar wasn't as important as peace and harmony in her family. She could do without the adventure, but she couldn't do without the love and support of her family.

"I can't," she said again, but this time with more conviction. "I'm not ready. Please stop trying to convince me because nothing you say is going to work. This is not the right time for rebellion."

Drova studied her for a long moment, those large eyes seeing too much. "When will you be ready? When you're fifty? A hundred? Because newsflash—immortality means you could spend centuries being not ready."

The thought was sobering.

"I promise that I won't wait that long. I just need a little more time to think, to plan. I can't, just can't."

"Yes, you can." Drova rose to her feet and walked toward the sliding door. "The only thing stopping you is you." She paused, one hand on the light switch. "Ruvon's at the bar, waiting for you. Did you at least text him that you are not coming?"

Arezoo winced. "Not yet. I was about to when you knocked on the shutters and scared me to death."

That was a lie. She'd meant to delete Ruvon's contact from her phone so she wouldn't be tempted to talk to him.

"Text him. It's not fair to leave the guy hanging."

The expression sounded strange to her, one more of those lost in translation, but she could infer what Drova had meant from the context.

"I will. I promise." After a short pause, she added, "I'm not ready." She hated how small her voice sounded.

"Let me know when you are ready to fly the coop." Drova flicked off the light, raised the shutters, and slipped out into the night with barely a sound. Arezoo quickly lowered them again, sealing herself back in her safe, dark room.

The only light was the soft glow her phone's screen emitted from where she'd left it on her bed.

Arezoo picked up the phone and dictated a message to Ruvon because her written English wasn't good enough to type it. Sorry, but I can't come. I hope you are enjoying your evening .

She powered down the device so she wouldn't have to see his response.

As she lay in the dark, Arezoo thought about Drova's words, about rebellion getting easier with practice.

The first step was the hardest, and after that, if the sky didn't fall, the next one was less difficult, and the next one after that even less so.

It was probably true, and one day she would find out, but it wouldn't be tomorrow or even a week from now. She was in no rush to embrace her independence.