“Fine, I can’t say I was impressed. Do you like him?” I asked, before taking a bite of cake. A moan escaped me despite myself. It was the fluffiest cake I had ever had. I blushed. “Sorry.”
“Don’t be, it’s good cake,” Nora said, taking another bite. “It isn’t important if I like him.”
I paused. “How can you say that?”
Nora put her empty plate down, grabbed her bubbles, and downed almost all of it. “Because I am not interested in my Mate outside of my duty. It was the same with the others.”
“Others?” I felt like I was missing something.
“I always forget you don’t know all the gossip of the Elite. What a gift.” Nora smiled sadly. “William is my fourth Mate.”
I placed my fork down. “Why?”
“I am to be bred to spread my genes into the population. I get a new Mate right before my offspring’s fourth birthday.”
Disgust blanketed me. “Collin allows this?”
“Collin can only do so much,” Nora said quietly.
I glanced around the room, ensuring we were alone. “And Gregory?”
“I thought you might have figured it out. He hasn’t been careful lately. He’s angry. We were both up for new Mates again. I was matched with William, while Gregory was assigned a Minor mating. Then he found out about you and Collin. I have never seen him so angry. He wanted to know why you and Collin could be matched but we weren’t.” Nora poured us both tea.
“You’ve known one another since your first mate?”
Nora smoothed out her dress. “Yes, since Edward. Gregory was Edward’s best friend throughout the Academy. A troublesome pair. Nothing serious, but they were always up to no good. When I bled, the Illum decided I should be Mated. I was sixteen at the time. I was Mated with Edward. My immaculate genes, as they called them, would further our society. He was five years older than I was. We were all so young. We attended a few balls that the Illum said we should. It was all fine and good—the dancing, gowns, drinking.” Nora stared out the windows behind me like she was lost in the memories.
“Then, it was time for the actual procreation. I had seen the videos. I knew what was coming, but I was terrified. I couldn’t do it the first time. Edward wasn’t pleased. He raged and broke things. When I missed our procreation window, I told him I would be ready the next moon, but he changed. Became cruel. I think a part of me did too. When the second moon came around, I couldn’t bring myself to lie with him.” Tears welled in Nora’s eyes as she met my gaze.
“He didn’t take that well. We had all been together that night leading up to it—me, Edward, and Gregory. Gregory had noticed the change in his friend. When I told Edward no, he became physical with me. Gregory heard and broke into the room. He—it was a mess. He beat Edward, badly, and carried me from the room. He stayed with me those next few nights. He kept Edward away.” Nora took a shaky breath.
“Nora, I am so sorry.”
“It is okay.”
“It isn’t.” My heart ached at what she had been through, at hearing more about the kind of man my birth brother was. “So, you’ve loved him since that night?”
Nora shook her head, a tear falling, “No, I loved him long before that moment. It happened in stolen moments on the dance floor, in the middle of the night, with only the stars to see. I told him a dream I thought only I could see, but he saw it too. The moment, it doesn’t matter when. I know deep down that I loved him long before I met him. I will love him in this life and whatever comes after it.”
“Even if you can’t be together?”
“Yes.”
“What if there was a place you two could be together?” I pressed on.
Nora’s eyes went vacant before shaking her head. “Emeline, such a place doesn’t exist.”
“What if it did, in the Underworld, where the Majors are?”
“Emeline,” Nora warned.
“But it isn’t the same as up here. It’s different.” This was dangerous territory, but my heart wanted to know that two people who loved each other could be together.
“I don’t know why you know that. I don’t want to know,” Nora told me. “But even if it were an option, I wouldn’t take it.”
“How can you say that?” I demanded.
“They have my offspring at the Academy. I will undergo anything they ask to keep them safe. They will not fall victim to my selfish choices.”
