“Is she okay?” Nora demanded. “I looked for her but couldn’t find her. Eve is all over Collin. The Press is having a field day.”
Eve.The name sounded vaguely familiar, but I couldn’t place where I had heard it.
Nora attempted to push past Gregory, but he didn’t let her pass. “Why won’t you let me see her?” she demanded.
“I was told to get her to her living quarters, no theatrics. I have her.” Nora stopped fighting him as music swelled from the other room. “The last number is next. William will be expecting you. Thanks for the clutch.” Gregory turned, stepping into the Pod and sitting beside me. Dismissing Nora.
The doors closed. Right before the Pod took off, I looked up to see Nora wipe wildly at her face before turning away.
Gregory scooted away from me, sighing as he lay back.
“Why do you always do that?”
Gregory remained quiet for a moment. “Because it makes the stars look different. You should try it. You don’t have to worry about ruining your gown anymore.” I glared at him before moving to the Pod’s other side to lie down.
He was right. The stars swirled like theStarry Nightpainting as the Pod shot through the sky.
“Do you want to tell me who matters so much that you are willing to risk your life for them? Collin is an Illum. Not just any Illum, Emeline. Your choice is stupid.”
“Do you want to tell me what you’re going to do about Nora?” I shot back, frustrated.
“So, you heard that?”
“Yes.”
“Should I be concerned about who you were with hearing that?”
“No, your secret is safe.” When Gregory didn’t answer my question, I hesitated. The Pod dropped before shooting onward. “Who’s Timothy?”
“My offspring. He’s five. At the Academy. My old Mate hates me, not without reason. She has kept him from me as much as possible.” I glanced over. His right hand hung off the bench. His knuckles were swollen and bloody.
“Tell me about Lola,” Gregory said as he watched the stars.
“Lola?” I repeated, confused.
“The Minor, my intended Mate,” Gregory clarified. “She said she knew you.”
“Oh, Lo. She desperately wants this contract to work. She has dreamed about it since I first met her. She’s funny, intense, and beautiful. She’s a good person.”
“Hmm,” Gregory mused.
The Pod came to a stop outside my building. I stood, grabbing my clutch.
“Thank you,” I told him, leaving him to his vigil with the stars.
“Emeline, if you care about the person you were with at all, never see them again.”
Our gazes met. “You, of all people, have no room to talk.”
“You will regret it,” Gregory warned, coming to sit, his eyes haunted. “You will regret loving someone you cannot have. It will destroy you. You will spend your entire life fighting. Fighting to keep a secret. Fighting to hide your feelings. Fighting for someone you cannot have. You will never find peace; all you will have are fleeting moments in secret. The goodbyes will lurk and ruin you, cutting you down each time. And the Illum will find out, and they will not allow it. They will ensure you never get it.”
“And what will you do?” Because I didn’t want to talk about me.
Gregory looked at the building behind me and then the stars again. “Whatever it takes to keep her safe.”
“You’ll let her go?”
Gregory laughed. It was humorless and raw, seeped in bitterness. “All I have ever done is let her go. It is as known to me as breathing. Good night, little sister.”
