Unraveled (22 page)

“I love you, Adelice,” he whispers.

Time slows as his words light upon me, but in my chest something bursts into a million
fragments that melt back together instantly, remaking me into someone entirely new.

“I love you, too.”

His lips close over mine at the affirmation and we slip into each other. Each of us
evolving in the other’s arms—a person stronger because of the other, but more vulnerable
as well. His fingers grip the hem of my blouse and he pauses.

“Yes,” I whisper into his chest even as I find myself in danger of exploding from
the sensations crowding my body. He fumbles a little as he finds my buttons, and I
laugh.

“I didn’t expect you to be nervous.” My words are too high-pitched and I realize how
anxious I sound, but Erik laughs as well.

“This is a first for me, too.”

“Erik,” I say softly, and he stops. His face is a sketch against the darkness, the
lines of it smooth and fluid, but his eyes are silver as they wait for me to speak.
“I’m scared.”

His hands cup my face and he gives me a sad smile. I don’t have to tell him what I’m
scared of. The war, what will happen next, Amie’s change, Cormac’s descent into madness.
And most of all, who I will be after this moment, because this love is fresh and raw.
I can already feel its wounds written across my body, singing with the tenderness
of newborn skin.

“Don’t be,” he whispers. His hands don’t leave my face. They are warm and steady as
he waits. Finally, I pull them down and clasp them into my own. I take a small, but
deliberate step backward. And another. And another. Until my calf bumps into the wooden
frame of the bunk. I lie down and Erik climbs in beside me. Our bodies press together
as he brings his lips to mine.

Erik isn’t aggressive, even if his touch is urgent, and I understand because I’ve
been holding this at bay for a long time, too—since that first night in the courtyard
when we danced under the moonlight, and I kissed him because he dared to give me hope.
Everything fits with him. The way his lips are soft but full on mine. The way my body
locks into his. Our first kiss flashes through my mind. The silver moonlight, the
trees etching the dark courtyard, dancing without music. But as we find each other
now the world lights up around me, haloing Erik in brilliant life, and the music of
time weaves around us, filling the air with a gentle, slow harmony that builds toward
a soft cadence.

He’s careful and kind, waiting for my cues. My nerves sing out where he touches me,
sparking to life, and then his skin is on mine and my body bursts into fire and longing
until there’s no space left between us at all.

TWENTY-TWO

I
WAKE TANGLED IN
E
RIK’S ARMS AND
peer across to him, my eyes adjusting to the dark, his blond hair a mess across the
pillow. I’m torn between pulling the crumpled sheet up over me and waking him. But
while his eyes are closed, I can keep the ache niggling in me at bay, so I watch him
sleep and wonder how I’ll feel when those blue eyes eventually open. I draw my fingers
through my hair to see if it’s as untidy as his and then let them trace my own face,
feeling for a change. Confusion churns deep inside me. I’m exactly the same, but everything
is different.

Slipping from the bed, I wrap the sheet around me and examine myself in the window.
Outside the glass, the world is black and my pale silhouette is reflected in it. I
let the sheet fall open and study my body. It’s still mine. There’s no sign of a change,
but it’s there. I can’t see or touch it, but I feel it somewhere, instinctually. Somewhere
outside the bunker, a floodlight bursts on, and I back away, catching flashes of a
woman in the pane’s reflection. It looks like my mother but then I realize it’s me.
As the light streaks across the room, it slants through the windows and lights silver
on Erik’s face, causing him to stir. He’s beautiful in his sleep, but soon his eyes
flutter. The first wave of uncertainty rolls through me, catching my breath. He gets
up gracefully, rubbing sleep from his eyes, unaware of the profound shift in the room.

“You are beautiful,” he murmurs, reaching to pull me back to him and kissing my neck
as I tumble into his arms.

I stare at the window, watching the reflection of two lovers as I try to comprehend
the evolution of our relationship—what we’ve shared. Erik’s mirrored eyes meet mine,
and he doesn’t speak. He doesn’t have to—his gaze says it all. In the window, he looks
like a man. Lean and tall. The angles of his jaw more defined under a thin layer of
stubble. I still look like a girl. Too thin. No curves. But there’s something in my
face that makes a different case. The couple in the glass share a secret. Will it
be obvious to everyone when they see us? Will everyone know?

I don’t have time to decide, because the office door swings open and Jax’s head pops
in.

“Knock!” Erik yells at him as I clutch the sheet closer to me.

“Sorry,” Jax says, turning his head away. “But we have a problem. Dante needs you
both downstairs now.”

“What’s going on?” I ask, tripping over the sheet to get to my clothes.

“Alixandra is here,” he says.

“What?” I stop scrambling and stare at the back of Jax’s head.

“I’ll explain. Tell them we’re coming.” Erik pushes the door shut.

“Get dressed. I’ll tell you on the way down,” he says, handing me a boot.

“Tell me now.”

“Please,” he says, turning the full force of his blue eyes on me.

I make a face at him, but pull on the boot like he asked.

Before I can open the door, Erik grabs me and pulls me to him. “I have a feeling I
won’t have many chances to do this soon.”

His lips press into mine, igniting a fire in my chest. I want to stay here, pressed
close to him. When he pulls back, we linger in the moment, looking into each other’s
eyes.

“‘Love alters not with his brief hours and weeks, but bears it out even to the edge
of doom,’” he whispers, quoting the sonnet we’d read together on Earth. It seems like
a lifetime has passed since that night.

“Is that your idea of a pep talk?” I ask.

Erik’s lips curve into an almost-grin. “I just want you to remember that.”

“Always,” I say. He leaves one more soft kiss on my lips, but then we have to go.

In the corridors, people rush past us with bags and folders.

“What’s going on?” I ask Erik with dread.

“Come on.” He grabs my hand and we race back to the strategy room. As soon as we’re
through the door, he drops my hand, shooting me an apologetic look. I wink at him.

“Gross,” Falon says.

“Good to see you again.” I smile sweetly at her, but then my gaze lands on the woman
behind her.

“What are you doing here?” I demand.

“Nice to see you, too,” Alixandra says. “I’m sorry to interrupt your honeymoon.”

I blush furiously at this but keep myself otherwise composed. “Let’s try this again.
What’s stopping me from ripping you in half?”

“Remind me not to save your life in the future.” Alixandra glares back at me.

“Will someone explain what in Arras she’s doing here?”

“I thought you were going to tell her,” Jost says to his brother.

“We were … preoccupied,” Erik says.

Dante covers his eyes and turns away from us. “I don’t need to hear about this.”

“We were talking,” Erik says.

“Is that what they’re calling it these days?” Falon asks.

“You!” Dante points at her. “Cut it out.”

“I was under the impression that there was an emergency,” I remind everyone.

“And you are right, dear girl,” Albert says, shuffling into the room with Jax’s help.
I can’t help but notice that Albert is looking worse than yesterday. As though all
his stolen years were catching up with him at once. “But young love is equally thrilling,
I think.”

Erik’s hand flies to his mouth and I know he’s covering a smirk. I smack him on the
shoulder. “Get serious.”

“I guess we know who wears the pants in this relationship,” Alixandra says.

“Why are you my best friend again?” he asks her.

“Wait! Alixandra? Alix?” I can’t control the volume of my voice.

“That took you long enough,” she says.

“But Alix is a boy,” I say, trying to work through this confusing turn of events.
“Alix has to be a boy.”

“Why?” Erik asks.

“You g-g-grew up together and Alix w-w-works for the Guild,” I stammer out my answers
in spurts of confusion. “What about segregation?”

“All those things are true,” Erik says, “but she’s still a girl.”

“You could have mentioned that,” I say, smacking him again.

“It didn’t occur to me.”

“Thank you. That’s very flattering, Erik,” Alix says.

From his seat, Jost props his feet on the table and watches us with a giant grin.

“You are enjoying this too much,” Erik says.

“Yes, I am,” Jost says, folding his hands behind his head. “I told you, Ad. Saxun
doesn’t segregate. I married Rozenn the day she was released from testing.”

“There is an actual emergency,” Dante snaps, pushing Jost’s feet off the table. We
all look to Alixandra and she pulls a digifile from her bag.

“Cormac has initiated final termination of this sector,” she says.

“Like, Protocol Three?” I ask.

“Protocol Three allows for evacuation before the sector is destroyed,” Jax says. “This
isn’t Protocol Three.”

“But why now?” Erik asks. “He’s already infected half the population, there are no
resources left. It’s only a matter of time.”

“He knows we’re here,” I say, looking to Alix for confirmation. She nods.

“He wouldn’t pass up the opportunity to destroy the Agenda,” Dante says in a grim
voice.

“Does he know
I’m
here?” I ask, wondering if I can message Cormac. Maybe if he discovers I’m here,
he’ll stay his order to terminate the sector.

“He knows,” Alix says. “I bought you as much time as possible before I had to get
out myself.”

“I guess the wedding is off,” I say.

“Good. You can get rid of that ring,” Erik says, and I realize I’m still wearing it.
I tug it off my finger and throw it across the room.

“What do we do?” I ask Dante, feeling lighter and ready to take on Cormac.

“We evacuate,” he says.

“But what about the citizens?” I ask. “Not everyone in the Eastern Sector is infected.”

“We don’t have time,” he says.

“Where will we go?” Jost asks. “Back to Earth? It won’t be long before it’s unstable
there.”

He has a point. “It won’t do us any good to run,” I say. “If we waste time going back
to Earth, Cormac will be more prepared than ever for our return. We have to ensure
that the singularity can’t occur.”

“And how will we do that?” Falon asks.

And now I know that I can never save both worlds. I have to make a choice. This is
what being the Whorl is truly about. I can’t hold both worlds together any longer,
not as this one spins further out of my control.

“We have to initiate Protocol Three,” I say in a soft voice.

No one speaks for a moment, all of them digesting this idea while in the same instant
realizing I’m admitting defeat. For those of us who have lived most of our lives in
Arras it feels unbearable, but I take solace in the promise of Earth. If we can initiate
Protocol Three and evacuate the citizens of Arras before this world begins to self-destruct,
we can rebuild the planet we left behind.

“Don’t we have to get into the Northern Sector to do that?” Erik asks.

“I hate to interrupt, especially with bad news,” Alix says, waving her digifile. “I
know you don’t have time to read this report, but Cormac has blocked communication
between all sectors.”

“Even if we initiate Protocol Three—” Dante begins.

“The evacuation calls won’t go out,” Alix confirms.

“Then we have to find a way to evacuate the population.”

“It’s too late—” Falon is cut off by the entrance of Loricel.

“Cormac can’t be trusted. I’ve known him for hundreds of years, but his behavior shows
signs of madness,” Loricel states in an imperial voice.

“He has to be stopped,” I say. “We can’t go back to Earth and come up with another
plan. We can’t let him continue.”

“I agree,” Albert says, and everyone turns to him. “I created this world to put an
end to violence, and while I struggle to see it come to violence now, I can’t deny
that Cormac Patton has become a threat to the very existence of the human race.”

“So we agree,” Erik says, “but I’m still not sure how we’re even going to get into
the Northern Sector.”

“Leave that to me,” Loricel says. “I got Adelice out. I can get you in.”

“We can’t all go,” I say.

“She’s right,” Dante agrees. “We need a group to get the word out to the resistance
leaders in the other sectors about what’s happening. The ministers can initiate the
evacuation procedures. All the protocols are in place for the ministers to open loopholes
throughout Arras.”

“What about the people here?” Jost asks, and I know he’s thinking of Sebrina.

“A group needs to stay and get everyone out. If we send someone through the loophole,
we can get the rest of the survivors evacuated in minutes,” Albert suggests.

“Are you sure?” I ask.

“I’ll make sure,” Erik says, stepping in. Our eyes meet and we both know that our
talents are needed in too many places at once to allow us to go together now.

“But the second they rebound into the other sectors, their personal identifying sequences
will be flagged,” Falon points out. “They’ll have you ripped in minutes.”

“We’ll use a veil,” Loricel says. “The veils will mask your personal identifying sequences.
We might as well use the talents of the Tailors in the room.”

“I don’t have the materials to make a veil,” Erik says.

“You have me,” Loricel reminds him.

“How long do we have?” Dante asks Alix.

“About an hour,” she says.