Renegade (The Elysium Chronicles #1)(28)

“What decision?” he finally asks.

“We’re offering you the chance to get out of this cell. Permanently.”

His eyes bore into mine. “And what is the cost?”

She laughs, but her eyes are considering. “Very smart,” she says. “I think Evelyn may have made a good choice.” She pauses. “The cost is you will have to couple with her.”

His jaw drops. “Excuse me?”

I try very hard not to laugh. It was probably the last thing he expected her to say.

Mother, on the other hand, doesn’t bother to conceal her chuckle. “Evelyn has decided you are superior to her choices here and wants to be Coupled with you.” She walks around him again, studying him as if he’s a test subject, while he keeps his eyes glued to mine. “I think she may be right,” she says. “Of course, we will have to do a full genetic workup to be sure. But before that can happen, we need you to make a decision. Will you couple with her?”

I hate that she hasn’t given him the full choice. That if he says no, he’ll die. But I fight the urge to plead with him using my eyes. He needs to make this decision on his own. There’s no way to tell him the consequences should he refuse.

To my surprise, he doesn’t even hesitate before he answers, “Yes.”

“Smarter than I thought,” she mutters. “Very good. We’ll run the genetic testing to make sure you are the perfect match Evelyn thinks you are. I’ll let Evelyn handle that since you seem to trust her.” She walks to the door, pausing when she’s next to me. “You have made a very wise choice.”

She gestures for the Guards to open the door. As she leaves, she says, “Get Evelyn a genetic testing kit.”

Out of the corner of my eye, I see the Guards exchange a look, but one rushes off to do her bidding. The door shuts with an ominous click, which echoes throughout the room despite the soundproofing.

Gavin hasn’t taken his eyes off mine. “Would you care to explain what the hell just happened?” There’s no inflection to his voice. For some reason that bothers me more than if he was angry.

I turn around and face the opposite wall, twisting my hands together before I force myself to let them fall to my side.

“Mother questioned me when I got back. She was not happy you haven’t answered questions.” I pause to give him time to realize I haven’t shared the information he gave me. “She was going to execute you. The only thing I could think of to buy us time was coupling. I just blurted it out. To my surprise, she agreed and now we’re here.”

He still doesn’t say anything and my nerves stretch to breaking. When I can’t take it anymore, I turn around and see him staring at me. His eyes are blank.

The silence actually feels heavy. As if each tick of the second hand piles another brick over my head and I’m just waiting for them to fall on top of me.

“Please say something,” I whisper.

“What did you trade for this?” His voice is soft, but there’s an edge of steel underneath.

Of course that would have to be the first question he asks. “Nothing important.” No matter how hard I try, I can’t meet his eyes.

“Evelyn. What. Did. You. Trade. For. This?”

I close my eyes and say in a voice barely loud enough for me to hear, “My ability to choose my coupling partner if your genetics aren’t good enough.”

He’s silent again, so long I’m forced to open my eyes to try and see what he’s thinking.

His eyebrows are knit together. “I thought you’d already lost it.”

“No, she gave me a time limit before. I had to choose on my own and quickly, or she would choose for me. But now I will have to go with whomever she chooses, which will probably be the young Guard. She seems to have a fondness for him.”

Just then the doors open and the Guard in question hands me a testing kit. He leans down to whisper in my ear. “What are you doing? He’s beneath you.”

I narrow my eyes, straighten my shoulders and stare him down. “I am aware of this. However, Mother and I have plans that you are not privy to and are none of your concern. Also, I do not like to be questioned in such a manner, sir. You will leave at once or I will tell Mother of your impropriety.”

Without waiting for an answer, I spin on my heel and go to Gavin, who is smiling at me.

“What?” I ask when the Guard shuts the door.

“That was really hot,” he says, and winks at me.

I kneel to the floor and remove the materials I will need. “What was?”

He joins me and bumps his knee against mine. “The way you told him off like that. Most of the time you seem like this little docile creature, and then you do something like that. It’s pretty hot.”

“Actually I was going for cold. Hot would imply I haven’t—”

His laugh cuts me off. “No. I thought it was sexy. Hot equals sexy in my world.” His fingers graze lightly against my fingertips as a slight blush heats my cheeks. Then he clears his throat. “So, um, what’s up with all this stuff? Isn’t it just a blood test?”

I let out a breath and pull out a cheek swab. It looks like a bristled cleaning brush except smaller. “No. In order to make sure we get a good sample and make certain it’s done right, I’m going to grab everything. Hair, saliva, skin, blood. And then I’ll take it to the lab myself. After his outburst earlier, I don’t trust the Guard to make sure the samples get there. Open your mouth.”