Renegade (The Elysium Chronicles #1)(54)

She stops, but doesn’t turn around. “Why should I?” She spits it out, as if even the thought of talking to me makes her sick.

I have no idea why she’s acting like this, therefore I don’t really have a reason to make her change her mind, but I do know one thing. “Because if I were in your shoes, I’d help you.”

“But you’re not, are you?” Even though there is a slight quiver, her voice is filled with venom. I pull my hand back when she shrugs it off. “You’ve never been in my shoes. And you never will. You sit in your gardens, clipping your flowers and dreaming your little daydreams, while everyone else caters to your every whim. You want crème br?lée at three in the morning? By Mother, the Maids are going to get it to you. A little thirsty? The Guards will drop everything and bring you a soy latte. You say the water outside your walls is purple, they’d change the curriculum to state the water is purple.”

She spins around. Her eyes are swirling with anger. She glares at me as she hisses out the rest of her rant through clenched teeth.

“Mother and Father adore you. You can do no wrong in their eyes. And that includes not listening to your Guards. Ever. You don’t care about anyone but yourself. When you sneak off and disappear for hours, do you get in trouble? No. Your Guards do. And now when the Governess is willing to give you a Surface Dweller to couple with, because you wanted it”—she says it like Gavin is a disgusting bug instead of a person—“instead of one of your own kind, you run away? And now you have the audacity to ask me for help. Again. When you don’t care about anyone but yourself. You had me fooled. I thought you cared about me. I thought we were friends. But now this Surface Dweller comes and you show what you really are. A selfish, flighty, and foolish little girl.”

Shocked, I open my mouth to speak, but no words form. Her words stab at my heart. I know other people think I’m a spoiled little girl, but Macie is my closest friend. I never expected to hear that from her. Why is she saying that when just yesterday she’d bad-mouthed Mother for Conditioning me again?

I don’t realize I’m shaking until Gavin slides his hand into mine and squeezes, before releasing it and standing next to me. Standing with me, even when my heart is being crushed under the heel of my best friend’s stylish shoes.

“I-I don’t know what you’re talking about,” I finally manage. “You’re my friend, Macie. My best friend.”

“Sure.” She waves her hand as if motioning me on, then turns around. “Just take your Surface Dweller and go. You’re not welcome here.”

“Macie? Please—” I reach over to her again.

“I said get out of here!”

I’m not exactly sure what I’m intending to do. Tears sting the backs of my eyes, which is stupid—I know better. Tears solve nothing. Emotions are worthless. They only show weakness.

I blink them away and try to speak again, but Gavin touches my arm. “She’s not going to help, Evie. Leave it be.”

I turn to face him. His eyes look like the storm clouds I’ve seen in books as he glares at Macie.

“Besides, anyone who thinks you’re selfish, flighty, and foolish doesn’t know you at all. We’ll figure something out.” He frowns down at my shoulder and I look over to see the bandage is now stained rusty with my blood. “We’ll need to fix you up first, though.” He turns cold, hard eyes to Macie. “Will you let me take care of this before you kick us out, or will you have your friend bleed to death?”

Her eyes are round as saucers as they watch the bandage grow darker. She seems rooted to the floor.

“We don’t have all day. Will you let us stay or not?” His tone is harsh, which seems to snap her out of whatever it is she is thinking.

“Y-yes, of course. She can sit in my seat. I’ll get a first-aid kit.”

She rushes to the wall while Gavin tries to help me onto the stool.

“I can get on it myself,” I say. Macie’s words are still playing over and over in my head. I refuse to prove her right by letting Gavin answer to my beck and call.

He ignores me and lifts me to place me on the chair, being careful not to jostle my arm. He then slowly and carefully removes the dressing, which causes the clotted blood that had formed over the wound to tear loose. I hiss at the pain. Blood drips down my arm in tiny rivulets. I watch as each drop falls to the floor in a steady drip, drip, drip. They slowly form a little pool next to the stool’s silver leg.

That’s a lot of blood, I think. More than it should be. I know I should be alarmed at how much I’m losing, but I just continue to watch the pool expand, my mind growing fuzzy.

When Macie returns, she opens the kit. To my surprise, she doesn’t say a word. In fact, she digs into the kit and starts handing items to Gavin, who takes them without sparing her a single glance.

Every once in awhile he glances up at me, worry forming lines around his eyes. Otherwise his face is a blank mask, those gorgeous eyes staring into mine. The loss of blood seems to have dimmed the panic I feel when I touch him. I lift a hand to his face. It amazes me to know how much he’s come to mean to me in just a few short hours.

I open my mouth to tell him, but Macie interrupts me. She goggles at the wound. “A turret did that?”

Shaking off the dizziness, I’m relieved I didn’t say anything. Gavin doesn’t need me spouting my feelings in a fit of delirium. “Yes. It went off down at the Tube station,” I say. “Apparently Mother isn’t playing around. She wants me back. Dead or alive.”