Elodie’s breath stuck in her chest as the ringing abruptly ceased and seconds of dead air hung on the line as Astrid’s vidlink connected.Astrid had answered.She’d actually answered.As her face appeared, Elodie had to figure out what to say.Her heart fluttered against herribs.
Astrid’s hair hung in inky black sheets past her shoulders.She started to speak, then tucked one lock behind her ear before sucking in a breath and meeting Elodie’s gaze.“I’m not supposed to talk toyou.”
Elodie’s throat went dry and her teeth became an impenetrable wall holding back herwords.
Astrid glanced down at something out of Elodie’s field of view and her hair slid back to cover her right eye.“Something happened.Something I don’t understand.”
The wall crumbled and words tumbled from Elodie’s tongue.“I know.I’m so sorry!I never meant for you to see that.I never meant to do it.Aiden was in the seat in front of me and then he was next to me and then he was...”Elodie sucked in a breath so deep she had to ground her feet to keep from floating away.“Everywhere.”
A tear slid down Astrid’s cheek, halting Elodie’swords.
“Not that.”Astrid’s thin fingers trembled as she brushed back her hair.“That’s something I—” A sob squeaked past Astrid’s trembling jaw.
Elodie worried her worn cotton collar.“Astrid—”
Astrid’s attention turned abruptly.Her father’s sharp voice cut through the feed.“Your mother’s made dinner.”
Astrid’s jaw tightened.“Yes, father.”
“And wipe your face.”He paused somewhere outside Elodie’s view, and Astrid seemed to cave in on herself.Her shoulders slumped and her head hung low.“You don’t want anyone to think you’re upset.You’ll worry your sister.”
Astrid nodded almost imperceptibly before scrubbing the back of her hand down hertear-glossedcheek.
“And you mustn’t say anything about what happened.I’d hoped I wouldn’t have to mention that, but—” He let out a weary breath.“Here weare.”
Astrid lifted her head.“I won’t say anything, Father.You have myword.”
A burst of dry laughter echoed from off camera.“Daughter, think about whether or notyour wordshould mean anything to me.”
The hiss of the door and Astrid’s immediate deflation signaled hisexit.
Astrid’s father was usually nice, usually cheerful.The kind of dad who made Elodie wish hers was more than a picture on a mantle.
Elodie swallowed.“Is everythingokay?”
Astrid chewed the sharpened tip of her polished nails.“Will you meet me tomorrow?”Desperation clawed at her voice in a way Elodie had never heard before.
Elodie nodded feverishly.
Astrid cleared her throat.“The sands,” she said, her earlier vulnerability replaced with Astrid’s normalmatter-of-factness.“I have to go.”Her mouth quirked with a failed attempt at a smile.“Dinner and everything.”With practiced perfection, Astrid pulled her hair into her signature high pony, smoothed out the bumps, and twisted a clear tie around thebase.
Elodie winced as her teeth again found the delicate spot of new flesh on her lip.“I’ll see you tomorrow.”
The feed went dark and Elodie exhaled, collapsing back against her mound of pillows.
Her ease was immediately interrupted by another wave of anxiety.Nothing was fixed.If anything, the situation was even more strange now.She and Astrid hadn’t actually talked about anything.They hadn’tfixedanything.And what was all that with Astrid’s father?
Elodie dragged her hands down her cheeks.No, nothing was better.Somehow, she felt even more uneasy than she had before the vidlink.
Elodie rolled over and pressed her face into a fluffy pillow.Hot breath warmed her nose and mouth as she exhaled.
Nothing was ever going to be better.
Astrid had told.Elodie knew that for a fact.So what was the Key waiting for?Why weren’t soldiers trying to pound down her door and take her away in chains?They should just do it and get it overwith.
She sucked in a breath.
The corporation would send her to Rehabilitation.That’s what they did with people like her.But she couldn’t go to Rehab.She’d heard stories.The things they did to get citizens back on the right path...
