XXV

Elodie stumbled backward. Her hands smacked against the concrete wall as she used it to keep herself from falling.

Aiden was one of them. A member of Eos. Her friend. Her confidant. Her Aiden.

No!

The word screeched between her ears. It tore her to shreds. She could feel it—pain pooling in her gut. She clutched her stomach and tried to run, but her body betrayed her. It always did when she was with him. It told her she should trust him, care for him, like him.

Hot tears distorted her vision. She pinched her eyes shut and swiped at her face.

Her body had deceived her. And Aiden had deceived her too.

“Elodie.” Aiden stood there. In front of her. He’d gotten so close to her so quickly. “I can explain,” he said, though his words were slow and hushed, drowning under the thoughts that tore through her.

You are matched. You have friends. A career. This is what you get for not being satisfied. For being greedy. Needing more, more, more. You deserve this mess. You deserve this!

“Stop! ” Elodie screamed at Aiden, at herself, at the world for allowing this to happen.

She backed away on wobbly legs, ricocheting against the wall as she tried to replace the image of the Aiden she cared for with the picture that had come to life in front of her. “Stay away from me!” The wall was her crutch, and she slid along it, using the cold concrete to carry her away from Aiden and Eos and any other monsters he had yet to reveal.

But the wall opened up behind her back and Elodie fell into a room filled with dizzying lights and beeps and whirrs.

Aiden’s footsteps followed her and he was next to her in seconds. He reached back and scanned his cuff under a sensor and the door hissed shut behind him.

He’d gotten lucky. She’d corralled herself. And now she was trapped. Alone with—

She scrambled backward until concrete slammed against her shoulders. “Who are you?”

Aiden’s breath caught. His chin trembled slightly. “It’s still me. I haven’t changed.”

“You’re one of them!”

A stumpy yellow bot zoomed between them, its crate filled with empty tubes. They were in the room that had started it all. Where she’d dashed off to when she’d felt brave and determined. Had that really only been a few days before? Now she was plastered against the wall, sweat slicked and reeling, her life as she knew it coming to an end.

Elodie forced her legs under her and hefted herself to her feet. “There are cameras, Aiden. People will know that I came down here.”

As he stood, he cast a glance at the white orb hanging from the ceiling. “We have it handled.” He thrust his chin toward the camera. “And Eos would never hurt you. I would never hurt you.”

“Then take it back!” She was crying again. Waterfalls cascaded down her cheeks. She could flood this room. “Tell me you were lying!”

“I won’t lie to you!” He clutched his shirt, over his heart. The fabric stretched under his grasp. He’d kept Eos in his heart, locked just under his fist. Is that where he kept her too?

“This whole time has been a lie.” She pressed herself away from the wall. “You’re a lie.”

Now we’re as healthy as the lies you told.

“That’s not fair,” he said.

Elodie would have laughed if her breath wasn’t strangled in her throat.

Aiden inched toward her, palms up, and out. Despair painted pools in his eyes and knotted itself between his brows. “I was trying to keep you safe. Us safe.”

And he had. Hadn’t he?

She tightened her hands into fists and locked her body back under her control. “I should have known better.” She eyed the closed door behind him. “You aren’t interesting and fun. You’re dangerous and deceitful.”

Aiden set his jaw and stepped away from the door. “Get back upstairs before Key Corp soldiers head this way. You’re safe with Eos, Elodie. Safe with me.” His lips parted slightly and he whispered, “But I understand if you can’t believe that.”

Elodie’s heart ached. “They’re killers, Aiden.”

He shook his head. “Promise me you’ll take a real look at what happened here.”

Elodie opened her mouth to speak, but her mind, her body, her heart, all yearned for different things. She couldn’t make any promises. Not even to herself.

Aiden passed his cuff under the scanner.

The door slid open and Elodie raced out into the hall. The terrorists didn’t give her a second look.