Page 156 of Rite of Unity

Elias lurched forward, catching me in his arms and scooping me against his chest.I stared up at him, his face blurry, features hard to make out.

He looked down.“What did they do to you?”His voice was thick, scratchy.

“Needle,” I managed.

His hold around me tightened.“I’ve got you.”

I tried to nod, to thank him, but my dry throat was ravaged, as though I’d been screaming for hours.

We stormed down the hall, guards pressing against the walls to get out of his way, and he kicked the door open.Blinding light fractured my skull in two, and I squeezed my eyes shut, turning my head to bury my face in his chest.

“Open my fucking door.”

I tucked in closer, as his hold loosened.

“Please,” I managed to say, and his eyes widened when he looked at me again.

He nodded.“The back,” he said to someone I couldn’t see.

He maneuvered himself inside, never leaving me as I sank onto his lap.

If any drones captured this moment, I could find myself right back here again.But I didn’t have the strength to fight his warmth, his protective arms shielding me from the harshness of my world.

“I’ll kill him,” he said to no one.

“What?”I slurred.

“August.”

His words drifted on a current as my eyes fluttered closed, and I was asleep before we reached the Rite house.

Chapter 38

Maryn

Twodayshadpassedin a blur.Vera was there, feeding me soup and forcing me to drink water.Elias came and stayed at least an hour each day, sitting a respectful distance away in the living room.He had saved me.I tried to remember that when I thought about the women in that building whose names I would never know.

I could have been one of them if he hadn’t come.

“Buckle.”Elias leaned across me, reaching for the belt.

Metal clicked.My breath stopped.Cold metal against my wrists.The smell of that room.

I blinked.

Elias’s car.Just a seatbelt.

I exhaled.

The car pulled away from the Rite house.I glanced at the back seat where my chaperone sat, hands folded in her lap.I didn’t recognize her.I looked again, certain I was wrong.I wasn’t.

Vera’s soup turned to stone in my stomach.

My fault.

I hadn’t even known her name.

I turned back to the front.Elias gripped the wheel loosely, his smile easy.