Crux Year

Chapter Eighteen - Shay

Cold dread washes over me, chilling me to the bone. I shudder in Royal's warm embrace needing him more than ever.

The world I know is a lie.

Or a carefully hidden truth.

Either way, I'm tired of being blind to it. I want answers—no matter how ugly or hard or painful. I refuse to live blinded by falsehoods I've been spoon-fed since the day I was born.

There is a dead body on a table.

Not only is it the first dead body I've ever seen, but it's that of a female. Something, until today, I'd thought of as extinct. A subspecies of my own that was eradicated by disease.

How?

Are there more?

Ruthie, a tiny little thing, may be the only one left.

Or, there could be more...

Cracks begin forming inside my mind. Tiny fissures at first, but I can feel them splintering in a thousand different directions. I'm splitting apart at the seams. Nothing makes sense.

"Shay," Dad Spencer says, voice resigned. "I'm going to need your help gathering some samples. And quickly. We need to incinerate the female before the council finds out she exists."

"Caroline," I croak out. "Her name is Caroline."

Was.

She's nothing now.

Flesh and bones and tissue.

Rotting as the seconds tick by.

Dad Spencer sighs heavily. "I understand you're having a hard time with this, but right now we can't afford to dissect what's going on in your mind. We need to move. Royal, find Ollie. Get the incinerator turned on and heating."

Royal nuzzles my hair and then presses a quick kiss to my head that warms me all the way down to my toes. It's hard to believe that just a couple hours or so ago, I was worried he wasn't going to be my Crux Year match.

Now, my worry is...everything.

Life. Lies. The future.

Not getting matched to Royal is the least of our worries right. There are other more pressing issues. Like if the council finds out about this female, what will they do? Will they explore and study beyond the walls? Will they fortify us against the truth that lies out there?

Royal pulls away from me and I remain still until his soft footsteps thud away. My feet feel rooted to the ground, but somehow, I manage to tear them from their position, sluggishly making my way over to my father.

Secret keeper.

Liar.

I feel like such a fool. Royal tried to explain to me that Rock City was nothing more than a cesspool of corruption. Little by little, I unearthed some of those filthy truths. I just hate that I've bought into it all. That my parents were the ones to help keep the blinders over my eyes. It sickens me. Parents are supposed to protect you, not betray you.

"I understand you're angry," Dad Spencer says, his voice low. "We'll deal with that. In time. Right now, I need to study what I can on the...Caroline. If the council discovers we have her, they'll do what they can to make sure that's impossible."