The Cipher

Chapter seven

  Our accommodations were by no means comfortable. But in the Sector, we were being treated like royalty. For one, we had heat. We also had an actual mattress and bathroom. All underground of course, but nonetheless, our arrival was anticipated and prepared for.

  Cyrus was facing me, his eyes closed as I took a clump of his hair, and trimmed it. Making sure it wouldn’t be in his eyes, I stretched the strands as far as they would go, and when they stopped right above his eyebrows, I decided that I was happy with the job I had done.

  “I think I’m done. Go look in the mirror and tell me what you think.” I said.

  Cyrus got up from the plastic chair and walked the length of the small room to pick up the handheld mirror.

  “Looks good like always, Aspen.” he turned to me and smiled.

  The two of us had been escorted to our quarters hours after our arrival. Someone had found evidence of unauthorized entrance to the Society. We had been secluded for a few days, hopefully we were to be let out soon.

  We were sent food and water, but we hadn’t seen head nor tail of Zulu, Onyx, or Shields.

  Shields. He was so close, yet so far. I wanted to see my brother more than anything in the world. I wanted to hug him, to never let him go. I wanted to thank him over and over for what he had done for us. I wanted to congratulate him on what he was getting accomplished in the Society.

  The first ever successful full-scale rebellion? He had no one to owe it to but himself, as much as he’d like to say we were a part of it, he was the one who actually organized the people and made them believe, instead of being scared of repercussions.

  As if he was reading my thoughts.

  “I know, I can’t wait to see him either.” Cyrus said.

                                                                                     ***

  The next day, Zulu entered our apartment shortly after she knocked.

  “You will be allowed to leave tomorrow night.” she informed us. “The city-wide search ended over twenty-four hours ago, but we want to be sure.”

   “Oh, c’mon. Just let us leave. We’re practically going mad down here.” Cyrus objected.

  “Better to be safe than sorry.” she apologized. “Anyways, you surely can entertain each other.”

  I blushed when I realized what she was implying.

  “That was out of term, Commander.” Cyrus barked.

  She looked taken aback by this sudden lashing out. “I apologize, Colonel.”

  Never did I think I would live to see the day Zulu apologized to someone. Yet here I stood.

  “Also, tomorrow night  after your release, we’ll be having a council feast. Many things need to be discussed.” she supplied.

  I nodded, trying to hold in my eagerness. “Thank you, Zulu.”

  Once she left, and the door shut behind her, I squealed.

  “I get to see Shields tomorrow!”

  The thrill of having my own blood family member around to love for my own was new to me. Before, I only loved Cyrus’s family, although I still did, Shields was mine especially. He was related to me genetically, and we loved each other. Cyrus loved him, but it was different, as it was between the way we felt about Aurora and Kian.

  We both loved them, but the difference was he grew up with them and I didn’t. They were his family explicitly. The same concept with Shields. They were family, but they weren’t, if that even makes sense.

  I felt my eyes begin to sting with tears, and I kissed Cyrus out of spite.

  “I love you.” I told him out of nowhere.

  “I love you, too.” he replied.

  “No, don’t say ‘too’. It sounds like an afterthought.” I giggled, enjoying myself.

  He wrapped his arms around me.

  “You are such a handful, how I handle you… that would be a question for the heavens.” he joked, pulling me close to him.

  “Just say it, you ass.” I grinned disapprovingly.

  “I love you, Aspen.” he flashed his teeth at me, making me practically melt.

  For some reason, our love felt new again. As if it hadn’t faded at all in the past year, and we had just found each other all over again. It was like a new start.

  It was as if we were finally getting our happy ending.

  No, we weren’t painting day in and day out, we weren’t writing, but we were together and we were doing something much more important, anyways.

  Soon, Cyrus and I would be the most badass couple in the history of ever, including the Pre-Landie times. We would be a pair of undercover spies for a rebellion, and on top of that, we loved each other. What was cooler than that?

  Although I liked Cyrus much better with his dark hair and blue eyes than red hair and brown eyes.

  “Okay, now I can kiss you.” I joked.

  I pecked him on the lips and threw myself onto the bed behind me, exhausted from the utter nothingness that had been going on in my life.

  I looked to the clock. It was almost eight at night. I just wanted the day to be over, so that tomorrow night could come and I could hold my brother in my arms once again.