Storm

Chapter Twenty-Four

The first thing that hit me as I walked through the front door of the ball was the smell.

I hadn't eaten a decent meal in a long time. I could barely recall what hamburgers smelled like or what I'd loved so much about pizza. And chocolate...don't even bring up chocolate.

But here I was, standing at the very front of a massive main room, the smell of roasting meat and grilled vegetables hitting my nose. It made my mouth water. I closed my eyes for a second to regain my composure.

I wasn't here for food, I was here for Asten.

Max also seemed a little bit in awe over the smell of food.  It was hard not to focus on it when your stomach was rumbling like hell. It was hard to focus on anything when you were hungry.

I squeezed Max's hand quickly, trying to communicate with him to keep moving. The two of us had been stopped by the doorway for a little too long.

He nodded and took a few steps forward, me in tow. It felt very odd, holding his hand and pretending to be in love. I barely even knew him. Fortunately, our act had worked well enough. When we'd showed up at the door, the guard had barely paid attention to the pictures on the ideas and had simply waved us through. I guess they weren't expecting much trouble in the middle of the apocalypse.

We weren't here to start trouble anyway. We just needed to get Asten and get out.

And hope that Asten would trust us enough to come without questions asked.

That was kind of important to this whole operation, too. If Asten didn't agree to ditch the mission...

...well, I was just assuming he'd be smart enough.

As we moved further from the door and integrated with the rest of the crowd, I began looking around the room. Despite my fancy attire, I still felt somewhat out of place. The glass windows were rimmed with white painted cement. Fancy silver designs adorned the walls, and I wondered who had bothered putting that much effort into such a thing. To me, art didn't seem to matter that much when the world was ending.

But I guess for them...they didn't have to worry about the same problems I had. Everyone in this room was wealthy enough, in Equatorian coins, to afford their own house, their own food...

They could survive.

It truly shocked me to think about all the people in the Equator, thriving while the world ended around them. I wondered how any of them could possibly look at the world outside those glass windows and not realize the suffering that was going on.

In a way, I was jealous. I was jealous that I'd had to suffer so much, that I was now pretending to be the wife of some high-ranking guy in the Equator just to get a friend out of a dangerous situation. I was jealous that these people had never experienced the hopelessness that came with the realization that the world was ending.

But I guess for them...the world hadn't ended at all. It'd merely continued.

Max looked over at me, and I realized I'd been gripping his hand a bit too hard. Despite my semi-calm exterior, I was freaking out internally. I was never good at this mission-heist stuff. I hadn't even been decent at fighting until we'd been captured by the Equator.

"Good evening, it's always nice to see fresh faces in the crowd," came a pleasant voice from directly in front of us. I'd been so lost in thought, I hadn't even realized we were walking straight towards another couple.

Oh great.

Max just smiled smoothly and didn't even hesitate to answer. "It's wonderful to be here," he replied. I was genuinely amazed at his response. Already, I was making a fool of myself by standing there flabbergasted by the sudden attention.

Max looked at me to back his statement, and I quickly straightened up and nodded. "Yes, it's lovely." I winced a little at my word choice. It sounded so formal and not like me at all. I guess that was the point.

The man allowed us a small smile. He had a gray mustache that perked up at the edges. He looked to be about sixty, but it was honestly hard to tell. I remembered the Equator and their new technology...and I wondered why he didn't bother downloading himself into a younger body.

In a weird way...it made me like him.

"That's good. We always do our best to be welcoming. Ah...and here's my wife." He suddenly gestured towards a lady who walked over elegantly, her high heels clicking quietly against the tile. She stood with her back perfectly straight. The only slightly unkempt thing about her was her gray hair which had been pulled into a messy bun on her head. She nodded her head at us as she approached.

"A pleasure to meet you." Her smile was bright and welcoming.

It was a little disturbing to think about the truth; that both of these people were connected to the Equator and had helped in their horrible mission. I covered up the flash of anger I felt, and smiled tightly back at the lady.

And then, I froze as my gaze landed on the person over the lady's shoulder.

He stood near the wall of the room, another girl around our age hanging onto his elbow. He wore a dark blue suit and seemed to be casually chatting with another small group of Equator officials. His smile wasn't strained...he seemed obviously relaxed in this climate. As he should be.

I was barely able to restrain the near squeak that erupted from my lips. An anger filled my veins and ignited my body, tempting me to do things I'd probably regret.

Because standing directly across the room from me was the one person I'd hoped I'd never have to see again: Mace.