Page 289 of Caelum

The elevator buzzed into life, and silence fell among us. It was uneasy, loaded with ‘what-ifs’ and concern, as well as a real fear for the next few days.

If this second loss of life amid the global population triggered a destructive wave among humans, then how the heck were wesupposedto get to wherever we weresupposedto go to find the next Original?

The room, when we arrived, was fancy. Gold carpets, low leather sofas, rich burnt orange accent chairs, and ornate gilt console tables topped with matching amber lamps.

The view outside the windows disturbed me the most.

There were fires that had spun into being from whatever destruction we’d wrought by killing that second wave of Ghouls, and the noise once Reed opened the French doors told me that something was going down because there were three different kinds of sirens bursting my eardrums.

When I shivered, Dre called out, “Shut the door. It’s freaking Eve out.”

He wasn’t wrong, but I didn’t thank him. Instead, I mumbled, “You can let me down now.”

His hands tightened like he didn’t want to, like he wanted to keep me close to him, but I needed to get away. I was tired from what had happened at Tula, but more than that, I was tired from the fight I’d just seen, and my fear and concern was multiplying into a fatigue that made me want to drop where I stood. And, worse than that? The way he made me feel, the way he responded to me, clinging to me like I was his oxygen then shoving me away as though I were poison, just added to my emotional turmoil.

When my feet collided with the carpet, I mumbled, “I’m heading to bed.”

“No, Eve. Wait,” Samuel instructed, heading over to me.

I blinked at him. “What is it?”

“We need pictures for Bartlett.”

Grunting, I stood there, letting him and Eren reveal the flesh that was marked. They unfastened my shirt and took a picture of the ink on the upper curves of my breasts, belly, and sides. Then, as Eren buttoned me back up, Samuel took a photo of my hands after he turned them so the palms were showing. Next came the ones on my legs, which he captured after dragging down my yoga pants, then helped me out of them.

When the pictures had been sent to Bartlett, I turned my back on them without another word and headed for the bedroom. No one said anything, and I was almost surprised when no one tagged along, but it figured they’d want to discuss what had just happened, and, to be quite frank, they could.

I just needed a pillow. Stat.

I didn’t undress farther, didn’t even turn down the covers. I headed over to the window, drew the floral curtains to a close, and then face-planted on the bed. Of course, I regretted that the instant my aching bones hit the mattress.

Seconds, minutes, hours later? I woke up because there was a furnace at my side. My body told me it was Dre, and I kind of hated that I knew that without even having to twist my head to the side to look at the mattress invader.

How did I know?

His scent, I guessed. But his feel too. It was like his energy was saturating the room, and had I not been running hot because he was boiling, I would have carried on sleeping like a baby.

He didn’t utter a peep when I slinked out of bed, managing to contain the gasp that came as my aches made themselves known. The darkened room, with no light coming in from under or around the curtains, told me itwas night, and I headed for the bathroom, hoping running water was still a thing.

I mean, the apocalypse hadn’t really hit, but I wasn’t sure what was going on with the humans. They had to be scared, and were they clamping down on basic amenities?

They had to realize that this was no orchestrated attack. No one place had been targeted, but a body of peoplehad. I could see why that would cause mass panic, but surely it wouldn’t affect major services?

I could only hope that was the case.

When I turned on the light to the connecting bath, the amber marble gleamed under the warm glow and the fan whirred into being as I headed over to the matching vanity.

As I stared into the mirror, eying the dark circles under my eyes, I saw a different woman looking back at me.

In the compound, there’d been no mirrors. I’d only ever seen my reflection in the glass windows at the church or in the school or communal rooms. Sometimes, I’d seen a distorted image in a puddle of water as I washed. But when I’d gone to Caelum, I’d seen myself for the first time.

It hadn’t been astonishing. Why would it? Ihadseen myself before. Burnt chestnut hair, gleaming brown eyes, pale skin, and a body that was way too round for its own good.

But as I looked at myself now?

It was like seeing someone else.

Someone awakened.

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