Page 122 of The Genius
“On my good days I remind myself that he was just eighteen and madly in love. But there are days when I want to kill him for putting my sister in danger like that. She and I never talked much about what happened to her in those eight days, but I know they must have been traumatic to her. She cried for weeks and fumed that we’d separated them. It wasn’t until they sent her to a place of reflection in the Motherlands that she began to see that Solo had been asking her to abandon her friends and family for him. She understands now that it was a selfish plan on his part and that they would’ve both been miserable living in the woods.”
“Does she still love him?”
“She hates him.”
“Are you sure?”
“Yes, she’s completely over him by now. It’s taken many years, though.”
“Wow.” I yawned and rubbed my eyes. “I had no idea about this part. All I heard was something about you and Solo being in a fight.”
Hunter gave a loud yawn too. “That’s because things were hushed up. The fight happened here when I saw Solo after he and Willow had been found. I was so furious that I attacked him.”
“I don’t blame you. What Solo did was rotten.”
For a few minutes I was quiet while reflecting on what Hunter had just told me.
“Hey, Hunter.”
Hunter’s eyes were closed and his breathing heavy. “Mmm?” he muttered.
“Did the students find out about what happened?
“No, the adults kept it a secret.”
“Everything?”
His speech had turned into a drowsy muttering. “They said Willow had been called back to the Motherlands to a dying relative or something. They didn’t want any of the other kids to get inspired to run away.”
“I see. But why would the kids try to run away? It’s fucking paradise here.”
A light snore revealed that Hunter had fallen asleep.
Comparing myself to Solo, I concluded that I was the lucky one. He could’ve never married Willow in the woods, but he would’ve been happy living with her in exile. I was already living with my woman and she was carrying my child. Maybe Shelly had a point that those were the things that mattered the most anyway.
CHAPTER 27
Illusions
Shelly
Nero was swearing out loud and spitting on the ground after Raven got a kick to his ribs. At least with this fight, Raven and Nero were wearing safety gear. I didn’t understand why Marco had fought yesterday without protection. To me that was stupidity.
“Whoa!” Some of the men gave impressive cheers when Raven followed up with another kick that looked painful. Nero resembled a wild boar when he made his counterattack: red face, fury in his eyes, and his head down.
“Can I talk to you?” I touched my sister’s arm.
Rochelle turned her head to me. “Sure.”
“In private.” I signaled for us to walk away from the fight, where Raven and Nero were now wrestling on the ground while giving groans and growls.
We moved around the school building, out of earshot, before I began talking. “Rochelle, there’s something I need to tell you.”
Rochelle had both our mother’s height and her black hair. We didn’t look much alike, which wasn’t uncommon in the Motherlands. With women being impregnated in fertility clinics using anonymous sperm donors, we all had different fathers than our siblings.
“I’m not sure how to tell you this, so I’m just going to come out with it.”
“You slept with Marco?”
