Page 6 of Regressive

Elon, Levi, and Silas.

“They’ll be living with us. Keeping an eye on you while I’m at work.” ‘Work’ for Rex, means selling the drugs grown in secret underneath Serendee. The real funds Anex uses to bankroll his mission. It’s the excuse Rex has to spend his time outside of Serendee around the gluttony of the secular world. He rests his hand on the porch railing and sweeps his eyes over me. “You’ll continue with your job during the day at The Center, assuaging my father’s suspicions, while I search for the truth about what really happened to my mother.”

“And at night?” I ask, needing to be prepared for another round. “What are your expectations of me at night?”

His eyes sweep over me, and he steps close, tilting my chin up with a surprisingly gentle touch. “I expect you in my bed, ready for me.”

My body trembles, remembering the ways he forcefully took me, claiming me hard and quick. The memory of pain flickers deep in my belly. Pain is something I’ve gotten used to, but not the shame that comes with it.

“Of course,” I say, pushing the words past the lump in my throat. “Whatever you wish.”

He holds my eye for a long moment, like maybe he wants to say more, but ultimately, he drops his hand and climbs the porch steps. There is no ceremony here. No happy couple crossing the threshold, no cake or champagne waiting on the kitchen table or homemade goods from members of the community.

It’s just the two of us, both treading water, trying to cling to something that makes sense.

Unfortunately, in this scenario, neither of us can swim and in the end, we’ll both drown under the weight of one another.

4

Elon

All of mybelongings are already at the cottage when I arrive. They’ve been brought over, I assume, by some of the workers in the Main House. There’s a whole hierarchy in Serendee. At the top are the Chosen, the inner circle. At the bottom… well, visibly they are people wanting Anex’s favor. The minions that do the grunt work around the community. Less visibly? That would be the Fallen, or those who have gone against Anex and The Way. They are not even worthy of carrying my boxes from one house to the other. Their time is spent isolated and in penance.

I’ve never felt out of step with my place in Serendee. My friendship with Rex solidified my position years ago, but something shifted in the last twenty-four hours. Rex did the right thing by standing by Imogene, but I’m not sure that’s what his father really wanted or how the fallout will affect all of us.

“Is anyone here?” I call out, walking down the hall. The bedrooms are on the second floor. Levi and Silas’ are both empty, their beds stacked with moving boxes. The master bedroom door is closed, but the faint glow of light shines underneath the gap.

I knock and hear Imogene’s soft voice from the other side. “Come in.”

When I open the door, I’m not prepared for the sight of her. Not sitting in bed, wearing a little black negligee, made of more lace than silk. It’s one of the ones that I bought for her and with the extra meat on her bones she has cleavage that wasn’t there a month ago. Her eyes widen when she sees me, and she tugs at the blanket to cover her body. I start to shoot her a command, to tell her to put her hands down and let me see her like this, but I remember things have changed. She’s now a Bonded female. Rex says he wants us to continue training her, but can I really still force her to my will?

“I thought you were Rex.” The red burn of her cheeks travels down her neck to her chest, making it hard not to look. “He’s not here, if you’re looking for him. He brought me here, showed me the room and told me he was going out for a while.”

Only Rex would leave a beautiful woman waiting half-naked in his bed out of some possibly misguided defiance to his father.

Despite his absence, he is still Imogene’s betrothed. I shouldn’t be standing here. I take a step back toward the hallway and she blurts, “He agreed to come home every night.” I hesitate and raise an eyebrow. “That was the deal between us. He comes home every night and I…” she tries to pull the blanket up higher, “well, I have to do as he says.Everythinghe says.”

I’m aware Rex took Imogene’s virginity out on that dock in the lake. He and I got into a fight about it—a physical fight that left him with a black eye and me with a bruised fist. He felt like it was his right to claim her, but there are ways to do things in Serendee. Taking her like that, no matter how tempting it was, shouldn’t have happened. He could have ruined her in the eyes of the community, or worse, the eyes of his father.

“If you’re lucky,” I say, thinking it’s what she wants to hear, “he’ll come home drunk and satisfied and leave you alone.”

“You think he’s with another woman?”

Ohfuck. Not what she wants to hear. Dammit. This is new to me, too.

I think a bit harder on how to respond to this. “I think he’s spent a lifetime running away from his responsibilities and trying to dull the pain. Those habits are hard to break.”

“Do you think his father killed his mother?”

I blink. I guess he told her his suspicions? That comes as a surprise. “I know Rex thinks that his father killed his mother. Are his suspicions real or delusions? I’m not sure.” I walk back into the room and sit on the edge of the bed. “I know losing her almost broke him. Then later when he found the papers she left him, we were already starting to learn about the side of Serendee Anex keeps hidden from the rest of the community. He’s struggled with his faith in The Way for a long time. That’s why he runs wild when he’s outside the walls.”

“That kind of talk would get the rest of us tossed out of Serendee.”

“Like your mother.” Imogene’s mother was a full-blown Regressive and had been banished when she was young. It’s part of the reason Rex agreed to be Ordered to her. She knows what it’s like to lose a mother and, no matter how hard she tries to be devout, defiance runs in her blood. “You won’t get tossed out, Little Lamb.” I take her hand, which causes the blanket to drop. I push my finger under the leather straps of her bracelet, feeling her warm skin. Rex wears a matching one, signaling their commitment. I stare at her mouth, remembering the kiss we shared when I showed her the secrets beneath the barn. “Rex claiming you made you legitimate. Chosen. Your loyalty won’t be tested.”

She bites down on her bottom lip and my eyes drop to the smooth skin between her breasts. She’s not mine, I remind myself. No matter what liberties I took before. That had been commanded by Anex. I did my job. I made her ready. Bought her these lacy things—taught her how to wear them. Now she belongs to my best friend and is here for his needs, even if he’s offered to share.

It’s not what I really want. I wanther, not scraps tossed to me by a friend.

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