"You're paid to stay alert, Tate, we can't afford to be slack with these people roaming about. Do you understand?"

The man with the ball was Tate? I didn't recognize him.

"Yes, sir."

"I don't think you do." I strained my ears and peered around the edge of the door. When my gaze rested on Cesare, towering over his elites, my stomach dropped into my intestines, making me want to vomit. What was he doing out so late? Only dodgy people are out this late. I glanced down at myself and shook my head. Scratch that, I wasn't dodgy. My only reason for being out this late was Eli, and I seriously doubted Cesare's little midnight adventure had anything to do with love. "They're dangerous. They could kill us all and take this city while we sleep."

I rolled my eyes. Dramatic, much? We wanted equality, not cities.

"You're that worried? Why are you letting them stay if you believe they're that dangerous?"

"Mr. Aleksandrov wants to prove me wrong, but I've never been proved wrong in my entire life. I know there's something going on between Ruby and the guardian. I can see it. It's in their faces when they talk and in their eyes when they look at each other. They can barely keep it together now, imagine what the wedding will be like."

Tate chuckled. "What's your plan?"

"I'm feeling rather victorious tonight, Tate, so I'm going to let you in on a little secret. Since a special friend of mine is proving to be useless with his special talents, I have to see to it myself that the wedding will not be completed. If I'm lucky, the guardian will freak out and stop the whole thing before it begins; if not, I'll stop it."

"Why are you telling me all of this now?" Tate asked. "How are you going to stop it? You were the one who agreed to it."

"I agreed to it only to keep the rest of the moronic councilmen happy." Cesare laughed once under his breath. "I need your help, boys. I need you two to do something that is going to sound absolutely crazy." His voice began to float off as they walked away. No! Come back! "You're not going to like it, but it's necessary if our society has any chance of..."

His voice disappeared. Gone. It faded away right when I wanted to hear it the most.

d.a.m.n it! I left the door and headed down the hallway. My stomach churned. If that didn't prove Cesare guilty, then I don't know what did.

To my understanding, Eli, Lyric, and Xavier were made to share a room and I tried my hardest not to wake them. I walked quickly through the silent halls. It was so quiet, I even heard my bare feet slap against the tiles. In no time, I found myself at his door... but I didn't knock. Besides the Cesare thing, what would I say? After a week of silence I thought I had a lot to say to him, apparently not. I just wanted to be with him, to feel his presence. I fingered the whistle around my neck. If I knock, I'd surely wake Lyric and Xavier too, but if I blow my whistle softly, I might only get through to him. I brought the cool, gold whistle to my lips and blew ever so softly. I waited a few minutes. Nothing. I blew my whistle again, a little harder this time and sure enough the door was pulled open and Eli stumbled out, pushing his remaining arm through the sleeve of his shirt and covering his toned stomach. He stopped when he saw me and blinked sleepily.

"Ruby? Is everything all right?" There was panic in his voice and strangely, it made me smile a little.

"No, not really. I have a lot to tell you, but first," I replied, releasing my whistle. "I'm here because I wanted to see you."

He quickly glanced down the hallway before grabbing my shirt and tugging me inside. He shut the door behind me, then pressed his index finger to his own lips. "Lyric and Xavier are sleeping," he whispered. "Don't wake them."

I nodded as he took my hand and led me through the lounge room and down a hallway. Their suite wasn't as big as mine, yet it had more rooms. Eli pulled me into his room and shut the door. It was a nice room-clean-Eli couldn't sleep unless his room was clean and the color scheme was nice, too, chocolate and white.

"Do you want some water?" he asked, pulling a water bottle out from a drawer in his bedside table. Who keeps a water bottle in their bedside table? I shook my head and trotted over to his bed before climbing on and sitting in the middle. Exhaling, Eli pulled his shirt off and my mouth went dry as he sat down on the bed in his long, black sweat pants and lay down. He rested his hand on my knee and I dropped my stare to it, watching his thumb move soothingly over the cap.

"What brought you here?"

I cleared my throat, managing to clear my head a little, too. "Well, at first, I left my bed with the intention of joining you in yours." I shifted my legs out from underneath me and crawled up besides Eli. I curled into his side, absorbing all of the comfort that I needed. I dragged my index finger over Eli's hard stomach, drawing small circles on his obliques. "On my way to you... I overheard Cesare talking to Tate."

I felt Eli tense. "What did you hear?"

"It's really bad, Eli; we have to get out of here."

He shifted, rolling his body in my direction. Half of his body pressed onto mine-he was heavy-and I know he was pinning me down on purpose.

"Tell me everything."

And I did. I told him everything and he took it a lot better than I expected him to. Then again, he always had himself under control and if he was scared, his face didn't betray it.

"What do you think we should do?" I asked, praying that he'd pull me from this bed right now and run with me. His green eyes surveyed me and I didn't know what he was thinking.

"We wait it out."

I frowned. "You still want to go through with it? He has something big planned. I don't know what it is, but I know it's big."

His fingers combed through my hair in an attempt to calm me. I felt like a cat... a very, very, very lucky cat. "What if he knew you were listening? What if he said those things to get a reaction?"

"Trust me," I said. "He had no idea I was there. None of them did."

"How do you know? This guy is tricky. He brought back your own mother to kill you, thinking she was your weakness-and he almost won. Don't underestimate him."

I sighed, not once looking away from his eyes. "I don't want to die over this, Eli. If I have to, I'll be with you in secret for the rest of my life."

He smiled, sadly. "That's no way to live, Ruby. We're going to be together, openly and no council leader, higher power or pretentious G.o.d like Hunter is going to stop us."

I smiled back as he leaned in and kissed me on the very tip of my nose. "And even though I want nothing more than for you to stay here with me, I have to take you back."

I angled my face a little, moving my nose away from his mouth and leveling our lips. "Do I have to go back right this second?" I uttered, trying extremely hard to mask my labored breathing.

"Maybe not this second..." His lips pressed against mine as he rolled the rest of his body on top of me, holding the majority of his weight off me. "But soon." He spoke against my mouth as he fisted a handful of my shirt and swiped my bottom lip with his tongue.

Eli and I were silent but content during our little stroll back to my room. I was happy. Eli gave me the attention I desperately needed from him and it was enough to reaffirm that I was doing this for the right reasons. We were in love. We wanted to be together forever-marry, even-but we couldn't do that if this law was in place, and regardless of the risks, I'll fight for us because it's worth it. Our love was nothing to be ashamed of. It wasn't strange or unnatural. Love is blind. It knows no race, gender or blood type. In love, we are one and the same, just two souls wanting to connect on a deeper level and only those that have experienced true love know that it's worth fighting for.

After tonight, I thought that would be it for drama until my wedding at the end of the week... little did I know, tonight was only the icing on the thick drama cake I was being served and I was about receive the cherry to top it all off.

It was afternoon in the council's city (a city I still didn't know the name of) and it was nice to be out in the fresh air now that the rain had let up. The sun had finally broken through the clouds and I wasn't going to waste a perfect opportunity to properly stretch my legs, so I walked. I walked around the courthouse and around various other buildings-purposely avoiding the garden my dead mother had come back to life in. I kept my eyes peeled, knowing that at any second I could be attacked. It was a sucky way to live and because I was so conscious of my surroundings, I missed out on all of the things that mattered. I couldn't tell you what the gra.s.s felt like or what colors the snowdrop flowers were-well, actually I could-their name kind of gave it away, but still, I barely witnessed it for myself. I should go back, I thought. There's no point. I'm not even enjoying myself. I stepped out from behind the corner of the courthouse and my gaze flitted to a female figure in a white elite uniform. She had a grip on her partner, pulling his face into hers. I smiled at the seemingly pa.s.sionate embrace and surveyed the way his fingers dug into her shoulders. Then, he pulled her away, holding her at arm's length and staring intently into her face. Eli. My stomach sank-no-my stomach leapt up, slamming into my heart and causing it to shatter. The painful shards stabbed into my stomach, deflating it, then it sank-it sank hard. I turned away from them and headed back the direction I came. I walked slowly, so slowly I'm sure if there was a zombie apocalypse right now they'd think I was one of them. The image was burning brightly in my head, but I refused to believe it. Eli would never do that to me-and with Faith, of all people. I strolled along in a daze, unable to shake what I saw. Eli would never put himself in a situation like that. He'd never leave himself open to be kissed by someone else... I didn't feel angry, only disappointment and jealousy. I should be mad, I should go back there and kick the h.e.l.l out of the both of them, but I couldn't. I couldn't stop walking. I pa.s.sed elites who didn't look twice at me before entering my building. Once inside, my eyes began to water and I clenched my jaw. Emotions started to flood me-making my chest ache and my throat full.

I ran the rest of the way to my room and pushed through the door. To my relief, Hunter wasn't there. I slammed the door and collapsed onto the couch, covering my face with my hands and I cried.

I don't know how long I cried. Minutes. Hours. Days...but I do know that at some point the door slammed against the wall and I rolled over onto my stomach to avoid showing Hunter my cry face.

"Ruby? Are you okay? What's wrong?" He gripped my shoulders, much like Eli had with Faith and I cringed, shaking my head as he rolled me over.

Then it all hit me. I hated myself... I knew better than this. I knew better than to sulk about what I saw. To fix it, I should go see him. I should talk to him and get an explanation at least, but how would that make me look? Stupid? Insecure? Possessive? How would Eli take it if I accused him of betraying me? I grabbed a red, square pillow and brought it to my face. I wasn't one for crying... not really, but I felt the need to at that moment and I did. I let everything out-the stress of the last few weeks, seeing my Mom and Tay, plus Mila's pregnancy, all of it hit me like a ton of bricks and there was nothing I could do to stop it.

"Ruby?" Hunter's voice was thick and strained. "I don't know what to do... please tell me something."

I could hear the dread in his tone and immediately felt bad. He probably thought something was wrong with someone else. I spoke through the pillow, not wanting him to see my face. "I saw..." I hiccupped. "Eli kissing..." I hiccupped again. "Faith."

Without warning the pillow was s.n.a.t.c.hed from my face. I slung an arm over my eyes to conceal their puffiness.

"Are you sure?"

I nodded. "I saw it all."

Hunter moved forward, sliding onto the couch with me. He scooped me into his arms, holding me tightly against his body.

"Maybe it's not his fault, maybe she forced it on him."

It was plausible, but that didn't make it hurt any less.

"You should talk to him," he added, caressing my temple with his thumb.

"I can't. If I go back there and they're together... I'm going to lose it, Hunter, and I can't risk freaking out. Not now."

"So what are you going to do?"

I sniffled and snuggled further into him. It wasn't a romantic snuggle, but one of support and comfort. Our faces were inches apart and his blue eyes were staring deep into my soul. I shut my (no doubt blood shot) eyes and focused more on my breathing. Breathe in. Breathe out. Repeat. I chanted it over and over in my head and I think I dozed off at one point because when I came to, I felt Hunter's hand glide across my navel. Hunter's soft, cared for hands felt different on my body as opposed to Eli's rough ones. They were so soft I almost didn't feel them.

"I have to tell you something, but I'm not sure if I should," he murmured.

"Tell me," I said, keeping my eyes closed.

He exhaled. "This can be interpreted two ways and I don't want you to automatically a.s.sume the worst."

"What is it?"

"I was in the guardian building earlier... and I heard giggling coming from Eli's room."

I felt my heart still. "He shares a room with two other men."

"I know and I'm not saying the giggles are because of Eli, I'm just saying that something is happening in there-I heard music, too."

I opened my eyes, seeing only a blue pair of irises. "I can't lay here and do nothing. I have to sort it out one way or another."

"I know."

"What should I do?"

He pondered for a second. "For the moment, stay here with me and when you're calmer, then you can go see him."

I nodded. "Okay."

The room fell silent and we watched each other. I wasn't sure what vibe he was getting from me... I was an emotional wreck, all of my feelings were numb, and for the few that I did feel, they were made up of only hate-hate for Faith. How dare she put her hands and her mouth on him like he was hers? He wasn't hers, he was mine. I began to think about the night we shared... it was loving and pa.s.sionate and perfect. He told me he loved me, over and over-we even planned our wedding-just the two of us and our closest friends, we'd have the ceremony, a small reception, and then we'd stay on the beach for a couple of weeks just tanning, swimming, and plenty of love. Hunter must have mixed up my feelings of love and l.u.s.t, connecting it to him and the way he was caressing me because a second later he kissed me. Hard. My eyes widened and I pressed my hands against his chest, pushing him off me.

"Hunter-what?"

He licked his bottom lip, confused. "I thought-"

"No." I shook my head. "I can't do this, not without talking to him first."

Hunter rolled off me, exhaling loudly. "He's busy. There's music coming from his room-and giggling. If you go down there you're just going to get hurt... again"

I frowned. "Is it party music or romantic music?"

He shrugged. "The music was quite slow..."

My throat constricted for the second time today and I pursed my lips. Too many emotions raged inside me. I felt angry first, and it tore through my veins, tinting my vision. Eli was going to get a visit from me later and not a pleasant one. The second feeling was vengeance-it was similar to anger. It filled my veins, making them white-hot. Faith would get a visit too, once this was all over.

Hunter rolled off of the couch. "Come. Let's have a drink and calm down."

I wasn't about to deny a drink. One or two would definitely ease my anger.

Or not.

I was onto my third gla.s.s when I decided I would pay both Eli and Faith a visit. It occurred to me in pa.s.sing (in the form of a coherent and responsible voice in my head) that maybe I should have eaten something for breakfast and lunch before accepting alcohol. I didn't drink, not usually, so even a gla.s.s or two was enough to render me irresponsible.

Hunter and I sat on the black stools by the bar. Most of the hour we sat there was spent in silence.

"I'm not just going to sit here," I grumbled into my gla.s.s, finally polishing off my third.

"Don't do anything drastic." He sighed, twisting his body so he was facing my direction. "Stay here and I'll distract you."

"How?"

"Board games."

I smirked. "Don't have any."

"Movies, then."

I arched an eyebrow. Do we stay in the same room? "We don't have a T.V."

His blue eyes flared. "Well, then we're going to have to improvise."

He slipped off his chair with his arms outstretched.

"Oh, no." I chuckled, darting off my chair and across the living room. "We're not playing any physical games like wrestling or tag."

He c.o.c.ked his head to the side, feigning innocence. "Why not? Because you're afraid you won't be able to keep your hands off of me?"

"If you're implying that I'll strangle you to death, then sure."

He leaped forward, clearing the couch in one jump. The thrill of being chased kicked in and my heart crashed into my ribs as I circled the long corner lounge. Hunter ran around the couch, chasing me while I laughed my b.u.t.t off. It wasn't anything crazy, but it was a nice distraction. Running while under the influence was difficult. My head was light, but my limbs felt heavy and if I swung them too hard in one direction, I began to stumble. As I reached for the corner, Hunter jumped onto the couch, reached over the back, and grabbed me, pulling me forward. In one swift move, he'd pulled me from my feet and flush into him. We stumbled sideways on the large cushions before collapsing onto them into a panting heap. His laugh sounded in my ear, drawing my own from me and I looked into his eyes. That was all it took for him to kiss me again. For a second time, I was caught off guard by his lips...only this time, I didn't push him away. I let him kiss me... I let him kiss me for two reasons. One, I had no real idea what the h.e.l.l happened. We were running one minute and kissing the next, and two, I wanted to know how it felt to be kissed by someone you didn't love. I wanted to know how Eli felt being kissed by Faith. Hunter's tongue darted across my lip and I opened my mouth, letting him in. The sweet taste of the wine he was drinking tickled my tongue as his brushed against mine. I had no thoughts and no feelings. The only face I saw in my head was Faith's and the way she held my Eli against her. The image spurred me on, forcing me to kiss Hunter back harder and harder, trying to prove something and nothing all at once. It wasn't until I felt his smooth, cool hand brush over my ribcage did my brain cooperate with my heart and force me out of my daze. I snapped away from him like he was a hot flame and jumped up, almost falling over the back of the couch.

"I can't," I breathed. "This isn't right."

Hunter exhaled and raked his fingers through his hair. "You saw him kissing someone else. You have every right to get back at him."

I flinched. Get back at him? Is that what I was doing? Of course it was. I tapped my fingers along my bottom lip and stared down at my feet. "I have to talk to him."

"You're going to go down to his room and demand answers? You could blow this whole thing and the last month would have been for nothing."