"No, you love the idea of me!" She's screaming now. "The brilliant human pet who chose you over the Kel Minor mines. But the reality? You can’t handle me, so you have to send me to your father to truly break me because you don’t have the hearts to do it yourselves! You are pathetic, and I hate you both!"
"That's not?—"
"It is!" She throws herself at the door again. "Let me go! If you don’t want me. At least let me escape.”
"No," I say. "Send them in."
"NO!" She looks between us, betrayal absolute. "Please. Rafe. Lorian. Master. Sir. Sovereign. I’ll be whatever you need me to be. Don't let them take?—"
The doors open, and four Umbral guards enter, and behind them, Lira. She has guilt written all over her face.
"Not you too!” Eve's voice breaks completely when she sees her. "Lira, please."
"I'm sorry." Lira says. "I must do what the Sovereigns ask of me. What happened between you and Lorian… I tried to access the shrine. I was so worried that I could only think the worst. What if Rafe had been gone longer?”
"Enough," I say, before her words completely tear me apart. "Take her," I order the guards, my voice breaking.
Eve goes feral, and it takes all four guards to subdue her, and even then she doesn't stop fighting. "Lorian!" she screams as they carry her away. "You promised! In the shrine, you promised me you’d always keep me safe!"
"I know, my little heretic. This is going to keep you safe, but it may be painful.”
"Rafe!" Her brown eyes find mine, desperate. "Please! Don't send me away to be a real pet!"
I force myself to watch as they drag her away. To witness what we're doing and to let this image burn into my memory, so that I can revisit my guilt again and again.
She continues to fight and manages to take off my ring and throw it at me. “I’ll become empty and perfect and dead inside! And when you finally come for me, I won't even remember why I loved you!" Eve says as she fades into the corridors.
I can’t move. My heart is officially broken now.
The doors close, and Lorian and I embrace one another, crying, and then I lean back and punch him as hard as I can.
I hate that he did this.
“I saved us,” he says, not fighting back. “I pushed us to our limit to save us from where we would be in five years. You should be thanking me.”
He’s not wrong, but as usual, I don’t like his methods. “I’m worried Father will break her, but it’s the only option,” I say just as much to myself as him.
“Eve’s smarter and stronger than any human he has ever come in contact with. If anything, she will break Father.”
PART V
PET LIFE
61
THE LESSONS OF ALBA, EVE
The Obsidian Palaceis so large it’s visible as we fly over Alba. It’s the Sovereigns’ childhood home, where Imperial customs still persist despite Reima Two's progressive veneer. Where humans are still what they've always been to men like Commander Gai, the Sovereigns’ father—decorative objects that breathe.
"You must remove your clothing," Lira says quietly in slow Imperial. "I'm sorry, Eve. But the rules here are absolute."
My hands shake as I remove my simple dress as the transport lands. "Everything?"
"Everything. Pets don't wear clothing in private spaces." Her voice is neutral, but I see the discomfort in her eyes. "You'll be given decorative wear for public appearances, but in the estate..."
I hand her my clothes, trying not to think about what this means.
"Now the ring," she says gently.
