Marie's Journey (Ginecean Chronicles) (26 page)

Marie watched as the women exchanged a look so intense she had to avert her eyes, only to end up staring at Grant and blush anyway at his stare. “So you decided to stay, I gather.”

Luna beamed. “Yes, I decided to stay, or to be precise, I decided to come back.”

“But how? Did your family accept… that?” Marie lamely looked at some point between the two women.

Luna waved her hand in the air. “Long story short, I have no family and nobody knows I’m here. As Ginecea is concerned, after reporting that everything was fine at Vasura, I retired to an isolated farm left to me by my parents.”

“What about friends?”

“I was always a loner. A long time ago, I lost track of the few friends I had in college. It was rather simple for me to disappear.” Luna’s knuckles brushed Corinthia’s hand.

Marie thought it was sad that nobody missed this woman, pure breed or not, but she looked happier for it. “And what are you doing here…
here
?” She looked around, her eyes encompassing the small room, but meaning the whole place.

“Here, I’m trying to make a difference.”

Grant stirred beside her and Marie turned toward him. “She’s a doctor and an expert in radiation,” he explained. “Thanks to her, the whole recycling center is safer now. Before, people suffered permanent damage after working here because nobody knew anything about safety procedures and maximum time of exposure. Even the structure has been modified under her surveillance.”

She couldn’t believe a pure breed had done something for the betterment of fathered women and even men. But Grant was talking to her, looking in good health, when she had prepared herself to mourn his imminent death. And she wasn’t anywhere close to the inner chamber. “So who works inside the inner chamber?”

“We all take turns of a few hours every month, but we go inside heavily shielded,” Corinthia answered.

“What about him? Did he stay ten days as I was told?” She also remembered the bit about him not wearing any protection.

“Oh, no. We only let the soldiers think he was inside the whole time, but we had him in and out every few hours. Still, we had to keep the charade going longer than we were comfortable.”

“But this friend of mine—”

“Nora,” Grant supplied.

“Yes, her. She told me you were there for ten days without protection and I thought you were dying and—” She had to fight the urge to caress his face and make sure he was okay and her eyes weren’t betraying her.

“We try not to let our secrets out. People who come here for their shift normally leave without being the wiser of what we do. Your friend didn’t need to know, but instead, her words will corroborate what Callista, and through her, Ginecea, need to know,” Corinthia explained.

Grant applied pressure on Marie’s hand and commanded her attention. “Did you do what you did to be sent here?” His eyes were stormy.

Marie didn’t answer right away.

Grant took both of her hands in his, his expression so serious she had to avert her gaze. “Marie?” He released one of her hands to raise her chin with a soft caress and force her to look at him. “Did you try to kill that woman, hoping you would be sent here?”

Her prolonged silence was answer enough for him. “You did it… for me?” His voice lowered on the last two words and then he shook his head, his eyes big and liquid. “You shouldn’t have.”

The last sentence cut a deep gash in Marie’s heart. Not the words. Anybody would have said that, should have said that to her. Especially him. No, it was the tone. “I thought you were dying. I had to see you. I had to tell you…” She hadn’t forgotten they weren’t alone and sighed in frustration. “Things.”

Grant shook his head one more time. Sadness in his eyes, he muttered something under his breath she didn’t catch, and then out loud, “I’m leaving. Tonight.”

She might have heard something else. “You’re leaving?”

Grant nodded and bit his already-chapped bottom lip. “You shouldn’t have risked your life for me. Anything could’ve gone wrong. Callista could’ve let you die under the whip. She could’ve court-martialed you and shot you on the spot.”

She felt the sting of tears, but she didn’t let them out. “But I’m here. It worked.”

He raised one hand. “Yes, it worked, and if it weren’t for Luna and Corinthia, you would’ve died of radiation exposure in less than ten days. It was senseless.” He suddenly stood and stormed out, leaving her with a hole right in the middle of her ribcage.

 Marie didn’t look down, but if the tearing pain in her heart was of any indication, she was bleeding from it. She still managed not to cry before the two women. “It worked,” she repeated instead.

“Sweetie, I’m sorry to say it, but he’s right. You gambled with your life without knowing what would happen.” Corinthia walked to the bed and sat on the edge.

She looked ahead in the direction he had disappeared. “I had to see him.”

“Oh, I can understand that…” Luna smiled softly.

Marie heard the “but” that was left unsaid. “Why’s he so angry at me?”

“Because he got scared for you and he’s mostly angry at himself.” Luna took the place Grant had just vacated. “He was supposed to leave three days ago when you arrived.”

Corinthia walked closer to the bed’s edge and stopped behind Luna. “But he hasn’t left your side.”

“He wanted to see you before leaving tonight and was going crazy because you weren’t waking up, but he can’t stay any longer.” Luna patted Marie’s arm.

Marie looked first at Luna and then at Corinthia. “Where is he going?”

Corinthia lowered one hand on Luna’s shoulder. “Where it’s safe for a man.”

“Is there such a place outside of Vasura?” Or what Vasura had been before Callista had destroyed its peace. Marie wanted to scream.

Corinthia waited for Luna to raise her eyes to her and nod, before answering, “We’ve a network of helpful contacts outside of Vasura—”

“You mean the farms?”

Luna squeezed Corinthia’s hand and continued for her. “No, we have contacts within the men’s community as well…”

Marie was truly confused. “Your contacts are workers? But what can they do for you?”

Luna seemed to think of her answer for a moment. “Well, they aren’t workers.”

At the assumption that Luna was trying to explain to her they had help from sementals, Marie almost didn’t hear the woman’s next words.

“They live outside in the desert. They’re free men.”

At which Marie snorted. “Sorry, but for a moment I thought you were serious.” Then the expression on both Luna’s and Corinthia’s faces made her rectify her previous statement. “You are serious.”

Corinthia nodded. “Two days north of Vasura, deep in the desert, men have been building a city for more than two decades.”

“How do you know this
city
even exists?” Marie wanted to know how it was possible that Ginecea hadn’t found them and squashed them under its heels, but questions were crowding her mind and this one won the race for supremacy over the others.

Corinthia left her spot behind Luna and sat on the edge of the bed. “During the Massacre ten years ago, when the mass executions started, a few men and women managed to escape from Vasura and went into hiding in the desert.”

“They thought they could survive in the desert?”

Luna raised an eyebrow, but her words were gentle. “Desperation makes you act without thinking.”

Marie blushed at the remark.

“And it beats waiting to be killed lined up against a wall.” Corinthia’s eyes went far away. “You don’t know what it was like back then. I still have nightmares. I would’ve left too. Anything was better than the horror we had to witness.”

But Marie knew. She could still hear the kids screaming for their mothers. If she closed her eyes, she could see Rachele falling on the ground, dying without a reason. “Why didn’t you?”

A grin appeared on Corinthia’s face. “I was wounded. The night I should’ve left, I got shot in my right leg and brought to the infirmary where I was sedated by a good-meaning doctor who thought she was doing me a favor. I punched her in the face as soon as I woke the next morning.” She tilted her head to give Luna a sideways glance and her lips turned up in a smile. “It turns out, the doctor did me a favor by not allowing me to leave.” Some silent conversation happened between the two of them. Then Corinthia focused her attention on Marie once again. “Anyway, to answer your question on how we know the city exists, some of the people who escaped—unfortunately, not everybody made it—found an outpost of free men. Months later, they contacted Vasura to let their families and friends know they were alive. Since then, a communication bridge has been established with the City of Men—”

“That’s what it’s called?”

 “Yes, that is what they called it,” Luna answered.

“So, all this time, you helped men escaping to the City of Men?” Marie still couldn’t believe a whole outpost of ex-workers could go undetected for so long.

“Actually, no.”

It was Marie’s turn to raise her eyebrow in puzzlement.

“Apart from that group of men and women, nobody has left Vasura in ten years.”

“But if there was a chance to be free, why wouldn’t the men take it?”

“Because, as you rightly said just a few minutes ago, Vasura is the only place on Ginecea where a man can be relatively free to do whatever he wants, even live with a woman and have kids. Pure breeds regard waste plants with such disdain we’re left alone and without any supervision for long stretches of time. This is a safe haven—”

“Until Callistas happen.”

“Yes, until Callistas happen…”

“But we still can do something. We can still resist and save lives without her being the wiser.”

“You’re smuggling out all the men she has sent to die in the inner chamber…”

“She knows they can’t survive the radiation—”

“Callista knows about the radiation?”

“Of course she does. Ginecea replaced the coal plant with a nuclear one because it was cheaper to process the waste that way. We had been sent here to die anyway. No need to make the place safer for its workers. We deserved a short and horrible existence.” Corinthia breathed and then added, “But I’m digressing. Supervisors are warned not to go near the recycling center proper because of the radiation.”

Luna nodded. “It’s true. I knew before I came here, but I wanted to take a look myself and was shocked when I found the conditions people were forced to work in. It wasn’t humane. It made me rethink everything I believed was true about pure breeds. I was ashamed to be one of them.”

A long silence followed Luna’s words. Corinthia covered one of her hands with hers. Marie longed for Grant. “So you’ll declare Grant dead and he’ll be free to start a new life outside of Ginecea’s rules.” A sour-sweet feeling possessed her.

“He officially died a few days ago, but again, he refused to leave before you woke.”

“It’s imperative he leaves tonight.” Corinthia said the words, but they were both looking at her.

“You think I’d ask him to stay? I’d never do anything to put him in any danger.” She realized she had raised her voice, but their expressions said they doubted that and she was offended. She was also angry because deep inside she knew they were right. She wanted Grant with her and felt guilty. “I want him alive.” And that too was true. “When is he going to leave?”

“As soon as it gets dark. Tonight, it’s new moon and it’ll be safe for him to cross the wall.” Luna looked at her wristwatch. “Later, we’ll talk about your future, but I must go and take care of a few details to ensure nothing goes wrong.” She stood with a sigh.

“Sure…” Marie sat upright and looked at Luna exiting the room.

“Is there anything else you want to know?” Corinthia asked from the curtain. She was leaving too.

She had several questions, but the immediate future was more important at the moment. “Where is he?” She swung her legs off the side of the bed and then looked for her shoes, but they weren’t on the floor.

“Do you think it’s okay if she goes to talk to him?” Corinthia turned to Luna, out of Marie’s sight, but evidently still close. “She just woke.”

Luna retraced her steps and spoke directly to Marie. “You should take it easy… but yes, of course.”

“Then, since the doctor is okay with it, I’ll get you a change of clothes and a pair of sandals.” Corinthia hurriedly left.

Luna stayed behind, an uncertain expression on her face. “Love can be painful. Especially at your age.” She gave Marie a soft caress on her arm. “I wish I could give you a pill for this… but there’s none.”

Corinthia’s voice reached them from a few steps away. “I couldn’t find your size, but hopefully this is close enough.” She entered the room, her arms outstretched, carrying a pile of folded clothes and a pair of sandals on top of it. “He’s pacing outside.”

Marie felt her heart aching at the knowledge he was just a few steps away and hadn’t come back to talk to her. Luna left and Corinthia waited for her outside to give her some privacy.

“Ready?” Corinthia asked when she came out of the room wearing her clean, although loose, clothes and a somber expression.

“I need this.” She answered the unasked question.

“I understand.” Corinthia led her for a short walk through a white hallway on which other small rooms opened. They all looked like the one Marie had occupied. “Out there.” She showed an opaque glass door.

“Thanks.” Marie could see a nervous figure walking back and forth behind it. She breathed in and out, tried unsuccessfully to steady her hands, and then walked to the door and lowered the handle.

“Be strong.”

She heard Corinthia’s words at the same time she saw Grant walking away from her.

The door closed behind her and he turned, startled by the sound. It was immediately clear he hadn’t expected to see her. “What are you doing up? You should be in bed. You shouldn’t be walking around.”

It was unfair that he made her want to cry when she only wanted to lose herself in his arms. “I came to see you.”

He looked at her for a moment and his expression softened, his eyes reflecting an inner turmoil. “I can’t stay.”

She shook her head. “I’m not asking you to.”

“I don’t want to leave.” Two steps and he was towering over her, but he didn’t touch her. He just stood there, a few inches away, slightly shaking.

She felt the full impact of his green eyes on her and longed to reach out and circle her arms around his back. “I need to know you’re alive.”

He stepped closer, still not touching her, his eyes still locked with hers, keeping her enthralled. “Come with me.”

She experienced a sudden rush of blood from her extremities to her head and froze.

“Come with me. I don’t want to lose you.” He finally closed the gap and took her in his arms, his mouth looking for hers.

“Grant—” She had so much to say, but in the end, she only wanted him.

“Come with me. I promise I’ll take care of you,” he whispered between kisses. “I know you could still have a life here. But nobody will make you feel loved as I will. Please, tell me yes.”

Marie’s mind was blissfully vacant, blood ringing in her ears, but one thing she knew: he was right. Nobody would make her feel like he did. “Yes.”

“Yes?” Grant broke contact with her lips for a moment. “Yes? You said yes?”

She nodded and burrowed herself in his embrace to hide against his chest. He raised her face to his and kissed her again.

His eyes were bright. “I’ll make you happy.”

“I know you will.”

“Let’s go tell Corinthia. We must prepare—”

“
We
must prepare for what?” Corinthia was eyeing the two of them suspiciously. “This is not what I think it is, right?”

“Marie is coming with me.” Grant took Marie under his wing.

Marie looked the woman in the eyes and nodded.

“You can’t be serious.” Corinthia turned to Grant. “She’s fifteen and you’re seventeen—”

“I’m going with him. I was sentenced to the inner chamber. I’m dead anyway.” Marie shrugged.

“Yes, I know.
We
know and that’s why Luna and I have found a safe place for you as well.”

“Where?” Grant asked before she could.

“There’s this pure breed, Milady, who’s helping fathered women build a new life in a place called the Village. Milady just accepted your friend Zena, and she has already agreed to take Marie.” Corinthia passed one hand through her red curls.

“Zena?” Marie couldn’t help but yell. “Zena was here?”

“Yes, she left a day before you arrived, and I was going to mention her to you—” Corinthia tried to finish her sentence, but Marie didn’t let her.

“What happened to her? She disappeared, and we were worried sick she’d been killed. Why didn’t she come back to us?”

Corinthia raised her hand to stop the avalanche of questions. “Zena was sent here not long after Callista arrived. She was at the end of her shift when she tried to save a woman who had just arrived from a beating. The guard Zena stopped sentenced her to the inner chamber just as Grant had been. She wanted to let you and the doctor know she was alive, but it was too dangerous, and we promised her we would find a way to get the message to you.”

“But she’s fine.” Marie felt a weight lifting from her chest.

“Yes, I promise you. Zena is fine. We’re expecting to hear from her soon.” Corinthia paused and then stepped closer to Marie and took her hands while Grant stepped to the side. “Now, let’s get back to what is best for you.” She sighed. “What you’re planning to do is madness. I’m sorry, but it’s the truth.”

Marie felt Grant going still and tilted her head to look at him, but he had his face trained on the woman.

“Marie, you must understand that the City of Men, even if takes women as well, it is a city built and intended for men.” Corinthia spoke slowly.

Marie looked at Grant again, but he didn’t return the gaze. If anything, his body had gone stiller. “Grant?” He stepped away from her.

Corinthia walked a step closer to him, leaving Marie behind, the third corner of their misshaped triangle. “You know that.”

Grant moved the weight of his body from one leg to the other. His complexion grew paler, and his brows furrowed when he said, “I’d do anything to keep you safe…” He finally looked at her. “But Corinthia could be right.”

The woman acknowledged his words with a sigh of relief. “The Village is a safer place for a young girl. She’ll have a good life there. Out of the reach of Ginecea but still closer to normality than she would have anywhere else. And she already knows somebody there.”

Marie thought about it for a moment. A place where she would be safe. A place where she could have a family with a Nora or an Idra or even a Verena. A place where she could have a safer future than the one Grant had offered. Her heart broke at the idea of a life without him. She walked to him, took his hand, and brought it forth to show it to Corinthia. “I’ll go with Grant.”