Dark Matter (31 page)

“
I told you we were going to
be married, and you haven’t brought it up since. I thought you
would be more vocal than this.”

I kept my face placid. “I think I made
it clear how I felt about it when you told me. Thanks for that, by
the way. The least you could have done is asked.” I looked at him
sidelong. “Is that what you wanted to hear?”

He shook his head balefully. “I don’t
know. Unlike you, I have been waiting for this day for a very long
time. It just feels…hollow for some reason.”

I stopped and stared at him. “What did
you expect? That I was going to faint from overwhelming joy at the
prospects of being lucky enough to be your wife? I hate to tell you
this, but I don’t really even like you.”

He smiled. It spread along his face and
even touched his eyes. How could my declaration possibly make him
happy? He was definitely more messed up than I had originally
thought.

He took my hands in his. His skin was
clammy and sweaty which made me wonder if I actually made Roger
Wayne nervous. Was it because he was near me or because of what he
had been asked to do to me?

“
That’s more like it,” he
said.

My face scrunched in confusion. “You
actually want me to be repulsed by you?”

“
Of course not. You and I
will be spending the better part of our lives together. I just want
you to be honest with me.”

I coughed out a scoff. “Like you’re so
forthright. You can’t possibly expect me to trust you.”

He began walking again without saying
another word, and I was tugged along for the ride. We reached the
end of the hallway. An enormous steel door with galvanized rivets
blocked my way to freedom. Roger glanced at me before he pushed it
open.

I squinted at the bright glare of the
afternoon sun and walked into the open air with him. A chain banged
into the metal, sounding our arrival. We were in a small courtyard
full of people. Everyone turned and stared. The women outnumbered
the men at least four to one. I didn’t have to ask to know that the
yard was bursting with Elementals. I could feel their energy
radiating off them as if I were gazing into the roaring depths of a
volcano. So much suppressed power in the small space overwhelmed my
senses. Was this how the lords felt around me?

Something made me curious. I tried to
access my power, hoping with all the activity in the area, it would
be easier. The barrier was still there. I grunted in
frustration.

Roger didn’t seem to even notice. He
led me through the group. The only sound was our shoes clapping on
the cement. I saw Lacey but she turned away before I could nod at
her.

Roger glanced at her and his gaze stuck
momentarily. Was that longing I saw in his eyes? When he noticed me
watching him, he looked away. His jaw was tight as we continued
through the crowd. Surprised we had been able to maneuver through
the tension, we approached another door. This one was inset into
the gigantic concrete walls that surrounded the
compound.

Roger took a key from his pocket,
smoothly stuck it into the hole then twisted the knob. He had to
shove his shoulder into the door to get it to open.

Relief tried to settle into my lungs,
but the jungle stood in front of us like an overwhelming presence,
keeping me from taking full advantage of this new situation. All I
could see was green.

“
What was going on back
there?” I asked as he led me through the thick foliage. “Who were
those men?”

He didn’t bother to glance down at me.
“You needn’t concern yourself with them. You are meant for a much
higher purpose.”

Yeah right. “You use those Elementals
for breeding stock, don’t you?”

He turned to face me. “Why do you have
to be so glib about everything?”

“
I’m just curious.” I caught
his gaze and held it. “That’s what you have planned for me, isn’t
it?”

His face went rigid. “Any one of those
girls would gladly trade places with you.”

“
Including
Lacey?”

“
Leave her out of
this.”

“
Why?”

He glared at me. I stiffened my
shoulders and tried my best to make myself intimidating. I wasn’t
going to let him bully me.

Contempt oozed off him, nearly
smothering me. “Lacey is not your concern. The only thing you need
to worry about is how you plan to please me on our wedding
night.”

I wasn’t sure if he was trying to make
me angry or scared, but I wasn’t going to give him the satisfaction
of falling for his bait. I also refused to acknowledge the blush I
felt slide across my face. “If you don’t want to marry me, Roger,
why are you?”

Chapter
Twenty-One

Roger’s fist swung sideways and
collided with a nearby branch. I jumped at the sound of it cracking
then twisted out of the way as it crashed to the ground.

Something strange and volatile lay
hidden in Roger Wayne. I had already learned that he had been
enhanced, but I didn’t know the specifics. The only thing I really
knew about him was that he gave me the heebie-jeebies down to my
bones.

His face was inches from mine in less
than a heartbeat. “You don’t know the first thing about me, Rayla.
Don’t assume that you do. When you look at me, you see nothing more
than a villain. I know you probably don’t care, but I do have
feelings.”

At that, I laughed. His scowl deepened,
cutting lines into his broad features. I shook my head. Things were
always more complicated than they seemed. “So you’re telling me
that you don’t want to marry me, but you have no
choice?”

He cocked his head to the side and
crossed his arms. “Give the girl a gold star.”

“
But why?”

“
Unlike you, I value my
life. When I am told to do something, I do it—without question or
regret. You can’t get too attached to any idea or person. Plans
change.”

I narrowed my eyes, breathing in deep
when realization hit me. “You were going to marry someone else
before I ruined it.” He tried to hide his reaction but it was clear
from the look on his face that I had pegged it. “I’m right, aren’t
I?” I thought for a moment, recalling how he had looked at a
particular Elemental just a few minutes ago. “It was Lacey, but I
thought you and May—”

“
Stop it!”

“
You don’t have
to—”

He grabbed my arm, his fingers digging
into my flesh. “Yes, I do, and so do you. You are just as trapped
as I am.”

I touched his arm and his grip
loosened. To my surprise, he didn’t pull away. I spoke calmly. “It
doesn’t have to be that way.”

He sighed loudly, letting go of me. “I
wish you were right, but you’ll see soon enough that our world
doesn’t work that way.” He stiffened his spine and motioned me
forward. “We’re wasting time. We’ll be expected back in a few
hours.”

“
What for?”

When he didn’t answer me and just
stared at me as if I were the stupidest person alive, I gasped.
“Not today! I was supposed to have another month.”

“
The Order does not wait in
matters such as these. Who knows when the fae will attempt a
rescue? We have limited time to make sure that you are…” He didn’t
finish what he was saying. He just stood there looking at me. At
first it was a light perusal. That didn’t last long. His features
shifted with his thoughts, and the only thing I could see in him
was hunger.

I was sick of men looking at me like
that. I felt my fingers tighten into a fist. Before I could stop
myself, I punched him square in the jaw. My hand exploded with
pain, but he just stood there as if nothing had happened. “Ah!” I
screeched. I hadn’t even budged him. I might as well have hit a
brick wall.

He lifted my hand gingerly. “That was a
stupid thing to do.”

I winced. The ache morphed into a
stabbing throb. It had to be broken. He lifted me into his arms and
headed back the way we had come. He wasn’t even breathing
hard.

I composed myself enough to ask the one
thing I had to know. “What are you?”

He glanced sidelong at me.
“Human.”

“
Bull crap.” Even hybrid
didn’t seem to fit anymore.

He smiled. “Okay. I may have had a few
modifications.”

“
Is that what you call that?
Did you even feel me hitting you?”

“
Yes.”

“
Did it hurt?”

“
No.”

The satisfaction I had been feeling
fizzled to annoyance. I had lost track of where we were. A building
I had never seen before stood in front of us. It looked more like
an office than the others that surrounded it. It had plenty of
large windows and a shingled roof where the other buildings only
had slats for windows and metal roofs.

He opened the door and carried me down
the hallway into a sterile looking room. I was unceremoniously
plunked onto one of those cold squishy tables. I’d already spent
too much time on one of these, but there were no chairs to be
seen.

Roger began searching cabinets and
drawers. His hand stalled in one particular area and he bent toward
the cupboard flinging things out of his way. He finally stood up
with a brace in his hand.

I pulled my fist protectively against
my chest. “Aren’t you going to see if it’s broken?” I was pretty
darn sure I needed a cast.

He didn’t react to my dramatics. “It
isn’t,” he said levelly.

“
How could you possibly know
that?”

“
I just know,
okay?”

“
No. Not okay. You will
explain this to me.”

For the first time, I saw light
bouncing in his gaze as if he were amused by my demands. “So you
think you call the shots now, huh?”

“
Roger! Just tell
me.”

He shrugged. “If I tell you, will you
promise to hold still and let me put this on you?”

I nodded. My hand was still throbbing
in time to my heartbeat, and I wished Neeko were here to heal me.
I’d even settle for Heath at the moment. Regret tickled my throat,
so I closed my thoughts down. I didn’t want to think about
him.

Roger paced the room for a few minutes
before he turned with his hands tucked behind his back. “How old do
you think I am?”

That was an odd question considering he
was supposed to be giving me answers, but I played along.
“Twenty-five, tops.”

He nodded, smiling smugly. “That’s what
you’re supposed to think.”

“
Okay, you got me. How old
are you?”

“
I was born in Nineteen
Sixty-five.”

I did the math and frowned. “Stop
trying to get me to believe something so ridiculous.”

“
Is it? A hundred years ago,
the average life expectancy was about forty-nine, give or take a
few years. Someone born today can expect to live to the ripe old
age of seventy eight. Haven’t you noticed that most Americans
appear younger than they actually are?”

“
Yeah, but what you are
saying isn’t possible. Science hasn’t gotten that far
yet.”

His slanted brows rose while he looked
at me pointedly. “But you admit it is possible?”

I bit my lip. “I guess, if we found out
more about how the body works and what exactly makes us
age.”

His face went all conspiratorial. “What
if I told you that we already have that knowledge?”

He was freaking me out. He was boldly
telling me that cutting edge science was actually antiquated. “Why
keep such significant advancements a secret?”

All emotion faded from his features.
“We need people to die.”

I gaped at him. “But not you. Just how
long will you live then?”

“
That hasn’t actually been
determined yet. I am a prototype.” He walked toward me, and I
stiffened.

“
And your brother?” I
asked.

He stopped before he reached me, a
strange expression settled on his face. “Alex?”

I shifted uncomfortably on the table.
“How many brothers do you have?”

Roger shook his head. “He isn’t really
my brother. I thought you were astute enough to figure that
out.”

I glared at him. It did make total
sense. They were nothing alike, and I felt foolish for not getting
it the first time. “Forgive me for not seeing the obvious, but you
didn’t answer my question. Is that why he looks so
young?”

He nodded. “We have both been
augmented.”

I nearly laughed at his choice of
words, but I didn’t want to get distracted. “What else have they
done to you?”

“
You just witnessed one
thing. My bones are literally harder than steel.”

I thought about that, wishing I had
been blessed with that particular advantage. “How is that
possible?”

“
It’s
complicated.”

I could imagine. “Do the fae know about
you?”

“
Some do.”