Page 25 of Conform
My entire body trembled. There wasn’t enough substance around me. How did they live like this, with no foundation beneath their feet? My words from earlier found me.Just move. You can do this,I told myself.Walk across the transparent bridge in the glass ball of death thousands of feet above the ground.
I took my first step onto the bridge. Clouds drifted lazily under my feet. My pulse left me unsteady until I reached the center platform. I clung to the solid edge of the podium, scarcely hearing the man in gray welcoming me to the Sphere. The beep from his scanner caused me to jump.
He directed me toward the edge behind him, and I glanced around to see several other floating platforms. The man extended a hand, helping me onto the floating ferry, piloted by another attendant in gray. He steered the platform off into the Sphere as I clutched the railing in a death grip.
How much fear could my body handle before I would vomit or faint? I knew I was approaching my threshold. But my fear fell silent as the rest of the Sphere came into view. My breath caught at the beauty of the Elite’s world.
White landings wove around the curved glass walls of the Sphere, coming together before gliding apart in a twisted dance that created a wavelike effect. In each dip of the swells were intimate alcoves, booths of varying sizes nestled securely within. It was marvelous.
The platform slowed, arriving at a smaller nook. The entire back of the alcove was glass. I had a perfect view of the sun, still making its evening descent. My beguilement was shaken by only one thing—that smooth, powerful voice.
“Hello again, Emeline.”
CHAPTER SEVEN
ITORE MY EYES FROM THE VIEW TO FIND ANOTHER THATleft me equally mesmerized. Collin reclined along the low-back curved booth. His midnight black suit matched his dark hair, a stark difference from the booth’s lush cream velvet. The dripping crystal chandelier’s delicate lights reflected in his sapphire eyes as they ran up the length of me before settling on my concealed defect.
He was breathtaking, so at home among all the Elite’s beauty.
I exited the floating platform and tried to ignore the drop that awaited anyone who got too close. All the Academy training of grace thrown aside, I scooted away from the edge and farther into the booth, my dress catching on the velvet, until my bare arm met solid warmth. I froze, glancing up to find that my fear had driven me right into my Mate’s very firm body.
My breath caught, and I suddenly felt too warm even though I was dressed in practically nothing.
“Here,” he suggested and voluntarily moved closer to the perilous end of our table, giving me space in the middle of the booth.
“Aren’t you afraid of the edge?” I asked.
His lips tugged up. “I haven’t feared the fall in a long time.”
I turned to the sky outside, the ground forever below. “I think I might never get over it,” I admitted. “I might always fear the fall.”
“It will take some time getting used to,” Collin told me. His eyes locked on my glowing wrist where I gripped the table, then skated over me before he cleared his throat and looked toward the rest of the Sphere.
I followed his gaze. All around, Elite socialized, unperturbed by how close their dining arrangements were to death. I didn’t understand how the Elite lived life so exposed, how they walked in the clouds as if it were normal. How they didn’t fear the height.
“Your gown has gone askew,” Collin said thickly, his eyes fixed on the brightly colored Elite all around us.
A flush swept up my neck, and I quickly adjusted the fabric, clinging to any modesty I could find. It wouldn’t last between us. I had signed the paperwork. The Academy had taught me what to expect about the Procreation Agreement, and he would see everything soon enough . . .
“Did you know you bite your lip when you’re thinking?” Collin said, interrupting my thoughts.
“I didn’t realize,” I said, releasing my lip. “I’m sorry.”
“I didn’t make the observation to elicit an apology.”
I nodded, my hands finding my lap, and I stared at the golden glow. The alcove was much more secluded than our initial meeting in the Garden had been, but the Elite’s judgment from earlier still haunted me.
The look of disbelief on my birth brother’s face. The first time meeting him and the Elite’s stark reminder of our divide.
Truly disgusting how they think they can be here. . . . A Defect out in the sun.
The Starlings’ whispers of rebellion rang in my ears.
The Illum seem to have crossed a line. Some are finally done with the Illum’s illuminating rules. They found others who are as well.
My thoughts tangled with the Grooming at the Academy.
Rule Nine: You are an obligation to your Mate. He is free to do as he wishes at all times. His loyalty is to the Illum, not to you.
