Page 150 of Conform
“This time?” I asked. How many times had they gone through this? How did she have the strength to keep going?
“Yes, but he will come back despite common sense and reason. He always comes back when I cannot remember.”
“Do you believe in the Greater Good?” I asked.
Nora methodically rifled through several papers on Collin’s desk. “I have always hated this office. I don’t know how he stands it.” She pushed the papers aside and perched on the desk, staring at the empty shelves, but they weren’t empty. The moon’s light reflected off small orbs strewed on the shelves. Nora looked toward me. “That depends on which Greater Good you’re referring to. Theirs or ours.”
“There is more than one?”
“Of course. It’s all just a matter of perspective, Emeline.”
Unease found me, but I pressed on, asking the question I really wanted to know from the only person I had ever met who saw people, not status. Who had told me we might be more alike than different. Who had seen my defect and embraced me. The only person I had ever known who seemed curious.
“What do you think of the Reaper?”
Nora looked from me to the windows and back, idly messing with the edge of a paper on Collin’s desk.
“Some days I think the Reaper has the right idea,” Nora whispered so quietly I had to lean in to hear her.
“You saw the fire.”
“Yes, but I have seen other things too. Evil flourishes when no one stands up to it. It isn’t heroic to confront it. It is horrifying. I think the Reaper is tired of being told who to be and watching everyone around them be told the same. I think the Reaper is willing to destroy themselves if it saves others.”
“Do you support him?” I asked quietly.
“It’s all just lines in the sand, Emeline. Given the right motivation, people cross them. We should head in before Collin sends Phillip to come and fetch us. I don’t need another lecture from him.” Nora hopped off the desk and waited for me by the door, her arm outstretched.
I approached her, my thoughts spinning. “Nora, you never called the Reaper a man.”
She threaded her arm in mine as we left the office. “Who says it has to be a man? Maybe a woman is tired of being a vessel.”
I stared at her, eyes wide, questions pressing against my skin.
Nora pulled me into the ballroom before coming to an abrupt halt. I tracked her eyes to the dance floor. Gregory turned Lo, a beaming ray of sunshine in a pale pink strapless gown. How had she gotten into the clouds so quickly? She looked at home among the Elite. Gregory spun her, and she locked eyes with me, smiling. I attempted to smile back.
“It’s quick, is it not? Her being in the clouds?”
“Are you okay?” I asked Nora.
“It doesn’t make sense. She shouldn’t be here yet.”
Unease churned in my stomach. “Where is Collin?” I asked.
“Wherever the Illum are. He is here as one of them tonight.”
“Where are your keepers this evening?” a voice drawled to my left. I turned to find Vincent standing before us.
“You forget your place, Vincent,” Nora said quietly, her fierceness ablaze.
“Perhaps my place has become of higher value thanks to the information I have given the Illum. Such an insignificant task turned out to be quite fruitful.” Vincent followed Nora’s gaze. “A good pair, are they not? He is where he belongs for the Greater Good.”
Collin appeared at my side. “Vincent, sister,” Collin said, his jaw tight.
“Collin, what a wonderful ball you have put together.”
He inclined his head at my birth father, then whispered to me, “We are expected to dance now.”
“Right now?” I muttered. “The crystals on the gown are heavy.”
