so I knew I wouldn't fall out. If anyone fell out of bed, it'd be Joshua. It was probably why he held me so tight. My eyes closed when my head hit the pillow.
“Thanks,” I whispered, feeling the world swaying around me behind closed lids.
He didn't answer me, not in words. I felt a soft warm kiss to my neck and a moment later drifted to sleep in his arms.
CHAPTER 17
I awoke with a start, hearing a loud banging against the door. I groaned in protest and felt Joshua's hold loosen as he stood up from the bed and went to the door.
“I can't find Olivia!” Chloe was in a panic. “She's not answering her door.”
“I'm right here,” I yawned, as Joshua pulled the door back further so she could see me.
“Oh,” Chloe's cheeks reddened from the implication of what she thought we'd been doing.
I shook my head, rubbed my eyes, and smiled. “It's okay. I was just getting some sleep. What do you need?”
Chloe nodded, trying to regain her thoughts and remember why she had come looking for me in the first place. “Oh right. The high council is waiting to meet you. After, we'll go down and have dinner.”
“Right.” I smiled weakly, trying to pretend that I was excited and interested, but all I could think about was the comfortable mattress with Joshua's warm arms around me as I slept. “Can you give us a few minutes, and we'll be right there?”
“Great, I'll meet you in the lobby.” Chloe backed up from the door and Joshua closed it as he turned to face me. I was still seated on the bed, my legs curled beneath the blankets. The thought of leaving the warm mattress unsettled me.
“It's time to get up.” He smiled, reaching for me as I groaned in protest.
“I don't want to pretend to like these people. I just want to sleep,” I mumbled, falling back onto the bed and pulling Joshua atop me as his arms had been around my body.
He laughed and I could feel his hands buried under my back. “Is this how you plan on spending the rest of the evening?” I felt his kisses fall across my cheeks and forehead, doing his best to wake me.
I shifted restlessly, laughing as I tried to pull away, but he kept his hands tight around me, not letting me escape. “Joshua!” I squealed, feeling his breath tickling my skin.
He relaxed against me, and I finally let my eyes stay open, feeling more awake than I had when Chloe first showed up. “Come on.” He kissed my cheek. “Time to get up.”
I lifted my back from the mattress to let his hands free, which did me no favors as he then moved his hands to mine, pulling me from the bed. I groaned in protest but followed him out of bed. “I'm up,” I answered, though I wasn't entirely awake. “So, it's almost dinner time?” I asked, trying to make sense of day and night. I knew when we arrived it couldn't have been more than eleven in the morning. I hadn't accounted for the time change or the nap we'd taken. The sun had long since set and the stars lit up the night sky. Glancing out the window, I saw the city lights as they stretched on in Torv. It was amazing. I grabbed my room key. “I need to get my shoes.”
“Wait and I'll go with you.” He slipped on his shoes and grabbed his key, locking up the room behind him. I opened my door and turned on the light, finding my shoes on the floor. I hadn't even remembered slipping them off I'd been so tired, but I knew I must have done so. I slid them on and together we headed down to the elevator. Joshua pushed the down button and we waited a moment before the elevator doors opened.
Together, we descended to the lobby. Stepping out, I glanced around, catching sight of Chloe and Elsa waiting for us. I wondered how this meeting in Torv would go. The last high council I'd met out east in Haven and it hadn't ended well for anyone.
“Thanks for getting ready fast.” Chloe gestured for us all to follow her outside. We walked to the end of the road and two blocks north. My eyes scanned the streets, taking in everything surrounding us. Torv was huge! There was no other way to describe the city. It was bustling with people and made Haven look inferior. I pushed down such thoughts as I felt Joshua's hand in mine. I glanced at him, giving him a faint smile.
Together, we followed Chloe inside the old brick building. It was tall, approximately six stories, but nothing like the place where we stayed. It looked much older than the rest of the town. Ivy climbed the outside walls, and I wondered why they hadn't worked to remove it. We were led into the main foyer and walked across the hardwood floor to another room. Chloe knocked before continuing into the room. “Douglas.” She nodded once. “I've brought the three from Shadow—Olivia, Joshua, and Elsa—to help us with the pregnancies.” She introduced each of us to him.
Douglas was a tall, heavyset, balding man. He sat at the head of the table, wrapped in exotic red robes and presumably clothing underneath. He acted in charge as he tapped his fingers against the table. “Come in, come in.” He gestured for us to come closer. I didn't particularly want to be here. I tried not to seem affected though, watching as he sized us up and down. “We appreciate your help in the matter. As such—” I felt his eyes lock solely on me. “If what they say is true about you, Olivia, I feel it necessary to keep an armed guard with you at all times. Your head will not be my responsibility.” I didn't quite know what that meant. Did he think people in Torv would harm me? I knew Margo had been shot but it had been outside of Spade. They hadn't so much as been given acceptance into the town before they'd been fired upon.
“Mr. Douglas—” I smiled weakly, unsure how to address him. “I'm not concerned for my safety unless your men can't control themselves.” I felt plenty capable of looking after myself, and considering the Mindonsiphan, I had little doubt anyone would be capable of hurting me.
He nodded curtly. “Although you may put such little value on your own life, or the responsibility of carrying a child, I cannot do the same while you are in our home of Torv. Once you leave the city walls, you are free to go wherever and do whatever. While in Torv, I ask that you please have the guard, Kelvin, with you at all times, and accept this as an offer of peace.”
I didn't quite know how peace and armed guard fit into the same sentence, but I nodded all the same. There was no point in arguing. I reached over, holding Joshua's hand. I still didn't quite understand how they knew about me but bringing it up now seemed like a terrible idea. If they suspected we didn't trust them, things could get a whole lot worse. “Let it be known that Joshua and I are together.” I didn't care what they thought. “Understand that having a guard to protect me is your responsibility, but separating us is not an option.”
Douglas laughed. “We have no intention of dictating your life for you, child.” His voice was condescending, but I ignored him. “We merely wish to make sure your destiny isn't chosen for you while you're here.”
Joshua squeezed my hand and spoke up. “Can you tell us how you've come to help women in Torv conceive?” So far we hadn't been given any real details and we had been more than just a little curious.
Elsa nodded, stepping forward. “Perhaps the procedure you've used is in part the reason for the high number of deaths. If we know what we're getting ourselves involved with, maybe we can offer more assistance.”
Douglas eyed Chloe. “How far have you come?”
Chloe sighed. “Elsa and I have developed an experimental hormone. We hope to administer it during labor to save the mother's life.”
“That is good news.” He clapped his hands together. His gruff voice echoed through the room. “I can assure you the procedure we performed on the mothers was safe and no more challenging than that of two hundred years ago when some families couldn't conceive: IVF, or in vitro fertilization,” he explained. “In most cases the implanted egg will take. It's not until the final trimester when the woman is in labor that they die. We can't fathom why.”
I spoke up, remembering the discussion in the lab just a short time ago. “The government demands of its people marriage at eighteen. There's always one man and one woman, the perfect number of pregnancies, always healthy and always ready for the government's wishes.” A hint of annoyance rose in my voice. “Is it not the government that determines a child's sex? Whether a baby is a boy or a girl? Could it not be the government tampering with our genes? The government determining who is right for one another to live by and have a child with if they deem necessary?” I laughed darkly. “Our government, a sick and twisted system, tells us what is right and what is just.” I shook my head in defiance. “I say they are wrong. I say they do this on purpose. They keep us
