I sighed in exasperation. “So, that’s where you think Nikos is now? Elytherios?”
Eos’ lopsided grin faded. “I don’t know where he is now. The plan was for me to take him there myself, and that Maetrin and Phados would meet up with us later. We knew that there was no hope for Maetrin and Phados to get into Bright Horizon. Even if they had, there was no way they could have kept Nikos hidden. But we didn’t think the Enforcers would come this early. We thought for sure the geroi would wait until after the harvest.”
I stared down at my toes, feeling guilty in spite of myself. It was ridiculous that I should care about the plight of this plivos and his family of lawbreakers, but…
I did care. I couldn’t help it. I cared.
We live for each other.
“Do you really think that Elytherios exists?” I asked at last.
Eos didn’t answer for a long moment. When he finally spoke, he didn’t meet my eyes. “Yes.”
I sighed, gnawing uncomfortably on my lip. Here it was, then. Something I’d never wanted, and never asked for. But realizing that it was mine filled me with an unexpected spark of life; it was as if I’d been sleeping all these years, and I had been suddenly, rudely awakened.
I had a choice.
* * *
Getting them out of their cells and, then, out of the dome was no small matter. I was lucky, I supposed, to have been trained with the Enforcers. Seeing without being seen was one of our specialties. Silently