“Her?” she screeches incredulously. “The Arcav king wants her?”
Fuck.
Blake jumps up, hauling me out of the booth. We both draw our Tasers, and I almost laugh at the absurdity. What I wouldn’t give for a gun right now.
People stare, shocked. But it won’t be long before they realize how much I’m now worth. I keep my Taser out, staring people down as we stride toward the entrance. A man reaches for my arm, and I don’t hesitate, pressing my Taser to his neck. He falls like a bag of bricks.
“She’s the one! She’s the Arcav king’s mate!”
We burst through the front door and run for the car, locking the doors as we slide in. I hide my face as people from the diner follow us out, holding up their phones as they record my every move.
Blake speeds off, sirens on, and heads for the highway. I sit in shocked silence until he snaps at me to put on my seat belt.
“And just like that, my life is over.” I laugh hollowly as I buckle myself in.
“It’s not over,” he says, hands tightening on the wheel.
I stay silent. My lips feel numb, and I’m cold. Distantly, I wonder if I’m in shock. My thoughts are fuzzy, and I can no longer seem to process the world around me.
Blake curses. “You need to pull yourself together.”
I must look terrible because when I turn to look at him, he pulls the car over. I stare blankly out the window at the blue sky. Less than an hour ago, my biggest problem was my stupid Taser.
“Look, Black, if you don’t want to go, you have options.”
I turn back to him. “Of course I don’t want to go! You know how I feel about them. And now I’m supposed to be their king’s ‘mate’? What does it even mean anyway?”
Blake just looks at me. We both know what it means. He hesitates and then seems to come to some kind of decision as his eyes harden.
“If you want, I can get you out of here. But we don’t have much time.”
My mouth drops open. “It’s suicide. If they catch you, you’re dead.”
A grin flashes across his face. “They’d have to catch me first. We’ll make it look like you escaped on your own. And if they figure it out and catch me, I’m sure the Arcav queen can beg for my life.”
I almost gag at the thought, and the amusement leaves his face. “What’s your choice, partner? Stay or go?”
I don’t have to think twice. “Go.”
Blake nods and puts the car in drive. “Good choice. Here’s what we’re going to do. You have five hours before you have to turn yourself in. But it’ll take some time for everyone to mobilize once they realize you’re not going to play by the rules. You can get pretty far in twenty-four hours, but you need to go somewhere as remote as possible and stay away from any cameras. Their technology allows them to use facial recognition in ways we haven’t come close to achieving. That means that this needs to be a smart, well-executed plan.”
I stare at him. “How do you know all this?”
“I guess now is the right time to tell you. I’m a member of HAA.”
“What?”
HAA stands for Humans Against Arcav. The organization is completely illegal, and I would’ve never imagined that Blake, with his seemingly complete acceptance of the Arcav, would be a member. If he’s caught, he faces prison on Earth at best and execution or a sentence working on Arcavia at worst.
He smiles humorlessly. “I’m a good actor, huh?”
“Yeah, the best. I really bought your ‘you need to chill’ act.”
His jaw tightens. “When those parasites arrived, my grandfather shot my grandmother and then himself ’cause they were convinced it was the apocalypse and they didn’t want to see it happen. My cousin ran away to beg to be taken to Arcavia, and my aunt had a heart attack from the stress. I hate them just as much as you, Black. I’m just smarter about letting people know.”
“Your cousin’s an Arc?”
“Yeah. I don’t know what the hell is wrong with her. But she had a mediocre life and obviously saw the Arcav as a chance to be someone. She’s working in one of the corrals, hoping to be picked.”
The corrals are buildings where Arcs stay, pleasuring the Arcav. Occasionally, one of the Arcav will find an Arc so appealing that they’ll take them back to Arcavia with them.