Sunset Rising

“It’s a crazy idea. Of course it won’t work. There will be other people in the Registry room with us during our scan-in.”

“Not if I tell my father I don’t want anyone else in the room. He knows I’m not happy about how public he’s making everything. If I ask for just this one single private moment, he’ll give it to me.”

Jack dropped his arms from her waist and took a step back. He raked a hand through his hair. He clearly didn’t like her plan.

“I don’t want to die, Jack, and I’m really scared!” Leisel threw her arms around him. “We have such a bright future pla

I stared back down at my wine. They obviously had some issues to work out, and I wanted to be anywhere but there.

“I honestly don’t see how it’s going to work.”

“Will you agree if I promise to tell my father? He’s worried about the assassination plot too, but he doesn’t want to call off the wedding. After all, he’s using it to show everyone that life is still good in the Dome, so he can’t very well cancel it because someone is trying to kill me.”

“If your father approves, then I’ll agree to your plan.”

“Then I’ll tell him. I know he’ll approve.” Leisel looked victorious. Jack smiled, pulled her close, and kissed her lightly on the lips. “Oh, Jack, I knew you’d understand. I knew you’d want to protect me.”

I cleared my throat.

“Oh, Su

I didn’t recall agreeing, although I had the impression I didn’t have a choice in the matter. “I’m not sure I’m comfortable with this plan,” I said. I knew she could order me to do it. “I mean, there will be a lot of people watching.”

“I thought you agreed with this. You understand how important our marriage is, don’t you? You want to support us?”

“I do! I just think if it doesn’t work… if I’m caught…”

“I know it’s a big favor I’m asking of you. It’s a risk for me too, even with my father’s approval. But if the risks are worth it in the end…” Her voice trailed off and her expression became serious. “You know, when I saw your friend Summer stealing food, I was obligated to report her to the authorities. But I didn’t.” Leisel’s hand came up to caress my hair. “You know, I’m still obligated to tell the truth about her. If anyone asks me if I saw anything, I’d have to say yes. I could get into a lot of trouble for lying. But sometimes friends do things for each other.”

Although my head was swimming from the wine, I understood her implication. Do this for her or Summer was doomed.

“I’ll do it,” I whispered. “It’s very late. Can I go home now? I have to work in the morning.”

“No, silly, you can’t go home! You’ll have to stay here. We have a lot of work to do before the wedding.” A smile lit up her face, and she hugged me.

I just wanted to go home. I wanted to be with my father. I wanted to make sure Summer was home safe and sound. I wanted to tell Reyes everything was fine. I missed them. It felt like it had been forever since I saw them.

“You can stay here in Jack’s room. He can take the sofa and you can have the bed.”

“What?” Jack said.

“Well, you requested her from the party. No one will question it if she spends the night here.”

“I requested her for you, not me.”

“Jack, be reasonable. She can’t go home. I need to fit her with the wedding dress, teach her how to walk down the aisle, how to act, and, well, everything! There’s so much to do and not much time left before the wedding.”

“But I need to go to work in the morning. I’ll lose my job if I don’t show up,” I said. Was it the wine that was making me so brazen? I had never even spoken to a guard like that before.

“Don’t worry about your job. When this is all over, I’m going to hire you to be my personal maid. We’re always going to be good friends.” She stood then and went to Jack. “I’m going to go get some sleep, and I suggest you two do the same. We have a big day ahead of us tomorrow.”

She kissed her fiancé and then skipped out the door.

The apartment suddenly became very quiet except for the soft music playing in the background. Jack stood in the middle of the room looking at me. I remained on the sofa, looking at him. My head was starting to pound, and the food I’d eaten sat heavy in my stomach. I really didn’t feel good. I just wanted to go home.

“You can have the bed,” Jack said.

“If I could just go home…”

“You heard her, you can’t!” he snapped. He dragged a hand through his hair. He was obviously angry, and I didn’t want to upset him any more. He could do whatever he wanted to me and no one would ever question it. “You take the bed.”

“Yes, sir.” I set my half-empty wine glass on the table and stood up. Suddenly the room was spi

“Whoa! How much wine did you have?” He was standing next to me, holding my arm in case I fell. I didn’t remember him even moving.

“I didn’t think…” I put my hand to my head.

“You’ve never had wine before, have you?”

“No.” My stomach roiled. “I don’t feel good.”

In an instant Jack picked me up and carried me into his bathroom, where I promptly vomited.

Chapter Six

The pounding in my head wouldn’t let me sleep anymore. The room was hot, and I threw a big fluffy blanket off of me. I was wearing nothing but my underclothes, and the bed I’d been sleeping in wasn’t familiar. It was big, soft, and very uncomfortable. I tried to sit up, but it only made the pounding in my head worse.

I was dying of thirst.

A glass of water stood next to the bed, and I sat up to drink it. The movement didn’t help my head at all, but the cool liquid sliding down my throat felt heavenly. I fell back on the bed, exhausted with my exertion, and tried to recall the night’s events.

The last thing I remembered was getting sick. I looked across the room and confirmed there was a bathroom adjoining this room. If I wasn’t feeling so awful, I’d probably be astonished that he had his own private bath, but all I could do was wonder if there was more water in there. I swung my legs off the bed and stood up. It felt like my head was going to blow right off my shoulders. I stumbled in and found a tap. I turned it on, ducked my head under, and drank.

My thoughts suddenly turned to my father, and anxiety gripped me. I wondered if he had at least managed to get up from his sick bed to drink. He wouldn’t go to the common room unless I was there to make him, of that I was sure. How long were they going to keep me here?

I went back to the room and lay down on the bed, but it was so uncomfortable and the room was so hot. The temperature in the Dome was much warmer than in the Pit. I rolled off the bed and onto the floor. The carpet was about the same thickness as my own bed, and it was a little cooler down there. I managed to drift back to sleep.

“Su

The voice was demanding now. It sounded angry. I pushed up onto my elbow and was relieved that my head didn’t hurt as much as it had last night. Then I remembered I wasn’t dressed, so I pulled the blanket off the bed to cover myself.

Suddenly, Jack Ke

“What are you doing down there? Did you fall out of bed?”

Would he understand that I preferred the floor to his soft bed? Probably not. “Yeah.”

“Are you okay?”

“Fine, thank you.” My head hurt, I had an unquenchable thirst, and my stomach was growling again. All I wanted to do was go home.