Page 208 of Rite of Unity

“Excellent.”

He smiled at me warmly.

“And, Elias, will you now and for as long as Maryn shall live, promise to do so with the love of the Covenant States in mind?”

For the first time, something dangerous flashed in Elias’s eyes.

My stomach sank.

“With my whole heart.”

My fingers ached from how tight he was squeezing now, but I couldn’t move.Frozen beneath his menacing stare.

I’d known Elias was more like his father than he wanted to believe.But I’d never truly feared him until now.

“Very good,” Aaron said.“You may face your witnesses.”

We spun.The crowd cheered again, and my knees nearly gave, but Elias held me firmly in place.

“I submit to you all, Elias and Maryn Hale.”

Screams and a roar so loud I nearly missed the words as he tipped his mouth to my ear.“I hope you’re ready for what you bought.”

He pressed his lips to my temple, lifting our hands overhead, and the haze of voices rose in pitch.

My stomach twisted so tight, I had to snap my teeth together to keep the contents of my breakfast from spilling out.

I stared out at a nation of witnesses, complicit in every report on a neighbor or blind eye turned, and for the first time, dared them to look back.

The End

Epilogue

Calden

Iwovethroughthecrowd,never taking my eyes off Maryn.Something had changed.

That night, I’d come too late.Maryn’s usually silky hair was a tangled halo framing round, wild eyes.With my night vision cameras, I could see her, but she couldn’t see me.

I clocked the rapid rise and fall of her chest, her shaking hands, and stilled.

She’d fought.Gotten her hands dirty.I wanted nothing more than to wash her clean of every dark deed, every foul act, the rebellion had asked her to commit.But this—whatever she’d done to get free of him tonight—she’d done for me.

Cold steel slid into my beating heart, twisting the bloody organ until I couldn’t breathe.

Then, the sky opened, and she was trapped.

I started forward, consequences be damned, but Covenant Security guards were out in force, and the rain sent them straight for the president’s home.I watched, as I had done these many months, unable to reach her when she needed me most.

Outside, alone with my thoughts and the memory of her pulse racing under my touch, I waited until the sun scorched the final remaining traces of the acid rain.

The burned, bloated body of her first kill was unrecognizable, but I got rid of him anyway.No body meant no need to review footage of the night.

I’d circled the house, looking for any sign of her, but Elias had his fortress locked down, and there was no easy way inside.

Now, Maryn’s fingers were laced through her new husband’s; I didn’t have time to process the gaping wound that was left in my chest.Her eyes were wide.Shocked.

Something had tipped her over that invisible edge she’d been teetering on since Nami had been taken to the farm.I thought taking her there, showing her I'd saved her friend, would be enough, thatIcould be enough, but she was her mother’s daughter.Capable of even lying to herself.