Both Asher and I stop in our tracks and Gavin plows into the back of us. “What are you waiting for? Come on!”
“He knows your names,” Asher says. His face is crumpled into a look of confusion and I’m pretty sure he feels the same warring emotions of fear and curiosity as I do.
“So … we were here before, it’s not surprising,” Gavin says, tugging on my arm.
I start to turn away, to listen to Gavin, but the voice shouts again. “I’m not here to hurt you. I promise. I know you don’t trust me, but I promise I’m really here to help you.”
I’m not sure why I turn around, but when I do there’s an older man with blond hair streaked with gray coming toward us. He appears to be in his sixties or seventies, but he carries himself as if he’s younger. He looks … familiar.
“Who—who are you?” I ask, narrowing my eyes.
“Don’t you remember me, Evelyn?” the man asks. I shake my head and he sighs. “It’s me. Father,” he says with a smile.
I exchange a look with Gavin, who purses his lips and says, “Father is Coupled with Mother. He’s the second-in-command, which means he’s lying about not turning us in.”
But Asher steps forward, his eyes narrowed. “Eli?”
CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE
Due to the recent infiltration of a Surface Dweller and subsequent kidnapping of my daughter, Elysium is now under a mandatory curfew. All Citizens, minus those designated by Mother, must be in their residences no later than 8:00pm. All doors will be locked and will be checked nightly. Anyone with their door unlocked or caught outside their residences will be persecuted to the full extent of the law. We understand that this is an inconvenience and appreciate your cooperation.
—LETTER SENT TO ALL RESIDENTS OF ELYSIUM
Evie
My mind instantly goes back to the picture Asher’s grandmother showed us and I realize why the man looks so familiar. He’s one of the men from the picture. The one that was closest to Asher’s grandmother. Asher’s right. It is Eli. A huge weight lifts from my shoulders as I realize we actually found the man we were sent here to find. And he’s alive! Now to see if he can actually do what Asher’s grandmother thinks he can and help me get my memories back.
Eli, who’s been staring at me, turns his full attention to Asher. “Yes. Yes, but that is not a name I’ve heard in a long, long time.”
“But … you’re dead!” Gavin bursts out. “We saw the video. We read the journals. Eli was trying to escape, but he was betrayed by someone and Mother killed anyone who tried to escape. She killed Eli. You can’t be him.”
Eli raises an eyebrow. “Well, she tried anyway,” he says, but before Gavin can argue further, Eli turns his attention back to Asher. “Who are you and how do you know who I am?”
“I’m Asher St. James. My grandmother—Lenore Allen—sent us here to ask you for help.”
Eli stares at Asher for a long time. There are so many emotions flickering across his face you can’t even make one out before another is flashing into place.
Finally, he steps forward, bypassing the green goo, which has stopped moving as if it never had started. His eyes are focused completely on Asher, who shifts as if uncomfortable. When Eli gets within touching distance, he stops and tilts his head this way, then that, studying.
Gavin and I exchange a look. A smile slowly spreads across Eli’s lips. There is definitely sadness in his expression, but relief as well.
“You have her eyes,” he says after a minute. He presses his lips together and I think for a minute he’s going to say something or do something else, but then he shakes his head. “No time for regrets.”
Eli catches the look Asher sends me and raises his brow at Gavin, who only stares back at him, distrust clear on his face. Then Eli turns his attention to me. And this time, I can make out the emotions running over his face. Relief, happiness, and, finally, sadness. Gavin slides his hand into mine and squeezes. I squeeze back to let him know I’m fine.
It’s not exactly true. My head feels like it could explode at any moment from all the stress, but he doesn’t need to know it.
Eli reaches out toward me and both Asher and Gavin shout and block his advance. Gavin draws his gun and Eli puts his hands up, palms out.
“I just wanted to touch the necklace.” He keeps his eyes steady on mine. “I meant no harm. I can’t believe you still have it. I meant no harm.”
Gavin jerks his head around to face me and there’s understanding in his eyes. He lowers the gun and steps back. “You’re the one who gave it to her?” he asks.
Eli hesitates for a moment, lowering his hands to let them hang at his sides before saying, “No, not I. Her mother … her real mother. But I gave … I’m pleased to see she kept it.”
He’s not telling us everything. I don’t know how I know, but I know. From the expression on Gavin’s face, I can see he’s thinking the same thing.
“But the scents? You’re the one who gave her the perfume bottles, right? You’re the one who helped her every time she got her memories erased?”
Asher jerks his head around and narrows his eyes at Gavin, even as I watch Eli and Gavin wide-eyed. I had my memories erased before? This isn’t the first time? Why didn’t Gavin tell me? If it happened before and there was a cure, why didn’t we come to Elysium earlier?
Eli nods. “Yes. I did what I could at the time. Even if it wasn’t nearly enough.”
“But now you’re here to actually help us?” Asher asks, his face scrunched up in confusion.
Eli looks around. “Yes, but not here. There’s a place in the Residential Sector that I can take you to. I assure you, it’s safe. Then you can tell me what you need help with.” He turns to me with a smile. “There’s someone there who really misses you and wants to see you again.”
“Oh no,” Gavin says, and all of us turn to him. He crosses his arms across his chest. “We’re not going anywhere. We came to find you and you’re here, so you need to help us now, so we can back to the Surface.”
Asher nods, agreeing with Gavin for once, but I ignore it and ask, “Who’s waiting for me?”
Both boys turn to me. “Evie…,” they warn, but I ignore them.
“Who?” I demand.
Eli takes a deep breath. “Your mother. Your real mother,” he says, quietly.
My heart trips in my chest and I raise a hand to my necklace again, trying to remember something about the woman who birthed me, but nothing comes. Not even the tiniest of memories.
But … I do feel something. And I want nothing more than to meet this woman.
I open my mouth to tell him we’ll go, but Gavin interrupts. “Nice try, but no. We came to get her memories back. That’s it, and then we’re gone.”
Eli turns toward me, his eyes really focusing on me again. “You lost your memories?” I nod. “What happened?
I don’t think Gavin will tell him anything—after all, he was dead set that coming to this place was the wrong idea—but he surprises me. “I don’t know. She was having issues when we left. Small things. Like how to work the Slate, and where things were. But it wasn’t until we got to the Surface that I realized she’d forgotten everything.” He looks at the ground. “Including me.”
“It’s the nanos,” Asher shoves in. “Grandma said that you and she developed the nanos, but they’ve changed. She couldn’t help Evie, but she was sure you could.”
Eli’s face darkens. “They’ve changed all right. After all, we couldn’t have our little prize giving anything away, could we?” he mutters.
Gavin and Asher exchange a look. “Huh?” Asher asks.