Tool

Chapter Eighteen

Morning came, and with it a crush to get fed, dressed in breathing suits, and packed. Finally they set off, Aurelia skipping a moon-step or two to catch up with Jonathon, and Nicholas last, switching the dome off as he went. They set a steady pace, but still, Jonathon thought it would take a solid seven or eight hours of walking before they were close enough to Lunar for Nicholas and Aurelia to camp out and wait for their escort.

"Were you okay last night?" Jonathon asked Aurelia, once they were a distance ahead of the others.

"Sure, why?"

Jonathon laughed. "Not a lot gets by me, Aurelia. You and Nicholas were outside for quite a while. Was everything okay?"

Hmm. Was he actually choosing now to play the jealous boyfriend? "What are you implying?" she asked archly.

"Nothing," Jonathon replied with calm.

"Right. Nothing."

He took her hand and held it as they walked. "Really nothing, Aurelia. I have many faults, but lack of trust isn't one of them—quite the opposite, in fact. I've never distrusted you, and I'm not about to start now. I know Nicholas has feelings for you, and I know you have feelings for me. There's nothing more to it, as far as I'm concerned."

She smiled inside her hood. "Really? Is that why you gave him a solid punch in the head yesterday? Because you trust me?"

"Hey! I was worried, and I thought he'd hurt you. It had nothing to do with trust . . . just my temper, which I'll admit can definitely be a fault."

"Okay, okay. Truce?"

"Truce," he agreed. "Was everything okay last night? I'm assuming Nicholas took the chance to confess his feelings for you?"

"Yes," Aurelia sighed. "He did. It was . . . awkward. But sweet. You have nothing to worry about, though. He and I have an understanding."

"As long as it's not as understanding as our understanding," Jonathon said with a wink.

Aurelia rolled her eyes. "If we're getting personal," she said, suddenly remembering what had happened when she was leaving the dome. "I met someone who shared your surname; she helped me out of the dome, actually. Any relation?"

Jonathon shrugged. "Could be. There are a few different branches of the family. What was her given name?"

"Tara."

Jonathon let go of her hand and walked more briskly.

"Hey, wait up; I'm injured, remember?" Aurelia said, skipping again to keep up with him.

"Sorry," he mumbled.

"What's all this about? Come on . . . spill it. Who's Tara?" She knew she was prying.

"Gods," said Jonathon. "You can't let things lie, can you?"

"Nope."

"She's my sister."

Aurelia greeted this with shocked silence, which Jonathon took to be her customary way of keeping quiet to get more info, so after a moment he spoke again.

"It's not unusual for elite families to have a four, sometimes even a five. We have the resources to take care of them, after all. Tara is my parents' four. She's younger than I am."

"There's more to it than that, though, isn't there?"

"We don't speak. She's, well, a little rebellious. You might have noticed."

Aurelia thought back to the purple hair and nodded. "Yeah."

"She takes drugs, drinks, parties, just generally gets into trouble and couldn't give a damn about keeping a clean profile in case she happens to damage someone else's reputation." His voice grew angrier by the second.