MADE

Tomorrow

                    Warm heat caressed my cheeks. I was standing in a meadow, the trees whistling in the wind all around. The sky was beginning to darken as the night fell over the space, the flowers starting to close around me. It cast the clearing in a warm glow, warming the grass between my toes and the skin of my bare body.

            I was naked, standing as if I had done this a thousand times. The suit began to cover my body, navy and clinging to every corner of me.

            Alaric and Elijah appeared at my flank again, and I smiled at each in turn. Elijah ducked his head to meet mine as he wound his arms around my body pulling me to him. Sparks jolted in between us as his tongue slipped between my lips.

            I pulled away slightly and stared up at him, Grey eyes meeting mine.

            I sat straight up in bed, my heart pounding and the image of Alaric's storm crossed eyes playing over and over like a song I couldn't get out of my head. I breathed out and tried to swallow him down.

            Last night came back to me, more emotions making my heart pound. Elijah's touch, his words in my head, his mouth...

            We had fallen asleep, him tucking against my footboard while I stayed with my back against the pillows. We had talked for hours, about my training and the guards of the island. Eventually, our conversation had turned more mundane, moving to topics like school and favorite foods.

            But, this morning, he had disappeared again.

            I should have known.

            The hot shower barely helped.

            Maybe he had slipped away to make breakfast as he had done before. Perhaps he was just catching up with Alaric. Either way, I was still tired of his inability to stick out the ending. Why not wait for me to wake up?

            It was probably better this way. The more time Elijah spent with me, the more of a risk it would become that he saw who and what I truly was. Being the Dividend would change everything. He wouldn't be able to keep that information from my mother; he was too loyal to the council.

            Elijah knowing about my status, or about my past would just complicate everything. I couldn't stop Alaric from digging, and I wouldn't put it past Elijah to go hunting for information if necessary. The moment he got a clue about either, he would be like a hound on a scent.

            I changed quickly only to find a waiting Alaric in the kitchen. Immediately the image of his silver eyes staring down at me was back, blinking with desire, soft with longing. I pushed it away the best I could.

            I pushed around the counter to stand before him; he was glaring at an orange currently sitting whole on a cutting board.

            "Moring," I said still trying to push his face out of my head.

            He said nothing, just kept cutting away angrily at his orange.

            I looked around and to no surprise, no Elijah. His truck was gone too. I huffed and turned back to Alaric. His orange was beginning to look mutilated.

            "Where did he go this time?" I huffed.

            This time he glared at me. "Don't you know?" he asked raising a brow.

            I glared back at him but didn't answer, and soon he went back to cutting his orange.

            "Thought you would know... judging by how close you two got last night," he snapped scooping up his orange.