The Far Side of the Moon

Chapter four.

"Cadmus, my boy!" A man's voice from inside the red door room calls out to him, but Cadmus drags me out of that room and slams the door behind him. For a moment he's still, but then he begins pacing back and forth, muttering under his breath.

I sink to the ground, biting my lip. The whole universe is different now. Everything feels different. Everything is different. I look up at Cadmus, feeling my heart flutter. My heart is telling me that this man is everything.

Of course it had to be a rebel against the moon I'm trying to maintain good relations with. Of course it had to be someone who kidnapped me thirty minutes ago. Of course it had to be...

I look up at him. At Cadmus. He's staring right back at me, his green eyes shockingly bright.

"I have to get you out." He whispers, almost too quietly for me to hear.

"What?" I stand shakily.

"You heard my father. He's going to use you as the bridge between him and Europa." He steps towards me, but I step back. "Callisto, you have to trust me now."

I take a deep breath. I know I do.

I take his outstretched hand, feeling tingles race up and down my arm. He pulls me down the hall, and I have to run to keep up.

How in the system did this happen? I look down at our intertwined fingers, which is when he stops suddenly, causing me to crash into him. He pushes me against the wall, shielding me with his body.

"Cadmus!" Someone greets him. I flatten myself against the wall. "What's up? Coming from the red room? How's old Pearly?"

"Hi, Daren," Cadmus says quietly, "Pearly's good. I'm good. How are you?"

I bite my lip- why is he prolonging the conversation?

"Oh, I'm fine." There's the crinkling of plastic, and the other person speaks again. "Your father wants me down in the red room to watch that Martian girl. Apparently she might be a flight risk." I swallow hard, and Cadmus tenses.

"I can assure you it's bolted shut." He says, though he reaches back to grab my wrist, like he's worried I'll run away or have disappeared. "But I could go down there if you want."

I hold my breath as the silence stretches out. Finally Daren speaks.

"You hate the red room." He says, a note of suspicion in his voice. "Why would you want to go there? Cadmus, are you okay?"

Cadmus lets go of my wrist and shifts a little so I'm even more concealed in the shadows behind him. "I'm fine, why?"

"What's behind you?" Daren asks. Footsteps come closer. The man named Daren, who's surprisingly small for the tenor of his voice, comes into view. His eyes widen at the sight of me, and he's about to say something, but Cadmus lunges forward, pinning the man to the ground with his hand pressed against his mouth to keep him quiet.

"Listen, Daren." Cadmus says softly into the man's ear. "She's my mate."

Daren's eyes widen, and he struggles harder. "You're not thinking straight, man!" Daren manages to say, though muffled, "Mates cause your brain to get all loopy!"

Cadmus presses his hand harder against Daren's mouth. "I don't want to hurt you, Daren." Cadmus says. "Give me your comm, let me bind you. I'll leave you from there."

Daren struggles harder, shaking his head. Cadmus presses his lips together and lifts Daren's head off the floor before slamming it into the white tiled ground.

I gasp in horror as blood trickles from Daren's face. He's limp, but I don't know if he's dead. Oh God, please don't be dead.

"Cadmus-" I start, my voice cracking.