The Renegade

Chapter 18

Luk stirs next to me, light from the sunrise filtering through the window beside my bunk bed. The pale light paints a line across my stomach and Luk's back, bare and cut with muscle beside me.

"Good morning," he whispers. He lies on his stomach with his head turned towards me, our legs in a jumble as we share the narrow bed.

My face heats, and I smile like we're two kids caught sneaking into each other's rooms. "Morning."

He slips from the bed, the space beside me suddenly cool, and stands up. My eyes run over his shirtless torso before he puts on his orange t-shirt and then leans closer to me so his breath whispers soft across my face.

"Come with me?"

I jerk upright, nearly banging my head on the top of the bunk. "What? Outside? Now?"

"Yeah," Luk murmurs. "Before the sun comes up. They'll let you go with me because of who my dad is."

"Really? Why haven't you gotten me out of here sooner?" The words are meant as a joke but come out as a rebuke. Luk wants to make things right between us, and I shouldn't fight his attempt at reconciliation.

Luk falters, pulling away from me. "Do you want to come? I thought I'd show you the spots Audra missed on her tour."

Between my curiosity about Domus and gravity towards Luk, I can't resist. "Yeah, of course want to come. Get me out of here."

Luk gives me his familiar sideways grin, the ring in his eyebrow puckering. "Your wish is my command."

He grabs my discarded pants and t-shirt from a shelf and tosses them to me and I quickly dress. The familiar ache in my leg doesn't even distract from this high. Maybe while we're out of our bunkhouse, we can leave Domus too. But of course we can't. Ila's here, and so are Orrick, Elz, and the rest of our friends. Still, I would give anything for a moment of true solitude with Luk.

Luk leaves my crutches behind the front door and helps me to stand, his arm tucked around my waist. The space between us has diminished, and we're so close I can almost forgot everything. My betrayal of Ila, and his betrayal of me. Almost.

Outside the door, a guard stands with the barrel of his gun lazily cocked towards the sky. He jerks to attention when we exit. "What are you doing? No one's allowed to leave!"

Luk smiles at him. "I'm Luk Adrian. I can do what I want."

"What about her!" he barks, pointing at me.

Luk pulls me closer to him and grins again, infuriatingly, beautifully. "She's with me."

I shrug at the guard as Luk and I limp away, and a smile reaches my lips. Sunlight filters over the horizon, casting a warm and unearthly glow on Domus. In the early morning, everything is quiet but not as haunting as it was when Luk and I snuck out to see Ila in the middle of the night. While outside the dome everything is white, the inside is warm and pregnant with color--soft yellows, verdant greens, and electric blue.

"What are we doing, Luk?" I ask, my breath hitched from exertion.

He smiles at me. "I'm showing you Domus."

"No, I mean, why'd you bring me?"
He stops and faces me and his profile blocks out the rising sun giving him a shimmering outline. "We have to make things right, Ren. You and me. I can't do this without you."

Do what? Fight against his father? Save the Civilization's survivors?

"Come on," he says with that same lighthearted grin. "I have something to show you."