Chapter 1

Yorkaine Compound—thirty miles south of the Unaligned border

KELLAN

"How did you even find out about this test?" Simone whispers, acting as though we're not behind several vaulted doors or inside a soundproofed room.

"I told you I worked with your father for years. I was with him when he came up with the idea. I just never heard if he had completed it. You sort of gave it away with your eyes the second I mentioned it," I tell her, watching her adorably frustrated scowl grow.

"You said you knew it existed."

"I said what I had to in order to get you to fess up. Did you skip all the interrogation classes at the academy?"

She doesn't particularly seem to like my cheeky grin, which of course means I continue taunting her with it.

"I didn't see the importance of me learning interrogation because... You know what, I don't have to explain myself to you. I don't like doing this behind Aria's back."

"So you've said," I drawl, "at least forty times."

"Well, consider this number forty-one. Aria will be pissed at me if she finds out I took her blood for this."

My smile falls. I really miss the days of wearing hoods and masks. No one could see how miserable I am. I pace around the table, trying to hide my desperation, but it's almost impossible.

"I have to know, Simone. I'm going crazy because she doesn't want me. It's starting to physically ache. I need to know if I'm right about us, or if I'm just insane."

She frowns as she considers my words, and after a reverent sigh, she nods.

"Fine, but this test isn't always accurate. And it's also not something that can reach the public. If the wrong person got their hands on this machine, they could use it against us by finding our counters too easily."

"Until I spoke to you about it, I had never spoken of it. Now, explain how accurate it is." I place my hand over the table, and she slices the tip of my finger with the uranium tipped knife.

"Depends. If it says sixty percent, that doesn't mean the odds are in your favor. It has trouble sifting through the various details of blood compatibility. Dad didn't get to finish it before his span ended."

She tenses just speaking about her father, but I don't point it out. "What if it's eighty percent?"

"Then you're most likely counters," she says absently as she puts on her glasses and starts pouring my blood into the second compartment of the stainless steel machine. To the untrained eye, it doesn't look like anything more special than a coffee maker.

My breaths stop completely as the hatches on the top close—both of our blood inside. In a few minutes, the answers I need will be mine. I really don't know what results I'm hoping for.

"Wow," Simone whispers, her eyes transfixed on the massive screen that hangs from the wall.

I know a great deal about the science of blood, but she's the expert. From what I can tell, we're matching up pretty damn well.

The spirals of DNA coil around each other and press into tighter lines, each cell battling for dominance within the links. Finally, the threads stop moving around on the screen, and the fusion completes the process.

"How close is it?" I ask, trying my damnedest to read the data as quickly as possible.

Simone doesn't need the data. Her eyes see the blood clearer than the numbers and equations off to the side.

"Kellan, it's a ninety-five percent match. Aria is without a doubt your counter."

She looks shocked, which pisses me off a little. Is it so hard to believe that I'm better for her than that fucking full blood hybrid?

"What now?" I mumble, still staring at the proof which shows I'm not crazy. But it means I have a counter that wants someone else.

"You wanted to know. Now you know. It doesn't change anything. Aria still wants Jase."

That stings. It more than stings. But my lips tighten as I hold back the string of things I'd like to say.

"At least until we go savage," I almost whisper, praying for that day.