Free Horizon by Christie Rich Page B

says, ‘what’s the point’? He’s an Order man. I don’t know if I can deal with that.”
    “So you grew up with him?”
    She walked over to the window and gazed out into the distance. “Not really. We saw each other at festivals and other Order events. He was a mean little brat as a kid. When he picked on my sister one too many times, I knocked him out.”
    A giggle erupted from my chest. “How old were you?”
    “Ten.” Her shoulders lifted a bit. “Even then I was tall for my age.”
    I burst out laughing and she turned, a huge smile splitting her mouth. “For some reason after that, he wouldn’t leave me alone. Every time he saw me, he’d come and pester me. Somewhere along the way, I learned to care for him. I even loved it when he’d tease me.”
    Seemed to me that Lacey might have deeper feelings for Roger than she was willing to admit, maybe even to herself. “Do you know where he’s staying?”
    Her teeth clamped together. “They won’t tell me. I think they know about us, so they’re trying to keep us apart. It was just a fluke I ran into him anyway. I’d finally ditched my escort when she happened to slip on some water in the hallway. The minute she went down, I ran.” I snorted and Lacey grinned. “I hadn’t gotten any time alone in so long I was going to kill the woman with a lot more than kindness if she didn’t get out of my face.”
    I gazed out the window into the glowing morning. Thoughts about school and my time here mingled as I searched for something I could offer to help her. When I came up empty, I resorted to mere words, hating myself for doing it. I had no idea what to tell her, so I tried to recall what I had done to stave off the lords. “The most important thing is to remember why you don’t want to bond with him…I guess to remember who you are.” I looked directly into her eyes. “I’m not going to lie to you, Lacey. They are hard to resist. Once their compulsion hits you, it’s like you’ve known them forever and can’t think of another person while they are near you. You can barely remember your name, but you have to fight it. If you throw off the compulsion, you might have a chance.”
    Her face fell, and I had a hard time not giving her a canned line about how everything was going to be okay. Finally, she said, “It just doesn’t seem right for them to have this much control over us. I’ve been trying to avoid this, but now, I can’t. What if I can’t fight him?”
    I tried not to let my hurting for her show. With my shoulders squared I told her, “I’m going to change this, Lacey. I’m going to make these people see.”
    From the look on her face, she wasn’t buying it. “How?”
    I rolled the edges of my silk nightgown between my fingers. “Any way possible.”
    “No offense, but that isn’t very comforting, Rayla.”
    My eyes searched her face, and I sighed, shaking my head. “I know. Honestly, I don’t have a clue what’s going to happen, to you, to me, to my family. But I swear to you, as long as I have the ability to think for myself, I will not stop until things are different.”
    She nodded. “I guess that’s all any of us can ask of you. What’s been happening, anyway? No one will tell me a thing other than you bonded with Zach.” Her eyes searched my face for a second before she said, “I was kind of rooting for Heath myself.”
    At the mere mention of his name, tears pushed against my eyes. Me losing it was the last thing Lacey needed to see, so I turned away from her. “I’m still trying to figure things out, but Zach’s a good person.”
    “I never said he wasn’t.”
    Slowly, I faced her again. Did I dare tell her what had happened with Heath? I couldn’t, but I wanted to so bad I had to bite my tongue. “I guess you and I are still kind of in the same boat.”
    She gave me a hard stare. “How do you figure?”
    “Neither of us knows what the next few hours will bring. I’ve made a lot of mistakes, but I’m trying