“You don’t have to do that, Olive.” Worry lines etched his forehead.
I nodded and sighed. “I do, Joshua.” I felt this to be my least dangerous option. “This is the only way.”
“You’ll take me with you.” It wasn’t a question. Joshua stared at me, and I took his hand.
“If that’s what you want. Of course,” I couldn’t believe he’d choose the unknown all over again. He at least still had his mother in Haven, and his sister, too, even if he hadn’t reconnected with her.
I felt his other hand find the small of my back, and I shifted on the mattress to look at him. “We should study together.”
“Study?” I repeated. Was it the same studying he’d done with Rane? I couldn’t bring myself to ask him. I sighed and changed the subject, “My real question, the one I can’t wrap my mind around is how did your mother get here before we did?” It was an honest and simple question.
“I’ve been wondering the same thing,” he admitted, “but I haven’t been able to come up with how it’s possible. Maybe by vehicle,” he suggested. “But I’m fairly confident that the guards at the border wouldn’t just let her go and come back. There’s more to it,” he admitted. “But I can’t figure it out, either.”
He shut the book on his lap and stood up, putting it back on the shelf. “I am sorry, Olive, for how I’ve been acting. I think it’s nice you’re trying to meet people and settle into this new life,” he reasoned. “But I miss you.”
“I miss you, too,” I confessed. “But if I remember correctly you were the one who appeared to be moving on.” I stared at him with a slight smile, unable to voice her name. “Just because I’m trying to follow the rules the council set doesn’t mean I care any less for you.” It was the truth. “I promise, my feelings for you haven’t changed.”
“Okay,” he replied, taking my words in. “Can we still hang out? I mean I did come to Haven to be with you,” he reminded me. I knew he’d risked everything to help me escape from Genesis and was glad he hadn’t stayed behind.
“Of course.” I wrapped my arm around his shoulder. “We’re friends, and that will never change. I promise you, Joshua, no one can take my best friend’s place.” I wouldn’t allow it. I owed him that much after all he’d done for me.
CHAPTER 9
A little over a week had passed since we first arrived in Haven. I still had a few days until the council meeting and hoped I could further delay dating other men. Joshua was all I could think about.
“Find anything interesting?” he asked, sitting down with me as I curled up on the bed and perused the texts.
“In the books or the town?” I glanced up at him. He looked tired and worn. I wondered what was going on with him. I reached out, brushing my thumb across the slight stubble on his jaw line. I smiled when he lazily kissed my palm.
“Either?” His eyes watched mine as I studied his lips. I shook my head, trying to push those thoughts aside. It was the one rule neither of us could afford to break.
“No.” I couldn’t remember seeing anything that had been important. “What’d you come across?” If he was asking, he must have found something.
“You sure you’re ready for it?” His face lit up. I couldn’t remember the last time I’d seen him so happy.
“Go on,” I encouraged, eager to hear about his discovery.
“A museum,” he emphasized, and I raised an eyebrow. “There are all sorts of old artifacts from before the Third and Fourth World War, even photographs from present time dating back to the early nineteen hundreds.”
“I know. I was at the museum a week ago.” I remembered Jacqueline showing me the old artifacts and cameras from generations before our time. I couldn’t help but laugh. “Well what then? What’d you find that I didn’t?” I knew he was ready to brag. That bright smile on his face was telling me he’d struck gold.
“I found a series of maps behind glass.”
“So did I,” I didn’t see what the big reveal was. I gave him a curious look. It wasn’t a secret there were maps of Cabal in the museum.
“No,” he stared at me seriously. “I found a map hidden in the museum. Okay, so I might have been snooping. Did you know the cases aren’t locked?”
“What?” My eyes widened as I sat up in bed. “You’re not serious?”
Joshua laughed, watching me grow restless. “I guess they trust everyone here.”
I couldn’t believe it. “You stole a map?” I didn’t want to think about the repercussions if anyone had caught him. In Genesis he’d have been banished for theft. I didn’t know the punishment in Haven and didn’t want to find out.
“Borrowed is the precise term,” he corrected me. “They won’t notice it was gone because it was hidden behind the giant map with the rebel cities. The map on display is a forgery.”
I didn’t buy it. “Come on, Josh. Why would they put a fake map in a museum?” It sounded ridiculous.
“Technically, the real map was there, just behind it. The map on display is a larger replica, but they removed a city from it.” He frowned at a loss for why Haven would have done something like that.
“I never took you for a thief.” I still couldn’t believe he had the nerve to steal from the museum.
“Are you kidding me?” Joshua laughed. “You’d have done the same thing. You can’t tell me you’re not curious about a town no one knows about.”
I shrugged, not wanting to reveal too much. Of course I was curious! Why had they wanted to hide it? What secret did it possess? “Maybe it’s a ghost town?” I laughed, lying back on the bed, staring up at the ceiling. “Do you think they’ll notice it’s missing?”
“I doubt it,” Joshua was confident in his decision. “Unless they start looking behind maps for smaller duplicates, no one will be the wiser. I bet most people don’t even know it exists.”
“Well, someone does,” I reminded him. “Someone put it in the case, and someone had the forethought to create a duplicate.”
“Then I guess they should have locked the glass case.” He showed no remorse for his actions, and I didn’t exactly blame him. They’d put us in a tough situation, and the map could be our key to our survival.
I sat up. “Let me see it,” I practically begged and felt him shift against the mattress, his grin growing. The thought of a map with a city not tied to Haven sounded promising. Perhaps Joshua and I could one day travel there and make a home for ourselves.
Joshua grinned and stood. “It’s in my room. You have to come over if you want to see it. I can’t risk taking it out and getting caught.”
I agreed, “Smart thinking.” I got up and followed Joshua out of the room, when I glanced down the stretch of hall as Landon swiftly approached. Already I’d shut the door behind me, and I had nowhere to hide. I swallowed the lump in my throat as the gentleman approached us.
“Olivia. Joshua. I take it you both remember the rules of Haven? Staying here, you must abide by all our rules or you will be asked to leave,” Landon reminded us.
I opened my mouth first to speak. “We were just talking,” I quickly explained.
Joshua nodded. “We thought it would be a good idea to study our text books together.”
“If you wish to study together, the best place to do that would be the library,” Landon answered forcefully. “You are not to enter each other’s rooms. Is that understood?”
I felt like a child being scolded for jumping on the bed. I hadn’t realized the rule had been that strict, but I nodded once. “Yes, sir.” He looked to Joshua and Josh nodded, as well.
“The council will be requesting your presence in the morning. Olivia, I require that you come with me.” Joshua gave me an apologetic look. I frowned and wondered where Landon was taking me. I didn’t object and followed him down the stairs.