“Teresa! What do you think you’re doing? Return to your room this instant!”
Belatedly, Tessa realized that maybe she should’ve pulled up her hair after all. It was bad enough for a non–family member to see her in her robe, even if it did completely cover her nightgown. Wearing loose hair, at her age, wasn’t something that women of her status did. It was the kind of thing you’d find in New Money or the lower classes, in women who worked beside men or ventured out alone.
“No, no,” said Justin, taking a few steps forward. He didn’t go too much farther. Drunk or not, even he knew getting closer to a girl in her nightgown might spur the bodyguards to action. They knew him and liked him—and had won a lot of money from him—but some lines still weren’t meant to be crossed. “Let her stay. This is important.”
“I don’t even know what ‘this’ is,” her father said, looking weary.
Justin took a deep breath, seeming to finally realize he needed to approach the matter in a calmer way. “I’m going home, Sergio. Back to the RUNA.”
Her father lit up. “You got your citizenship back?” Tessa noticed her mother looked happy too, but probably because she thought they’d be getting rid of Justin once and for all.
“Not exactly.” Justin’s enthusiasm dimmed for a moment. “It doesn’t matter, though. I’m going back and talked them into making a visa exception.”
Tessa’s father’s forehead wrinkled in confusion as he tried to parse the words. Then, suddenly, his face transformed. Never, never, had she seen such joy within him. “You did it,” he breathed. “You’re bringing us back.”
Justin shifted and looked uncomfortable. “Um, not all of you.”
That radiant joy went away. “But you always said—”
“I know, I know. And I tried, but the borders are too tight. They can’t allow a group that big in, but…” Justin took a deep breath. “I can bring Tessa back with me.”
Tessa hadn’t seen her mother look so horrified since the time Tessa had worn black shoes to Donna Carlos’s spring tea. “Why on earth would you do that?”
“Why do you think?” exclaimed Justin. “To get her out of here! I can only take one of you, and she’s the obvious choice. You can’t abandon your family, but she can strike out into her own future. She can get a student visa. She can study there—get a real education.” He stepped forward, catching hold of Tessa’s father’s arm. “Sergio, can you imagine it? Tessa in the RUNA, getting a Gemman degree. It’s the kind of thing that could get her citizenship, you know. I’ve seen it happen. And from there, it might open the door to the rest of you.”
Her father caught his breath, his eyes going wide. Justin knew exactly how to get to him, exactly what words would make Sergio Cruz’s world come to a complete standstill. Tessa had seen Justin work that magic on others before.
Her great-grandparents had left the RUNA years ago, back in the days of the first genetic mandates. In the beginning, the RUNA and EA had forcibly swapped large amounts of their population in order to create optimal genetic mixing. Those who tried having “nonoptimal” children were fined and imprisoned. Eventually, mandatory contraceptive implants ensured the government’s control. Her refugee great-grandparents had had to scrape and crawl their way to the top of Panamanian society, and they’d believed it to be a worthy sacrifice in order to be together and have their own children. But that hadn’t stopped them from singing the praises of their homeland, instilling a worship of the RUNA that had been passed down to their children and their children’s children and so on. The RUNA had almost become a mythical fairyland to Tessa, which was why Justin had always seemed so larger-than-life.
Her father was especially obsessed with the RUNA. His adoration of all things Gemman had increased when he’d been allowed a couple of trading trips there. He’d come back starstruck, full of stories about the country’s technology and the luxuriant way its citizens lived. People could walk the streets safely, and everything was clean and bright and perfect. It was where he’d met Justin and why Justin had been allowed to stay with them when he’d first come to Panama City.
“It’s impossible,” her father said at last, though she could tell from the faraway look in his eyes that he was already imagining this fantasy.
“It’s completely possible,” Justin said, looking just as excited.
Tessa’s father seemed to return to reality. “Why are they letting you go back?”
Justin shrugged. “They want me to resume my old job. I was good, you know. One of the best. You saw the way I lived. I had access to all sorts of connections and opportunities—things that Tessa could be a part of. She could live like a queen.”