“You’re sopping wet.”
“I was afraid you’d faint. It was foolish of me to allow you in here alone. It was also thoughtless to not have ordered food.”
“Mmm.” His hands feel so good. “Is there a processor nearby?”
“No, we don’t use those here. Only when we travel.”
By now he’s finished. The water turns off and the door opens. He wraps me in a sheet of some type of soft fabric that isn’t the kind of towel I’m used to, and the water is sucked right off of my body. Next, he puts a smaller one around my hair and when he takes it off, my hair is nearly dry. Then he strips and dries himself off.
“May I comb it?”
“Yes, but I’m sure it’ll be tangled.”
He only smiles and uses a weird looking comb. It has funny looking things on the end of each tooth. When he runs it through my hair, it doesn’t snag at all.
“What is that thing?”
He chuckles. “Magic.”
“Let me see.” I grab it and look closely at it. On the end of each tooth appears to be a tiny ball. But that’s all I can gather.
“Satisfied?”
“You’re not going to tell me, are you?”
He laughs again. “It has MSI technology.”
“Ahh, the artificial intelligence thingies.”
He smirks and shakes his head, while snatching back the comb. “In a manner of speaking.”
“Come here.” He spreads his arms and I walk right into his embrace. “Have I ever told you that I could envelop myself in your hair, inhale it, bind my arms and hands in it, and spread its silkiness all over my flesh?” His hands sink into my slightly damp tresses.
Whoa. And he’s trying to get me to dress so we can go eat somewhere. Really? Looking up at his face, I say, “No. But if you continue to say things like that, you’ll never take me to eat, because right now I want to taste you, Sabin.”
He practically growls when he says, “We need to get dressed.”
It only takes me a couple of minutes to throw on jeans and a T-shirt, and he puts on full-body leather like he was wearing before, takes my hand and walks me out of the room. I am in shock at this house. No, not a house, it’s a mansion.
“You live here?”
“Hmm. It’s my home. I grew up in this house.”
“Sabin, this is not a house. It’s a palace.”
“Some would say that.”
“Are you going to shed a little light here?”
When he doesn’t answer, I know he’s not. Damn, is everyone here wealthy? And where is here?
“We are on the planet Nyan’trua.” He sounds like a cat purring when he says it as he rolls the ‘r.’
“Neentrua?”
“Close enough.” He pulls me into his side. Sabin has become much more publicly affectionate here, I’ve noticed.
“Your language, is it close to mine?”
“Not even a bit.”
“Can I learn it?”
“Serena, we don’t learn languages on Nyan’trua. We use MSIs. There are simply too many languages out there to become proficient in. It doesn’t make sense for us to actually learn them.”
“I see. So I’ll never be able to speak, er, Neruntrun.”
“Nyan’truan.”
“Whatever.”
“No, as I’ll never be able to speak the thousands of languages and dialects spoken on Earth.”
“Thousands?”
“When you take into consideration slang, dialects, tribal languages, yes.”
He has a point. But one?
“Remember the markings on the food processor?”
“Yeah.”
“That is our language.”
“I’m teachable, Sabin.”
“It’s easier for me to speak in your tongue.”
And that’s it. End of story. By now we’ve made so many turns, I’m lost. A woman approaches us.
“Ah, Ms. Callahan. It’s lovely to meet you.” She bows her head.
Sabin introduces me to her. Graylyn is her name and apparently she runs everything here.
Sabin tells her he is going to give me the tour after lunch, but then The Seven have a meeting of some sort and he wants Graylyn to make sure I have everything at my disposal and know where everything is.
“I will be sure to handle everything, L’han. Ms. Callahan, I will see you later.” She makes this odd little bow again and leaves.
When she’s out of earshot, I ask, “What’s a lahan?”
He gives me no response.
“I see. So, Serena, are you enjoying yourself? Yes, I am, thank you very much. And where would you like to go? Well, I would like to go back to Earth, where people actually have the decency to answer questions when I ask them.” I storm off, which is pointless because I have no idea where we are headed.
“Serena, stop.”
Ignoring him, I keep walking. Why can’t he just say, “Listen Serena, I really can’t talk about it.” Or, “I’m embarrassed to tell you.” Or, “I don’t know what the fuck it is?” But noooooo. He completely shuts me out.
One thick arm winds around my waist and stops any further progress on my part.
“L’han is a term of great respect, more than sir. Maybe like master, but not to the degree of ownership. It’s complicated.”
“While I may be fragile and my mind may be beneath your high intellect, I am not stupid and I can do complicated. You don’t have to treat me like a toddler that can’t comprehend a fucking thing.” My cheeks are cold and when I raise my hand to see why, I figure it out. I’m crying. You have got to be shitting me. I’m goddamn crying in front of him. Again. How many times now? I can’t even count. I never cry. I gave that up when I left my shitty parents’ house. Or so I thought. But here I am, letting the old tears drain out. I shove against him, trying to dislodge his hold on me, but he’s much too strong for my fragile attempt at escape. And then the truth slaps me in the face. Oh my god! Why didn’t I see this before? I turn in his arms so I can face him.
“I’m a toy for you, aren’t I? Like a lab experiment. The weak and fragile species that you want to study. You’re putting me in a cage, so you can do exactly that, aren’t you? That’s why you never tell me anything or answer my questions!”
His pupils expand momentarily and then retract. The tiny muscle in his jaw clenches and his outrage is palpable. He snarls the words, but they are distinct and the moment he speaks I realize my error. And it is grave. “You think I’ve brought you here as a lab experiment? You think I claimed you so that you could be my pet? And you call this,” he sweeps his arm through the air, “a cage?” He steps away from me and proceeds to put his hand through the wall. I am mortified. I’ve never witnessed anyone demonstrate such a blatant display of anger before. “Go. Leave before I do something I regret.” His words are chopped, as he spits them out through gritted teeth.
Where the hell do I go? I don’t know where I am in this monstrosity of a house. I back away in fear as much as anything else. With hands covering my face, I veer down one hall and then the next until I spy a door. Its heavy appearance makes me believe it leads outside. Before I give it another thought, I step toward it and it automatically opens and then closes behind me. Brilliant sunshine and scenery that is akin to fantasyland greets me and I’ve never seen anything like it. Mountains in the distance and a sky so blue leave me stunned at the beauty of it all. Rolling hills of green grass that end in a gorgeous lake make me want to rip off my shoes and run until I hit the water. But my stomach lets out an enormous growl and I remember we were on our way to lunch. I’m not sure if I can swallow a bite after what happened, but I suppose I should perhaps try.
I turn around to open the door, but find it locked. Nice. Great. Exactly what I need. I knock a few times and no one answers. Then I pound and get the same result. The walkway I’m on leads to some kind of parking lot maybe, but there are no cars and there is an enormous—and I mean enormous, like twenty foot high, wall—that surrounds it. That means I need to
go the other way.
This way leads to a row of hedges that I have to force my way through, and when I do, I discover that this place is larger than I originally thought. I think I’m in a maze. It’s confusing because I can’t tell where I am from looking at the mansion. There are huge windows in front of me, so I try to get a peek inside, but shutters block my view. Figuring that my best bet is to follow the house, I stay close to it and keep going, until I realize that it’s built into the side of a hill. And the drop off is too steep for me to follow.
Turning back to the window, I fist my palms and bang on it, yelling in the hopes someone will hear me. But my fists make no sound when they make contact with the glass. I’m beginning to wonder if I’m in some sort of weird computer dream. How can I bang my hands against the glass and they produce no noise whatsoever? I need to refocus on a new plan now.
I strain my neck, trying to see how far up the walls of this place go. Maybe I can climb up. But then what? It’s hot, sunny, and I’m damn thirsty. Using my shirt, I wipe the sweat off my face. There has to be a way inside this place.
Backtracking, I follow the wall and jostle my way back through the hedge. By now, I’m sweating and all scratched up from the branches. The scratches are red and beginning to itch, too. What a great day this is turning out to be. Jesus, would someone just look out the fucking window already and see me? I finally get back to the door I exited from and yell and pound on it. Maybe someone will hear me. I even kick the damn thing. My throat really burns from yelling, and it’s itchy, too. My mouth is so dry I’m parched.
“Will someone just let me in the damn house?”
Exhaustion, hunger, and thirst are about to get the best of me. I brace my arms on the sides of the door and suddenly a voice says, “Identify subject.”
“Oh, shit.” I jump back in fright.
The monotone voice responds, “Oh shit not identifiable.”
Moving back into the doorframe, I say, “No, not shit. I’m Serena.”
“No not shit I’m Serena not identifiable.”
I’m going to kill this fucking thing. “Serena Callahan.”
A whoosh of air hits me from toe to head and back down again. Then the door slides open. Are you fucking kidding me? I’ve been roaming around the whole time when all I had to do was lean on the damn doorframe? I walk inside and exactly thirty-two steps later I collapse.
Fourteen
Sabin
A lab experiment. A bloody lab experiment. I’m getting ready to stick my fucking neck in a noose and she thinks she’s my lab experiment. What the … why did I ever claim her? I should never have listened to Rafe. That cocksucker is going to pay for this. I’m going to …
“Sabin, you need to get to the main level by the rear supply entrance.” Rafe’s voice comes to me.
“What now?” I huff.
“It’s Serena. Graylyn found her. She was lying on the floor, unconscious.”
Part of me wants to tell him to handle my lab experiment, but the way my gut clenches when he says those words, I know I can’t stay here and do nothing. “On my way.”
By the time I arrive, Serena is sitting up and sipping some water. Her arms are covered in deep, fire-red scratches. Her cheeks look like she’s been in the sun for hours.
“What the hell happened?” I thunder.
Serena jerks at my voice. Graylyn, who is used to me, says in a calm tone, “I found her unconscious, L’han.”
“I already know that. Why are her arms so scratched and her face so red?”
“I got locked out of the house and tried to find a way inside.” Serena’s voice is thready and tremulous. This is my fault.
Practically shoving Graylyn out of the way to get to her, I bend down to scoop Serena up, but she slaps my hands away.
“Get away from me you asshole. You …” and she loses steam.
I don’t give her another chance to speak, but quickly carry her to my room, shouting to Graylyn to bring up some food.
“No. No food. I don’t feel well,” Serena rasps.
“What scratched you?”
“Those stupid bushes I crawled through.” She scratches her arms. “You’re a jerk, you know? You tell me to leave and I did, but I got locked out. I know nothing about this place. I tried to knock on the windows but nobody heard. Did you know when you knock on your windows it doesn’t make any sound?” She rubs her neck and scratches her arms again. Her pupils contract and expand as she tries to focus and she sounds terrible.
Bloody fuck. Those damned hedges my security team insisted on planting have poisoned her. Of course anyone here would know that, but Serena … how could she? What the fuck was I thinking, sending her away like that?
As soon as I get her on the bed, I walk to the small panel on the wall near my bed and tap it. A voice immediately answers. “L’han, what is it you need?” The simulated intellect will handle this.
“Protocol for treatment of ibitsit exposure in the human species needs to be instituted.”
“L’han, we will assist immediately.”
Minutes later a simulated intellect mobile unit appears. It assesses Serena.
“What is that thing?” The words are thick on her tongue.
“Something that’s going to save your life,” I tell her.
“Save my life?”
“Yes. Those hedges poisoned you, Serena.”
“I what?” Her words are already slurred. If treatment is not soon initiated, her pharynx and larynx would become paralyzed and her lungs would follow. Shortly after that, death would ensue.
The SIMD injects her with the antidote.
“Ow! That hurt.”
“That was the antidote to counteract the poison. The hedges are a security measure and you weren’t aware of their danger because you aren’t from Nyan’trua.”
“The subject is showing signs of reversal,” The SIMD says. Another few minutes pass when Serena’s coloring returns to normal and her arms begin to look better. “Subject is improved.” The device leaves.
Graylyn appears at the door with a tray. “Is she okay?”
“Yes, she’s been given the antidote. She’s fine.”
Serena only watches us and doesn’t say anything.
“Can you eat?” I ask her.
She doesn’t answer but thanks Graylyn as she sets the tray down on the bedside table. I slide a hidden tray from under the top, making a place to set the food. There is water for Serena and I hand it to her. She guzzles it like she hasn’t had anything to drink in eons.
“Easy there. You need to slow it down.”
Again, she doesn’t speak, but her eyes say enough that I know she’s angry as fuck. If I delved into her head, I’m sure she would be blasting me to hell and back.
“If you need anything else, L’han, just call.”
“Thank you, Graylyn.” She leaves and I look at Serena, who is eyeing the food.
“It’s yours. You should eat.”
She sits up straighter and reaches for the tray. It’s cumbersome and awkward, and I’m a dick for not helping her. In the end, a plate of bread, or the closest thing one can get to it here, slides off the tray and the bread goes everywhere. I curse, she jumps, and things go to hell. Those damn tears of hers are going to be my downfall.
“You’re not my goddamn lab experiment or my plaything.”
She swipes her hands across both cheeks. “I know. I’m sorry I said that. But dammit, you never tell me things and you treat me like a child and make me feel inferior. My feelings were hurt, so I struck out. I’m not inferior, Sabin. Stop treating me like I don’t have a fucking brain. And then you tell me to leave and put my life in danger. I have no idea where I am, how things work here, and you scared me when you said that.” She sniffs.
I rub my face. She’s right. I’m a shit. “Hell. I’m sorry, too.” Sitting next to her, I move the tray and try to hold her, but she bats my hands away and I deserve it. I wouldn’t blame her if she never let me touch her again. “It’s
not that I don’t want to tell you, it’s that I can’t. There are things I’m not able to tell you. I’m bound by a code of ethics. It’s a delicate matter here, Serena.”
Lifting her shirt, she manages to dry her face. “Why didn’t you say so in the first place? I can understand that. It would’ve made all of this unnecessary.” Then she elbows me in my side.
“Because when I talk to you, I find myself telling you far more than I should. I’m not very good at this … this thing that you and I have between us. I’m sorry. I promise I’ll be better and try not to be such a jerk. Now please eat before I force feed you.”
“Yes, L’han.” Sarcasm oozes out of her, but it makes me want to grin.
I settle the tray on her lap and make sure she’s comfortable. Between bites, she tells me precisely what happened to her. She has me chuckling after a few minutes with her rendition of it. I can only imagine a pissed off Serena, trying to penetrate the fortress of this place.
“When you finish, I’m going to walk you out of the back and show you around here. Then you’ll know where you are. And now, since you know how to get back inside, there’s no problem of you getting locked out again. All you have to do is put one hand on either side of the door.”
“Thank you, L’han.”
“And stop calling me that or I’ll have to spank that bottom of yours.”
Her eyes flash, then narrow as she assesses me. “I’m not joking. You should’ve eaten hours ago. Now bite, chew, and swallow.”
“You really are terribly bossy.”
“You’ve seen nothing, Serena.”
When her plate is clean, she announces she’s finished. “Good girl.”
“Don’t say that. It’s insulting. I’m not a girl.”
Touchy. “So then, how do you feel?”
“Fine. But one more thing. Don’t you ever pull that crap on me again. I mean it, Sabin. You’re a lot bigger and stronger than I am, but you can’t use that against me, or you may as well send me back to Earth right this minute.”
“You’re right and I’m sorry. I’ll never lay a hand on you that will harm you, Serena, and I mean it. I swear this to you. Tell me you believe me.” If she doesn’t, then I can’t have her stay.
The Hart Brothers Series Box Set (Including the bonus book Sabin: A Seven Novel): Freeing Her, Freeing Him, Kestrel, The Fall and Rise of Kade Hart, Sabin: A Seven Novel Page 131
