by Seth Eden
“A better question would be why. Even if they believe you, what does that get you in the end?”
Samantha pursed her lips and fixed her gaze on him. Her dark eyes seemed to burrow through him to the point that he paused in finishing his meal. So taken aback was he by her stare that he almost retreated from the couch.
“They can be powerful allies, remember? If we can convince them this is all a mistake, that what you said about everything is true, then maybe they can help you find Ethan. Then I can still get my answers.”
Ah, there it was. Her true motives hadn’t been forgotten; she wasn’t doing any of this for him at all. For all she knew, this Dominic could still choose to execute him but still provide her with the means to find Ethan. Win-win or win-lose, she was coming out the victor regardless.
Zen got up with a grunt and wiped away whatever crumbs had settled on his lap.
“We can leave within the hour if you like. No reason we can’t get this over with sooner rather than later.” He didn’t want to delay what his fate would be.
Samantha paused in the middle of her meal. Did he really mean it? She did her best to smother her excitement, burying it deep within herself so that he wouldn’t get offended.
Then she questioned why she even cared. He was supposed to be her captor and nothing more. The almost-week they’d spent together was supposed to have meant nothing. And he’d changed all that, teaching her about shifters and helping her through her personal traumas. She hadn’t asked for any of that but she couldn’t undo or ignore the effect he’d had on her life in such a short amount of time.
It would be simpler to just agree to this plan than to debate with herself why all of it felt so wrong. Why, despite everything, her desire to go back had fallen by the wayside. To come to terms with that, however, would raise a plethora of questions and emotions she didn’t want to consider because they would only complicate things further.
“You’re right. Just let me wash up and I’ll be ready to go,” she replied with a half-hearted smile on her face. She almost let slip a moment of appreciation, a whispered thanks for taking care of her while she was here. But that would also cross a boundary that shouldn’t exist in the first place. Biting her tongue, she swallowed her gratitude and allowed the silence to consume them.
9
Samantha didn’t dare to look back when Zen took off. She didn’t want to see the small place that had been her home for four days. Strange, considering she’d dreaded this place when she’d first arrived.
“Are you comfortable?” he asked, raising his neck a little higher so that she wouldn’t slip off. She was situated comfortably between his shoulder blades, holding on to one of the large spikes that ran down the middle of his back. His flight pattern was much different from Jen’s, which had been smooth and graceful, despite the hurried pace. Zen flew more like a horse; the up-and-down motion made her stomach constantly nervous but she was trying her best to get used to it.
“Yes, quite,” she yelled over the howl of the winds around them. The conversation felt forced. Neither of them wanted to address the reasons for the sudden awkwardness between them, convincing themselves that there were other matters in play causing the other to act so strange.
She wasn’t sure what she was going to say once they got back to Cendarth or if Dominic and Jen would actually believe her, but it was worth a try.
She also didn’t know what she was going to do if Ethan happened to be there. He had a lot to answer for... and yet she felt herself shrinking at the thought of seeing him again. Would he know? Would he be able to tell that-
She shook her head. Nothing had happened in the past four days. There was nothing to be sorry for or to even regret. In fact, he would have to be the one apologizing to her for not coming to her rescue sooner. Or at all, for that matter.
Then she heard it. A strange sound overhead that seemed out of the ordinary. Zen wheeled his head around too to make sense of it.
A ship... no, three ships. Zen slowed to a hover, his brow furrowing.
“What’s wrong?”
Zen recognized the shape of those ships, had heard the sound of their engines before. That only meant one thing.
“... I think I’ve found my brother.”
Samantha followed his gaze and caught sight of the familiar silhouettes. Those were similar to the ships that had brought her to this planet, but what were they doing here? Dominic had revoked his contract with them, so it wouldn’t make sense for them to be here.
She wracked her brain, dwelling over a million possibilities as to why they would be back and what Ethan had to do with it.
Then she remembered Zen’s tale. Of how Ethan had been the one to hire the wolf-aliens in the first place to...
“Zen, no. We should just head to Cendarth and talk to them. Going there would be-”
Her words were cut off by the sudden drop. She barely managed to hold on in time as he dove toward the ground at breakneck speeds. The walls of the city grew closer and closer until he screeched to a halt and slipped her off his back into the nearest thick grove to break her fall.
“I can do this on my own.”
“Zen, Cendarth is right there!” She scrambled to her feet, picking the leaves and twigs out of her hair. Why was he being so stubborn now when the solution to all of their problems was just a twenty-minute walk away?
“Go talk to them, then. If you can convince them of everything, then I’ll have backup, won’t I?”
She wanted to argue, wanted to grab him by the snout and give him a furious shake, anything to stop him from making such a stupid mistake. But he was gone before then and she was sure that no matter what she might have tried, nothing would have been able to stop him.
She stood there until he was nothing but a black speck in the sky until that too disappeared behind the mountain range. There was nothing she could do now to bring him back, leaving her with no other choice but to head inside and speak with her friends.
It felt strange stepping into the city after the short period of time she’d spend away from it. Everything felt too clean and bright, like it was too perfect. The air smelled perfectly clean and it was so pristine, it looked like no one lived here.
A temptation tickled at the back of her mind to head back to the house she once dwelled in, to forget all of this and pretend as if nothing had happened... until she remembered that there was no house to go back to.
‘Stupid... what the hell are you so afraid of?’ She balled her fists up in the skirt of her dress and started towards the center of the city. She couldn’t betray Zen that way, not when there was the chance of fixing all of this.
Just as she got to the marketplace, a loud gasp stole her attention and determination away. There stood Julie with an upturned basket at her feet and her chosen fruit rolling away.
“Sam! Samantha!” The woman wasted no time, sprinting towards her as quickly as she could. She noticed the glimmer of tears in her eyes seconds before Julie collided with her and threw her arms around her neck.
“Oh my god, we’ve all been so worried about you! Are you alright?” She squeezed as tightly as she could, then held her out at arm’s length to get a good look at her.
“Thanks. I know this is going to sound rude, but I don’t have time for this. I’m sorry, but I have to go.”
“Samantha, what’s wrong?” Julie maintained the grip on her shoulder, concerned for her friend.
Samantha batted it away, annoyance lining her face.
“I said I don’t have time! I’ll explain later, okay?”
It hurt to brush Julie off like that, to disregard her concerns. But there were more important matters to take care of, problems that were much larger than her hurt feelings.
Samantha picked up the pace this time as she continued through the marketplace and towards the town center. She was elated to see the sight of the town hall and hurried her pace even more. Her calves burned and her chest ached for more air but she wasn’t about to stop for anyth
ing.
She was absolutely exhausted by the time she got to the double doors. The guards on either side stepped before her, their hands slightly raised in both defense and offense.
“State your business,” one of them demanded.
“Dominic... I need to speak to him...” She gasped for air. It was hard to put her thoughts into words at the moment.
“Speak your business,” the guard demanded again, a little more forcefully this time.
How could she condense her concerns into a small enough statement convey just how important the matter was? She didn’t have the time to go through the entire spiel of what she’d learned in her absence, and there was still the matter of whatever Zen was getting into at the moment.
“Tell him Samantha is here.”
“And he’s supposed to-”
“You go inside and you tell him Samantha is here. I’m not going to repeat myself.” Now it just felt like the guard was purposely trying to get on her nerves. But she had to remind herself that he was just doing his job.
That seemed to have done the trick, as the guard disappeared inside without another word. The other was left to keep guard, though he wouldn’t make eye contact with her. She didn’t know if that was because he was afraid of her or because he was just doing his job. Either way, she still had to wait and he didn’t look very interested in having a conversation.
It wasn’t long before one of the large doors was thrown open to reveal a startled Jen and Dominic just over her shoulder.
She could barely get a word out before she was dragged inside and issued away down another corridor. Samantha had never been inside the town hall before. It was a shame that she didn’t have the time to dedicate much of her attention to it.
“Say nothing,” Jen whispered quickly into her ear as they continued at a hurried pace. Samantha glanced back at Dominic, only to see a glower on his face. He wouldn’t meet her gaze... and that bothered her for some reason. As if he was silently accusing her of doing something wrong.
They soon stepped into the room at the end of the hall and closed the door behind them for privacy. Jen again through her arms around Samantha’s shoulders and pulled her in for a hug.
She was starting to get really tired of this.
“He hasn’t hurt you, has he?”
“Do I look hurt?” she replied curtly. She was growing annoyed with everyone being concerned about her well-being when they could see that nothing was wrong with her.
“Listen, whatever you might think of Zen, what he did wasn’t his fault. He wasn’t the one who burned our house down.”
Jen and Dominic looked at each other with worried glances. Something was definitely up.
“... what... what happened while I was...?”
“... did this Zen say why he took you?” Dominic asked.
“Why are you avoiding my question?”
“What did he tell you, Samantha? It’s important.”
She couldn’t see where they were going with this but explained everything anyway. From Zen’s reasons for taking her to the past he’d shared with her. About his wife and children, about the deal Ethan had struck with Dominic’s father to hire the wolf-aliens to do their dirty work. All of it.
Seeing them return furtive glances at each other once more told her that her explanation hadn’t helped matters.
“That’s exactly what Ethan said he would say.”
Ethan.
“Where is he? I want to talk to him.” Samantha shouldered past them towards the door but was stopped by the grip to her wrist. Surprisingly, it was Jen who’d grabbed her.
“He’s not here. And we’re not going to tell you where he is either. We don’t know if you’re...” Jen looked like she was trying to find the right word to say that wouldn’t offend her.
“Compromised? A traitor?” She yanked her wrist from Jen’s hand. Everything was spiraling even more out of control before she’d even had the chance to put everything in perspective.
“I’m not doing this for Zen, I’m doing this because I want to understand what’s going on! Did Ethan... did any of you even come looking for me?”
Dominic and Jen glanced at each other again.
“Ethan said he had it all under control. That we didn’t need to bother with...” Jen averted her gaze.
“Idiots. You two are idiots!” Samantha couldn’t help the hot tears that gathered in the corners of her eyes as she made another attempt towards the door. Dominic was the one to stop her this time, and he wasn’t as gentle as his wife was.
“I didn’t say you were free to go. If you really want to talk to Ethan, you can wait here. He’ll be back before the day is out.”
“How do you know that? ... so you do know where he is.”
“I never said I didn’t. Now sit.” Dominic dragged her a little roughly and sat her down in a chair.
“Dom, stop it. There’s no need to treat her like this.”
“No? She’s gone for almost a week, comes back unharmed, rambling about how Ethan is the bad guy - like he told us she would! - insults us, and we’re supposed to continue being civil to her?”
“And why are you taking Ethan’s side anyway?” she continued to bellow from her seated position, ignoring the side conversation they were having. “You’re not going to give Zen’s side of the story any consideration?”
“I was there. I saw what Zen’s wife was capable of. It was the right decision to make.” Dominic folded his arms over his chest. He looked ready to call in the guards and haul her away.
“Was it? Say the same thing happened to Jen here. You would’ve been content with your father sentencing her to death for something she had no say in, something she couldn’t control.”
Dominic’s lips grew thin as he chewed on that thought. He’d already stood against his father for Jen’s benefit before. What kind of hypocrite would he be to say yes?
Samantha caught wind of it too. She was aware of everything Dominic and Jen had been through and there was nothing they wouldn’t do for each other.
“He’ll hurry if he knows I’m here.”
“He already does. He has... business to attend to.”
“Business with who? What are you guys not telling me?”
Dominic shook his head and left. Jen remained and her gaze was averted once more.
“Jen. Where is Ethan?” It was more of a demand than a question. She didn’t want to give her any wiggle room to get out of this.
“Ethan’s north. He’s... waiting for Zen so that he can bring him here.”
“You... you let him set up a trap?!”
“What else were we supposed to do, Samantha? This isn’t our concern! It’s something they both have to deal with.”
“Based on lies!” Samantha wanted nothing more than to shake her by the shoulders and get her out of the way. Maybe there was some way she could get a message to Zen in time and warn him about what was happening. But at the rate he’d been flying, she was likely too late to do anything about it.
“How do you even know? You’ve been gone for, what, five days? And you’re going to start taking the word of the man who kidnapped you? How do you know he isn’t lying just to get you on his side, to turn you against us? That’s what he did with Ethan-”
“Jen, stop. I know what you think happened a few days ago, but we were both wrong. Zen didn’t burn down that house. It was already on fire when he got there. And the matter about his wife and kids...”
“They were killed for nothing. Because Dominic’s father felt threatened. Because Ethan felt threatened. And why did Zen have to get punished for any of that? He didn’t do anything wrong except love them. I’m telling you, none of this makes any sense. And you’re too blind in your perfect little life to see that.”
Her head whirled around from the strike to her cheek. Jen’s lips were drawn thin and there was harsh redness to her eyes that spoke of her ire and disappointment.
“Don’t you ever, ever say that to me again. Do you hear me
?”
Samantha was stunned into silence. Had she gone too far? Maybe. With everything still fresh in regards to Dominic’s father and Jen’s recent transformation, it might have been a little unfair to say that Jen’s life was anything close to perfect.
But the immediacy and the lack of hearing her out had gotten on Samantha’s nerves more than it should. She was concerned for Zen’s well-being, wanted to spare his life at all cost... and she wasn’t sure why. That left her confused, with her brain and stomach both tied in knots.
Jen left without another word, closing the door behind her. Samantha didn’t try to fight back, still in shock over the slap to her face. She listened to the dull thunk of the lock being done up, shutting her in until they deemed it ready to let her out. That left her in this small room with nothing to do... but think.
She paced at first, meandering back and forth across the tiny space, trying to come up with a plan when - and if - Ethan and Zen returned. What would she say to try and diffuse the situation? How would Ethan even respond to seeing her again?
... how would she respond?
No. She was going to have to give Ethan the benefit of the doubt and hear his explanation on everything that had happened. It was only fair to him... right?
The hour passed much more quickly than she’d expected. Her legs ached from her pacing, interrupted only by the loud sound of the lock being undone. She hurried to the door, eager to be let out so that she could...
There stood Ethan, looking as grim as ever. He was wrapped in a basic cloak, with bruises covering inch of his body that she could see. On seeing her, his expression didn’t change one bit. And that made her feel even sicker.
“Come with me.”
“Ethan...” Her past love for him demanded that she comfort him, gather him up in her arms and whisper apologies for... whatever she’d done that made him angry. Her confusion left her rooted in place until he made his demand again.
