Together Bound

by Elizabeth Noble

  “What?”

  “You told me yourself the chancellor had been acting oddly.”

  Witze nodded, gaze shifting to the boy behind Todd Ruger. He, like his master, was splattered with blood and some other yellowish, shiny substance that looked like it should be liquid but seemed stuck to their skin. The kid watched them with wide eyes. He didn’t look good at all, Witze decided. “Where is…Shaffer. Is he alive?”

  “No. He’s not.” Todd glanced back at Nick, met his gaze for a split second before focusing on Witze again. “I can take you to his remains. The kelbit’s nest was in those caverns we found under the slave dorms. Its body is in my quarters. It realized Nick and I are sentries. We were its next victims.” Todd held up his hands, the backs facing Witze.

  Witze saw dozens of tiny red pinprick marks covering the man’s skin. “It did that to you?”

  Todd nodded. “When it decided to become me.”

  “Are you all right? Both of you?” Witze looked first at Todd, then around him to the boy.

  Another nod from Todd.

  “How do I know you are really not it?”

  “I can tell the difference and see it in its true form,” Nick said softly, shrugging slightly. “I can see evil creatures, sometimes see it in humans.”

  “This…uh…this came for you this morning.” Witze picked up the box and held it out. It was sort of a stupid thing to do and say, but he needed time to collect his thoughts. Besides, he really wanted to see what was in it and why it was so important as to be delivered by special courier and not the regular mail system.

  Todd stepped forward and took the box and stared down at it, rubbing his thumbs gently over the wrapping.

  “Todd.” The boy’s voice was so soft it was more of an exhale.

  He turned away, ripped open the covering, and opened the box. Witze expected a weapon to come from its interior, certainly not what he saw Todd extract. Smiling softly, Todd held out the object for Nick to see. With tired eyes, Nick looked up at the man from under long, shaggy bangs.

  “Better than new, just like I promised.” Todd crouched down in front of Nick. “They even fixed the catch. No more frayed ends. And all the stains are gone, see?”

  Nodding, Nick said, “Yes, sir.”

  Witze saw a flicker of hurt cross Todd’s face. It lasted no more than a second or two, but it was long enough to tell Witze this man wasn’t accustomed to being called sir by his slave. Nor was it something he particularly wanted.

  Todd held a collar, not like the simple ones the slaves were issued here at the compound, but one much nicer. It was dark-brown braided leather with a silver catch and loop. A matching strip of flat leather was under the braiding. Todd laid it over his knee and reached out, behind Nick’s neck. Nick bent his head. Todd unbuckled the collar Nick had been issued before arriving at the estate, flung it across the room, and replaced it with the braided one. Smiling, he brushed a hand through Nick’s bangs.

  “Better?”

  Nick nodded. “Much.”

  “That’s my boy.” Todd moved his hand around and cupped the back of Nick’s head, pulled his slave closer, and pressed a soft kiss to Nick’s forehead. “Get those things off your wrists.”

  Witze had heard of the sorts of bonds shared by master and slave, but he’d only seen the results of one of them being left behind. He’d never seen it in action, and it warmed him.

  Nick slowly unbuckled the wristbands and let them drop to the floor beside his knees. His gaze skittered from Todd to Witze and back again.

  “It’ll be okay. I promise.” Todd’s voice was raspy and low.

  It struck Witze like a bolt of lightning: there was still more going on here. “Which one of you killed this…?”

  “Kelbit. It’s a very ancient type of shape-shifter.” Todd stood and turned on his heel, facing Witze fully again. “They don’t die easy. You have to use a special silver-edged knife and sever its spinal cord.” When Witze frowned, Todd sighed and shrugged. “Cut off its head.”

  Witze dragged his gaze from Todd and landed it on Nick. “Which one of you killed it?”

  Todd shifted from one foot to the other. “We’re sentries.” Todd’s voice was hard, his eyes flat. “There was nothing illegal done. Vice Chancellor Clarke hired us and set up our cover. Check with him.”

  “I will.” Witze looked at Todd, then back to Nick. “You killed it, didn’t you, son?”

  Nick didn’t answer, simply looked up at his master and swallowed hard.

  It was all the answer Witze really needed. A slave even remotely involved with the death of the chancellor would have little defense against the act, sentry or not and everyone in this room knew it. Any slave who admitted to killing another person, even in self-defense, was treated as sternly as the law permitted.

  “All the proof you’ll need is down in those caverns and in my quarters.” Todd’s voice was steady, despite how he looked.

  Witze nodded. “Show me.” He motioned them to the door.

  Nick looked up at Todd again. The older man nodded, and Nick slowly stood up and stepped closer to his master. Todd moved to the side, allowing Witze to walk by and to the door. After stopping long enough to be sure the two men were indeed behind him, Witze led the way to the slave dorms. He stole glances at the sentry and his slave—the sentries—as they walked. It was obvious they’d been through an ordeal, but the way the kid was slow to focus and take in his surroundings worried Witze. Once they were in the dorms and heading down to the caverns, he noticed how Nick seemed to zone out for a few seconds every couple of minutes.

  Witze thought he’d prepared himself for whatever was waiting in the cavern, but he was wrong. The smell hit first. It was sickly sweet, some combination of decaying flesh and an odor he’d never experienced before. Panting quick breaths in through his mouth and out his nose to keep from gagging, Witze took a good look at the body.

  Kneeling in front of the cocoon, Witze peered closely at the human remains inside the broken and cracked skeletal cocoon. The grayish, heavy strands were interwoven and split down the middle like a cracked egg. What was left of the chancellor was withered and a pasty gray that matched the twines encasing him. The eye sockets were empty and lips nonexistent. The once robust, slightly overweight man had been reduced to little more than a skeleton with brittle skin pulled over it. Witze couldn’t help the grimace and sharp inhale.

  “I wouldn’t touch that stuff without gloves.” Todd poked at the decimated cocoon with a toe. “The thing hunts using pheromones and venom. I have no idea what that crap will do to you.”

  Turning far enough to glance back at Todd, Witze nodded. He stood and backed away from the thing. Another cocoon made of the same heavy strands of material was nearby. That one was shimmering and a more opalescent color that led Witze to believe it was fresher. It had a jagged rip down the center with smaller bits of it dangling loose in the vacant cavity. With a flick of his wrist at the cocoon, he asked, “This is where you were?”

  Todd nodded silently.

  Witze couldn’t help the shiver. He could only imagine what it had been like for the man, being trapped inside this odd, suffocating enclosure. It had to have been claustrophobic at the least and terrifying at most. Witze was familiar with sentries, of course. He’d met some in passing and even dealt with one or two before, but never to this extent and never with one undercover in his facility.

  They went in silence back to the security building. Witze organized a detail to secure the caverns and clean up the remains. He spent a few minutes issuing strict orders that anyone talking about what they’d see in anything other than an official manner would find themselves in jail—permanently. With Todd, Nick, and a second crew in tow, they went to Todd’s quarters.

  Witze went through the door first and stopped short. If what he’d seen inside the caverns was bad, this was hideous. The entire suite was in shambles. Blood splattered the walls and floors. Someone had put up a hell of a fight. A quick glance back at the two men g
ave Witze his answer. Nick had taken the brunt of the attack.

  There was a body, and as Todd had said, it looked like him. Exactly like him. The only real difference was the fact the neck had been run through by a knife—multiple times, by the look of it—until head and body were separated. The head had rolled away and was positioned so the face was turned up. Bits of the same oddly colored substance that speckled Nick’s skin, but more gelatinous, were scattered in a fan shape across the floor between body and head.

  People flooded the small room, beginning the task of clearing away the body. Todd glared down at the remains for a few seconds before turning to the others in the room. “Wear gloves. Don’t get any of the residue on you.”

  A soft choking noise made Witze turn and look at the sentry, then past him to his slave. The kid was staring at the head, eyes wide, skin pale and clammy looking. Witze squinted at him. He was trembling, fine jitters that ran continuously along his limbs and down his sides. Witze was barely able to imagine what it would be like to kill something that looked like his master and mate. His heart went out to the boy.

  He’d witnessed a short time ago the bond between Todd and Nick. It was deep, powerful, and incredibly loving. Simply seeing the body and face would be enough to give Witze nightmares for years, let alone having to confront and battle this thing to the death.

  Reaching out, Witze tapped Todd’s arm gently and nodded beyond him to the slave. “Are you sure you want him here?”

  “He stays with me,” Todd responded, harshly, Witze thought.

  Witze realized Todd didn’t understand what he was getting at. Nick swayed on his feet, his chest rising and falling more rapidly with every taken breath. “I didn’t mean…you really don’t want him here.” Witze stepped to the side and started moving around Todd to his slave. The man immediately jerked sideways a step, mouth opening.

  “Todd.” Nick’s voice was breathless and shaky. “I can’t breathe very well…”

  Eyes getting wider, Todd froze for a second, staring at Witze. In the next instant, he turned on his heels and moved toward his slave. “Nicky!”

  Nick’s head dropped, and his hands twitched at his sides. His mouth opened, gulping in breaths, and his chest shuddered with the effort. In the next instant, his knees bent, and he started a slow crumple toward the floor.

  “Oh, no, no, no.” Todd’s arms thrust forward in a jerky, odd type of action. The rest of him followed, and he caught the kid before Nick hit the floor and scooped him up, held tightly to his chest. “He needs a doctor.”

  “Yeah.” Witze grabbed the arm of the closest person, a young woman. “You, and you—” he took a few steps and addressed a man “—help him get this boy to the clinic.”

  “We’ll need a wagon, sir. The slave clinic is on the other side of the estate.” The woman looked from Witze to the two young men.

  “That’s too far,” Witze snapped. “Take him to the clinic in the security building.”

  “But, sir—”

  Meeting Todd’s eyes, Witze barked out, “Now!”

  Todd started to follow the two security officers. He stopped and turned back. “Thank you.”

  “Be sure the medical staff know they’re under my orders to treat these two.” Witze moved forward, hand coming to rest on Todd’s shoulder as he ushered the man to the door. “I’ll come by and check on you both as soon as I can. Now, go get your young man taken care of.”

  * * * *

  Their arrival caused more than a small stir in the employee clinic. Two nurses and a doctor rushed forward with a gurney when Witze’s orders were repeated to the staff. Todd gratefully deposited his cargo onto it. Nick might have been long and lean, but he was still heavy, and after carrying him the distance between the quarters and the clinic, Todd’s arms felt like lead.

  “What happened?” The doctor was speaking to Todd but already examining Nick.

  “H-he was attacked by an animal. I’m not sure what. He was bitten.” Todd put a hand on Nick’s shoulder and rolled him far enough to expose the kelbit’s bite wound.

  Straightening, the doctor gasped. “What the—?” He gave Todd a hard stare. “I’ve never seen an animal bite like this.”

  “I can’t tell you anymore.”

  “Look, I need to know what did this.”

  “He was attacked and ingested venom. There may have been some in the wounds, too. I don’t know. It’s that.” Todd pointed to the dried bits of kelbit saliva on Nick’s skin. “There.”

  The doctor nodded and focused on one of the nurses. He started issuing orders. Todd’s head spun. The guy was talking about getting samples and starting IVs, cleaning and dressing wounds. The next thing he knew, Nick was being whisked away from him. When he scrambled to keep up, the doctor stepped between Todd and the gurney with Nick sprawled across it.

  “Mr.…?” The doctor put his hands on Todd’s shoulders. He shook Todd gently. The man was nearly as tall as Todd and about the same age.

  “Ruger.”

  “Mr. Ruger. I’m not sure what’s going on here, but for Larry Witze to order you both be treated here, it must be pretty out of the ordinary. You own that kid. I got that. We’ll take good care of him and you. But right now I need you to sit down, let the nurse check you over.” He turned and pointed to a door. “What’s your slave’s name?”

  “Nick…that’s Nick.”

  “That door, see?”

  Todd nodded. The doctor smiled and continued, talking slowly, maintaining eye contact with Todd the entire time.

  “I’m taking Nick in there. We just need to get his wounds cleaned up and get some fluids into him. Then I’m going to take a look at that stuff all over him. We can’t do our job with you in the way. An hour, I promise, and he’ll be with you.”

  Swallowing roughly, Todd looked from the doctor to Nick and nodded again. He let one of the nurses lead him to a regular hospital room not too far down the hall. She had him strip to the waist, hold his arms up, and turn in a circle so she could examine his collection of cuts and abrasions.

  “There is a shower through there. Make sure you scrub those cuts good. You shouldn’t need sutures in any of them. I’ll bandage them up when you’re done. While you’re in there, I’ll send someone back for your clothes.”

  “And Nick’s.”

  She nodded and smiled, then slipped out the door and closed it softly behind her. When Todd was done in the shower, properly scrubbed as directed, he found all his duffels and possessions sitting in a corner of the room. He’d just finished dressing—the clean clothes more welcome than he’d have thought—when there was a soft knock on the door.

  He crossed the room, surprised to find the doorknob had been locked from the inside. He opened it and found the nurse standing in the hall. She smiled kindly at him. “Ready for a roommate?”

  Todd let out a huge breath of relief. “Yeah. Hell yeah, I am.”

  Nick was still out, but it was obvious he’d been cleaned up. He sported a few bandages, and when two orderlies hefted him from the gurney and onto the bed, Todd saw the roundish bite wound was covered with a large white gauze pad taped securely in place. The doctor trailed behind and motioned Todd to sit. He waited until they had Nick settled in the bed, then perched on the edge, hand resting on Nick’s arm.

  “We gave him some fluids and started him on antibiotics. That bite wound on his shoulder is nasty and starting to get infected. I think that’s where most of his trouble is coming from. He’s got a bit of a low-grade fever, but that should clear up in the next twelve hours or so. Mostly exhaustion and whatever the venom is. I took the samples we got off him to the lab. So far it’s interesting but not deadly. I think if it was a fatal venom, we wouldn’t be sitting here talking about it.”

  “So he’s going to be okay?”

  “A few days’ rest, plenty of fluids to flush his system out, and yes, I think so.”

  The doctor nodded curtly. “Mr. Witze has instructed you both to stay here until Nick is awake. Then he’s g
ot some better accommodations for you.”

  “He won’t have to be moved to the slave clinic?”

  “No. If you need anything, let the nurses know.”

  Todd smiled. He was tired, so it was a huge effort. “Thanks.”

  With that, he and Nick were alone in the room. Todd wiped a hand over his face, stood, and stretched, twisting his torso from side to side and getting a few satisfying pops from his spine. He paced across the small room before returning to the bed. He grabbed a chair and pulled it close. After a while—Todd wasn’t sure how long, but he had the sense quite a few hours had gone by—there was a soft knock again.

  “Come in.” Todd shifted from the chair to the edge of Nick’s bed.

  The same nurse as before came in, pulling a small cart behind her. “How’s he doing?”

  “Not bad.” Todd glanced back at his mate, his face immediately pulling into a broad smile when he saw soft, almond-shaped hazel eyes following every move. “And awake.” Brushing a hand through Nick’s bangs, Todd asked, “How you feeling?”

  “Tired. Sore.” Nick yawned and pushed farther up the bed so he was sitting.

  The nurse held up a thermometer. “Temperature check. Then you get to drink this container of water. Need to get those toxins flushed out.”

  “Yes, ma’am.” Nick obediently opened his mouth, landing a put-out look on Todd.

  Todd scooted down the bed, out of her way, and curled his hand around Nick’s hip.

  “I have to say, you’re probably the politest patient I’ve had in a long while.” She pulled the thermometer away and looked at it. “Back to normal. I bet you guys get sprung tomorrow. Hungry?”

  Glancing back at Nick, Todd lifted his eyebrows and grinned when Nick nodded. “He’s always hungry.”

  “You, too.” Nick poked his side.

  After their meal was brought in and they were alone again, Todd slid one arm around Nick’s shoulders, pulling him forward. “Can I see?”

  Nick nodded against him. “Todd, I’m sorry.”

  “For what? This?” Todd gingerly lifted the bandaging over the kelbit’s bite. Satisfied the wound had been properly cared for, he smoothed the gauze back into place. “I’m the one who needs to apologize. I’m supposed to protect you, and I left you completely open to that thing, Nicky.”