by Elise Jae
Shock has latched on to one of her breasts, and is coaxing even more, delightful sounds from her mouth.
This is what we could have. Every day. All of us.
If we can just convince Arc to stay.
Seven
CHRISTINA
I knew this day was coming after the first time they left me home to face the others. It’s my turn to don the armor though.
As we drive into the underground parking structure, I have a feeling Jess would object to being thought of as an evil queen… so I shift the mental image over to one of a dragon.
That’s more fitting of my eldest sister. And I doubt her brief time on this planet has changed anything.
“Ready?” Shock asks as he opens my door.
“Probably not, but let’s do it anyway.”
Risk is right behind me, but Arc is the one who takes my hand and leads me inside
The room we walk into is very clearly a command center for the Brotherhood.
It takes me a moment to get my bearings when my attention is yanked to the banks of equipment with blinking lights and fluctuating holographic displays.
“It’s like a war room in here.”
“That’s exactly what it is.” Arc says quietly.
The only thing that feels out of place is the enormous couch.
A couch my middle sister is being helped up from.
“Chris!” She waddles over to me, and almost manages a real hug.
Laurel is huge—though I wouldn't tell her that—and so happy it makes my chest hurt. I’m glad she’s the one who’s here to greet me as I walk in the door. Jessica and I might have lived together longer, but Laurel…. She’s the only one in the family I know won't judge me, no matter what.
“Hi Laur,” I look over her shoulder to the man I’ve only met via digital communique before. “Hi Ric.”
“Welcome to the club.”
The way he says it leaves me certain he’s talking to the men behind me more than he is to me.
Laurel has a tight grip on my hands
“Blink three times if they’re holding you hostage,” she says it with a conspiratorial wink, but I know that if I did, she’d have me out the door and to… whatever safety looks like, within the next five minutes.
“I’m exactly where I want to be.”
“Good.” Her smile falters, just a little as she glances toward the door. “Don’t let anyone try to tell you you don’t know that, okay?”
She squeezes my arm and nudges me back toward Arc.
I go as if pulled by the opposite pole of my magnet.
It’s been like this for the last week. I move, they move. Every shift met by a reaction… sometimes so subtle, I doubt they even notice it.
I don’t think Arc fully registers that he’s placed his hand on my back, or that his constant contact might be seen as steering me.
The other two notice his actions though I’m not sure they notice their own.
Drift’s bondmate moves into our path.
“Nice to finally meet you in person.” Kimba holds out her hand and I shake it. “I imagine you’ve been busy.”
The look she shoots over my shoulder is accusing, but there’s no suggestion in it. Somehow.. I imagine she’d be less critical of the three of them if I let her in on what’s been keeping me occupied.
But she doesn’t give me the chance.
“It doesn’t matter now. Would you like anything?”
“No, I’m perfectly alright.”
“Are you sure? I can offer you almost any type of alcohol.”
It might have been fishing… but it doesn’t feel like that kind of a lure, and her next words clarify.
“I don’t know if you’ve fully prepared for the onslaught your sister may bring to bear.”
“Has she been that bad?”
“Be thankful I’ve managed to keep her from storming the fortress to get to you.”
I had wondered why no one had shown up and now I knew who I had to thank for it. “I’ll be alright. Jess and I have been fighting since I learned how to say the word ‘no’ and I don’t think we’re going to stop until one of us is dead and buried. If I needed to drink to get through an argument with her, I’d be an alcoholic.”
Kimba’s brows raise and she looks from me, over my shoulder. And I don’t have to guess which of them she’ locked eyes on. “Then it’s no surprise you get along.”
She leaves me, and I watch her go as Arc slides his hand around my arm, tugging me. When I turn, I see that Shock and Risk had already moved on, they’re talking to Laurel’s mate and another man who is watching the woman with Laurel very closely.
“Cindy is Core’s mate. They were the first among us to have a child. He is, understandably, protective.”
“Of course.”
The door opens again, and I shift, so that Arc’s body blocks me from view as Jessica and Trench arrive.
“I thought you were an old pro at arguing with your sister,” Arc says, a wry twist to his lips. “But here you are… hiding.”
“Just because I’m a veteran with tried and true tactics, doesn’t mean I want to go into battle. Especially here.”
Thankfully, Jess doesn’t make a beeline for me when she and Trench break apart. But as she goes to laurel, and he moves toward us….
I’ve spent the last week in the company of three sian men… but that didn’t prepare me for being around nine of them in such a small setting as Drift’s war room.
The ones who haven’t met me before cast quick and curious glances my way. But those looks shift to one of the three men around me and almost as quickly, they move on.
Trench, Jess’ bondmate and Arc’s brother, approaches us before Jess does. He casts a glance over his shoulder at her before he says anything, and when he does, he doesn’t bother to reintroduce himself, despite the fact we’ve only ever met once, over video chat.
“I’m glad you decided to come tonight. I believe another no-show would have put my brother’s life at risk.”
I study his face for half a moment, the lazy smile, the way his eyes shift to Arc….
“She might have tried to hurt him, but we both know there are at least three of you in this room who would have stopped her before she could do any damage. Even if Arc wasn’t willing to defend himself against the assault.”
“There you are!” Jess pushes Arc out of the way to get to me and grabs me in a rib crushing hug. “Why are you avoiding me?”
I don’t tell her it’s because she has a tendency to try to bulldoze my opinions, or that I know she won’t understand what I want.
“The kidnappers drugged me, and I wanted all of my wits about me when I finally faced you.”
She pulls back, holding me at arms length, eyes narrowed. “What’s that supposed to mean?
“It means,” Laurel said as she joins us, Richter helping her. “That you can be overbearing in your protectiveness. She’s not twelve anymore.”
Jess’ mouth shifts to a pinched frown, and I know she’s gone back to the referenced time, to when I decided I’d had enough of everyone in the family and ran away. I’d gotten two states away before they finally reeled me back in, and since then….
“Here’s what’s going to happen, you and I are going to have a long talk, but first, you’re moving in with me and Trench.”
“No.”
She flinches, blinking at me like she can’t quite believe I’d deny her her solution.
“I’m not going back to your place, and there’s really nothing for us to talk about.” I don’t stomp my foot and remind her of my age. Mostly because with Jess, it would be counterproductive. “You’re my sister, not my mother.”
“And thank God for that. Can you even imagine what would happen if she was here?”
“I imagine we’ll get a little taste of it when I finally have to tell her where I am.”
Jessica actually goes white. “She doesn’t know where you are?”
“No. I have some friends ru
nning interference.”
“That’s cruel, Chris.”
“I’d like to point out that, of the three of us… I’m the only one who didn’t come here without telling her by choice.”
Laurel laughs, turning her head away as if it will help. “She has a point, Jess.”
“Don’t take her side!”
“Why does it matter whose side I take, mom’s going to blame me for this anyway.”
“It’s true.” I glance at where Arc and Trench are watching us. “My guess is, they’ll blame you for coming in the first place and putting the idea in my and Jess’ heads.”
Laurel’s sigh is tired. “And she wonders why it was so easy for me to leave the planet.”
I’m saved from more as Kimba calls the meeting to order, and while Jess is distracted, I move to where Risk is seated, settling into place beside him, Arc taking the place by my other side. Shock is close, but he doesn’t sit. He hovers behind, as if waiting for some sort of attack.
There’s a brief moment of confusion, something said in sian that I don’t understand, between Drift and another of the brotherhood to whom I haven’t been introduced. But it passes, and the man sits, leaning back against the sofa, arms crossed, scowling.
Leaning to me, Risk says. “That’s Strike, he’s upset that Drift isn’t doing more to figure out why you’re here. His bondmate is due to arrive next week and he’s gotten very worried about the protections we have in place.”
I notice Trench doing the same, but the other women in the room clearly speak the language, just like Laurel does.
Because Jess and I are the two who aren’t technically supposed to be here.
Kimba opens the discussion with a quick recap of the number of incursions, showing where they are and assigning a patrol duty to the location that several have been spotted. The number of sightings has increased.
“That’s probably our fault,” she says with a pinched smile as she looks around the room. “Does anyone have anything they need to bring up before we move on?”
The room descends into a beat of silence, and more than one head turns towards me.
It’s clear, I’m the topic that warrants the most discussion.
“So,” Drift says to the silence, jaw tensed.
When he looks at me, I get the feeling he hasn’t forgiven me for calling his wife on him when we first met. “Any ideas as to who kidnapped you?”
“None whatsoever. I’ve looked through the news sources I’ve been able to access from the planet, and there’s no sign that anyone knows I’m missing—other than two friends who are helping me run interference. And if my mother knew I was gone, I can assure you, we would have heard her a galaxy away.”
Richter scoots forward on the sofa, as if the two inches made a difference. “Do you know why they took you? Some special reason, like your job?”
“She doesn’t have a job.” Jessica says dismissing the question. “Could it be something against the brotherhood? Our little sister as a hostage might be something a person would think they could use against those of us trying to stop a bombing?”
“Maybe.”
I don’t know who it is that agrees with Jess, because I can’t stop looking at her. “I have a job.I work for the Agency”
My current plans don't exactly lean toward my keeping it in its current iteration, but….
The conversation continues, but not for Jess and me. Brows pinched together she glares at me. “When did that happen?”
“A year and a half ago….” It occurs to me then. “How did you think I was covering my half of rent? For that matter, how did you expect me to cover the whole thing when you decided to stay?”
Jess blinks at me. “Do you think your job might have had something to do with it?”
“No, I’m just incredibly offended.”
“Chris,” she says, a warning.
“Jess” I say right back.
Laurel is the only one in the room laughing. But she’s used to this… hell, half the time, she was the one who’d started it.
Turning away from them both, I look to Kimba, not Drift. “If not for Laurel and Jess being here, I’d say it was completely random. But the blackmail angle is the only thing that sounds right. Have you had any contact that might suggest that’s the case?”
“No. But they might think you died in the explosion.”
“And there are no more sisters to kidnap, so…. Maybe that part of this is over.” I don't believe that. Something sickly and cold has settled like a rock in my stomach, but I don’t mention it.
There’s no substance behind it, no reason to voice the concern.
With a sharp nod, Kimba says, “Keep thinking, we’ll do the same.” And then she moves on.
I listen with half of my attention as she mentions a storm that will be blowing in over the next few days, the potential for that to cause problems, both with keeping the monsters out—who knows what visibility is going to be like—and with the potential electrical issues again.
“You got here just in time for the annual blizzards.” She smiles, but it’s soft… sad. And then she turns her focus back to the men at the middle of the couch. “You’ve lived through these before, gentlemen. I expect you to take the proper precautions, and for those of you with new additions to your homes, don’t shy away from letting your bondmates know just how scary these blizzards can be. If you go out in one, you’re more likely to die, than if a monster winds up in your garage.”
The last is said with a sideways glance at Jess, and I wonder what story I wasn’t told.
As the meeting breaks up I watch the others as they fall into normal habits, the groups they divide into.
The people in this room are more comfortable with Shock and Risk—though it’s clear that Shock is the one they go to as a quasi leader of the threesome.
It’s why I don’t move from Arc’s side.
I don’t know if anyone else notices they do it… but I’m certain he does.
A second glance around the room sends a shiver down my spine.
Cindy and Core are off in one corner as she feeds their infant.
Laurel and Richter have stepped to the window, speaking in tones too low to hear.
And Jessica and Kimba are discussing the latter’s impending child as their bondmates look on.
The old adage about sneezes resulting in pregnancy seems apt here. I glance at Arc, wondering….
Shock has squatted down behind the sofa, he says something to Arc, quick and sharp.
“It’s getting dark.” Arc brushes his thumb across my nape. “Are you ready to go?”
“Yes.” I’m ready to be alone with them again.
But I don’t dare say that anywhere near Jess. She’d probably try to kidnap me all over again.
It’s why I’m glad Kimba has her trapped in a conversation about the committee they’re on and all she has the ability to do is wave a goodbye and cast a threatening look.
It’s Laurel who breaks away and meets me at the door.
Laurel helps me into my coat and spins me around for a hug. “Come visit me soon,” she says before dropping her voice. “And tell me which one’s going to make you stay on this planet.”
ARC
The meeting was… harder for me than I thought it would be.
All of the usual problems were amplified with Chris sitting by my side.
The fact that she chose to stay there is the only thing that made it bearable.
Risk is watching me. His slow stare follows me around our kitchen. “Is there something you want to tell us?”
It’s time to admit what I’ve been chewing on for months. Time to accept that there is no option but the decision I came to… it feels like yesterday.
“I plan on moving out when everything with Chris is sorted out.”
He blinks at me, and Shock literally drops what he’s doing to come join us.
Risk finally looks away, pulling a carafe from the machine, pouring a cup of coffee. “No.”
“It wasn’t a request.”
“It should have been. And the answer is now, and will continue to be, ‘No.’”
Shock scowls at him. “Obviously we can’t force you to stay.”
“The hell we can’t.” Risk’s quiet surety has always been scarier than anyone else’s raging.
The words make my skin prickle.
Shock looks like he wants to reach out and shake me. But he keeps his hands firmly clenched to fists. “We’re not going to give you up without a fight.”
“There’s nothing to fight. We always knew there would be a point where we had to go our separate ways.”
“I didn’t know that.” Shock says, pressing his balled fists into the counter. “I still don’t.”
“Besides,” Risk says, still perfectly calm. “She’s not going anywhere.”
“That’s even worse.”
The look Risk gives me makes me feel like I’m ten years old.
“Can you imagine it?” I ask. “Really? Living in this house with her… when she’s chosen someone else?”
“Can you imagine leaving if she chooses none of us at all?” Shock is asking me, but he levels a look at Risk.
I almost ask if he’s decided to not trust the feelings. But that’s not the point.
And Shock isn’t done. “I let you have your space. I thought it would be better to let you work through it however you felt necessary. Clearly, I was wrong.”
Looking down into his coffee cup, Risk lets out a long sigh. “The fact of the matter is that we love you, Arc. That hasn’t changed, it isn’t going to change.”
Shock grabs hold of the counter, and I hear the stone creak. “You spend so much time thinking no one choses you. What the hell are we? We chose you. We continue to choose you.”
“The Maker forced you into this.”
“No. The Maker gave us commonalities. When we… when he died, there was no reason we couldn’t have gone our separate ways.” Shock slams his fist on the table. “Don’t you dare take that choice away from me.”
Shifting to lean one hip against the counter, so he faces me straight on, Risk shoots me a curious glance. “Where were you planning to go?”
