by Megan Derr
He collapsed, clawing futilely at the collar, begging desperately as he watched the two Temperast slip into the inn room, heard Rall's orders to take Sean and Mendel, and kill the rest. He whimpered when the collar jolted him again, then passed out.
Leisure Class StarShip 31899205, the Monte Cristo
Cyan woke up in bed—tethered to it, in fact. He shivered, not surprised to realize the only thing he was wearing was the collar. It was much harder for a prisoner to escape when he was naked. He had not seen The Monte Cristo for years, but she was as familiar as ever. Beautiful, elegant, and one of the only things in the stars of which Jade was truly fond.
It was on the large side for a leisure class vessel, with five bedrooms and six leisure rooms. His parents had paid a fortune for the ship, but they had hated to travel in the more perfunctory IG-appointed ships. His own bedroom had changed little, still decorated in blue and green, all his old training weapons on the walls. The room was just cool enough to be uncomfortable, and Cyan shivered at the memory as much as the temperature. Eleven years, and he might as well have run away yesterday.
Abruptly, everything from Kreska came back to him—Rall, the Temperast. Stars, how could there be any Temperast left alive? Why was Jade tangled up with them? Jade had sided with their parents on the matter. People had admired how staunchly so young a man had supported his parents on such a complicated matter. He would never betray their memory by siding with the Temperast.
Einn, Lark. Dead, along with Karmikel. Sean and Mendel…stars knew where they were, if they had been taken as he vaguely recalled. Because of him. Because of Jade. Einn. Cyan swallowed, flooded with memories of every little thing he had ever noted about Einn. How still and quiet he'd been in that bar on Bangkok when everyone else was so rowdy and noisy. His hot little smirk, his laugh, those sweet, awkward smiles when he was trying to do something he didn't think he knew how to do. The sure, confident way he had attacked the Huntress. The way he could be so serious, but clearly preferred not to be. The sinuous way he moved, his pale gold hair against his pale gray skin, and his eyes the color of real gold. The awkward way he tried to comfort and the confident way he fucked.
Dead. Whatever was between him and Einn, Cyan would never get to explore it, because Einn was dead, because Cyan was too much of a guilt-ridden coward to turn Jade in when he should have. Cyan buried his face in his hands, bitterly aware he had just enough give to do so, hating the feel of the chain on his right wrist, the weight of the collar around his neck. They served as reminders, though. He had to keep it together, had to get through this and escape again. He was all that Sean and Mendel had left, and they were all he had left. He wouldn't fail them, too.
The sound of the door sliding open made him tense, and he knew before looking up that Jade had arrived.
Jade was dressed in IG formal wear: black robes with silver clasps in the shape of the IG's infinity crest. His hair was in its usual braid, bound with black ribbon, and his nails gleamed black dusted with silver shimmer. He was the epitome of beauty in the eyes of most, and he knew it. "What a lovely surprise," Jade said. "Hours and hours of tedious arguing with my councilors, but I return to my ship to find my beloved brother waiting for me. Delightful."
"Go to hell."
Laughing, Jade locked the door, then moved to the foot of the bed and looked at him. "Rehab has been good for you, brother, though all those muscles won't overcome your cowardice."
"Better a coward than you."
Silence was Jade's only reply as he left the bed to move to the table beside it. A tray had been set on it with a pot of tea and a delicate looking tea cup made of Krawl glass. Jade poured the tea, and the smell made Cyan want to throw up. Expensive, delicate, a balance of bitter and sweet: Vrill esora tea, their mother's favorite. Cyan hated it.
Jade took a sip, and the silence stretched on. Cyan lay down and stared up at the ceiling, waiting for Jade to finally make his move.
"So what did you think of the Temperast?"
The words made Cyan gasp with pain, then bite down so hard on his lip that he drew blood. Jade had brought it up on purpose, and Cyan should have been better braced for it. "You hate the Temperast, just like Mom and Dad. There was no reason for you to murder Einn, Lark, and Karmikel."
"Reason enough," Jade said. "No one will miss a couple of pirates and a glorified bounty hunter."
Cyan barely bit back the words, I will.
Jade laughed and set his tea down with a soft clink. "Never say that my heartless, work-obsessed little brother developed a weak spot for pirates. You know, it's not actually healthy to fall in love with your kidnapper, right? The studies on the matter are countless."
"Like you would know anything about mental health," Cyan retorted, and grunted when Jade slapped him, nails slicing his cheek and searing the skin with whatever was in Jade's nail paint. "I'm not in love with anyone," he said, even as he knew it was a waste of time. He wasn't in love and never would be, because Einn was dead. Slowly turning his head, he asked, "Why are you doing all of this, Jade? The Temperast, the Draconis—you have no interest in such things. Your only scientific interest is in your poisons and toxins. Why genetics?"
Jade trailed his nails lightly across Cyan's skin. "Dear little brother, I have only ever wanted one thing, you know that."
Cyan frowned. "You can't get revenge, because no one knows who was behind the hits, Jade. After so many years, I doubt…" He trailed off at the look on Jade's face, then whispered, "You figured it out."
Jade's smile was cold, but his eyes burned hot. "I found him."
"Who?"
"Why should I tell you?" Jade said with a laugh. "You said to let it go. You said it didn't matter. You ran away. You can remain ignorant!" He turned sharply away, still laughing as he left the room.
Cyan screamed and struggled to get free, succumbing to all the rage and fear and pain, just screaming until he could not scream anymore. He tore the bedding from the mattress and threw it, struggled against his bonds, beat and threw and broke whatever he could reach until he collapsed from sheer exhaustion.
*~*~*
When he woke again, the room had been set to rights, and he'd been completely chained down to the bed on his back with arms spread and attached to the headboard, his ankles bound together and secured to the footboard. Damn it. He turned his head and saw Jade once more at the table, sipping tea and reading from his datapad.
Slowly, Jade looked up and clucked disapprovingly. "It's not healthy to succumb to these fits of yours, brother. You know that."
Cyan said nothing; just shifted to look at the ceiling again, braced for what he knew was coming. He felt Jade's nails lightly rest on his stomach, right over the old scars. He drew a breath and bit back a scream of agony as Jade tore the old wounds open. It hurt—burned, even worse than his cheek had earlier. He felt the blood pool, run over his body, down his sides to soak into the bedding. The cuts weren't deep, but they were enough. "That should keep you from succumbing to further fits. Can't have you hurting yourself," Jade said, and patted his cheek.
"No, that's for you to do," Cyan said dully. Jade returned to his seat and picked up his tea again. "What are you going to do to me?"
"Take you home where you belong," Jade replied. "You were gone eleven years. I've had enough of your nonsense. Look at all the harm done by cowardice. You belong on Zero, and that is where I'm taking you. Perhaps this time, you'll realize that it's a stupid idea to run away from me. I admit, I am impressed you managed it. For years, I thought Pyotr must have helped you."
Cyan laughed. "Pyotr was too busy fawning over you like all the others to give a damn about me. He didn't help me, and if he had, it would only be because with me gone, your attention would have been that much more on him."
Jade made a derisive noise. "It's true," Cyan whispered, but he knew Jade would never concede it. The relationship between Jade and Pyotr was beyond his ability to understand, but he knew there was one. If there wasn't something there, Jade would ha
ve already killed the only person who could be deemed his equal. "So what does revenge have to do with the Draconis and Temperast?"
"The Temperast started this, so they will end it," Jade said, and Cyan gave up. He would get no explanation, only more cryptic replies. He settled for saving his strength. Eventually, Jade would have to release him. Best to be ready when that opportunity came. He'd given in to one useless fit; he wouldn't be that stupid again.
"I hate you," he whispered.
"You hate yourself more, though," Jade replied, "and that is all I want, if you will not stand with me."
Closing his eyes, Cyan tried to block out Jade's presence and focus only on escape and finding Sean. He opened them again at the sound of movement, however, tensed for another attack. Jade stared down at him, and Cyan stared back. Almost thirty and he still did not understand how they were related. "I should have turned you in when I had the chance."
"That would have been the action of a brave man, and you are a coward," Jade replied. "Even now, you cower." He started to say more, but his in-lens flashed, and instead he smirked. "How neatly the pieces come together and fall into my hand. I'll be back in a bit, dear brother. Do stay out of trouble while I'm gone."
He left, and Cyan pulled at his bonds, testing them. He would not be able to get out of them on his own, which meant he definitely had to wait until they had to move him. So he would not get a chance until he was on Zero. Some Rehabber he was proving to be.
Resigned, Cyan tried to make himself get some sleep.
Chapter Fifteen
Planet 11181911 (Kreska), Heartstone Tavern & Inn
Sean snapped awake, flooded with fear and healing magics. He glanced at Mendel, but the fear on Mendel's face had him glancing toward the source of it—and realized why he was afraid. He'd glimpsed them in the hall but hadn't been able to believe that he was seeing what he thought: Temperast.
He drew the stunner at his thigh and fired, hitting the nearer of the two Temperast dead center in the chest. The damned thing barely noticed. Sean rolled off the bed, landing in a crouch as he thumbed his stunner to a fatal level of power and fired three more times in rapid succession.
"Stunners won't kill them," Mendel said. "Temperast were designed with a resistance."
"If they get their hands on us, we're dead," Sean said, abandoning his stunner for the dagger in his boot.
Lark drew his own knife, and said, "Only you," before jumping onto the bed and throwing himself at the Temperast, knocking them both down, landing atop one fully and attacking it with his knife. Sean licked his lips as the other one smiled at them and stood up again to resume walking toward them. He wondered if being human would give him any chance of surviving when it touched him. He tensed, feeling Mendel behind him, knowing there was nothing they could do because they could not risk getting close—
"Light!" Karmikel screamed, startling Sean, and he only just remembered to close his eyes in time as Karmikel flooded the room with blinding, white-gold light. Sean waited until the light faded, then threw his dagger, catching the blinded Temperast in the throat. It made a wet, gurgling noise, but even as it tried futilely to save its own life, Lark appeared behind it, smeared with purple-black blood, and grabbed the dagger. He yanked it out, then slit the Temperast's throat properly, throwing it back to join the corpse of the other.
Wiping blood from his face, Lark glanced at Karmikel. "I've heard of that little trick of yours. Handy." Karmikel grunted.
"Those were Temperast," Sean said. "They were all exterminated."
Mendel made a face. "I am not at all surprised to learn that someone kept the means to recreate them. These two were killed far too easily, according to what I have read on the Temperast. I think they have not been alive long. We should be glad that they were new, and we had Lark. Thank you." Lark shrugged the words aside.
Sean's attention shifted as Adalsteinn—Einn—finally stood up. He had been quiet and still the entire time, and Sean wondered suddenly if he'd had a plan of his own. "Where have they taken Cyan?" When no one replied, Einn's voice took on an edge that was a blend of anger and desperation. "Where is Cyan?"
"I don't know," Sean said. "He seemed to know the man who took him and what was going on. Well, other than the Temperast. No one could predict that. Cyan can handle himself; I'm sure he's got a plan. You don't need to worry; he'll contact us soon, I have no doubt."
Einn's face twisted. "Jade, he was taken back to Jade—but where? I have to save him." He strode to the door and scowled when Lark stopped him with a hand to his chest. "Get out of my way."
"So you can die of the poison in your system? So Auths can arrest you? So you can bungle your way around the stars trying to stop a Lower Chancellor?"
Einn punched him, sending Lark reeling into the wall, then sat down on the nearest bed and buried his fingers in his hair. Sean stared at him, taken aback. What in the stars was going on? "I don't understand why Cyan was cooperating with you."
Einn laughed bitterly. "Jade didn't give him a choice."
"There's a lot to explain," Lark added, when Sean and Mendel only looked more confused.
Karmikel nodded. "We should get to the moon—Winter will meet us there. He's already sending someone to handle this mess and we need to get out of here. Come on." They followed Karmikel out of the room, sneaking out the back way of the inn, then used back streets and alleyways until they reached port. "Come on, we're taking my ship. Yours will be dealt with."
Einn grumbled something Sean didn't catch but followed them onto the ship. Once they were on the bridge, he whipped around. Sean recoiled, bumping into Mendel behind him. "Don't you care at all? Cyan only left Mars because of you, and you don't even care that Jade has him now!"
"I care!" Sean snapped. "But like I said before, Cyan can handle himself. He's never needed anyone to help him with anything. He's the best guard on Rehab, and I've never seen him get in trouble he couldn't get out of. He always said it was best just to stay out of his way. If you knew him at all, you wouldn't be overreacting."
To his surprise, Einn sneered at him. "You know him so well, do you? Then you know about his brother?"
"Cyan never talks about it," Sean replied. "He only says that his brother is crazy and hates him."
"Well, he told me exactly what his brother used to do him, and if you honestly think Cyan doesn't need us, you don't deserve to call yourself his friend!"
Sean stared at him, startled and stung. "I am his friend—he told you? He told you?"
"Yes," Einn said. "He also made me promise to get you home, if something happened to him."
"Why?" Sean demanded.
Einn hesitated, anger falling away, then said in a tone clearly meant to be gentle, "Your mother is sick. She wanted to see you one last time. Cyan was trying to find you and take you home to see her."
"What—" Cold disbelief shot through Sean, making everything go numb for a moment. He couldn't breathe. His mother. "My mom—my mom—" He went easily when Mendel pulled him close, held him. Sean wanted to go home. He was tangled up in the problems of the stars, and all the while the one person who had loved him unconditionally his entire life was dying.
"We'll figure out a way," Mendel said softly. "I promise." Sean didn't reply; just let the words comfort him, even as he knew the promise was futile. There were bigger concerns afoot than a boy and his mother.
He pushed away from Mendel and went numbly through the motions of helping Karmikel get the ship out of port. Karmikel did not really need his help, but Sean often did it anyway, and they worked together in their usual easy silence. A short time later, he helped dock the ship just outside their base on the moon, a large building that had once been a research facility. "Home sweet home," Sean muttered bitterly.
Planet 11181911-3554 (Moon of Kreska), Abandoned Research facility
Sean woke the building systems, and the lights flickered on. "When will Winter be here?"
"Five hours ZT," Karmikel replied. He led the way inside and down a
narrow hall that led to a large room, then collapsed on a beat-up sofa. "So let's start talking."
Two hours later, Sean said, "What a mess. So what in the stars do we do now?"
"I don't care what the rest of you bottom dwellers do," Einn snapped. "I am going to save Cyan."
Mendel replied, "You can't go off on your own. Distance will weaken the bond, and you will no longer have your magics."
"Then I'll do it without them," Einn snarled. "I am not doing anything else until I get Cyan back. I climbed the Tresso Cliff in half a day without my magics. I don't need them. I'm not just leaving him." Silence fell in the wake of his words, and Sean could practically see the way he was trembling with anger and tension.
"Ringers," Lark said dryly. "Everyone goes crazy when they become ringers. Sit down before you pass out, Einn. We'll rescue your crazy Rehab princess, but we need a better plan than 'stomp around like an angry Krawl'."
"Bottom dweller," Einn said sourly, but Sean saw him smile faintly as he sat down.
Lark snorted. "It's not an insult if I don't get why it should be, Einn. I keep telling you that."
"None of the Helioran insults I've used in the past worked either."
"I'm immune to insult," Lark said. "Now, are you done looming and snarling?" Einn grimaced but said nothing.
Sean went to get drinks, too restless to keep still any longer. Cyan, his mother. It was all a fucking mess, and it was all his fault. He turned at the sound of footsteps and stared at Mendel hovering in the doorway, not really certain what to say or do. Mendel crossed the room and pulled Sean close, then kissed him. Sean clung tightly and kissed back feverishly, needing the warmth and reassurance—the distraction, however brief. When they finally pulled apart, he said, "Do you know how much easier everyone's life would be if I hadn't been born a fucking mutant?"
