by Zile Elliven
“Hey, it’s okay.” She itched to hold her little brother and make it all better like she had when they were young. “You were just a kid. None of this is your fault.”
Sterling’s eyes darted toward Fourteen before inching forward. “When I heard you had escaped, I was so ashamed. I should have done more than just send you a crappy letter. I should have gone with you, but I was scared.”
“Of me?” She tried not to feel hurt, but it didn’t do her any good. That her baby brother could be afraid of her, yet still take so much blame on his shoulders for her sake? Her heart twisted. “Wait, you sent the letter?”
“I wasn’t sure if you would get it, but when I heard Mother and Aunt Stella talking about getting rid of you, I panicked. I had to do something.”
“You thought I was the reason bad things were happening in our family, and you still wanted to help me. Oh Ster . . .” The dull roar of pain that had been her constant companion since she had been forced to flee for her life stuttered. Sterling didn’t want her dead.
“Of course I did. I love you, Sunny.”
Tears burned in the corners of her eyes. The rest of her family might be clamoring for her blood, but her brother still loved her. It was a start.
“If you two are done bonding, maybe you could see if your brother could do something about your mother there.” Fourteen walked over to Aeyli’s crate and nudged the woman’s body with a toe. Behind him, his half of the garage had been completely destroyed, while her side had remained relatively untouched. She wondered if he had purposefully kept the fighting contained to his side for her safety.
“That is not our mother,” she said frowning. “That thing hasn’t been our mother for a long time. But you’re right, we need to do something about her. I don’t know what she’s going to be like when she wakes up—if she wakes up—but tying her up might not be enough.”
“She’s right. Mother—it—is strong enough to cast spells without using its hands.” He frowned, thinking. “Actually, I might be able to do something, but I’ll need you to move her away from Aeyliana.” He aimed a half smile at her in apology.
Fourteen leaned down and took hold one of the woman’s arms, but he paused. “Are you sure you trust him?”
Aeyli considered it. He had a point, it could be a trap. It was entirely possible she was letting her desire to have at least one family member on her side cloud her judgment. But what about the note? She had taken it with her, only the person who had left it would have known of its existence. “Yes, I trust him.”
The smile Sterling gave her burned away any lingering doubts she’d had.
Fourteen simply nodded and hauled the imposter’s body over to Sterling, dropping it to the floor at his feet with a faint look of disgust. “What can you do?
Sterling regarded the woman he had thought to be his mother and turned even greener. “I don’t know if it will work, but if you have a connection to someone, emotional, spiritual, or through blood, you should be able to share their power. Since she’s both my mother and great-whatever grandmother, I might be able to tap her power and limit her in what she can do. If I can drain her enough, it should be safe to tie her up. I’m just glad she’s unconscious, this would be impossible of she was awake.”
“I could kill her.” It was so very Fourteen to bring up the elephant in the room without batting an eye.
As tempting as it was to solve the problem of Hester in a more permanent fashion, Aeyli didn’t have it in her to allow Fourteen to kill a defenseless person in cold blood. “Let’s let Sterling try before we go too far down that rabbit hole.”
Sterling nodded in agreement then bent over Hester, placed a hand on her head, and closed his eyes, concentrating.
Looking back at Aeyli in her crate, Fourteen frowned, then swore. “I can’t believe you did this to yourself.” With two long strides, he was at her side, eyes boring into hers angrily.
“And I can’t believe you allowed yourself to get captured, just to find me,” she retorted.
“At least what I did was actually useful. This?” He gestured to her mangled arm and equally mangled and trapped leg. “This served no purpose at all.”
“I was trying to escape!”
“You didn’t need to, I would have gotten you out!”
“I was worried about you, okay? I was afraid they would hurt you, you idiot. Though now I wished I hadn’t bothered,” she grumbled.
Fourteen’s face softened. “You don’t have to worry about me so much, you know. I’m more durable than you are.” He pulled at the padlock on her crate and sighed. “I don’t want to waste time picking this lock, just stay still, okay?”
Mystified, Aeyli complied and stayed as still as her loudly complaining body would allow.
He gripped the twisted metal trapping her foot and pried it apart, freeing her. “Okay, scoot back as far as you can.” Grabbing one bar with both hands, Fourteen sat down and put a foot on the bar opposite and pushed out with his leg. The side of the crate peeled away like the top of a sardine can with an ear-piercing shriek.
“Gods, can all norms do that?” Sterling asked in a reverent tone.
Aeyli smiled, feeling proprietary. “Apparently this one can.”
Fourteen shrugged. “I work out.”
“Riiight.” He drew out the word into two syllables, his brows raised over wide green eyes. “Okay, so I’ve taken as much as I can without killing her. I think she’s safe to tie up.”
Fourteen located a rope on a nearby work-bench and tossed it to Sterling then turned back to Aeyli. “Can you crawl out?” His quiet voice had her worried. The crate was too small for anyone to come in and help her out, and his demeanor suggested he would tear the entire crate apart if her answer was no.
“I think so,” she said quickly, to avoid seeing what Fourteen would do if pushed. Tucking her injured arm against her side, she leaned heavily on her good arm and pushed herself forward. She sucked in a sharp breath when her foot let her know it was incredibly put out about how the evening had gone so far.
Fourteen backed up to give her room but remained close enough to hover over her protectively. When she was out, he looked her over, going quieter and more distant as he saw the extent of her injuries. His gloved hands were gentle as they patched up the worst of the damage, but the terrible blankness that had settled on his face sent chills down her spine. He had fallen back into his conditioning again.
When he finally spoke, it was in the robotic voice she had grown to fear. “You’ve dislocated your shoulder. I’m going to pop it back now before it gets too swollen, ok?” He stated it like a fact, leaving no room for discussion. He was going to fix her arm whether she liked it or not.
“Ok,” she croaked through dry lips.
“Lie on your back,” he ordered.
She complied, shaking with fear and hating herself for how weak it made her look.
“This is going to hurt.”
Aeyli kept her eyes fixed on Fourteen’s face as he braced a foot against her side for leverage. His features were stone as he took her injured arm and slowly pulled on it, creating traction. She tried and failed to hold back a moan of pain as he increased the pressure. Sweat broke out on her skin, and she started panting.
She tried to keep eye contact with him. If she could only keep looking into his cold, storm-cloud eyes, maybe some of that cold would seep into her to numb the pain.
Fourteen turned her arm slightly, and the resulting pain changed her panting into short mewling sounds of agony.
“Breathe.” Fourteen’s gaze held hers, and hints of his personality broke through his conditioning, telling her without words that he knew she could bear it, he knew she could do anything.
A sharp pop was accompanied by an immediate sense of relief. A gray fog settled over her vision—she was so done with being in pain.
“Hey, it’s okay . . . it’s over now. I’ve got you.”
The world came back into focus, and she found herself on Fourteen’s lap, hi
s gloved hand stroking her cheek.
“Well, you said it was going to hurt,” she managed shakily.
“You did just fine,” Fourteen assured her, running a hand over her hair soothingly.
Aeyli tucked her face into his jacket and breathed in the rich smell of leather and Fourteen’s own intoxicating scent of metal and musk. It didn’t clear her head, but her breathing steadied, and she relaxed a little.
“I’m sorry, Aeyliana.” Her brother’s voice broke in on her reverie. “I know you’ve been through a lot tonight, but we have to get out of here now, while everyone is busy with the fire. Can you hold it together for a little bit longer?”
Before she could answer, Fourteen said, “I need to tie her arm down first, or it will only get injured further.
“How about her foot, is she going to be able to walk on it?”
“I’ll be fine—” she began but was cut off by Fourteen.
“It looks worse than it is, but it won’t be fun to walk on.” He appropriated a length of rope hanging from the wall and began to carefully bind her arm to her side. “Aeyli, I need you to try to walk, anyway. I need my hands free if I’m going to get us out of here.”
Affronted at being talked over like a child, her anxiety fled as she lost her temper. “I’m not a china doll, I can keep up. I managed to survive for weeks before I met you!” She conveniently ignored that she was shoeless, half-starved, and freezing when she met him, and the look he gave her in response told her he was thinking of the same thing.
Pulling her to her feet by her good arm, Fourteen leaned down and put his forehead to hers. The relief she felt from her power pouring into him made her weak in the knees—seeing him in broken-soldier-mode had been too much for her to bear.
The effect of her touch on him was immediate. His face became animated once again rather than the cold stone it had been. Now he now reminded her of a storm—full of barely leashed energy just waiting for the right time to strike.
Fourteen’s brows drew together, and his eyes blazed with intensity. “I know you can, I’ve seen how tough you are. If your body was as strong as your will, I wouldn’t have even asked. But you’ve lost a lot of blood, so if you need help, ask. I came here for you, and it would defeat the purpose to leave you behind because you were too proud to ask for help.” He punctuated this with a kiss to her forehead, robbing her of all righteous indignation.
Her forehead tingled where he had kissed it, and she reached up to rub the spot with her fingertips. Fourteen didn’t appear to have the same reservations as she did about her power robbing him of his free will. Was it possible she had allowed her fears to carry her away? Been blowing it out of proportion?
Her hand itched to touch his face. She wanted to feel the difference between his cheek and the stubble growing on his jaw, but she held back and focused on the conversation. “I didn’t say thank you again, did I?”
“Nope.” There was a twinkle in his eye as he leaned down to whisper in her ear, brushing it with his lips. “I’ll let you thank me later when we get out of here.”
She shivered at the promise in his voice, and the slow, liquid pull between her legs had her wanting to finish what they had started on the bed earlier that day, right here and now. They could have both died several times, and the idea that her fear and insecurity would have robbed them of the only happiness they might have ever had together made her want to kick herself.
Boosting herself up on her toes, she kissed him, refusing to make the same mistake again. Fourteen’s body froze, and for a second she thought she had severely misjudged the interaction between them. She pulled away, but his hand came to the base of her neck, stopping her retreat. His mouth came down on hers, and she stopped thinking, stopped worrying, and became a creature of pure sensation.
Her heart pounded as he nipped at her bottom lip, demanding she open for him. With a gasp, she allowed him inside and was helpless as he explored her like she belonged to him. The soft leather of his gloved hand caressed her spine, pulling her closer to his body until she was pressed against him so tightly she could barely breath.
Aeyli didn’t care about breathing, she only cared about getting close enough to Fourteen so she could show him how she felt. She wanted to erase the memory of his face when she’d ordered him away, wanted to make him forget it had ever happened.
A throat cleared across the room.
They both turned to see Sterling pinching the bridge of his nose with his eyes closed, looking very put out. “It’s clearly too late to avoid traumatizing me with things that can’t be unseen, but if it isn’t too much trouble, could we get out of here before more people show up?”
Fourteen narrowed his eyes menacingly.
Undaunted, Sterling continued. “I don’t care how scary you are, there are some things you just don’t do to a guy—like make out with his sister in front of him.”
Aeyli’s eyes flew to Fourteen’s face to discover—to her surprise—he looked like he was trying not to laugh. She squeezed his arm, allowing herself to enjoy the muscles he kept hidden under his jacket, and eased back down from her tiptoes. “Later.”
His eyes were dark and predatory as they scanned her face. “Later.”
His rough voice sent a shiver down her spine, and she wrapped her arms around herself, realizing she was still freezing.
Fourteen frowned. “I’ve got something for you.” Out of his jacket came a pink velour hoodie and a pair of white yoga pants. “The colors aren’t ideal for covert ops, but it’s better than what you’re wearing. Your pants didn’t survive their encounter with the cage.”
She glanced down to see one of the legs of her pants had ripped from ankle to hip. If she was this cold inside the garage, she’d hate to think what it would be like going outside in half a pair of pants. If her brother hadn’t been there, she would have kissed Fourteen again for his foresight.
With some help from Fourteen, she pulled the hoodie on, leaving her injured arm out of the arm hole, zipped safely inside. The cheerful visage of Hello Kitty winked up at her from her good arm. She chose to take the kitty as a sign of good luck.
When she got to the pants, she paused. “Um . . .” She wasn’t sure if she was going to be able to get them on herself, but having Fourteen help her in front of her brother seemed like a recipe for disaster.
“Maybe I should help you with that.” Sterling volunteered awkwardly.
Fourteen gave her brother a threat-filled glare, letting Aeyli know he wasn’t as indifferent about her brother’s shifting loyalties as he had seemed a minute ago.
Sterling held both hands up in surrender. “I get it, I get it, okay? You’ll rip my arms and legs off if I hurt her,” he said irritably and stepped forward to help Aeyli. He only made it two steps before stopping in his tracks with a strange expression on his face.
Aeyli hobbled backward hastily while Fourteen stepped in front of her looking ready for anything.
“Are you okay, Ster?” Aeyli asked, cautiously peeking around Fourteen’s shoulder.
Sterling shook himself and frowned. “Yeah, I just . . . maybe your champion should help you after all. I’ll turn around, just . . . hurry up, okay?”
Aeyli met Fourteen’s eyes, still dark with promise from their kiss, and gulped. “Okay . . .” Right now would not have been her first choice for letting him see the goods for the first time, but perhaps there was a work around for that. “Could . . . could you close your eyes?”
Fourteen nodded his assent and closed his eyes. She leaned onto his arm and did her best to shimmy out of her torn jeans one-handed without taking off her shoes—the floor was too icy to contemplate touching with her bare feet. At one point she nearly fell over, and Fourteen shot out a hand to stop her. Startled, she looked at him, expecting his eyes to be open but was curious to see them still closed.
“How did you . . .?”
Eyes still closed, Fourteen lifted a shoulder minutely in a shrug. “All part of the training.”
Shakin
g her head, she went back to pulling on the yoga pants over her sneakers. Fourteen had no idea how effortlessly cool he was. She finally managed, one-handedly, to work the pants up over her legs and reveled in the leftover warmth they retained from Fourteen’s body.
Once she was dressed, she called out, “All clear,” to her brother and then asked, “Okay, so what’s the plan? Even if we get out of here, we’ve got Sterling and Hester with us now. We can’t leave her behind or that nightmare will just go back to her. We can’t hide all four of us using your shield. Well, not for very long.” The mental image of Fourteen carrying all three of them around in his arms for the rest of his life made her smile.
