Belligerent (Vicara)

by B. N. Mauldin

  Patience.

  “Welcome back,” Eva said, glancing up from her chess game.

  “You should come join us,” Clarisse suggested.

  Ryan wasn't sure what she meant by that. There was no way she could mean for him to join her, Kenichi and Aria on the pallet.

  “Take a seat at least,” Kenichi said when Ryan took too long to move.

  He shuffled over to the nearest chair and sat. He was still a good distance from the others, but he was at least in the room.

  “Why are you sitting all the way over…?” Clarisse trailed off when Aria whispered something to her.

  They were always whispering, not wanting anyone to hear their precious secrets. He remained the only one to walk into a room and face sudden silence as the current conversation was dropped, and the only one to be banished to working out solo during their training sessions.

  “Can we just get this over with?” he asked and waited for the arguing to begin. Mackenzie's grip on her pool stick tightened, but she didn't snap. She merely watched as Daylan knocked the eight ball into the corner pocket.

  “Watch your mouth,” Daylan remarked with his usual deadpan tone.

  “I don't know why I even bother to try to speak to any of you,” Ryan said, standing up and turning towards the door.

  “Sit down!” Clarisse's voice rang out through the main room. She was on her feet and glaring at him.

  “Now you?” he asked once he had gotten over his initial shock at Clarisse's losing her temper.

  “Sit,” Clarisse ordered once more. “Eva, would you be so kind as to make sure Ryan does not leave this room?”

  Ryan lowered himself back down. He knew what Eva was capable of doing, and he had no desire to end up in the infirmary or worse.

  “Thank you,” Clarisse said in a much calmer tone. “I want everyone to listen to me. We are all going to sit down and have a calm discussion. There will be no fighting. There will be no running out of the room. At this moment in time, I am in charge. Communication is part of my specialty, and we are all going to communicate in a mature, efficient manner - even if I require Eva break all of your jaws to accomplish it.”

  “I'll be more than happy to do that too,” Eva said, though everyone was pretty sure she wouldn't really hurt any of her teammates.

  Pretty sure.

  In moments, everyone was settled and sitting quietly. Clarisse began their pseudo-meeting with a satisfied nod.

  “Ryan, you don't trust us, and none of you really trust him. Right?” Some of them nodded their heads in response, but everyone remained silent. “No one can trust each other if they don't know anything about each other. What reasons could anyone have here for not trusting Ryan?”

  “He doesn't want to help us win,” Mackenzie said.

  “Didn't you say he had promised you that he would do his best here?” Clarisse asked.

  “You know he only meant that because he didn't see another option. If he sees a chance to ditch us, he would in a heartbeat,” Mackenzie said.

  “What do you have to say about that, Ryan?”

  Ryan's stomach twisted painfully. Did they know about his working with Mystique's team? Was there any way that was possible? Couldn't be.

  “I probably would run if I could, but I've learned that's not an option,” he said. “Working with this team is my best option for leaving this place.” Except for working with Mystique's team, but they didn't need to know that. He only needed to keep Shifter’s team from suspecting him until Thursday.

  Clarisse tucked a loose strand of currently tricolor hair back behind her ear. New piercings flashed in the light as she did. “See, Mackenzie? Ryan won't bail on the team, so that solves your trust issue. Any more reasons why Ryan shouldn't be trusted? Anything at all?” Clarisse said. “Because I can't personally think of anything. But now is the time to voice your opinions.”

  Kenichi glanced over at Ryan. “I've got a few reasons to not trust him,” he said.

  “And what reasons would those be?” Clarisse asked.

  “He stares at you too much.”

  Clarisse laughed. “That's not a good enough reason. You think everyone stares at me too much. Does anyone have any real reasons that we shouldn't trust Ryan?” She waited for only a few moments. “Nothing? Good then.” She turned her attention to Ryan.

  “What are your reasons for not trusting us?” It was the first time in the conversation that she had included herself as a part of Shifter's team.

  Ryan hesitated, looking at their faces. Then, he said, “It's hard to trust people when they drop conversations the moment you walk into a room or when there's some huge secret that you're excluded from.”

  “Your reasons sound like something a child would say,” Kenichi muttered. No one bothered to point out that they were all children.

  “Kenkun,” Clarisse said. “They're valid reasons. Would you trust a group of people if you were the one in Ryan's place?”

  Kenichi leaned back in his seat. If anyone else had called him out like that he would have been furious. But Clarisse was different. She was allowed to say and do things to Kenichi that no one else could try. She allowed him similar leeway.

  “He should still be able to trust us by now. We've given him no other reasons why he shouldn't,” Kenichi said.

  “Just go on. You know Kenichi is too stubborn to ever give up.” Daylan effortlessly dodged the throw pillow aimed at his head after that comment.

  “We have agreed that perhaps it would be best if we let you in on our secret... Or, at least, a part of it,” Clarisse picked at the bracelet she was wearing above her band. “Mackenzie, this is where you take over.”

  For the first time since Ryan had met the strategist, he saw a look of uncertainty on her face and fear in her eyes. “I-” she glanced at Ryan. “Is this necessary?”

  “She shouldn't have to tell him if she's not comfortable with it,” Kenichi said and looked as startled as the others that he was sticking up for their team leader.

  Ryan wondered exactly what kind of secret he was about to hear. “Is this about James?” he blurted out.

  “Yes, this is about James,” Mackenzie said softly. “How much do you know about him?”

  “That he was your last transportation specialist and everyone here thinks he's dead.”

  Mackenzie was out of her seat in a flash and in Ryan's face before he could even blink. “Don't say that! He's not dead!” she screeched.

  “I didn't say that! I said everyone thinks he's dead!” Ryan hollered right back. “Why are you so angry? What? Was he your boyfriend? Did your boyfriend run away from this place and leave you all here to rot?”

  He should have expected the punch, but he didn't. Instead Ryan found himself dizzily looking up at a furious teenage girl. Blood trickled down into his eye, and he reached up and pressed his fingers to his eyebrow to assess the damage. He caught a look at Mackenzie's ring which was spotted with blood.

  That explained the focal point of his agony.

  Mackenzie jerked back. “I can't. I can't. Someone else can.” She raced from the room.

  “Someone handle this.” Clarisse leapt up and chased after Mackenzie.

  Ryan leaned forward to rest his elbows on his knees. He cradled his temples between his fingers. “Hey, Daylan, could I get a bandage or something?”

  Daylan shook his head. “You've used your medical aid for the month.”

  “No, I haven't,” Ryan said tiredly.

  “My not punching you at this moment counts as using your medical aid,” Daylan explained in an apathetic tone.

  In contrast, Kenichi was visibly shaking with fury, and for a moment, Ryan thought he may be receiving another punch from the thief.

  “Kitten, put away your claws,” Daylan murmured when he noticed Kenichi's state.

  “Daylan, Kenichi, perhaps it would be best if you two went and checked on Mackenzie as well,” Eva suggested.

  Daylan was on his feet and tugging Kenichi up within only a fe
w heartbeats. “I think Clarisse has Mackenzie handled right now. We'll be in my room though.”

  “I'm going to go start dinner,” Logan said, excusing himself.

  Ryan was then left with Aria and Eva. Aria glanced between Eva and Ryan. “I'll go help Logan with dinner. He's not allowed in the kitchen unsupervised, after all.”

  After everyone had left, Eva stared Ryan down for several long moments. She wasn't the type to yell. She disliked confrontation despite her position as the combat specialist. Words weren't exactly her specialty. She was the only one left to handle things though, so she would have to find the words somehow.

  “You shouldn't have said those things to Mackenzie. She was going to tell you what you wanted to know.”

  Ryan scrubbed at his face. “I know. I'll apologize to her.” He started to stand.

  “You should give her some time to cool off.”

  “Yeah. Okay. Are you going to tell me though?”

  “About James?”

  “Yes.”

  Eva bit down on her bottom lip then slowly nodded. “It's not easy for us to talk about him.”

  “Yeah. I'm starting to get that.”

  “I suppose you know that James was our transportation specialist before you,” Eva began then continued on at Ryan's affirmation. “There was an accident a few months ago, and James was hurt.”

  “What kind of accident?”

  “The kind that taught us we should never trust anyone outside of our own group. We had an alliance with another team. You may have noticed that that's common practice around here.”

  Ryan hadn't actually noticed. Besides his own team, he had no idea as to how the others were divided up. He nodded though, wanting to hear whatever was so important.

  “That team ended up betraying us. We're not exactly well liked. We're all-” She searched for the right word. “Different. The fact that Shifter's our Owner doesn't help us any. The other Owners hate him. They hate seeing a former Belligerent on their level, so they've made it clear to their teams to stop us at any cost. Our former allies were under a lot of pressure, so they sided with another team in order to take us out of the running.”

  Ryan froze. “A former…? Shifter's a Belligerent?”

  “You didn't know? Shifter was a student here and his team went on to play in the games. They won Vicara and he got his freedom.”

  “But why would he become an Owner? Why would someone who's been a Belligerent force the same fate on someone else?”

  “I'm not going to get into that with you,” Eva said. “Do you want to hear about James or not?”

  Ryan would figure Shifter out later. At least he was finally getting some information. “What did the other team do?”

  “They attacked us on the sands one day. They waited until we had exhausted ourselves then two teams jumped us.”

  Shocked, Ryan asked, “I thought there were rules here.”

  “The rules are to not kill or maim permanently. If you don't 'intend' to permanently maim someone, then you're not breaking any rules. They made it look like an 'accident'. We're good, but we weren't good enough to stop two armed teams. All of us were injured, but James got hit in the head and along his spine. The healing pods couldn't even help. He's been in a coma ever since.”

  Ryan was beginning to understand. “How are he and Mackenzie...?”

  “They're twins,” Eva clarified. “They've never been apart before now. Mackenzie's not handling it well.”

  “I think I can understand why.”

  “Mackenzie wasn't always like this.”

  “You mean an uptight bitch?”

  “I meant angry,” Eva said.

  A slight heat flashed through her eyes and Ryan realized that he should watch his mouth.

  Continuing, she said, “She's got a lot of stress on her. She's the leader. If something goes wrong with the team, then she gets blamed. It doesn't matter that we each have our own jobs. She's the one to answer to Shifter or to Dupin. You can't begin to imagine how much pressure is on her to put aside her personal interests in James's health and instead focus on our team.”

  “Why did you guys decide to tell me about this today?”

  “Because of your temper tantrum this morning.”

  Ryan winced as he realized how immature his actions had been, but he tried to hide his regret. He might understand the team a bit better, but he still didn't feel comfortable showing them his emotions.

  “No other reasons?” he asked.

  “Clarisse advised us that it would probably be best.” Eva nervously tapped at the arm of the chair. “You weren't here for lunch, but apparently, there's been some change with James.

  “What kind of change?”

  “We don't know. Clarisse has been trying to get into contact with Shifter since last night.”

  “Do you think we'll hear from him soon?”

  “I think you will.” Both Eva and Ryan leapt up at Shifter's voice.

  “Shifter!” Eva exclaimed.

  “You're getting sloppy if you didn't hear me coming, Eva,” Shifter said, scolding.

  “Sorry,” Eva whispered, staring down at the floor. Ryan didn't like the way that Shifter seemed to be able to intimidate everyone on his team. Eva could probably take the man down if she wanted to, and yet she was standing there submissively. Eva tapped at her comm. “Shifter's here.”

  Within moments footsteps could be heard in the foyer before Mackenzie raced into the main room. Her eyes were red and puffy.

  “You have news?” the beleaguered twin asked.

  “Mackenzie, why don't we wait until everyone's here,” the Owner said softly.

  “We're all here,” Daylan said, speaking for everyone.

  They were lingering at the room's entrance. All of them looked like they were about to step onto the sands rather than enter the main room. Their guard was up, and they all seemed ready to fight or flee.

  “It's good to see you all,” Shifter said, and even Ryan could tell that there was something different about the man. Despite the familiar smirk on his face, there was a remarkable lifelessness in his eyes. He looked years older than the last time Ryan had seen him, and with a sinking feeling of despair, Ryan realized what news Shifter was delivering.

  “Clarisse, princess, could you fix us some tea?”

  From the look in Clarisse's eyes, she knew what the news was too. “I'll be right back.”

  “I'll go with her,” Aria volunteered.

  “I was actually hoping to ask you about the progress you've made on your new project,” Shifter said before Aria could follow Clarisse to the kitchen.

  “I'll just go with Clarisse then since I know you don't have any questions for me.” Kenichi glanced over at Aria but directed his next question to Shifter. “What kind of sweet would you like?”

  “Food isn't necessary.

  Kenichi's gaze flickered back to Shifter. “Macaroons it is then.”

  Shifter nodded absently while taking a seat. “Fine, fine. Anything is fine.” Kenichi had already disappeared though. “He should really have a bell,” Shifter muttered.

  “Why are you all standing around? I'm here for a visit. Come tell me how your classes are going.”

  Everyone glanced at Mackenzie waiting for her to give some kind of order, and nobody moved until she had sat down. Once she had perched herself on one of the couches, everyone took seats around her almost as if they were taking sides in a fight.

  “How's your project going, Aria?”

  “I need to run some tests still.”

  “Have you had any volunteers yet?”

  She brushed back a few strands of her hair and glanced toward the entrance. It took nearly fifteen minutes to fix a pot of the tea Shifter preferred. Five minutes to heat the water. Ten minutes for the leaves to steep. Knowing Clarisse, she’d heat the water, pour it over the leaves, and go ahead and bring everything in. That meant there was still a three minute wait at least.

  “I haven't asked yet,” Aria mumble
d.

  Why haven't you asked me? Clarisse's question fluttered through the comms. Trust Clarisse to be able to listen in on them.

  “No.”

  “What was that, Aria?” Shifter asked.

  “Clarisse was asking me about sweets,” Aria lied. Unfortunately, she was a horrible liar.

  “Oh, I assumed Clarisse had been listening in and was wondering why you hadn't asked for her help in the lab. It would make sense. Mackenzie's too busy to spend hours being a test subject. Ryan has no experience. Daylan's needed if something goes wrong. Eva's endurance level is above average, and you'll probably need Logan's help to monitor things.”

  “Clarisse will not be helping me on this project, not as a test subject anyway.”

  I don't mind being the test subject.

  “No,” Aria remarked firmly. “It's not happening.”

  “Clarisse again? I really should get me one of those comms. She'd be good at it though. She'd be able to give you detailed feedback after all.”

  “Give it up, Shifter. They're my experiments. You might be able to control everything else, but what occurs in my lab is my business alone.”

  “Then how will you complete your experiment?”

  “I'll be testing it,” Kenichi replied as he entered the room pushing the tea cart. Clarisse was in step with him. She cast a look at Aria, but the scientist shook her head informing Clarisse to drop it.

  “You don't object to this, Clarisse?” Shifter asked.

  “What he chooses to do is his business,” Clarisse replied calmly. “I really think you should stop being a coward and get to the real reason you are here rather than trying to distract us by causing an argument.”

  Ryan inhaled sharply. Clarisse was pushing her luck by talking to an Owner that way. What was she thinking? They were all expendable. He waited to see what would happen. Would Shifter activate her band? Would he demote her to an Omega and send her away?