He sat down on the bed. “I need a lot of answers now.”
I laughed. “All right then, ask away.”
“Well from what I’ve gathered, things aren’t exactly how I imagined them to be when it came to overthrowing Zarda. Care to explain why I was led to believe this would be a bit easier?”
“’Cause I’m stupid and didn’t explain anything to you properly,” I said with a half smile.
His gaze darkened. “Don’t call yourself stupid.” I blinked. He took that a bit too offensively. “Now, explain everything to me now.”
I sighed and sat up. “Okay. So, yes, I did make it sound like this was going to be a quick job, but I didn’t mean to. It could have been my state of mind back when we met, or I just didn’t think about it since I’m used to how the others think. Actually, I’m pretty sure it was my state of mind. Your offer to help put me in a position that made me forget a few things, and then when my mind righted itself, I forgot to tell you the important stuff.”
“So are you going to explain it, or what?” he asked impatiently.
I laughed. “Calm down.” He sighed playfully and I laughed some more. “So, obviously we’re part of the rebellion and we all work together to try to take Zarda down. There’s a reason for this. It’d be suicide for a small number of people to go after him. He’s too heavily guarded by loyal soldiers and psychics for anyone to pull it off. So we have to resort to being a large organized group.”
Raikidan nodded. “Okay. So when you made it sound like it was just the two of us going to take him on, that was a mistake.”
“Right,” I said. “And since we’re an organization, it takes time for us to get things done. And as you can see with my fight with Genesis, it doesn’t always go as quickly as most of us would like.”
“Yeah, I can see that, and I’m glad to see you have some sense about the time frame it has taken,” he said. “Now, tell me more about how the rebellion works. Genesis said something about other teams getting more work, so I’m confused why we aren’t.”
“I’d be happy to. You know how we’re split up into seven teams?” He nodded. “Well, there’s a reason. The teams are split up based on types of abilities. These abilities determine what type of assignments they qualify for. Occasionally, you’ll get a rebel who doesn’t fit into that team’s mold, but that’s usually because they had an affiliation with someone on that team at the time of joining the rebellion, or they made a transfer.
“Team Three, our team, is comprised mainly of Brutes and foot soldiers. This makes us ideal for head-on conflict, spy missions, and recon, but recon assignments don’t come up as often as most would think, and spy missions are spread throughout all teams so our team doesn’t get a ton of them. This leaves very few jobs for the team to do, since head-on conflict is typically bad, turning Team Three into an income-based team.
“Large sums of money earned at the shop, the club, and other businesses we run are given to the rebellion to pay for equipment repair, food and medical supplies, ammunition when we can purchase it without raising suspicion, and anything else that would help our cause. This is why we don’t do as much as you’d think… or I’d like. If we were on another team, we’d probably be doing a lot more.”
“All right. That makes a lot more sense now,” Raikidan said. “But that does raise questions about you. By design, you’re not a foot soldier even though you had a ranking position over a group of them, so why are you on this team?”
I scratched the back of my head. “I’m one of those variable people. The Council wanted to place me on Team One when I joined. They’re the team that deals with… I’m going to say, ninety-five percent of assassin-related assignments. But because of my affiliation with Zane and everyone, I chose to join Team Three.”
“They didn’t try to force you to join Team One?”
I shook my head. “That would go against what we represent. We fight Zarda so we can be free and have more choices. By forcing people to join certain teams, that would make us hypocritical. It also worked in everyone’s favor since Team Three had lost their battle leader a few months prior, due to an incurable illness. Ryoko and Rylan knew I was a good leader, and Zane put in the good word. Although, in the Council’s eyes, I’m not the only one who doesn’t belong on the team.”
“Who else doesn’t?” Raikidan asked.
“Argus.”
“Really?”
I nodded. “The Council wanted him on Team Six. That team is comprised of the smartest people we can recruit. They create and research new ways to give us the upper hand, and they make attempts at figuring out how to either get us into Zarda’s fortress or how to lure him out. But Argus didn’t want to leave his friends, so he stuck with our team. He still gets to use his brain in ways he wants, even if we can’t get the resources like Team Six could.”
Raikidan nodded. “Just an observation. For a leader, Zarda doesn’t show his face often. At all really.”
I grunted. “The people of the city will be lucky to see his face even once in their lifetime.”
“How does he get them to follow him?”
“Because the people of the city are brainwashed. He’s managed to convince the people they don’t need to see him in order for him to run the city. He’s done so well, people think the suns shines out his ass, and they act like they’ve met a god when he does appear in front of them.”
Raikidan shook his head. “Crazy… but thanks for clearing that all up. Everything makes a whole lot more sense now.”
I smiled. “You’re welcome. I’m sorry I never explained that. I feel really—”
“Don’t”—he warned—”Don’t say it. Anyone could have made that mistake.”
I sighed. “All right, all right.”
Raikidan picked up my planner. “Mind showing me how to use this?”
“Why do you want to know how to use it?”
He shrugged. “Why not? You can use it, and I’d like to understand your technology better. I struggled to understand how the communicators worked on my own; I’m pretty sure the TV was the easiest technology to work, and we both know I wasn’t very good at understand that for at least a week.”
“I’m pretty sure the microwave is easier.”
His face reddened. “I had a harder time with that…”
I laughed. “And yet you were able to figure out driving a car rather quickly. Are you sure you’re not a human guy with shapeshifting abilities?”
His face reddened more, and then he muttered, “Just teach me how to use this.”
I giggled and nodded. “Sure thing.”
Chapter 24
Hot water rushed out of the shower head and steam fogged up the mirror. I stripped down out of my dirty clothes and hopped into the stall, a sigh escaping my lips as relief rushed over me. Working hard at the shop, then the club, and two assignments later, I needed this break.
I took my time scrubbing up, not caring if someone else needed the shower. They could wait for me to be done for once, and not the other way around. Not that there were many in the house at the moment to begin with. Seda and Genesis were at some meeting, and Zane and the boys were pulling a late-nighter at the shop to get a custom car finished by tomorrow for a client. That left Ryoko, Rylan, Raikidan, and myself in the house, and Ryoko had been the only to put up a fuss about the shower situation.
My scrubbing stopped when someone shouting caught my attention.
“Ryoko, give that back!”
I shook my head as two pairs of feet thumped up and down the hall several times. Where she got the energy to torment Raikidan at this time of night was beyond me. I went back to washing, but froze when the bathroom door flew open.
“Ryoko I said—whoa, what are you doing?” Raikidan shouted.
A pathetic girly shrill of scream came out of my mouth when Ryo
ko whipped the sliding door of the shower open and threw Raikidan in. Raikidan crashed into me, not that it was hard since this shower stall was barely big enough to fit two people, and my body burned with discomfort.
I shoved him and tried in vain to cover myself. “Get out!”
He didn’t have to be told twice and tried to leave, but the door wouldn’t budge. I looked around Raikidan and spotted the adjustable security bar holding the door shut. She did not!
Ryoko grinned and waved. “Have fun, you two.”
She then pranced out of the bathroom and shut the door behind her. My heart thundered in my chest as I pressed myself into the corner of shower stall and Raikidan banged on the glass doors. Unfortunately, due to our enhancements, we had this stall made with reinforced glass that could handle a beating. Water beat down on him, soaking him head to toe. His muscular form took up more room in the stall than I liked, and blocked off most of the running water.
Raikidan stopped attempting the door and sighed. He began to turn around and I freaked out. “Don’t turn around!”
He sighed again. “You’re really going to act like this?”
“Don’t look at me.”
“Why do make such a big deal out of this?”
“I said, don’t look!”
He leaned his arms against the glass door and stared at the far bathroom wall. As much as it should have made me feel better, it didn’t. In the military, the only shower available had been a co-ed shower. Most got used to it, but Ryoko and I hadn’t. We’d shower at odd times so we wouldn’t have to deal with others seeing us without clothes.
“You still haven’t answered my question,” Raikidan said.
“I don’t like being looked at in this condition.”
“Condition?” He shook his head and chuckled. “You’re something else if you think a lack of clothes is a condition.”
I held myself tighter and stared at the tile floor. I couldn’t talk to him about this. Being a dragon, he wouldn’t get it, not that I really knew how to put it in words.
“You’re shaking,” he said. “Are you cold?”
“I told you not to look at me,” I said.
“Forgive me for being concerned when you got real quiet.”
“Yes, I’m a little cold,” I lied. “You’re blocking the warm water and this tile wall cools off quick.”
He backed up. “Then take my body heat.”
My face flushed and my body warmed up when his back came in contact with my arm that covered my chest. He may have been wearing clothes, but I wasn’t, and it made me uncomfortable. “Raikidan, this is weird.”
“It’s not weird if you don’t make it weird,” he said. “Relax and put up with it until Rylan gets—”
“He’s never going to have the balls to stand up to Ryoko,” I said. “She’s too intimidating for him in multiple ways.”
“I don’t know,” Raikidan said. “Sounds like he’s trying to reason with her in the living room.”
The two of us grew quiet to listen.
“Ryoko, stop doing this,” Rylan said. “It’s not good for anyone.”
“I’m just having fun,” she defended. “No harm done.”
“This is Laz we’re talking about. You can hear her freaking out in there.”
“I don’t know; they’re pretty quiet now.”
“Ryoko, let me pass and let them out.”
“Make me.” The house grew quiet, though I thought I could hear some shuffling of feet over the running shower water. Then, a thud against a wall. “Oh, really, Ry? I never took you for the kind of guy for something like this.”
I snickered when she started laughing. I could only guess he thought pinning her would work in his favor, only to backfire with the confidence she exuded. “See it’s going to be a while before we’re rescued.”
“Then maybe you should relax,” Raikidan said. “It won’t be weird.”
I chewed on my bottom lip. Even though I had initially lied about being cold, now that the water continued to be blocked, I actually had cooled off, and the warmth of his skin enticed my body. Eventually, my cold state won out in my internal conflict, and I relaxed a little against him. I tried to keep body contact to a minimum but as the minutes passed, his offered warmth became too hard to take, so I found myself in a rather embarrassing situation of pressing my body against his for warmth. My cheeks and ears burned and my heart beat hard in my chest every time I let my mind think about it too much. I need to not make this so weird…
“Are you warm enough?” Raikidan asked. “I could try to move more so the water can actually touch you.”
“N–no, no, this is fine,” I stammered. “Moving around in this tight spot will be too much of a chore.”
“These wet clothes I’m wearing I guess wouldn’t help…” Out of nowhere, Raikidan removed his shirt and dropped it on the tile floor.
“Raikidan, what are you doing?” I shrieked when his pants loosened.
“You’ll stay warmer if these wet clothes aren’t touching you,” he said as both his pants and boxers hit the floor.
I immediately looked up at the ceiling and pulled away from him. “This is so not okay.”
“Stop making it weirder than it is.”
“You’re the one who’s making it weird!” I hissed. “Be more decent for once.”
“Do you want to be warmer or not?”
I continued to keep space between us, but when I started shivering, I had no choice but seek him out for warmth again. With my arms protecting my chest from contact, I leaned against him. The warmth of his body teased and enticed me to get comfortable, but I knew better than to give into something like that.
“Eira, relax,” Raikidan whispered. “We’re going to be here a while at this rate. You might as well calm down and not make this out to be a big deal.”
“I’m fine.”
He reached behind him and wrapped his arms awkwardly around me. “You’re tense and still very cold. That’s not the definition of fine. Just relax.”
I thought about doing as he said, but the moment the thought came to me, my body burned with embarrassment. No way could I do more than stand here like this so awkwardly.
“Relax,” he encouraged. “It’s no different than a hug.”
“It is so not the same.”
He chuckled. “I beg to differ.”
I chewed on my bottom lip and did my best not to shift my weight when awkwardness flooded over me each time I thought about relaxing against him. Is it really like a hug? Am I blowing this out of proportion?
Raikidan didn’t move a muscle as I wrestled with my internal conflict. Eventually, the reluctant side of me lost and I started to relax. My arms moved from being a protective barrier and rested in a more comfortable position on his back as I pressed my chest against him. Raikidan’s arms lowered and he pressed on my lower back, forcing me to press my entire body against him and raising my body temperature in an awkward way. Raikidan chuckled and I knew it was because he could feel my heart nearly pounding out of my chest.
As we stood there, I began to calm down. It wasn’t all that bad. The situation was weird, unlike he tried to claim, but it wasn’t that bad. I rested my head against Raikidan’s back. Could be worse, really…
“See, not much different than an ordinary hug,” Raikidan said.
“I don’t hug you like this.”
“Well, then maybe you should. I wouldn’t mind.”
I looked up at him in wonder. Why would he want a hug from me? Especially one like this?
As luck would have it, the front door opened and several pairs of feet entered the house.
“Ryoko, Rylan, why are you two having a staring contest in the hallway?” Zane asked.
“Ryoko played a dirty trick on Laz and Rai
kidan,” Rylan said. “She shoved Raikidan in the shower while Laz was using it and locked them in the stall.”
“Wow, really?” Blaze asked. “Anything happening in there?”
Argus smacked him. “Don’t be stupid. She’s probably freaking out in there.”
At least some of my housemates understand.
“All right, you two, move out of my way,” Zane said. “This has gone on long enough.”
“Don’t rain on my parade,” Ryoko whined.
“I will, now move.”
She sighed and Zane stormed past her. I pulled away from Raikidan and he quickly pulled his boxers and pants back up. He grabbed his shirt, wrung it a few times, and hung it over his shoulder before leaning his arms against the glass door. At least he’s being decent about this and not making it more awkward.
Zane flung the bathroom door open and rushed in. He barely looked at the two of us before noticing the security bar and ripped it out of its holding place. Raikidan immediately slid the door open and exited not only the shower stall, but the bathroom, quickly.
Ryoko yelped in pain. “Ow, Rai! Don’t thwack my ear. They’re sensitive.”
“Consider it a warning,” Raikidan said. “Don’t do that again.”
She sighed. “You guys are no fun.”
“You okay, Chickadee?” Zane asked without looking at me.
I nodded and kept myself covered as best as possible. “I’ll be fine. I’d like to finish up my shower in peace now if you don’t mind.”
He nodded and left. A long sigh came from my mouth as I relaxed when the door shut behind him. Thank the gods they came home finally. I stood under the water and let the liquid roll down my body. I didn’t need to finish cleaning up, but if I left this room, I’d be far too tempted to hurt Ryoko. And Raikidan too. No way was I going to be truly okay with that stunt he had pulled, regardless of his supposed reasons.
The bathroom door creaked open and Ryoko’s scent wafted in. “Ryoko, you come in here, the gods help you, I’ll slaughter you for that stunt.”
“Okay, well good night!” she said too cheerfully.
Pieces Page 27
