Emergence (The Primogenitor Chronicles Book 1) (40 page)

“We’ll handle that hurdle later. I’m sure Ian has some plan he’s working from.”

“Right. Then I guess we have a start, I’ll go get everyone moving.”

He opened his eyes and nodded to Donald as the Hunter rose and gave him a casual salute before letting himself out. The quiet settled around him and he stared into nothingness, remembering the past and comparing the present.
I wish I could spare you this, Nick; you’ve already been through so much.
With a sigh, he climbed to his feet.
Well, if I want to be awake to deal with this situation, I had better go take a shower and dress.

One foot in front of the other.
Where were you yesterday?
Turn, stretching her growing wings until they hurt. One foot in front of the other.
I don’t believe Kieran. There was something more than a recovery you went on.
Turn again at the end of eight steps. Drop into a squat and rise a few times.

The line on her thigh pulled a bit but held. She twisted to look at the red stripe; the dots from where the stitches had been removed were fading already. She rubbed her palm across it and continued her pacing.
Why didn’t you come in last night?
The memory of raised voices and a large
whomph
on her door intruded.
I’m sure I felt you.

She stopped and stared into the blank wall before her nose.
It’s not so bad when you’re here. And that’s something I should watch out for. I need to get out. How do I get out? They don’t present any opportunities.
She gave herself a shake then leaned her palms into the wall and stepped back. After several pushups against the wall, she turned to pace the opposite way again.
I had thought you were finally coming around and would help me get out.

Snippets of their last conversation floated through her mind. And the luscious taste of the chocolate he had smuggled in to her as it melted on her tongue.

The door locks thunked in the frame and she jumped.

Breakfast? It must be morning.

She ground her teeth and glared when Jays walked through the door carrying her tray of food. He placed several plates on the table before glancing up at her.

Her wings spread before she realized what they were doing and she took a step toward him. “Where is he, Jays?”

He folded his arms and stared at her. “Sleeping.”

“Really? Even I know he doesn’t sleep this much.”

He shifted his feet and flicked a glance at the camera in the ceiling behind her. “He has a lot of sleep to catch up on.”

“Don’t lie to me,” she growled.

He rolled his eyes and uncrossed his arms, taking a step toward her. “You choose now to talk to me? Two weeks of nothing. But now?”

He took a deep breath and let it out slowly. “Eat. You didn’t eat much yesterday. That’s not good for your changing body.”

And he turned and walked away from her; swiping his card, he left the room without looking back.

“As if you’d care,” she mumbled, then scrubbing her face with her hands, she walked over to the bunk and sat. She pushed the meat cubes around with her finger. No fruit this time.
Guess they’re serious about my meal today.
She sighed then tried to choke down a few chunks but had to stop.
I hope he’s all right. I’m sure now, from Jays’s reaction, that there’s more going on.

She tapped the thick plastic plate with her fingernail.
This could be useful.
Her fingers rubbed the cotton of the mattress pad she sat on then looked up at the ceiling vent.
Yes. That could work. I’m going to have to get me—us—out of here.

She tried one more piece of the bloody meat, but her stomach turned and she spat it back out. Then, with quick moves, she combined all the food onto one plate and stacked the others before standing and carrying the full plate over to the toilet, where she flushed it enthusiastically.

She had barely managed to sit back down before the door opened and Ian walked in, followed by Jays pushing the exam cart.
Guess that one didn’t get by them.
She leaned her elbows on the table and fidgeted with the stack of plates.

“So? Are you going to cooperate today?”

“Why should I?” She glanced up and met Ian’s eyes.

He placed his hands on her little table and leaned down to her face. “Because if you want to see Nick today, you will.”

She snarled and gathered herself to lunge at him, but his snapped, “don’t,” froze her in her seat.

“You won’t win, Jessica. And I suggest you don’t push me today. I’m not in the mood.”

She glared but finally had to look away from the intensity in his eyes. He straightened and joined Jays at the cart, so she took the opportunity to slip the top plate from the stack and slide it under the pad of the bunk before they returned to her.

Jays cleared the table and folded it back down to the wall.

“Let’s start with wing measurements. Against the wall, Jess.”

Again, she met his eyes but couldn’t hold his gaze, so with a curl of her lip, she crossed the six feet to the wall and placed her hands on it. She flinched when she felt his hand rest lightly on her shoulder. Then the two of them pulled, prodded, and muttered to one another as they recorded her growth for the day. The rest of the exam basics went by in a blur. Soon she relaxed against their touch, but something about the light caress of Jays’s hand across her hair and his other hand brushing down her arm brought the tension back to her muscles. She started to spin away from the wall, but Jays dropped her faster than she could escape him. Her shoulder went numb as he simultaneously twisted her arm up her spine and slammed her knees into the tiles of the floor with his foot, bowing her back with the grip he had in her hair. She tried to struggle, but he had her balance in his control.

“Damn you to hell and back, Jays.” Tears pricked her eyes as she stared up at the ceiling, her breathing harsh in her own ears. She pulled against his grip and succeeded in twisting enough to see Ian out of the corner of her eye, raising a needle and tapping it for air bubbles. Her growl turned into a gasp as Jays pulled her arm a bit more. She flailed her free hand, trying to get a grip on him, anything.

Ian stepped up, pulling the cart with him, and caught her free wrist, pinning it between his knees. He deftly inserted the needle into the vein in her elbow and started to draw blood samples. “Don’t blame, Jays. This wouldn’t happen if you would cooperate.”

He changed the tube a third time, but this time she felt the burn from the inhibitor as he injected it and hissed. Then pressure from his thumb for a second before the sting of adhesive as he stretched a Band-Aid across the prick.

“Cooperate?” she gasped through her stretched throat. “You know as well as I do they don’t use crap like this in Aurora. So why?”

“Ok, Jays, let her go.”

Jays lifted his foot from the back of her knees then slowly lowered her arm and raised her head and back until she caught her balance. When he stepped back she stumbled to her feet, neither arm working properly. The burn in her veins started to spread; it already engulfed her hand and her fingertips, steadily working its way up her shoulder. Soon it would hit her heart and explode everywhere. It made the ache Jays caused in her other shoulder disappear. She stared at Ian, this time not dropping her eyes. “Why?”

“What they do in Aurora really has no bearing here. What would you do if I let you out?”

“Leave.”

“And that’s why the inhibitor.”

Jays had finished packing up the cart. With a tip of his head, Ian saluted her, then swiped his card and held the door for Jays. Her body had started to shake. She couldn’t make a play for the open door, and from the look in his eyes, Ian knew it. Cursing him, she stumbled to the bed and fell down on it. The drug pumped through her heart and she closed her eyes, praying that she could pass out before the rest of the effects grabbed hold.

Chris’s hand at the back of his neck squeezed then shoved him through the doors into the Hub. With a growl, Nick spun and struck out halfheartedly at his brother, but Chris just grabbed his wrist and got in his face.

“You want to see her, right? Then get in here and knock it off.”

The dark bruises around Chris’s neck flexed, and Nick relaxed his arm, turning away as soon as Chris let him go. Jays held a clipboard over by the monitor island, waiting for them. Dragging his feet, he moved that way.

“He woke up in a mood, Jays.”

“Not terribly surprising. How do you feel, Nick?”

“What do you think? Tranks suck.”

Jays pressed his lips together, but his eyes sparkled. He proceeded to write a couple of things on the clipboard then handed him a heavily loaded tray. “Here. There’s enough on there for both of you. She’s hardly touched food since the last time you took in her dinner. So make sure she eats everything. Then we need to talk. As soon as Ian returns.”

Not given a chance to respond, Jays hustled him over to her door and shoved him through it with a hand between his shoulder blades.

The door locks clicked behind him.

He swallowed and looked at her sitting on the cot. She raised her head out of her hands, her face still a little green.

“Thrown up already?”

“Yeah,” she whispered, and her tongue passed across her lower lip, but she sat up straighter.

“Good. Then you should be able to eat.” He placed the overstacked tray down on her table.

She made a choking noise and he glanced up. “They don’t really think I can eat all that?”

He felt his face heat and he fidgeted with the plates. “Um, no. It’s for both of us.”

“I assumed that. It’s still way more than what we normally get when we eat together.”

“Jays said something about you not eating yesterday.”

She exhaled and slid over, making room for him. “I just couldn’t seem to stomach anything. It was like chewing cardboard.”

“Why?”

She cocked her head and their gazes met as he slid behind the table next to her. “A little mad, mostly worried.”

She knows
, he realized as they stared, frozen. She blinked and turned to her plate. He pushed his own food around. Finally, he asked softly, “Promise me you won’t do that again? You need to eat, Jess. If you don’t…”

“You don’t think they would use that stuff on me, do you? Not after the way I’ve responded to the other drugs?”

He shook his head. “But that doesn’t matter. What matters is that you could cause yourself damage, you might not make it out…. Well, you could hurt yourself. A few missed meals can make a huge difference. Promise me.”

“All right,” she finally answered, but her continued scrutiny was a bit unnerving. “What about you?”

“What about me?” He started to eat, staring at his plate.

“What’s wrong? What happened yesterday?”

He shoved more food in his mouth.

“Please don’t lie to me like the others. I really doubt the recovery took that long. You would have been in here.”

He coughed. “I wasn’t. Lying, that is. I just don’t know how to answer. Yesterday is mostly a blur,” he finished softly.

He took a few more bites. “I hate not remembering.”

Her hand slid up his shoulder and started to rub the back of his neck. He closed his eyes and chewed more slowly. “Chris has bruises all around his throat.”

“And you don’t remember doing it,” she stated.

“No. But the thing is, before I came in here…I was almost willing to do it again.” He shoved the empty plate aside and accepted the glass of milk Jessica handed him. She reached out and grabbed their second plates and plunked his in front of him. She dug into hers. They ate in silence for a while.

“Your favorite topic?” he said. “I think I agree now.”

Her eyes darted a look over and he nodded. She glanced up to the opposite corner where the camera sat blinking at them.

“How sensitive…”

“Too much.” They had both finished eating, so he leaned back and patted the mattress next to him. She scooted over and curled into his side. He brushed her hair with his cheek then whispered in her ear, “I’m not sure if they can pick this up or not. But if we aren’t careful, they will get suspicious if they see us whispering a lot on the camera.”

She shifted position, crawling into his lap, and wrapped her arms around his neck, pressing her cheek against his. He closed his eyes. Her breath tickled his ear.

“You really are willing to get me out now?”

“Us out.”

“When?”

“It needs to be soon. I should feel Chris out. I’d really rather not leave them all behind, but I will if that’s what it comes down to.” His hands started to roam the skin of her back and flowed along the velvet of her wing membrane. She tightened her arms and rubbed her cheek against his. “I need to find you warmer clothes, and locating a place to hide will take some doing; especially if it has to be from my brother and the other lieutenants. The Facility will be hard enough, but the Hunters may well be impossible.”