Flame (Fireborn) (36 page)

Immediately, I'm
reminded of the men from today who had looked at us with too much
desire. I don't attempt to find anything to fight with because
there's nothing in my cell. Curling my fists, I stand on shaky legs.

"You'll have to
kill me first."

He's still hidden in
the shadows, but I think I hear a sound from him.

"Do you hear me?
You'll never touch me alive!"

He's moving faster than
I've ever seen. His body pushes me hard into the wall, and a large
hand silences the scream ripping from my throat.

This close I can see
his face. He's the one from before, the one who gave me my dress. The
one who guarded us from the entrance. I still don't trust him, and
neither does my body. My heart continues to accelerate, pounding
against my skin.

"Shh," he
says, his voice low and strained. "Chloris sent me."

I shake my head. I
don't believe him.

"You're lying,"
I spit out when his hand leaves my face. "Liar!"

Immediately, his hand
covers me again, pressing my body firmly against the wall. Barely
able to breathe against his palm, I continue to struggle.

"Stop," he
hisses. "We don't want them to hear us!"

I'm not sure why, but
those words make me stop. I still, letting him cover my mouth.

"Promise me you
won't scream."

I hesitate, but see the
worried look on his face, and nod in agreement. Slowly, he removes
his hand from my face, staring like he expects me to go back on my
word at any moment. I keep my promise though, and don't make a sound,
even when I see the glint of a knife in his pants pocket.

Tentatively, he backs
away, looking at me wearily. "You're quite a handful for a
human," he finally says.

I don't reply.

"I'm Kaiden."
He pauses as if expecting my name. When it doesn't come, he grins.
I'm so taken aback to see a Saguinox smile that I bump my head
against the wall behind me.

"Ow!" I cry
for the second time in two minutes.

"You're kind of a
klutz, you know."

"No, I'm not,"
I rub my sore spot. "Tonight's just been a rough night."
I'm frowning at myself, wondering why I told him that.

He looks empathetic.
"Nightmare?"

Unexpectedly, images
from my dream flitter to the surface of my mind, and I suck in a
painful breath. Quickly, I push them back, burying them with endless
magnetic sand.

"In this place?
More like a bad
life
," I answer with as much contempt as
I dare.

He doesn't seem to take
offense, and even agrees. "I bet."

Unable to stop myself,
I stare at Kaiden, trying to figure him out.

"What?" he
says, when I don't look away. "Do I have something in my teeth?"

"No, it's
something worse. You're starting to sound like you have something
here." I touch my chest, where my heart rate has returned to
normal.

He looks confused for a
second before he starts laughing. It feels genuine and oddly out of
place in this dark prison. "What's your name?"

"You'll have to
earn it first," I answer stubbornly, not wanting to tell him
anything about myself.

"Okay."

He doesn't try to press
me for more, and we grow quiet, letting the stillness envelope us. He
gets up to look around, examining cracks on the walls. He taps it
with his fists.

"Pure concrete."
He doesn't wait for me to reply before he's investigating the
ceiling. His head's almost touching it and he lays his hands flat
against the hard surface. He walks the tiny perimeter of the cell,
appearing to be searching for something.

"What are you
doing?" I finally ask, a little impatient with his presence in
my room.

He looks up from where
he's bending, crouched near a corner. His answer surprises me. "Damn.
This place really sucks."

"No." I gasp
sarcastically. "What gave it away? The insane mortality rate?"
Instantly, I bite my tongue, wanting to take the words back.

He doesn't seem to mind
my seething retort though, and only smiles pleasantly as if we're
having a lovely conversation about weather. I can't help but look at
him like he's crazy, but he remains indifferent, holding a casual
smile that exasperates me.

He leans against the
wall with one shoulder, arms crossed, standing confidently and
studying me. His gaze is unnerving, and I can't hold it for long.

I'm the first to drop
my eyes, studying the worn leather of his boots. The silence
stretches into tension- for me anyway. His body's relaxed. That's so
rare in this stress filled place I instantly become more suspicious.

"If you're not
here to hurt me, then what are you here for?" I ask grudgingly.

"I told you.
Chloris sent me."

"Look Kaiden,"
I try to ignore the way he smiles when I say his name "if you
really know Chloris, then you would know she'd never do anything like
that. She doesn't trust your kind." A hazy picture of Rhys
appears in my head. I push it away. "And neither do I."

"Good." He's
rubbing his eyes with his hand.

"What?" I
gape at him. "Haven't you heard a single word I've been saying?
I don't trust you!
Now, I don't know what kind of sick game
you're trying to play, but-" Unexpectedly, I stop short, my gasp
halting anymore words.

He's trying to take out
his eyes.

Before I can scream I
hear a loud sound.

Kaiden freezes for a
fraction of a second before pushing me to the wall and simultaneously
covering my mouth.
A growing habit of his,
I think with rising
hysteria.

"Shh. Did you hear
that?" He's straining, concentrating, but all I hear is the
accelerated pounding of my own heart. "Quiet."

We're both silent for
so long I'm having trouble standing with the way his body is crushed
against mine. Then, before I can say anything I hear it.

Footsteps. Light.
Hurried.

I tense, and we stand
absolutely still. The footsteps stop right behind my door. Kaiden
curses, turning his back to me. I hear his dagger against his jean
pockets before I see it, shining valiantly against the dark. He flips
the blade into his other hand. It's obvious he's an expert with this
weapon.

When the door opens, I
expect to see a trio of guards charging at us with swords raised.
What I
don't
expect to see is a slender blue head, peering
next to the door.

"Ready?" she
whispers.

"
Nymphora?
What… how are you here?" I whisper, completely shocked.

"Chloris drugged
the guard."

"
Chloris?
"

"Mouth to mouth
poison." Nymphora kisses the air dramatically to show me. "Works
every time."

"Huh, so that's
why it took so long." Kaiden's defensive stance softens,
shoulders sagging, as he moves away from me. Sliding the blade back
into his pocket, he asks, "Aren't her powers locked?"

Nymphora shrugs, her
slim shoulders rolling gently. "It's that time of the month for
her. You know how it gets. Her body starts secreting-"

"Ugh," Kaiden
holds up a hand. "No more details, please." He pushes my
dazed body ahead. "Let's get the hell out of here. This place is
depressing."

I'm shell shocked, and
momentarily speechless so I don't argue as we leave, swiftly making
our way through the corridor. All the other cells are locked with
sound proof walls so I can't hear a thing. We find Chloris waiting
anxiously for us at the end. She's standing next to a slumped guard,
who is half sitting half lying down. His eyes are still open, but the
glow inside them has disappeared. His skin is ashen, and the only
alive looking thing about him is his red and wet lips. Chloris's own
mouth is scarlet. Her lips look larger than normal, plump as if
they've been injected with something.

Nymphora catches me
staring at her new look. "Angelina Jolie lips. The only thing
about plant shifters I envy."

Chloris frowns at
Nymphora, and touches her curvaceous lips, cringing a little. "Forgot
how painful that can be," she confesses with a wince, nodding to
the dead guard. "It also took longer than I thought. I had to
have been kissing him for ten minutes! I need to get these things
sanitized when we get home." She points to her mouth, talking
about it as if it's not a part of her.

"How is that
possible?" I ask. "Once a month your mouth just… plumps
up?"

"That's one thing
that happens, yeah," she confirms. The look on her face tells me
there's more, and it isn't very good.

Nymphora shakes her
head. "It doesn't matter if you're human, or shape shifter,
women always get the bad end of the bargain."

Kaiden walks by,
rubbing his eyes furiously. His fingers touch his eyes again, and
he's squeezing like he's trying to pull something out. He makes a
sound, then suddenly he's yelling, shouting with pain.

"What the-?"
Nymphora runs to him.

"Kaiden!"
Chloris sounds worried.

"Shh!" I
hiss. "You'll alert the rest of the guards!"

Chloris hurries over,
trying to move his hands from his eyes. "What's wrong?" His
shoulders shake in violent pain.

"Holy crap,
Kaiden!" begins Nymphora.

Kaiden turns and he's
laughing, his shoulders convulsing with mirth. Chloris's small hands
punch him playfully on the shoulder. "I've forgotten how much of
a goofball you are. Need I remind you that we are right in the middle
of a dangerous escape?"

Filled with amusement,
he answers, "That's the best time for jokes! Makes our deaths
seem less imminent."

Gaping, I turn to
Chloris and Nymphora, bewildered. "Where did you find this guy?"

"I'm the best at
what I do," Kaiden answers grinning. Using both hands, he sticks
two fingers into his eyes, pulling out a contact. A glowing half
sphere slips from one eye. It falls into his palm like an ember,
shining just brightly enough to catch our eyes.

"What is that?"
I ask.

"Fake Saguinox
eyes," he says. "This is the first one from the lab. They
decided I'd be the lucky guinea pig who'd get to try it first."
He opens his palms so I can see. It's pretty, in a haunting way. He
moves it around his palm, and the colors shimmer like a prism.

"So you put on
some fake contacts and that's it? They just welcome you like family?"
I ask, incredulous.

"Not quite as easy
as that," he laughs.

Nymphora chimes in."
Some might consider Saguinox guards handsome, but they got rocks
where their brains should be." She turns her gaze to Kaiden.
"We're really lucky the warriors aren't here because they
wouldn't fall for a trick like
that
." She points to the
contact in his hand.

He fumbles with his
other eye for a few more seconds before the contact pops out, glowing
like a lightening bug. He sighs with relief, and slips the delicate
material into a small canister. When he looks up again the first
thing I notice are two perfect,
very human
blue eyes.

"Back to business.
The guards will change in about thirty minutes. No cameras anywhere
except on the exits," he informs us.

Is he human?

"Somehow Cuinn got
a hold of their security codes. He gave me some numbers that should
override their system for awhile. We're not sure how long it's going
to last though so we need to move
fast
." By the time he
gets out the last word, we're already moving.

I'm trying to run and
think at the same time, but everything is coming together so rapidly
I'm actually dizzy. Chloris is beside me, and I clutch her arm,
pausing to regain my breath, my balance, and my
head
.

"You okay?"
she asks softly, stopping to wait for me. Her voice is huskier, and
my eyes travel to her lips, wondering if it's to blame.

"Yes. Chloris,
this is crazy. Are we really escaping?"

"Yes," she
replies firmly. "We are." She takes my arm, and pushes me
along. Never in a million years did I ever think Chloris would be the
aggressor in our escape, but her firm hands guiding me forward is
unmistakable.

When I look at her, a
hundred questions fly through my mind, but deep down the question
burning the brightest inside is how can I move on from the memories
of this desolate prison? I'm terrified when I close my eyes, I'll
never really leave this place even if my body is a thousand miles
away. I shake my head, trying to bury the secret fear.

"What about the
rest of them?" I suddenly ask, realizing how briskly we're
passing by the cells.

Chloris doesn't meet my
eyes. "Um-"

"We can't take
them with us," Nymphora answers for her, coming from behind.
"Enough talking." She brushes by me. "We have a prison
to break out of."

"No." I stop,
touching Chloris's hand. "We can't leave them. It's inevitable
they'll go to the crystal."

She looks torn.
Nymphora glares at me. I ignore her.

"I've seen what
the crystal is, Chloris. It's horrible; more terrifying than you can
imagine," I whisper fierce and fast. "You get
sucked
in. Your whole body melts into the crystal. You
become
a part
of the crystal."

She looks horrified.

"We can't leave
them." My eyes scan the corridor even as I hear Nymphora object.
"There has to be a button or something to open the cell doors,"
I press. Our doors always opened at the same time in the morning.
"There's a control room somewhere."

"This is
ridiculous, Kenna!" Nymphora explodes. "We're risking our
lives for people who will never do the same for us."

"We're not walking
away." I look her straight in the eye.

"I know for a fact
any human in there would turn me over to the Saguinox in a second,"
she hisses.

"Not me," I
answer quietly.

"What are you
ladies doing?" Kaiden rushes back to us. He gestures ahead.
"Keep moving."