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by Jaymin Eve
There were no cleaning carts conveniently waiting for me, so I had to barge through the storage room door, rip a poor defenceless cart free, and push it at super-dweller-speed toward dorms 1-5.
The hallway was empty and I had this amazing feeling inside. All warmth and life. I was totally killing it at being a dweller slave this sun-cycle.
Killing it!
When I was almost at the end, doorway five sprung open, and a huge body emerged. With an audible shriek, I skidded to a stop and hit the deck, hiding behind my cart. I was still a few feet from their rooms. If they didn’t look this way, they hopefully wouldn’t notice a rogue cart just sitting in the hall, all on its own.
I heard voices, and keeping my breathing as shallow as possible, I peered through the small gap in the towel area on the cart. Lots of goldenness, muscles, and arrogance came into sight. I couldn’t quite tell, but judging from the glow, all five Abcurse brothers were leaving.
“We need to make sure D.O.D. knows that we’re done with his bullshit. When we get back, I’m going to rip his ungodly head off.”
Rome’s voice was distinct—a low growl which tingled down my spine and settled somewhere low in my body. Which I was so not okay with.
“We need to figure out how to end this banishment.” That was Yael, his velvety persuasive tone was enough to almost have me up and crawling toward him. He was dangerous. Affecting me way more than was safe. He continued: “I almost lost control of them the previous sun-cycle, it’s starting earlier than usual this time.”
They were moving away now; I could hear them still, but it was getting softer. Shifting my body forward a little, I decided to take a risk and see what was happening. Just as I got my head around the edge of the cart, blood red and ochre hair came into view.
“Well, well, well. What do we have here?” Coen reached out and wrapped his arms around me, and even though he wasn’t as huge as his strength-gifted twin, he was still giant-size. He lifted me with ease, and I flinched, bracing for the pain. You weren’t gifted to cause pain unless you were a sol who took pleasure in it.
“I’m not going to hurt you, Rocks,” he said, whispering close to my ear. My eyes shuttered briefly as I fought for composure. I was potentially a click away from begging for my life, which was pretty uncool, considering my life hadn’t been outwardly threatened. Yet. “I prefer my pain in a different outlet to what you’re imagining,” Coen continued. “If I cause you pain, you’re probably going to like it.”
What the … holy gods of Topia, was he saying? I … why was my brain trying to sign me up?
Aros.
It was his fault.
Blame the seduction-sol—even if he wasn’t touching me. Seemed the simplest option.
“Let me go,” I hissed, trying to wiggle out of Coen’s grip. He still held me above the ground, my feet dangling below.
“What are you doing here, dweller? Don’t you have rooms to clean, breakfasts to serve?” Siret stepped forward, his fitted black shirt had the green of his eyes darkening. His hair looked blacker than usual, like Yael’s.
“Where were you the previous sun-cycle?” What was wrong with me? Why did I ask that? I didn’t care where they were; as long as they weren’t near me I was rejoicing. Rejoicing!
The four of them now stood in a circle around Coen and me, the intensity coming from them was enough to have my light-headedness increasing.
“You aren’t like other dwellers.” Siret ignored my question, stepping closer to me. His head was slightly tilted, his eyes locked onto mine. He stared at me like a bug he’d found in his food. Like I was strange and annoying. And yet … there was a sort of curiosity there too.
Aros also stepped forward, and I turned my glare on him. Whatever I was feeling, it had to be his fault. My sanity depended on it.
“We never know what you’re going to do next,” he said. “You think for yourself, which in itself is rare on Minatsol.” His summer glow was now seeping into me, warming up my blood. “We might be able to use someone like you, dweller. If you think you’re up for it. The rewards could be great.”
They were all close to me, towering over me despite the fact that I was being held off the ground. I’d never been surrounded like this. I’d never had so much beauty and magnetism directed toward me. It gave me both chills and nausea. I had no idea what they were going to do with me, but right now I felt like a little rabbit, completely surrounded by vicious predators, and that was not a great feeling.
Coen dipped his head forward, pulling me back into the trap of his gaze. “Will you help us, dweller? Remember, if you betray us … well, the pain-pleasure thing can just become pain. I thrive on either. I’d just prefer it if I didn’t have to go there.”
Me too! I would definitely prefer that too.
He lowered me to the ground and my legs crumpled beneath me. They didn’t seem to be capable of holding me up. I went down, my body collapsing as vertigo finally got me. Then, in a blink, I was somehow back on my feet.
“Follow us,” Yael drawled.
The five of them strode off in the opposite direction of the domed room. None of them looked back. If they had, they would have seen a shell-shocked dweller trying to figure out how she wasn’t on her ass right now. I’d been falling. Then I wasn’t. And no one had touched me.
My breathing was all panty and shallow; my body couldn’t seem to figure out whether to be excited or to fall apart. I really didn’t want to follow them. I didn’t want to find myself in another life-or-death situation, but I took Coen’s warning very seriously. If I didn’t help them, I was going to get hurt. Dammit! Why was this happening to me again? I was super-dweller this sun-cycle and then boom, back to sitting in bullsen shit.
The brothers were almost out of sight now and I couldn’t delay any longer. Cursing under my breath, I scrambled after them, my weak legs not helping as I tried to catch up. Unsuccessfully. Those long-legged bastards were faster than me even though I was running. I was running badly, but that wasn’t the point.
The hall reached an intersection, and the brothers went right, which was the general direction of the Sacred Sand arena. Why were we heading there? My shift to clean it wasn’t for two more sun-cycles, so this could only mean one thing. They were going to use me for fight practice. No, couldn’t be that. They might as well use a straw-stuffed dummy, I’d be as much use. So, there had to be another horrible activity waiting for me.
I was so busy freaking out about being dragged to the slaughter, that I didn’t notice the stairs which led down into the outdoor grassed area. I hadn’t actually been outdoors since we had arrived in Blesswood, and I’d have liked to enjoy the brush of the warm sun on my face, and the sound of a nearby trickling waterfall.
Instead, I took a one-way trip down the stairs.
I threw my hands out because a broken skull was much harder to heal than broken arms. I closed my eyes and braced for impact, preparing to roll like any good clumsy-cursed dweller knows how to do, but there was no impact. No thud as my hands followed by my head slammed into the grass below.
Two hard bands were wrapped across my torso, heat surrounding me as I was lifted against a firm body. The sunshine seemed to increase around us, and I knew without even looking up that it was Aros. My sunshine sol. I mean … not mine or anything. That was weird, but you know … a sunshine sol.
“You okay there, Willa?”
Golden eyes stole my breath. “You know my name?” I managed to ask.
He knows my name?
“Come on, Seduction, put her clumsy ass down and let’s go.” Coen shouted his command, already moving toward the Sacred Sand arena.
Aros gave me a wink, and for the second time that sun-cycle, an Abcurse was dropping me onto shaky legs. He then strode off to catch his brothers, taking all the warmth and life with him. Seduction. Was it just me, or was it weird that they called each other by their gift? Like it was a name. I hadn’t heard any other sols do that, so it wasn’t like an ‘in’ thing. Not that it
really mattered with my imminent death looming.
I picked up the pace, feeling like a super-dweller again because even though they were really good at dropping me, they had also seemed to be pretty good at catching me. The sols were useful for something, at least. Coen was striding ahead of the rest, appearing almost a speck from my vantage point as the straggling, weak-assed dweller. Rome was right behind him, followed by Aros—who had caught up to the others without a problem, despite the burn in my thighs and the pant on my breath—Yael was next, and then Siret. I laughed, almost causing myself to trip again because laughing and running weren’t activities that should be carried out simultaneously. But it was funny. They were lined up in order of their dorm numbers, from one to five.
Pain-Master Coen was number one, Crusher Rome was number two, Golden Aros was number three, Hypnotic Yael was number four, and Evil Siret was number five. That was one way to differentiate between them.
“What are you laughing at?” Siret slowed until he was beside me, that mixture of curiosity and annoyance back in his eyes.
“Nothing, Five,” I replied on another pant-laugh. I almost tripped again. Talking, running, and laughing was even less advisable.
“Five?” Yael called over his shoulder. “What the hell is she talking about?”
“Nothing, Four!” I yell-panted.
This time, I did trip, but I swung out a hand in natural reaction, catching a fist-full of Siret’s shirt. He started to go down with me, but then he managed to catch us both, his arm quickly wrapping around my back.
“She’s ranking us?” Aros stopped running altogether, turning to face us with an incredulous expression.
Yael also stopped, but the others continued, too far ahead to realise what was happening.
“Why do you keep doing that?” Siret asked, using his grip on me to shake me a little bit.
“Doing what?” I asked, pushing on his chest to indicate that he could put me down. He didn’t. My stomach decided to flip.
“Falling. Tripping. Almost getting yourself killed.”
“What does it matter?” I groused. “Aren’t you taking me to get killed anyway?”
I spotted Rome and Coen up ahead; they weren’t running anymore, but they weren’t coming back to us. They were waiting. Rome had his hand raised to his eyes, trying to block out the sun.
Yael laughed. “We’re not taking you to get killed.”
“Maybe we are?” Siret seemed to be asking the others a question. He seemed to have forgotten that he was holding me. I looked down at my feet, kicking my boots back and forth a little, trying to reach the ground.
“You have a point,” Yael returned. “She’ll probably twist this around so that she finds a way to die, even if that’s not our intention.”
“Doesn’t matter.” Siret was shaking his head. “She still needs to stay alive until we’re done with her. She can die pissing off D.O.D., but she can’t die getting there. That’s just inconvenient.”
“Right here,” I grumbled.
“Yeah you are.” Aros stepped forward, grabbed my arm, and yanked me out of Siret’s grip.
It hurt like a bitch, but I didn’t complain, because they were talking about killing me again, and I figured complaining probably wouldn’t help my situation very much. I rubbed my shoulder, trying to ignore the way Aros was twisting his fingers through mine, because it seemed to be tied directly to something inside me, twisting and twisting and twisting …
“Don’t get possessive, Seduction,” Siret growled, stalking past us. “She’s our dweller. Not yours.”
“Still right here,” I added. “I’d also like to have a say, if it’s dweller claiming time.”
“No.” Yael was chuckling, moving past us with Siret. “You get no say.”
Aros tugged me forward, his feet eating up the distance faster than I thought it would be possible for me to follow, and yet somehow I managed it. We were almost to the edges of the academy now, with only the mountains in the distance, separated from us by a short stretch of forest, where Coen and Rome were waiting.
“What happened?” Coen demanded, once we reached them. His eyes were on my hand. Specifically, the hand that Aros was holding.
His bright green eyes narrowed, luminous and dangerous, and I tried to tug my hand free, feeling a ball of panic lodge in my throat. Now was not the time for them all to start fighting over dweller-slave-claiming-rights or whatever. They could do that after I was dead. Aros tightened his grip, and I swallowed, my stomach lurching.
“She ranked us,” Yael replied nonchalantly. He seemed to be the least concerned about the ranking, compared to the other two.
“She what?” That had been Rome. He looked confused.
“RIGHT HERE!” I shouted, my temper flaring and bursting before I even had the chance to realise that it had been building. I was panting again, but this time it wasn’t from the exercise. It was because the five idiots were messing with my internal organs. Or my brain. Or something. They wouldn’t stop making me dizzy. Aros wouldn’t stop holding my hand!
Siret burst into sudden laughter just as I managed to finally tear my hand free from Aros. Everyone was staring at me as though I had just temporarily lost my mind, except for Siret.
“Well?” Coen crossed his arms, giving me a look. “If you’re right there, go ahead and explain yourself.”
“Nothing to explain.” I shrugged.
“This is why we don’t talk to her.” He tossed his hands up, turning on Yael. “What ranking?”
“She ranked us,” he repeated. “Four—” he jabbed a finger at his chest, and then turned it on Siret, “and five. Don’t know what she gave you guys.”
Rome’s mouth dropped open, but Coen was all stony-faced, until I caught the edge of his eyebrow inching up. “Is this out of ten?”
“Maybe.” I considered telling him that it was just their dorm numbers, but that wouldn’t have been half as fun. It was nice to see him squirm. I considered it pay-back for the crossbow incident.
“What’s my number?” he demanded.
“One.”
He frowned, and I knew that he was considering the possibility that this might have been a one-out-of-ten situation.
“And him?” Coen jerked a finger in Aros’s direction.
“Three.”
“And him?” This time, the finger was jabbed in Rome’s direction.
“Two,” I said, cocking my head at Rome.
Rome was smiling, like he had figured it out. He didn’t tell the others, though. He seemed content to allow them all to stand around, baffled. I would say that it made him a little bit evil, but what difference did it make? They were all evil anyway.
“Can we figure this out later, maybe?” Once again, Yael seemed unconcerned with the ranking.
The others nodded, Coen casting me one last look before they started moving again—this time, through the forest. Because the trees were so dense, we had to slow to a walk, and Yael dropped back to walk behind me. The others didn’t seem to notice when he twisted a hand in my shirt and pulled me off my feet. This was just way too much yanking around for my poor cap, and it finally gave up trying to cling to my head. I tried to see through the spill of white-blond curls, feeling like the sudden colour was almost blinding after not having it swinging into my line of vision for most of the morning.
“What—”
A hand slapped over my mouth, cutting off the question before I could voice it. My back hit one of the trees and I quickly pushed the hair out of my eyes. Yael was only an inch away, leaning into me.
“Raise my ranking,” he ordered softly. I felt the heavy roll of his power rushing over me, carrying on the tenor of his voice.
Holy shit, were these five competitive or what?
I made a sound behind his hand. His eyes narrowed, and he lifted his hand almost suspiciously.
“Not a ranking!” I finally managed to get out. “It’s just your dorm number.”
He frowned. “Make me One, then.”
“You have to be in the first room to be One.”
He released me suddenly, stalking away.
“Hey, Pain!” he shouted, making his way through the trees again. “Switch rooms with me!”
“What?” I heard Coen shout back.
I was still leaning against the tree, my heart threatening to jump out of my chest and bury itself deep, deep underground, where it would be safe. Because I swear to the gods, those boys were going to give me a heart-attack. How was that for karma? A sexy sol was going to kill me by frightening me to death.
And I didn’t just say sexy.
None of them were sexy. And their sexiness definitely wasn’t the reason for my heart-pains. Not that they had sexiness. Because they didn’t.
“Rocks?” Siret strode back into sight, a scowl twisting his lips. “You fall again?”
“Not sexy …” It kind of slipped out. I wasn’t sure how. I wanted to take it back immediately, but he had clearly already heard me.
He blinked. “Well … I wouldn’t put it that way. You go down like a pro. It’s a little bit sexy.”
My mouth dropped open, my eyebrows inching up. Somehow, that had sounded filthy. He seemed to realise it, too, or maybe he was just reading it on my face. Oh, gods in hell. I need to never speak again.
He started smiling, the flash in his eyes driving the heat further into my face. I pushed past him, ready to face my death. Maybe I could ask them to hurry up, and save myself from any more of … whatever it was they were doing to me. Or maybe I could just trip on something and fall onto a nice, suicidal rock.
Yeah.
That’d be nice.
Seven
One moment we were picking a precarious path through the mountains about a mile from the boundary of the academy, and then, suddenly, we weren’t even in Blesswood anymore. I gasped, my footsteps halting, my eyes going wide. The seemingly endless stretch of mountainous terrain before us had dissolved, and a dark, damp-smelling cave had loomed in around us, only a pinprick of light visible in the distance.