“It’s me.”
He just screamed in my face, terrified, desperate to get his hands free.
Stay calm. You can save him.
The van came to a stop at the docks, the door flying open.
Junto jumped in, checking over Akira with an SCU device. “Elf.”
“Can you break the hold?” I asked over the noise Aki made.
“I don’t know. I’m sorry. I need to run further tests.”
“I’m not leaving him like this if I can help it.”
It’d worked before, it may work again. A kiss. It was so strange, very much a fairytale, but it was the only option I had.
I crushed my lips to his. Something sparked between us, and I was shoved backward, losing my grip on his hands.
I growled and lunged forward, taking them again as he gouged a line into his left cheek.
“Aki!”
Junto left to grab some more equipment.
“Aki, please.” What was I missing? What could I do? He wouldn’t stop screaming, struggling, and his fear of me was heartbreaking.
“Aki! It’s me!”
But he pressed himself as far away from me as he could,
A tap on my shoulder.
Zach.
He gestured to his fingers.
I didn’t understand.
A cutting motion.
“Cut your fingers?” I asked.
He drew his machete and nicked his thumb, tiny prick of blood pooling. Was he offering it to me?
“My mouth?” I asked.
He nodded and pointed to Aki with his other hand, then ran his non-bloodied thumb across his lips. He kissed the air, then repeated the action again.
“Your blood,” I said, “on my lips?”
He kissed the air again.
“And then kiss, Aki?”
A thumbs up.
His blood, my love… Really? Would that work? He’d had a connection to Aki that time, but he wasn’t an elf anymore.
The cloud of confusion lifted. Aki had been told by the tenshi that blood was as powerful a force as any magic. He’d written it down to Zach.
The power of blood. Family love and this love Aki and I had. They could be useful bedfellows. Powerful bedfellows.
Was this what the tenshi meant?
I had to try it.
I let Zach paint my lips with his blood. Then he grabbed my hand tight.
He kissed the air.
I put my lips to Aki’s again.
Chapter Seventeen
This wasn’t gonna stop.
I didn’t wanna give in, but tenshi! This was bad! Solutions were proper lacking. How was I getting out of this one? This was it, was it? Just like that? Fifty elves sacrifice their lives and have me tailspin for the rest of my life? Drive me crackers?
Desperation. What a motherfucker.
What was my body doing? My connection to it was completely broken. At least, it seemed that way down here in Spin City.
While begging the brain to figure this out, a hand burst through the watery cone surrounding me and caught Rose by the tail. She yelped. Bob was next, then me—four hands grabbing each of my limbs.
I slammed to a halt like I’d hit a wall, only not. “What the fuckingfuckfuck!” I bellowed.
Hang on. I knew those hands and…and the others. Whoa. There were loads of them! Those were G’s hands, Zach’s hands, but since when were they octopi? Octopuses? Whatever.
“Oh, fuck,” I wheezed. For now, at least, the spinning had stopped. “G? What the hell?”
“Aki? Can you hear me?”
The whirlpool still ripped around me as I hovered, the hands unbothered by it.
This was some elfy trick. Why would G be here? “It’s not you. Fuck off, whoever you are.”
“Aki! It’s me.”
“Not it ain’t! You’re trying to really drive me round the twist. I ain’t having it, you hear me? Spin me all you like! You ain’t breaking me!”
“Aki! It’s me. Zach’s here too.”
“Piss off! It’s not possible!”
An anguished cry swirled through the water spinning around me as bubbles manifesting in front of my face.
Right.
One by one, they popped, each one releasing a word.
“You…”
“Will…”
“Not…”
“Be…”
“Free…”
Bubbles gone, I said, “Huh?”
A bloke of many words, me.
“Aki. We’ve got you.”
I reached for the hand, stroking the dark skin. “Is it really you, G?”
“Yes. And Zach. Remember the thing about blood being more powerful than magic?”
“Yeah?”
“Well, the tenshi were right. We’re pulling you out.”
Now, why couldn’t the tenshi have just simplified it? You know, something along the lines of ‘If you ever find your brain being ravaged by some nutty elves, blood will help you out. Okay? Cool.’
How exactly was the blood helping me out?
Later. Let’s get the hell out of here.
More bubbles. Three this time.
“You won’t…”
“Get away…”
“From us, you bastard!”
Bubbles gone.
“Oh, naff off,” I retorted.
The hands of G and Zach gripped me tightly, my babies too.
“Now!” G yelled, and I was whizzing upward.
Not that I wasn’t grateful, but did I really have to spin on the way out too?
Stop moaning!
* * *
I slammed into my body with my babies, my back arching as air rushed painfully into my lungs.
“Aki!”
G’s hands were on my face, holding my head still so I locked eyes with him.
I lasted two seconds before I started coughing. He let me go as I hunched forward, spewing onto the van floor, then coughed some more.
He rubbed my back. “It’s okay. You’re okay.”
It took me ten minutes to be able to sit up again.
I rested the back of my head against the wall, panting, mouth sawdust, and my head a power drill party. “Blimey…” I wheezed. “Got…any water?”
G immediately pressed a bottle to my lips, tipping it for me. My arms were too weak to move, so that was awesome of him.
“Cheers,” I said mid-drink, some of the water spilling down my chin.
“Want me to tilt it some more?”
“Please.”
I drank greedily until I’d had my fill.
“Can you…dunk some…on my head?” I asked.
He obliged. Ah, the coolness was sweet. I could sit under a cold shower like this all day.
“Thanks,” I said when it was over.
G wiped at my face with a paper towel. Good to know the van was supplied like that. Then he pushed my hair back, stroked my face in that soft way he always did.
Our eyes met, and I started to cry.
“Oh, Aki.”
A hand touched mine, both hands still useless and unmoving. They’d wake up. I trusted my hands.
Zach. He entwined his fingers with mine and squeezed my hand tight. I turned my head slightly, too sore to give it the full move.
“You saved me…” I whispered, my lips barely moving. He wouldn’t hear me, but he seemed to understand anyway, patting our locked hands.
I turned back to G, the pads of his thumbs wiping tears away from me. “You both did.”
I sobbed some more, so worn out, needing to get off the Ferris Wheel—a Ferris Wheel on cocaine!
G stroked my hair, kissed me on the forehead.
“I’m so tired,” I wheezed.
“We need to go,” Junto said gently. “We have a ship to catch.”
“Okay,” G replied over his shoulder. He removed a syringe from the med belt around his waist and injected himself with more Formula GX.
I watched him, my eyes glazing over with fatigue, blurred with
tears. Me and this crying game, man. This whole experience had dug up some major waterworks, and the piping was fragile as fuck.
Ugh.
Still, sometimes a good old cry can make you feel better. Cathartic. I mean, my head was still pounding, and I was generally a walking swamp, but those tears did bring their own kind of relief. Just a smidgen.
“G…” I said. “What—”
“Just a boost,” he replied. “To be safe.”
His comedown was gonna be awful.
“And I need to carry you to the ship, don’t I?”
“Tenshi…” I whispered as he unbuckled the seatbelt. “I love you… You wearing lipstick?”
He kissed my forehead and took me out of the seat, crouching as he did, carefully getting me to the door. Then he stepped outside to be upright proper, lifted me into his muscular arms, and cradled me against his chest.
I pressed my face into his damp jacket as the iron rain continued to pound the dock, closing my eyes to everything, embracing his solidity and the Christmas scent I could always wrap myself in.
Wouldn’t take me long to nod off.
“Follow me,” Junto said.
G started walking, hurried steps.
I listened to the rain and the sea, the wind, the footsteps around me and G, and slowly drifted away on my own ship—the awesome ship of sleep.
Akira: The happiest passenger ever.
Chapter Eighteen
I sat up on the single bed inside a ship cabin, rubbing the back of my head. I was on the bottom bed of one of two bunks. G was on the one opposite, completely sparko, with Zach sitting up on the bunk above him.
I raised my other hand to greet him.
He waved back.
I’d risen from a dreamless sleep to find myself in this small room, dressed in my underwear and a vest I hadn’t been wearing before. This cabin had eggshell walls and a black floor, with a gray metal door and a circular window to my right. The silver moonlight was fractured ripples across the surface of the dark waves the ship bobbed on, rain still pouring.
Thank fuck there wasn’t a storm out there!
A ship. Where were we going? I needed details.
First, though, I needed water. Handily, there was a bottle on the small bedside unit that separated the two bottom bunks.
I swung my legs over the edge. G was peaceful, snoring lightly. Must be in crash mode from Formula GX ‘cos that was a proper deep sleep. Nothing light about it. That stuff came with a load of potential side effects for humans, plus two rounds of deep sleep if I remembered correctly.
Was this round one?
G was human. Still couldn’t get my head around it. And he’d taken the formula for me. What a guy. What an amazing, loyal, awesome man. He was something special. He really was. I guess I’d always known that, but nowadays I was really seeing his bright, gorgeous light.
“Sleep well,” I whispered, getting back to my aqua mission.
Awesome to have my limbs working again. I grabbed the bottle and got me a drink, standing up to strength.
Being level with Zach, I gestured for us to have a bro shake. He agreed with a massive grin. Hands clapped together, me tiptoeing slightly to give him a hug, him leaning down to do the same, and then a slap of each other’s backs.
Bro hug. But different. Actual real bro hug.
He looked better, bit more rested. I acted out sleeping with my hands together, resting my head on them, then pointed at him, following it with a thumbs up.
I meant to ask if he’d slept well.
He nodded and okay’d me in response.
When this was over, I was hitting sign language courses so me and him could have some proper banter.
He had a notepad in his lap and was also dressed in his underwear and a vest. He held it up: We’re heading for Taiwan. About six hours left to go. Been on the water for twelve.
“Really? Wow.”
He handed me the pad and a pen. I wrote: Do you know why?
He shook his head and added: I’m guessing a secret plane, though.
I nodded and hefted myself up to the top bunk opposite his. There was enough room for me to sit cross-legged, like him, and not bang my head on the ceiling. G would struggle being up here. Too bulky and tall and yummy. Not that being yummy left you out of the top bunk club. But he was super-yummy, so there.
Zach added something else to the notepad: Your uncle is on the ship.
Uncle Ryoka. Oh, tenshi! He was here. He was flippin’ here!
I scribbled: Your uncle too.
He smiled shyly, then took the pen. He’s resting in another cabin.
I sighed with the deepest relief. So much gratitude for him being alive, still kicking, that the elves hadn’t slit his throat. I was itching to go see him but stayed patient. We still had a while before we got to Taiwan. There’d be plenty of time to talk.
Me and Zach wrote back and forth across the short gap between our beds, making sure we were both alright, talking about the ship, if he’d been outside the door yet to have a wander (he hadn’t), both of us agreeing we weren’t really up to it right now, but so wanted pizza and should really get on that soon to see if there was pizza.
Ugh. Hated it when you really craved something, and it wasn’t there. That meant whatever you did have didn’t stand a chance to please your belly.
Fingers crossed there was pizza onboard!
Me: Any ideas why the elves used that whirlpool thing to torture my mind?
Zach: No. Maybe because it’s scary and spins?
Me: Yeah. Closest thing to throwing me in. Hate that thing.
Zach: Me too. Happy not knowing where it actually goes.
Me: Guess it’s one of the weird things of the world.
Zach: Add it to the list.
I laughed at that.
Me: So true!
Zach: Should we go out?
Me: In our pants?
Zach: Drafty.
Me: Yeah.
I looked over the side of the bed. No clothes, only my katanas sheathed and resting against the wall.
Me: Where the hell are our clothes? And who’s vest is this?
Zach: Maybe we should go and look.
Me: Okay. Let’s brave the draft and leave sleeping beauty to it.
I tore off a piece of paper to let G know we were walking around the ship in case he woke up.
Having a stroll in a vest and boxers. Great. What a party.
Ah, stop moaning. Think of pizza!
And chocolate raisins!
Man! I so wanted chocolate raisins right now. How long had it been since I’d popped one of those beauties into my gob?
Too long!
“Okay,” I said and slipped off the bed to the floor. He dropped behind me, and we headed for the door.
As soon as I opened it, I was met with a hallway of the same eggshell walls and black floor, but with pipes running across the ceiling, and a cheery Japanese woman dressed in white, her dark hair tied up into a ponytail.
“Konnichiwa,” she said. “My name is Himari. I am here to serve you as you travel on the Kaiyou Hoshi (Ocean Star). How are you both feeling?”
“We’re doing well, thanks,” I replied in Japanese. “We need our clothes, though.”
“Your clothes have been cleaned, dried, and repaired. I can get them for you if you wish. We have some clean underwear for you, too. Unfortunately, we did not have the opportunity to acquire you a completely new wardrobe. I am so sorry.”
“I wouldn’t worry about it. Clean boxers are like gold right now. Plus, you got us these vests. They’re cozy.” Okay, maybe I was going a bit too far, but she was so serious about the clothes stuff. These weren’t the times to worry about that shit. As long as the clothes functioned and didn’t have a hole in the crotch, who gave a crap?
She bowed. “Shall I get your clothing?”
“Yes, please.”
“There are washing facilities down the corridor.” She gestured to her left. “I shall return momentari
ly, and you may use them to change and freshen up.” She headed in the opposite direction to the washrooms.
I needed a pee.
Only took her a few minutes to return with two piles of clothing labeled with our names, two bags hanging off her arms. There was my good old black garb.
We grabbed our bundles, the bags holding our footwear.
“Thanks,” I said.
“Once you are ready, I shall show you to the dining room.”
“Awesome. Cheers.”
“Is the beta still sleeping?” she asked.
“He is.”
She nodded and gestured once again for the washrooms.
* * *
Showered, bladder empty, fully dressed, and checked over by an onboard male doctor, we sat in a big room with plush brown carpet, terracotta walls, and a fancy chandelier hanging above round tables positioned to make a circle. All empty apart from our one which had two pizza boxes, three bags of chocolate raisins, and a promise of raspberry ripple ice cream.
Holy yumminess! These people must’ve been clairvoyant to put on a spread like this.
I’d eaten half a meat feast pizza and downed two glasses of cold, sweet cola. Zach had devoured the other half.
The ice cream, now brought out by a waiter, was for Zach. I mean, I enjoyed it, but apparently, my brother had a real obsession with it. Like me and chocolate raisins.
He scoffed happily, and so did I with the raisins, savoring every single morsel as it landed on my tongue, rolling it around in my mouth to dig for its hidden layers as if it was some posh wine. You keep your fancy drinks, I’ll do choccie raisin tasting.
Wish that was a thing! Maybe I’d make it one!
We were alone, free to eat and chill and try not to think too hard about what was to come. I was speaking for myself on that one. At least we were finally making moves to get back to London. That was the main thing. Still alive to fight another day, to get back to the point of the curse in a manky, roofless tower sitting in a wasteland in Bow.
Seemed so far away. It was, but even more than actual miles, like it was on a different world, well away from this ball of rock and water.
Ugh. What was up with this pondering shit, trying to wax lyrical?
I shook my head and popped in a handful of chocolatey goodness. This was a nice moment, a soft spot before more hard times. Mama Rita and Violet were still out there. Were the elves done now?
Four Moons: The Complete Collection: (Books 1 - 4) Page 77