by Ann Bakshis
“Trea, just relax, it’ll be over with soon,” I hear Bevan say to me, muffled, as if from a distance.
They’re not done yet? How long have I been out? What’s taking so long?
I can’t get myself to calm down. Heat builds inside. I can sense the stream is igniting, but I can’t see it. There’s a slight sting on the back of my neck and I feel myself drifting away again.
I hurt. I ache like I did when Parson Mathan had his metal contraptions inserted into my back. I try to move, but that causes more pain along with fire in my skin.
“Lie still,” I hear Lehen say to me. “You just need a little longer to heal.”
Longer to heal? I heal almost instantly now, what did he do that it’s taking my body longer to heal itself?
My mouth won’t open, so I can speak up and ask questions. Same with my eyes, they won’t budge. I being to panic again, then my body goes into a seizure. I picture myself thrashing like Jagger did when he was given his injection. My body goes rigid, stiffening to the point of breaking.
I’m going to die. I did all of this for nothing.
The muscles in my body tighten, almost snapping from my limbs. I feel a sting in my neck again. The world fades, but my body is unrelenting.
“Is she coming to?” a voice says from behind me.
“Trea, can you hear me?”
I open my mouth to speak, but no words form. I feel something being brought to my lips, spilling liquid down my parched throat.
“What…what happened?”
“Just get your strength back,” I hear Bevan whisper.
My eyes take several minutes to open and even longer to focus on the faces around me.
Vier, Lehen, and Piran are all standing at the foot of my bed. I carefully turn my head, seeing Bevan sitting on the bunk next to mine, Ford next to him. The first alarming thing I notice is my breathing is not at the speed it should be. The next is the numbness in my fingertips and a burning in my arms. I lift my arms up, placing them into my view. A scream catches in my throat. I begin to choke on the sobs that are racking my body. Tears pour down my face, soaking my hair and pillow.
“What…what did you do to me?”
“Your cells reacted in a way I wasn’t expecting,” Ford begins, taking a hold of my arms and gently lowering them down to my sides. “Several of your blood vessels ruptured. You almost bled to death.”
“What the fuck happened?” I shout, my voice radiating off of the walls.
“When your vessels ruptured, the stream leaked into them. I managed to clamp several of them off, but the stream made it to your heart through a couple of them.”
“That’s why I can’t breathe?” I ask, panicking more. “What does that mean?”
“I won’t know until I can get you back into the city.”
“But that’s not all of it, is it?” I spit out through fits of weeping.
Lehen sits down on the other side, leaning in close to me. “The stream found minute cracks throughout your body. Probably the damage caused by old injuries.” He’s trying to be comforting, but failing miserably. “The energy created a path for itself. Ford was able to halt it before it took over all of your cells.”
I shove Lehen aside, jump out of bed, and go to the washroom where the mirrors are. I’m wearing only a yellow medical gown. My face is intact, but I can see flecks of the Quantum Stream in my irises. I rip off the gown, standing naked in the mirror.
The ligaments in my fingers glow along the bone and up to small holes in my fingertips. I follow the path into my palms. The tiny port marks in my right palm are slightly larger, a blue energy swirling behind them. The same on my left hand.
There wasn’t any damage to the palm of my left hand. How did those marks get there?
I follow the stream up both arms. My right has little fractures radiating around almost like bracelets. The left arm has a twirl to it, but no fractures. The stream winds up my shoulders and across a couple of my ribs, combining two inches above my breasts. It flows down my sides in a thin line, sporadically exposing itself down my thighs and calves. My feet don’t appear to be affected. I turn around to look at my back.
The Quantum Stream makes my shoulder blades look like wings. It spirals down to my spinal column, disappearing at my tailbone.
“Trea, are you alright?” Lehen says, knocking on the other side of the door.
“Go away,” I say, crying.
“Trea, it’ll be okay. You’re going to be fine,” Ford says, trying to reassure me.
I plunk myself down in the last stall, the same one I used earlier, hold my knees up to my chest, and wish for death. After some time passes, how long I don’t know, I hear Braxton shouting somewhere in the distance.
“What the hell is going on?”
A small scuffle follows, then silence.
“Get these two out of here and lock them up with Caitrin for treason,” Ares shouts in the background.
I try to cling tighter to the wall, hoping I can become a part of it. There’s a soft knock on the door, but I don’t respond.
How could I have allowed this to happen? What was I thinking? Devlan and my mother would be so upset with me. Magda too. Why didn’t I just stay in Tyre and let Vladim take control like he’s doing now anyway?
“Trea?” Braxton speaks quietly behind me.
I didn’t even hear him come in.
“Go away,” I whimper, trying to shield my body from his view.
He sits down beside me, wrapping me up in a blanket, and pulling me into his shoulder.
“I’ve neglected you, haven’t I?” he says, holding me tight.
“Why? Why did I let them do this to me?”
“Because you thought it would help save Mair, Thane, and Grainne.”
“I’m so foolish. Why do I continue to trust people? Everyone has their own agenda, everyone. Devlan…or Quin warned me about that. It’s been so long, that I can’t even remember which one said it.”
“Perhaps that’s one of the Antaeans’ flaws.”
“Vier and Lehen don’t have that, just me.”
“Braxton,” Ares begins as she opens the door, “is everything all right in here?”
“Yes, everything is fine. I’ll stay with Trea until she recovers.”
Ares leaves. I hear more footsteps retreating in the background and the front door finally closes. We sit for some time. Vier and Lehen occasionally glance in to check on me. Piran brings me some clothing so I can dress. Braxton leaves as I begin to don the training uniform I’ve been living in. Every muscle aches with my movements. My breathing still hasn’t fully returned to normal, which causes me great concern. It still takes ten minutes to convince myself it’s safe to exit the room.
Vier and Lehen are sitting on their beds talking with Braxton. Piran has crashed and is snoring softly. I go to my bunk and sit. I know everyone is watching me. I can feel it. Vier and Lehen rouse Piran enough to get him on his feet and out the door into the sunshine. Braxton walks over to me, then sits on the bunk next to mine. The same one Ford and Bevan had occupied.
“How did you find out?” I ask, not looking at him.
“One of the patrols saw smoke during daybreak. They alerted Ares, who sent for me.”
“Smoke? From what?”
“Come with me,” he says, nudging my arm as he stands.
I pull on my shoes and meet him at the door. The smell of freshly burned wood hits me hard in the face as soon as he opens the door. I look across the lane. A burnt husk of the cottage I had been in when the procedure started is all that remains.
“What happened?” I ask, stunned by the vision before me.
“From what Vier and Lehen told me, you woke up during the procedure, causing the Quantum Stream to ignite the oxygen you were hooked up to. Ford had to put you back under quickly, but the building was already burning.” Braxton places himself between me and the wreckage. “Ford, Bevan, and the medic escaped the flames while Vier, Lehen, and Piran ran down to the pond to retri
eve water to put it out.”
“Where was I?” I know the answer, but I need to hear it anyway.
“They left you in there to burn.”
My stomach convulses at the thought, but nothing comes up as I haven’t eaten in many hours. “They left me to die?”
I grope behind me for the bench, finding it only seconds before collapsing onto the ground.
“That wasn’t their intent,” he answers, sitting next to me. “Vier and Lehen were trying to get inside, but the flames were too high. That’s when they say something interesting happened.” Braxton turns to me, takes my hands, and pivots me around to face him. “You started to glow.” He picks up my right arm, holding it in his hands. “The Quantum Stream enveloped you, protecting you from the flames. Since you’d been hooked up to the oxygen when it caught fire, your insides should’ve been incinerated. But, from what Piran told me about your heart, I’m guessing it encased you internally was well.”
The monster on my arm and now in my body protected me from dying?
I think back to when Dr. Hersher tried to inject a needle into the stream and it defended itself by melting the needle and casing.
“You’d be dead if the stream hadn’t reacted like it did.”
CHAPTER 12
More questions than answers always seem to follow an incident with me. My birth mother injected me with Sanar, so how was the Quantum Stream able to bypass the binding agent and cause such damage? I doubt I’ll ever be able to find out the answer. And should I even think about such things?
We eat dinner as the sun sets. Braxton has decided to stay the night. He says to make sure I’m okay. Piran is uncomfortable having him here, only because he doesn’t trust him. I’m not sure what to make of Braxton either. He’s a difficult person to understand. I’m never quite sure where his loyalties lay. I’m starting to really care for him, but am I just opening up another opportunity for me to get hurt? Do I even truly understand my emotions?
He takes the bed next to mine. Lehen turns the lights out just before eleven, but I provide a nice glow, which prevents everyone from sleeping. Braxton takes off his long sleeved shirt from under his tunic and hands it to me. I slip it on, and the dark material greatly diminishes the shine. Sleep doesn’t come for me, though. I hear the others snoring softly, but that’s not what’s keeping me awake. I know the video feed of Iscariot was for my benefit, but was what he said true? Will he divulge the location of the kids if he’s allowed to meet with me?
I roll out of bed, slip on my shoes, and leave. It’s the middle of the night, but the cottage feels too confining. I stand in the twilight, looking at the burnt out building, wondering what would’ve happened if I’d died. Would Mair, Thane, and Grainne ever be thought of again? Who would go looking for them? What would happen to those who live in the Wasteland?
“Can’t sleep,” Braxton says behind me.
“Do you ever sleep?”
His footsteps crunch on debris as he comes up to my side. “I know what you’re thinking.”
“Doubtful.”
“You’re wondering what would’ve happened if you died. Who would go looking for the kids?”
I look over at him, wondering how he could’ve possibly known that.
He smiles at me. It’s the first time I’ve ever actually seen the man smile. It’s a nice smile. “You think like I do. It’s the soldier in you. The ‘leave no one behind’ mentality. You had the same reaction with Quin in Nuceira and Jagger at the Dormitories. I think it’s what makes you different from the others. Vier and Lehen aren’t too concerned about the kids, but you are.”
I really don’t want to admit that he’s right, even though he is, because I would never hear the end of it.
“Bevan told me that Iscariot has been asking for me,” I say to change the topic. “Ares isn’t going to permit it, is she?”
“No, she isn’t. She feels it’s playing right into his plans, whatever they may be, and I agree with her.”
“Of course you do,” I say with contempt. “But how are we ever going to find out where the kids are if you won’t let me talk to him?”
“It’s not that easy, Trea. He’s very dangerous. We have to keep him secured separately from the others.”
“I’m not afraid of him.”
“I know you’re not.” Braxton turns to face me. “You don’t know what he’s like. He knows things. Things a Hostem shouldn’t have any knowledge of.”
“You’ve spoken to him?”
“Only briefly. He wanted to talk to me because of my association with you. He found it interesting how you and I have been interacting. What we’ve been through. How I’ve let an Antaean manipulate me into following her.”
“He got in your head, didn’t he?” I take his chin in my hand, lifting his eyes to meet mine. “What does he know? What did you tell him?” I ask, concerned.
“I didn’t tell him anything, Trea,” Braxton says angrily, pushing my hand away. “I wouldn’t do that to you, and you know it.”
“I’m not sure what I know about you anymore. You let me be banished from Tartarus and dropped miles away. I can’t get back into Sirain to stop Vladim. It’s like you’re not doing anything to prevent what’s happening in Sirain, even though you said you wanted change. You told Jagger you wanted to protect me, but is this really protecting me?”
I don’t see it coming. The embrace, and the kiss, hard on the lips.
“I shouldn’t have done that,” he says, releasing me. “This is my way of protecting you. When Ares informed me about the fire, my first thought was of you. She knows how I feel about you, that’s why she told me. It’s another reason you were removed from the city. At my request, not hers.”
“I…I don’t understand. You hate me. You’ve loathed me since we met.”
“I wish that were true.” He turns his back to me, facing towards the moon as it reflects in the pond’s still waters. “The moment I saw you, I knew. Why do you think I keep following you, and helping? Letting you go to Nuceira, to the Dormitories. I could have returned you to Acheron and Artemis at any time, but I didn’t. I do want change. The world has got to be better than what it is.”
I walk around to face him. “Then let me see Iscariot. You know it’s the only chance we have to get the kids back. Then we can tackle Vladim and end this war.”
“I can’t, Meg.”
“You’d rather keep me prisoner? Braxton, I need your help. Don’t you get it? Keeping me in the Crofter’s camp is not keeping me safe. What if the Tyrean Army finds this place like they did the village? You can’t always protect me from everything. You need to trust me. That’s the main part of loving someone, is you trust them. I never knew that until Quin died.”
Tears well in my eyes, but I refuse to let them fall. Braxton wraps his arms around me, pulling me in against his bare chest.
“I’m sorry, but I won’t let you see him.”
I push him away and go back inside. Braxton soon follows.
My nightmares return. New ones. I see myself thrashing about in flames, screaming for help with no one coming. I die in my dreams. Braxton takes hold of my hand and I stop thrashing. The nightmares fade. When I wake the next morning, he’s gone.
Lehen hands me a breakfast tray while I sit up. “You okay?” he asks, sitting next to me.
“Yeah, I’m fine,” I lie. “What time did Braxton leave?”
“About an hour ago,” Vier responds.
“With all the commotion of yesterday, I never did ask you if Ford gave you your enhancements.”
“Nope. Either he was lying or they’re not done yet,” Lehen responds.
“I’m going to go with lying,” Vier says.
We all laugh a little, which feels good.
“Want to try out your new skills?” Lehen asks excitedly.
“I guess. I hadn’t really thought about it.”
We all head down to the lake, Piran leading the way with excitement. Since we don’t have any weapons, they bring me t
ree branches to practice with. I grip one in my right hand, squeeze it gently, but the branch is too thin and burns up quickly. Piran hands me a thicker one, which I take in my left, squeezing it with the same amount of pressure. This time the stream wraps itself around the object. The more pressure I exude, the brighter the stream. I tighten my muscles and it ignites.
“You’re going to need practice,” Lehen says, handing me another branch.
I wish I had something better to use than dead tree branches, but that’s all I do for the next several hours. It’s not much of a practice, but it’s a start. We take a break for lunch and a small swim before getting back to training Piran, and now, me.
Clouds begin to roll in, followed by a light rain. We continue training until the light has faded and we can no longer see. We didn’t leave any lights on in the cottage, but a glow fills the room from the monitors.
“What is that?” Lehen asks, pointing to the symbol on the screen.
A black bull is standing on a red cape that is still in the hand of his enslaver, who is being crushed under the bull’s hooves. I know that emblem all too well.
“Oh no,” escapes my lips. My heart quickens and I begin to sweat.
“What’s the matter, Trea?” Piran asks, coming up to my side.
“That’s the symbol of Tyre, but how did it get on our screens?”
A high-pitched siren pierces the silence. We cover our ears, but the noise only lasts a few seconds, replaced by an image of Vladim standing at a podium before a large assembly.
“Citizens of Sirain,” he begins, arms gripping the corners of the lectern. “We’ve made significant progress in bringing a divided country together.”
Cheers emanate from the audience, which consist of Tyreans only, no Laics, and only a handful of Regulators.
“So few Regulators. Where are the others?” I ask myself out loud.
“There is still a lot to accomplish before Sirain can ever be healed. Our army has secured those who have opposed this peace, especially in the Acheron Boroughs and the city. We have obtained two of the High Ruler’s former guards, who defied his commands, which led to the ruler’s death.”