by Emma Alisyn
“I’d like to talk to you. Can we go for a cup of coffee?”
Mila shrugged.“I don’t see any point. I’ve already decided-”
“No, no, I understand. I won’t ask you about the program again, but I’ve been attending you for a while now. I’d like to make sure everything is okay.”
Sincerity shone from her eyes. Mila relaxed, although reluctantly. A doctor’s imperative to heal she understood.
“Okay. But I don’t have much time, I have to get back to training.”
“Of course.”
The vintage building didn’t boast a working elevator so they walked down three flights of stairs, Rebecca chatting amicably while Mila made noncommittal noises.
Once in the parking lot, Mila glanced at the street to see if the bus was coming.
“I have a van,” Rebecca said.
Mila turned towards her, about to reply when she realized the doctor was no longer chattering, and no longer smiling.
Hands grabbed her upper arms.“Come with us, ma’am,” a male voice said.
She fought, of course. It was broad daylight, so someone should have noticed the noise she made, but… yeah, right. No one would want to involve themselves. Not with a government looking vehicle and uniformed goon scuffling with one skinny woman known to be living on assistance with a drug addicted mother.
A prick in her arm and her vision went fuzzy, mind turning to a kind of mush.
“Nice skills,” the goon said after throwing her in the back of the van. His voice came from a tunnel. Mila sat very still to calm the spinning in her head, vaguely realizing they must have drugged her.
He settled on the bench opposite her, untroubled by her glaring.“They told us you have some of the fancy training from the Blue Men. Still a beginner, huh?”
“This is illegal,” she said, forcing herself to think coherently. Her headbegan to ache.“As soon as my- attending physician at YETI finds out I’m missing, they’ll come looking for me.”
Good shrugged.“Wouldn’t worry about it. Good security at the complex.”
The man had the nerve to unwrap a sandwich and begin eating, ignoring her by all appearances. Mila knew better. He was watching. He just knew she had nowhere to go. The van was empty of anything she could use as a weapon, not even a pencil or a furniture strap. She didn’t have the strength to pick him up and bash his head against the metal bench- she seen some of the female warriors make moves like that, but they were the rocked up Yadeshi women with years of conditioning.
Mila waited, feeling hermind clear in minute increments. So. Whatever he’d injected her with wasn’t meant to last long- just long enough. And then it occurred to her,as she was trying to imagine Jaron’s reaction when he realized she was missing.
They were almost bonded.
***
They took her through intake almost as if she were a regular patient. The only differences were the wrist restraints, and the basement.
“You know, basement laboratories have a really bad reputation,” Mila said to Rebecca.“I think I prefer the top floor accommodations.”
The doctor ignored her, scanning them through security. Goon said nothing either, right at her shoulder. Not touching, but close enough that she sure as hell wasn’t gonna try and make a run for it.
At least not yet.
Her head pounded and beads of sweat broke through the skin at her temples. For the third time she focused, stretching her mind out towards Jaron. And yelled at the top of her mental lungs. She didn’t really know what she was doing, of course, but she’d seen movies. Didn’t telepathic people just think in images and emotions at each other?
But each time she tried, her skull split from the pain. She gasped, trying to keep her breathing even, but the last effort caused her heart to speed up and her breath to quicken as if she were running. Rebecca did glance at her then, frowning.
“Are you ill?”
They went through another set of clear doors until they arrived at a section of the lab that held cubicles, each enclosed with the plexiglass walls. The tiny rooms were equipped with hospital beds and a single chair. A side table large enough for a tray and a flat screen television. Several of them were occupied.
“So are they all hereof their own free will?” Mila asked.
Rebecca put her hand on Mila’s forehead. Mila jerked away glaring.
“Your temperature is elevated,” Rebecca said.“Let’s get you settled in and order something to eat and drink so you can relax. We don’t need your system flooded with stress hormones.”
“Yeah, can’t have that,” Mila muttered.
She cast her gaze around, desperately trying to think of a plan, but nothing came to mind. So much for her months of training. She turned her mind on the guard, but as soon as she reached out, the pain sent her stumbling. Goon caught her, half dragging, half assisting her into her observation cell.
Okay. She’d have to bide her time for a minute.
Dimly, Mila heard Rebecca speak in docotorese, ordering various tests and equipment as well as food.
“We don’t have to begin right away, Mila,” the doctor said, voice distant.“Rest for now.”
***
Her pain struck him, the bolt so unexpected that if he’d been wielding anything sharp, someone would have been seriously hurt. Jaron controlled his involuntary hunch and immediately traced her mind along their fading link. Images flooded him, chaotic hazy frames a toddler would send. Or an untrained human with potential. He took each image and processed the available data, picking out the details until the slides formed a cohesive whole.
Hands on his shoulders, his arms, lifting, throwing him into a vehicle. A short, tense trip and a walk inside a building he recognized. Jaron grit his teeth, strangling his anger since it would only distort the pictures. Her mind flickered out several times and Jaron could only wait, frustration a blood-curdling roar of impatience inside him. He was the receiver; he could only hope she would reach out to him again.
She did, enough times that he understood what was happening.
Jaron rose from a crouch he hadn’t knownhe’d fallen in, shedding the lab coat and striding from the office towards the training grounds. He would need warriors. He would raze that research building to the ground.
***
Mila figured the mind was a muscle. And since she didn’t believe in spooky things, whatever she was doing to infiltrate other’s thoughts was brain based. So she took it easy, especially when she dabbed a single drop of blood from her nostril. She’d rest, remain cooperative, let her temperature go down soshe didn’t inadvertently blow her brain up.
But she watched the staff move from station to station,and tried to determine what the security response would be if she were able to escape her cell. Should she wait for Jaron or make a go for it? There was no way of knowing if he’d even heard her.
She whispered his name, not reaching out, not doing anything to strain herself, but this time an awareness flooded her mind, settling over her like a familiar blanket. No words- she wasn’t skilled enough for words. But a sense of reassurance, and grim determination.
Mila smiled and settled back onto the thing hospital pillows. Her alien was on his way.
***
Ithann came with him.
“We can’t destroy the building or the people,” the Adekhan said.“There will be enough repercussions simply from extracting her.”
“Kidnapping is illegal.”
“No killing.”
Jaron knew the Adekhan was right. He would… hold back. But only for Mila’s sake, so her life wouldn’t be disrupted by the aftermath of her rescue. He would raze the building to the ground- but he’d do enough damage to make a point.
9
CHAPTER NINE
She pushed the button at her bedside. Goon appeared a few minutes later, face tight.
“What?” he growled.
“I don’t drink cow’s milk,” she said, indicating the boxed chocolate milk an orderly had br
ought her with her tray of lunch.“Do you have almond or coconut?”
He stared.“We have water.”
Mila considered, head tilted. Then she smiled, and very gently suggested,“I think you’d like to go to the closest store and get me some chocolate almond milk.”
He stared one long moment, then turned on his heels, shoulders tense with annoyance. Mila carefully extricated her mind from his, his aggravation dissipating as he left the lab.
So. Goon would be easy enough to influence.
Mila waited, rested, observed. As Jaron’s presence intensified- she assumed that meant he was getting closer- she conserved her strength. She knew he wouldn’t come alone. That wouldn’t be the most effective strategy. The tendrils of his anger warmed the base of her spine, warning her that this time, he might not behave with cool logic, however. And this was the time she needed his intellect the most.
Rather than actively shoving images down their mental pipeline, she imagined each mental frame as a bubble, and let it gently drift along their connection. This enabled her to feed him information without straining herself. Not as effective, but less taxing.
She dozed a bitbecause she was tired and because there wasn’t much else she could do but wait. If she tried to break free prematurely, it would only tip the staff off to expect something, perhaps increase her security or put her in restraints.
And then Jaron was there, in her mind, demanding she prepare herself. Mila sat up, grinning.
***
Jaron recognized the man from Mila’s hazy images.
“There,” he said to Ithann.“The guard who accompanied her.”
There were eight warriors with them, more than enough to subdue a medical facility. They’d already checked that the security here was unarmed- stun phasors didn’t count, no Yadeshi warrior worth his or her training would be taken down by a rudimentary stun gun.
“What’s that in his hand?” Ithann asked
Jaron’s eyes narrowed.“A beverage.”
The Adekhan stepped away from the building that shielded them fromdirect sight.“We follow him in. He’ll lead us to where she’s being held.” Ithann paused.“Will she be any help?”
“You’ll find out.”
They approached all at once, not seeing any point in attempting stealth in the middle of the day- eight tall, blue warriors plus one crazy human woman.
Jaron frowned at Gayle.“Nokilling, trainee Gayle.”
She grinned, flipping her long blue braids and streaking towards the facility.
“Yeah, yeah, no killing,” she shouted.“Don’t worry, I called my father already. He’s rich, andhe has lawyers!”
***
An alarm sounded just as Goon handed Mila her chocolate almond milk. Staff jerked and began shouting directives, shutting down computers and beginning evacuation.
She grabbed his mind as he turned.“Open all the secured entrances,and stand down.”
This was harder to pull off. He fought the command, naturally- having him go fetch her a drink was annoying, but not threatening and was in line with the imperative to provide her lunch. This was different.
Mila gasped, her body slow heating like a furnace.“Open secured entrances,and stand down.”
His will broke, finally. He was just human after all, and she’d had months of alteration thanks to her sly almost mate. Goon ran to do her bidding, several staff crying out in alarm as he punched in codes to open the sliding doors.
Mila followed him, waving a cheery thanks as he watched her walk out, brow furrowed. She dabbed at her nose, grin faltering as each step became a drag through mud. Dream-like mud, where the world around her began to haze and it felt as if she was moving each limb a bare inch at a time.
“Jaron,”she whispered, leaning against a wall.“I think I broke my brain.”
The sounds of shouting reached her ears. Heavy running feet and several thumps. She worried, for a brief moment, that the Yadeshi might break the treaty by permanently injuring or even killing someone, but realized they were skilled enough warriors to subdue a bunch of techs with minimal force.
The doors at the end of the wide, sterile hallway slid open; sort of anticlimactic. There was no crashing, no dramatic leaping of her rescuers armed with light swords and flowing hair into her place of imprisonment.
It was almost disappointing.
Jaron strode down the hallway, eating ground in the way Yadeshi did by making it look like they were barely moving. Then blue braids appeared, Gayle making her entrance with a series of cartwheels.
“Hey, girl! Thanks for the real time training op,”Gayle shouted.“And we’ll owe my dad a favor. He’s gonna clean this little breach of entry mess up.”
Mila’s heart sank. The last thing she wanted was a rich, High Tier entrenched politician with his eye on her. But maybe it was a good thing- if it was standard practice to kidnap research patients, this place needed to be shut down.
“Hey,” Mila said through her splitting headache.
Jaron reached her, but stopped a hands width away.
“Are you well?” he asked.
And Mila realized he wouldn’t embarrass her in front of the other warriors by implying she needed his help. She straightened from her crouch against the wall, nodding carefully.
“It’s all good,” she said.
“Right on,”Gayle said.“Hey, I’m feeling faint from all the action, can I lean on you?”
Trust Gayle to make it look like she was leaning on Mila when it was the other way around. No one was fooled, but it was a dignified way to save face.
They made it back to the complex in silence. Mila’s entire body trembling by the time they arrived. Jaron lifted her in his arms without a word, or a protest from Gayle.
“The only thing that will help you right now is food and rest,” he said, keeping his voice quiet, so as not to cause her more pain.
But even breathing made her head hurt right now.
“Mila, if we share energy again, you’ll heal quickly.”
She heard the but in his voice and stirred as he laid her on the bed. She waited, though, closing her eyes and listening as he moved to the communicator, ordered a meal to his specifications- lots of carbs and quality protein. When he entered the sleeping area again and sat on the bed, Mila reached for his hand.
“But?” she asked. She opened her eyes to watch his face as he replied.
“You’re close to accepting the bond. If you want to delay, then it’s better if we don’t.”
Mila sighed. “For someone so smart, you can be incredibly dense.”
She pushed herself into a sitting position, arms trembling, and lifted her shirt over her head. He watched, still, as she unclasped her bra.
“Healing?” she asked. Truth was, she didn’t feel up to much more but she could at least enjoy something.
Jaron removed his shirt vest and stretched out next to her, sliding an arm around her waist and pulling her on top of him so their chests mashed together. Mila closed her eyes, resting her head in the hollow of his collarbone. Hands slid down her back, cupped her buttocks underneath her leggings and squeezed her flesh. Lights behind her eyes and the tingly warmth that always accompanied when they shared energy.
This time was no different; his essence flooded her and she felt stronger. But... then it cut off, leaving her hungry, wanting more.
Mila opened her eyes. “You stopped.”
“When you are ready for the full bond, I won’t.”
She half pushed up, staring down at him, her hair falling around her shoulders and into his face. “Why not now?”
His eyes glowed. “No. When you are completely well.”
Mila shifted so she was straddling him, his hardness rubbing against her. She undulated her hips, not feeling one whit of remorse when his eyes closed as if in pain. Hands around her waist halted her movements.
Jaron flipped her off him, pressing a kiss to her forehead as he rose from the bed. “Rest, Mila. You can seduce me tomorrow.”
***
She tried. She really did. Jaron was having none of it.
Mila didn’t know what he was waiting for, but after a few days of playing the cat and mouse game, she resumed her training.
“What’s eating you?” Gayle asked. “Don’t get me wrong- whatever it is, it’s made you sharper. Your reflexes are improving.”
Mila parried a strike, assessed an opening left by Gayle’s miscalculation and scored a blow to her best friend’s ribs. She pulled most of her weight right before the kick landed, so it wouldn’t bruise that bad.
Gayle swore, and renewed her offensive Forms. “Alright, you wanna be a big girl,” the tall woman said, with narrowed eyes. “Let’s be big girls.”
It was cheesy as hell, but a grin tugged Mila’s lips. She engaged with renewed vigor, wishing she had Jaron’s mind, his experience. The fight was a dance, but at her level it was still a broken dance. Inadvertently she reached along their bond- the unfinished bond. And tapped into…. something. His knowledge, his strength, his experience. Whatever it was, Jaron’s essence flooded her and her limbs straightened, her gait smoothing to a warrior like gracefulness.
Gayle’s offensive Forms faltered, deteriorating into defensive Forms. She faltered, giving ground. Mila pushed, earning every inch, breath coming rapidly.
“Mila-” Gayle panted.
The song of battle filled her ears, the sound of an enemy’s broken cries as they were about to be-
“Mila!”
His essence vanished and she stumbled, falling to one knee, marrow suddenly nothing more than gravy. Jaron’s angry concerned presence at her back and Ithann glaring.
“Oh god,” Mila breathed. “What was that?”
“Are you injured?”
She thought Jaron was talking to her but when she glanced up he was crouched next to Gayle, who’d thrown herself spread eagled on the ground. Mila glared at his back. She didn’t begrudge her best friend medical attention, but did he have to sound so concerned?