“I’m going to be honest, I don’t know how to fix this,” she said, gently brushing a finger over the bone. “It doesn’t look like it’s been shaved, that wouldn’t really be possible with wrist bones, anyway. It would snap them. It almost looks like your bones have been shrunk in some way and I don’t even know how that’s possible.” She cleaned the bones but stared at them for a good, long while with a knitted brow. “There’s a thin layer of skin growing over it. This is just weird.”
In the end, she snapped the temporary wristband back in place.
“I’ll have something permanent made for you by our weaponry department, just as soon as they know of your existence. These -” She stroked a finger along the black veins creeping up his left arm. “- you’re stuck with, but they aren’t life threatening in any way. Personally, I think the black veins combined with that soon-to-be scar on your face make you look pretty badass. You’re no longer a clean-cut Guardian. Congratulations!”
She clapped and Deryn, Nita and Adrian all joined her.
“Now you just need to grow your hair out and maybe throw in a beard.” Harper stood up straight. “Okay, final assessment. You’ll live.” She winked and Xander smiled. “But you need rest and lots of it. I also highly recommend that you don’t sleep on your back until your gashes are fully healed. It looks like you’ve reopened them several times.”
Xander nodded.
“I would like to take an X-ray of you though, just in case. Deryn too, and then it’s her turn to get checked. Baby, this is your cue to leave.”
Adrian happily obeyed and headed out the door.
“If you stay in here, Talon, you’re not allowed to look,” said Deryn, helping Xander stand and walk over to the X-ray machine Harper was preparing in the corner.
“Why not?” he asked over his shoulder, still politely turned in the other direction.
She gave him a look that told him exactly why. He blushed and turned away again.
“I’d still like to see,” he said quietly.
“Why? It doesn’t change anything that’s happened to me over the past five years?”
Silence.
“You can see my scars when you can stomach hearing about how each one was left on my body and, judging by the way you’ve been coddling me, we’re not there yet.”
No one spoke as Xander moved behind the X-ray. The images of his insides appeared as a hologram in front of Harper. While she hadn’t needed this machine to see the majority of his injuries, there was one thing she’d been very curious about.
“What’s that string going up his arm?” asked Deryn, studying it beside Harper.
“That’s what’s left over from his guard wristband. It goes all the way up and connects to his brain,” explained Harper. “I’d been wondering if that was the case. You never felt anything when it was installed?”
Xander shook his head. “I was too focused on not screaming from the pain in my arm.”
“Well, whoever invented this is an evil genius. It’s really a shame they’re not on our side.”
Deryn shuddered. “Can you take it out?”
Harper pursed her lips. “No, it’s too risky. The cord is inactive so it shouldn’t be a problem. But we’ve heard rumors that the president is experimenting with mind-control and this would be an easy way to do it.”
Deryn and Xander looked at each other.
“What was that?” asked Harper, noticing their exchange. “Do you know something?”
“We don’t know anything about mind-control through a guard’s wristband,” said Deryn, “but there is a chip that can be installed in a citizen’s wristband. It’s still in testing stages but we’ve seen it work.”
“If they can do that then I’m sure the technology to control the minds of guards already exists,” said Harper.
Xander felt sick as he thought about Luka, his friend whose mind had already been damaged. It wouldn’t take much for the president to have complete control over him. Finley had already disconnected her wristband so she was safe. If he could get a hold of her then maybe she could do the same for Luka. As soon as he had a moment alone, he would contact Neo and make sure it was done.
“Okay, you’re up, Deryn,” said Harper, saving the X-ray of Xander and filing it away with a simple flick of her wrist against the hologram. Outsiders had definitely become more advanced since Deryn was last among them.
Deryn stripped down to her underwear, glancing over at Talon and Nita several times to make sure they weren’t watching. Talon was fidgeting but obeying her orders and Nita was massaging her aching legs.
When she turned back around, she noticed Xander was staring at her side. She looked down and saw the faded pink scar Finley had created and then healed. Xander reached out and stroked it.
“What’s happened to it?”
“The person who caused it gave me a cream to heal it,” she said, not giving any names for their people on the inside. “I just have to apply it every twelve hours until it’s gone. It looks like it’s almost there, doesn’t it?”
Still stroking the healing pink flesh, Xander nodded. “But that doesn’t forgive the fact that -”
“Xander, I know. I haven’t forgiven, not entirely. But ...” She sighed. “Shades of gray, right?”
“Right.”
Talon’s head turned slightly as they spoke.
“Talon!” she snapped and his head turned back.
“That’s a strange looking scar,” said Harper, taking a closer look at the pink flesh Xander was stroking. “And someone just gave you something to heal it?”
“Yes, it was much more noticeable before,” said Deryn. “It was caused by these black flames that one of the Guardians created, designed to permanently mark me with painful scars that wouldn’t heal.”
“Meaning, they were always painful?”
Deryn nodded.
“How long did you have them?”
“I don’t know exactly. I made a point to never keep track of time, but probably four years or so.”
Talon tensed in his chair.
“Bodies adapt to pain. I barely noticed them.”
It wasn’t a complete lie. She was beaten so often that it was sometimes hard to tell which part of her hurt the most. The pain from Finley’s scars may have been constant, but it wasn’t unbearable.
Deryn stood behind the X-ray. Harper studied the hologram that appeared for a long while, one hand on her chin as her eyes moved all around.
“You look fine. When did you escape again?”
“Just under five months ago.”
“Well, clearly you’ve been taken care of.” She gave Xander a smile before returning to the hologram. “But what’s this down near your uterus?”
Deryn blushed and Xander laughed.
“That’s, umm ... It’s just something the Guardians install in all female slaves to ... to prevent ...”
“Sounds like it’s birth control!” called Nita from where she sat. “Leave it in.”
Talon cringed beside her.
Deryn sighed and said under her breath, “Yes, leave it in.”
“It’s been a great help these last few months,” said Xander, wishing to see Talon cringe again.
Wish granted.
Deryn punched his arm, not caring that she gave him one more bruise. He deserved it.
Talon smiled when he heard Xander scream.
• • •
Just outside of the medical ward, Adrian was pacing while humming to himself. He perhaps wasn’t as aware of his surroundings as he should have been and jumped when someone called his name. He paled when he saw it was Dakota. Shit.
“Have you seen Talon?” Dakota asked as he approached him.
“No,” he answered clearly and quickly.
“Then how about Neetles? Where is she?”
Adrian shrugged. “I’m just waiting for Harper. She’s doing some monthly checkups.”
Dakota narrowed his eyes, not looking the least bit convinced. “How do you not
know where your group leader is? I checked with my dad and he said your group’s been out for days. Talon too.”
“We weren’t with him,” he said fairly convincingly. “Neetles went to look for him so I don’t know where she is. Try his room.”
“I just came from there. I’ve been checking his room for days. If he hasn’t been with your team then where the hell is he?”
Adrian shrugged.
“You’re not worried that he went out alone days ago and hasn’t come back yet?”
He hesitated. “He and Neetles have kept in contact.”
“Then maybe you can tell me why he sent me on what was clearly a false lead to Sycamore days ago? And, apparently, this was just hours before he left the base to go somewhere and hasn’t been back since? He told my dad he was going to Redwood but I went there this morning and it was untouched.”
“Weird,” was all Adrian could think to say.
Dakota crossed his arms and looked the other man over. “How did you know Harper was over here if you haven’t even checked in yet?”
“I saw her go in and told her I’d wait.”
“Then where are the others? I didn’t pass them on their way to check in either.”
“I couldn’t tell you. I’m just waiting for my girlfriend.”
“Yes, you’ve said.”
Dakota looked at him skeptically, making no attempt to leave and continue on his quest to find Talon. Then his eyes drifted to something behind Adrian.
Adrian glanced over his shoulder, his eyes widening when he saw Evangeline and Everett approaching, very clearly coming from the entrance and also not on their way to check in with Piz Triggs, Dakota’s father and the Resistance’s official record keeper.
“Where are you coming from?”
“They were just covering for some guards while they went on a break,” Adrian answered for them.
“Why would they do that after being gone for days?” demanded Dakota. “And I thought you said you didn’t know where anyone was.”
“You only asked about Neetles and Talon.”
“They said they were going to head to his room,” said Evangeline, thinking she was being helpful.
Dakota grabbed Adrian’s arm. “What the hell is going on?” His eyes drifted to the medical ward door. “Is Talon in there? Is he hurt?”
“N-no. I -”
But it was too late. Dakota released him and darted for the door, which apparently was never relocked after Adrian had left.
Dakota barged in. Nita and Talon jumped up from their chairs and instinctively took a battle stance. Then his eyes drifted farther into the room to -
“You!”
Seeing Xander Ruby standing there, his eyes wide and feigning innocence, was enough to push Dakota over the edge. Talon and Nita had an enemy in their midst and he wasn’t even bound!
Dakota saw nothing but red as he ran toward Xander, his fist raised. He was so blinded by his hatred for this man, seeing only his face as he moved, that he didn’t even notice the flash of someone come out of the sidelines until they had his arm in their grip and flipped him onto his back.
Dakota landed hard. A knife pressed against his throat. He looked beyond the hand holding it to the woman crouched over him, her mahogany-brown hair falling wildly over her face and shoulders, but not enough to cover those familiar sea-green eyes.
Deryn.
CHAPTER 12
“Okay, there’s no need for this,” said Talon, carefully taking the knife from Deryn.
She gave him a sharp look but still let him take it.
The moment the weapon was gone, Dakota bent upward and took her into his arms, dampening her hair with his tears as he squeezed her in disbelief.
Deryn. It was Deryn and she was there, alive and in one piece.
Xander started to step toward them but Deryn held up a hand to stop him. He obeyed but he didn’t like it, crossing his arms and frowning as the man she’d never had closure with held her like he never wanted to let her go.
“That was a terrible entrance, Dakota Triggs,” said Deryn as her arms wrapped around his back, holding him just as tightly as he was holding her. Xander’s frown deepened.
Dakota shook beneath Deryn’s arms. Something boiled inside of him, probably anger, but he still refused to let her go.
One arm stayed around her waist, holding tightly so there was no chance of her fading out of existence, but the other swung outward to where Talon was standing and whacked his feet right out from under him. Talon landed hard on his ass, aggravating the bruise that already lingered there from his fall off of the slide earlier.
“You fucker! You sent me on a fake mission while you went inside Utopia to get her?”
Talon cried out in pain and punched Dakota’s arm with everything he had. “That’s not what happened, you idiot! She was already out!”
“If she was already out then why have you been gone for days?” demanded Dakota.
All gazes moved to Xander. Except Deryn’s. She was still being squeezed by Dakota and incapable of looking over her shoulder.
“You went in for him?”
Dakota’s words were laced with such revulsion that Deryn shoved away from his touch.
“Why? Why did you do any of this without involving me? If Deryn’s been out then I should’ve been there the moment -”
“I told him not to bring you,” said Deryn.
Dakota’s grip on her finally loosened enough for her to pull away. The moment she did, a coat landed on her shoulders. Only then did she remember that she was still only in her bra, having been in the middle of changing when Dakota barged in. She looked up and saw Xander’s icy stare. She sighed and stood.
“I’m sorry, Dax, but I had a job I needed to get done and you don’t have the best track record when it comes to Xander.”
“What does that mean?” he asked.
“Xander tried to talk to you in Willow. You didn’t listen and when he got back the president tortured him. Then, for some stupid reason, you decided to kidnap him, and not discreetly. You brought a damn battle to the middle of a city gathering! I mean, if you were really so dead-set on kidnapping him, why wouldn’t you just follow him home one day and do it quietly? And you know what you would’ve found if you followed him home? Me.” Deryn pointed at herself, eyes bulging. “Xander was tortured again. He received thirty-one lashes for that stunt of yours. Thirty-one. Forgive me for not wanting you anywhere near his rescue mission.”
Dakota was struck mute, still sitting on the floor and frozen as some iffy, unformed feeling pressed against his chest, trying to burst out.
“Even now you just barge in here and instantly go to attack him before asking any questions,” Deryn continued, properly slipping her arms into the sleeves of her coat and holding it closed. “You were going to attack a clearly beaten man who should not be standing on that ankle, by the way.”
She glanced over her shoulder and pointed a stern finger at Xander. He rolled his eyes but still sat on the nearest bed.
“Your prejudices make you so damn blind that you wouldn’t even listen to him when he tried to speak with you. To tell you I was safe. I’ve been safe. Thanks to him.”
“Are you really spending our first minutes together after five and a half years yelling at me over a Guardian?”
Talon, Nita and her team all laughed.
“You’re getting off easy,” said Nita. “During my first minutes with her she had a knife held to my throat.” Then she glanced at the knife Talon still held. “Oh, right.”
“I wasn’t going to use it and you knew it,” said Deryn.
“She blackmailed me,” said Talon, putting the knife down on the closest table.
Xander laughed. “I’m really bummed I missed that.”
One sharp look from Dakota and his laugh was gone.
“I guess I can’t show off how funny I am with the new person in the room,” he said, glancing at Nita.
“Just ignore him. I like your funny.” Nita
patted Dakota’s cheek in an attempt to get that scowl to soften. “To be fair, we were in contact with Ruby since before Deryn’s escape and Talon made the call not to include you. Your judgment has been off these last few months and you know it.”
Dakota swatted her hand away and got to his feet. “Because I knew he was messing with us!” He pointed an accusing finger at Xander.
“No messing here,” said Xander, holding up his hands innocently. “I told you I knew where she was, that she was safe and that I would get her back to you soon. And look! Here she is.”
Dakota’s eyes moved to Deryn, still trying to interpret the dark feeling lurking inside of him.
“How long have you been with him?” he asked. Something in the way those words sounded rung far too true.
“He found me the night before my birthday. I escaped three days before that,” she explained.
“You’ve been free for almost five months?”
“I wouldn’t call it free. I was stuck in his apartment for the majority of that time. But yes, it’s been five months.”
“And how did you escape?”
“I obtained a knife.” Deryn’s eyes moved to the knife resting on the nearby table, then briefly to Evangeline, remembering the old woman who had given it to her. She looked away before anyone could see something more behind her eyes. “And I used it to stab Soren Tash, who had just taken me in, and ran like hell.”
Talon cringed at the mention of Soren. It did not go unnoticed.
“What?” she asked him.
He and Nita exchanged a look.
“Soren Tash was their rat for years. He even still has a direct link to them,” said Xander, crossing his arms. “I’m actually very curious to hear that story. You were really friends with that piece of shit?”
Deryn’s eyes widened. “What?” she said again. “Why on earth would you ever be friends with that ... that ... piece of shit?” There was really no better term.
Talon closed his eyes and took several deep breaths. “I didn’t know.”
“Didn’t know what?”
Silence.
Deryn glanced around the room, noticing every last Resistance member avoiding her eyes. She stopped on Xander. He nodded.
Arise (Cruel and Beautiful World Book 3) Page 12