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Chapter 5- Battle of Wills

  Emryn could hear the commotion around her. See the fierce faces watching her. But she could not move her body. Trapped in a cage of skin, she wanted to scream, beg, maybe even cry. She wanted any emotion belonging to her to seep through her pores. Anything to give her control again.

  This felt like drowning. Like walls of water encapsulating her and choking the air from her lungs, weighing her down to the bottom of the ocean. It felt as though she didn’t have control of the very breaths she took. Cement filled her bones, flesh became unmovable. This is what it felt like to die.

  She could feel herself panic. Maybe this was really it, maybe this was how she’d die, her soul fading before her body. For a moment she wondered who would mourn her. Malcolm was already dead, Zaiden had betrayed her, Simone and Alex had abandoned her, and Seth… Seth was right in front of her.

  He appeared worried, eyes wide and glossy, his shoulders tense. Each of his breaths no longer held the superior grace and ease she was accustomed to seeing. But why did he seem so afraid? Was she the reason?

  Malcolm’s old stares flipped through her head. The looks she saw then and ones she saw now practically mirrored each other. Emryn didn’t want to, but she began to search for more similarities. They shared the same build, lean with muscle, and held the same self- imposed weight of responsibility, like everyone depended on them. Their laughs were the same. Emryn hadn’t heard Malcolm’s very often, but it always reminded her of music or the first morning bird’s call. When Seth’s laugh was genuine it sounded exactly like that. Freeing and euphoric. If she died, she knew she’d miss it. But at least he’d hear Malcolm’s again.

  “636,” the Supreme Commander’s voice invaded her ears. “Do make a good show.”

  Phantom strings pulled tight against her mind then Seth went flying into a far wall, his mouth releasing blood on impact. Bones stuck out at odd angles while he tried to suppress his moan with a bite to his lip. The crowd watched with full interest as the clinking of bones cascaded through the room, some gasping as his limbs locked back in place, as though it was nothing more than a beautiful spectacle. He made no move to stand, even after his limbs grew unscathed— this was not a fight he wanted to win. But if Seth thought his lack of participation would stop Adnan from pursuing his twisted form of a test, he was gravely mistaken.

  Orders were whispered into the Syfer, waves traveling from his remote to the device embedded in Emryn’s neck, each command a tick in her brain she quite couldn’t translate. Her soul had taken a back seat while her body took over. She was forced to become yet another spectator, gawking at the moves her limbs made and the force in which she executed them. Seth’s body was raised from the ground, his face contorting in anguish as he struggled to look away from her. Even in pain he tried to protect her.

  Emryn swung her fist with so much strength she broke his jaw. From her front row view she could tell he’d bit his tongue by way too much blood expelled from his mouth. And his moans, though muffed, sounded like he’d spent the better part of over twenty years screaming instead of living.

  Adnan would not let her relent. Emryn sent blow after blow, Seth’s healing barely keeping him recognizable. Bruises formed and dissipated in a pattern of hits and mends. Blood soaked what had remained of the clothes Abrax had stuffed him in. Eventually a scream made it through his symphony of grunts and moans, and he was finally permitted to fall to his knees.

  Seth clamped his jaw shut. It was apparent even someone of his strength couldn’t last this long against a monster. Even if he too was a monster in his own right. He looked up at her with wary eyes. Maybe he hoped she hadn’t noticed, or she’d magically gain the power to break through the Mind Syfer’s commands. For both, no such luck existed.

  “It’s okay,” he whispered. With the blood still present in his mouth the words gurgled in his throat. “We’ll be okay.”

  The copper smell hit her nose. Emryn wanted to scream, to match his cries with her own. None of this was okay.

  “Is that all you’re capable of?” Adnan shouted from across the bright room.

  Emryn couldn’t even turn to see the sneer that was so clear in his voice. The Abrax leader only barely appeared in the corner of her eye.

  “636 has healing qualities too, or were you not aware? You could afford to fight back, you know. Then you wouldn’t have to take such a brutal beating.”

  Seth coughed. “Know from personal experience, Commander?”

  “I’m only trying to help you.”

  Seth scoffed and finally stood. He appeared more off balance than before, no doubt the constant expelling of energy taking its toll but kept up the false bravado with a scowl. Emryn knew this was affecting him, but perhaps their audience wasn’t as perceptive, judging from their wary glances and instinctual need to lean away, Emryn concluded she was the only one in the room who could properly assess Seth’s condition.

  “636.” An order whispered its way through her skull again. With astounding speed, she launched forward, her fist slamming into Seth’s gut, forcing bile and blood to burst from his lips. His weight fell to her shoulder and her arm stayed twisted in his stomach. Blood seeped from his open wound and trailed its way down her skin before it dripped to the floor. Still, Seth whispered to her. “It’s okay.” Again, and again. But with her fist torn through him, unmoving, he did not heal.

  He was dying.

  She was killing him.

  “Hit him again.” The Commander waved the order, no longer caring for the show. Cold indifference showed through as he eyed Seth up and down. “Pathetic,” he added, laced with disappointment.

  Seth would die. Were they aware of that? After years of hunting him, they’d kill him within a month with nothing of consequence coming to fruition. She knew he’d die; all it would take was one more blow and his heart would break out his back. In an instant, he’d be gone. No amount of fight her soul had left mattered. She couldn’t stop it. A single tear fell down her cheek the same moment Seth looked up. The device at her neck buzzed, static traveled her spine and neck, but then… her arm couldn’t move.

  The tale has been illicitly lifted; should you spot it on Amazon, report the violation.

  With faded life, Seth smiled, actually smiled at her. Then she felt it. Flesh had morphed around her hand, the very same one resting inside Seth’s stomach. He’d healed around her, forcing her to defy the order.

  “Experiment 636!” Now Adnan was paying attention. From where he stood, he likely couldn’t see where her arm was latched. Maybe in his eyes it meant she’d broken his control.

  Seth gasped, cool air trailing her shoulder, as he pulled his weight back. Emryn’s arm was ripped out, bits of skin hanging from her own, bandages stained red from the fight. Seth moved quickly, leaping at the crowd in a flash. They screamed. Chairs were thrown amuck in haste. Bullets ricocheted, one landing in Emryn’s shoulder, though she couldn’t even react.

  “636!” Adnan’s voice was muddled in the chaos, though she did hear someone’s jaw snap.

  Turn around! But she couldn’t. Her will power completely depleted. Help him! But how? Seth needs you! But all she was, was dead weight. Don’t let them kill him again. Emryn shook. Don’t let them take him the same way they took Malcolm. Her hand glowed, the light of her ability taking form.

  Then an order came through. In Zaiden’s voice. “Take O’Connor down.”

  Weightless. Without solid ground. That’s how she’d describe it, how it felt to hear his voice come through the Syfer. When she finally moved, it wasn’t truly her. Her body tackled Seth to the floor, bloody fists slamming into him over and over. His arms came up to cover but all he could really do was squirm. “Emryn…” he coughed. “I’m sorry.” Seth stopped defending with one arm, instead using it to grab her neck in a way that was surprisingly gentle. She saw his eyes take on a more golden hue, then she collapsed.

  When Emryn came to, she was back in her cage, familiar chains clipped to her limbs and cold hard floor underneath her. What was new, though, was a bloodstained garment draped over her shoulders, too big to be her own.

  “How’d you sleep?” Emryn startled at Seth’s voice. He was seated against the back wall, shirtless and caked in red. Emryn winced. She couldn’t bear to look at what she’d done to him. Even if she hadn’t been in control, she should have been stronger; strong enough to fight a small piece of metal jammed into her neck.

  The shirt fell from her shoulders as she sat up and with it its warmth. Once away, she could see the matching stains coating her hands and arm wrappings. “I hurt you.” Emryn started to shake again. “Weak,” she muttered, then louder, “I’m pathetic.”

  Seth scooted closer. “Stop that.” He took her hands in his own, then brushed stray hairs from her face. “It wasn’t you.”

  “But it was,” she cried. Her hands ripped from his hold and tangled into her own hair. “I keep hurting people! I’m too stupid. I keep doing everything wrong.”

  “It’s not your fault.” Gently, he held her again. Looking her in the eyes, he brought her knuckles to his lips in the barest of brushes. “I don’t blame you.”

  Her vision grew cloudy. “But you should.”

  Seth shook his head as she spoke then drew her in closer. Lashes kissed his cheek. Their foreheads pressed together, and he held her as though she were glass. “I could never blame you,” he whispered. “Only them.”

  Emryn almost choked, the shock of his words so visceral. As his hands pressed against her body, all she could do was wonder how he couldn’t hate her. How could he stand being this close after how far she’d sunk into the depths of insanity and disloyalty? Emryn was a tether doomed to drown him. Seth needed to cut the rope. Lose the dead weight and claw his way to freedom.

  But he refused.

  “I’m not like you,” she murmured. “I know nothing of how this world works. I thought I did and looked where we wound up.” She clutched his wrists and leaned back with little resistance. Pained, she held his gaze. “I’m not smart enough to help you and I’m not good enough to save.”

  Seth covered his flinch but held her eyes with fervent intent. “You grew up without an education. But that wasn’t your fault. And even after they took everything from you, you fought. You outsmarted dozens of scientists who claimed to be the epitome of knowledge. And after you got out, you sought understanding of a completely alien world, its nature and politics, you fought to create your own place in it.” Arms circled her waist, his head hooking into her shoulder. Only when she was tight in his embrace could she finally breathe. “That is more than anyone else here has done.”

  Emryn breathed him in. His scent. His air. She felt the warmth of his naked skin encircling her broken body. Seth sealed her jagged pieces with plaster and heat and became the only thing holding her together. Another deep breath, this time closer against his skin, then she relaxed. Emryn was lulled by his beating heart. Everything she’d once lost had returned to her. Admitibly not under the best circumstances. “How did you stop me?” she asked.

  It was then she noticed his fingers fidgeting with the loose threads of her clothes. He stopped when she spoke again. “You put me to sleep.”

  Seth restated her in his lap, her shoulder against his chest and both her legs over one of his as she sat between them. “It’s a trick I learned a few years back,” he whispered, lips against her ear. “I learned to slow the heart and induce a hypnotic sensation through the touch of skin.” Emryn grazed fingertips over his chest.

  “Are you doing it now?”

  “In a way,” he said. “But I’m not trying to put you to sleep. I’m trying to calm you.”

  Emryn thought it over. It wasn’t the type of skill someone stumbled across. The complexity of the human body made it difficult to pinpoint nerves and individual fibers without years of practice. Where would Seth have learned that? Mallax was the likeliest. “They trained at Mallax, didn’t you?” He hummed. Healing was an overwhelming embodiment of good. But it wasn’t a far cry from controlling someone’s body; to making a monster. “Were they trying to use you as a weapon?”

  Fingers combed through her strands of hair, then he whispered above her ear. “Clever girl.” It seemed the two of them were more alike than she thought. Seth then pulled them back so he could lean against the wall.

  “Easy for you to say. You were somehow clever enough to get put here with me.”

  Seth laughed. “I wouldn’t call it clever. I was chock full of toxic fluids and barely hanging on to my own sanity. The only reason I’m here is because of luck and Abrax stupidity.”

  Seth’s head fell back, a heavy breath escaping him as he shut his eyes.

  “You’re exhausted.”

  One eye peaked open. “Does your power not do the same to you?” he asked.

  Emryn glanced at her bandaged arms, felt the hold of her wrapped back, constricting each of her breaths. “It does worse.” For a moment, Seth’s heart picked up. It raced against her back then quickly lowered. His control was astonishing even to her.

  “I’m going to get you out of here.” A proclamation not too far off from the one he’d made to her when they were young teens. She hadn’t believed him then. But she believed him now.

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