Escape from Harrizel (38 page)

“Rox…” Able starts but Reid doesn’t hear
him.

Reid’s in his own world right now. He grabs
something and turns for the door. It’s long and narrow, like a
baseball bat and he clutches it to his side as he disappears
through the arch. Able starts to go after him, calling something. I
think I make out the words,
four
and
right
Transport
.

“Oh Fallon…” Pratt’s soft voice calls as she
sits down on the bed next to me.

“Hey,” Able closes the crimson arch as he
starts to search. “Where’s that stuff he has?”

“What stuff?” Pratt asks, watching him look.
“Oh, the Vilbrees? Over here,” she jumps from the bed, reaching
under it to retrieve a small bowl. She sits down next to me,
plopping the bowl on her lap and dips two fingers into the
greenish-brown mud texture. “Let me see your eye.”

Turning my head to the side and exposing the
aching flesh to Pratt, she winces like Able. Gently, she rubs the
cool ointment on me, working in circles under my eye and around my
cheekbone. “Was it Mantis?”

“And friends.”

Pratt dips her fingers into the bowl again,
retrieving more of the substance. Returning to my cheek, she gently
works down toward my mouth, to the busted lip, in soft, circular
motions. “How many?”

“Four,” Able answers from somewhere in the
shadows behind her. “Mantis was five. I can’t believe we…” and he
loses his words.

“I shouldn’t have run back there. It was
stupid, I knew it was,” I mumble, my mouth stinging as Pratt dips
the moisture to my lip. “Couldn’t think quick enough. I should’ve
screamed like Pratt—let you know where I was,” I gulp. “I couldn’t
find my voice.”

“This is
not
your fault,” Able is
over the bed, more anger in his tone than I’ve ever heard, “we
walked right into their misdirect. They knew it’d be the only thing
to loosen the guard around you so they could do it. And God!” he
huffs, spinning around and jabbing his fingers into his head, “We
walked right into it—we’re so stupid! Everyone ran for Pratt
instead of you! Even your Safeties!”

“Safeties?” I ask as Pratt finishes
doctoring.

Jumping up, she slides the bowl under the
bed again and then grabs a Gupple off the food dispenser. Back on
the bed, she slides in next to me as I sit up, leaning against the
wall, my knees folded up at my chest.

“Your personal guards,” she explains,
rubbing the Gupple on her scrub top. “Chief and Jace. They’re not
supposed to leave you. Reid has them on assignment solely to
protect you. They’re the two best fighters after him.”

“What?” I shift my open eye to Able.
“
Seriously
?”

“Oh yeah,” Pratt answers. “He’s had them on
you for awhile.”

“How long’s awhile?” I address my question
to Able again.

“You want the truth?” he exhales, shifting
between his feet.“…
Pretty
much since the beginning.”

“Not the
beginning
-beginning,” Pratt
clarifies, shaking her head. “But since he’s been interested.”

“Okay…”

“Yeah,” Pratt goes on, “and before that, it
was me.”

“You?” my head snaps to her. “What do you
mean?”

“Well, since he saw you out there that first
time, part of my assignment was just to keep an eye on you. Nothing
much,” she takes a bite of the Gupple, catching the dripping juice
down her chin with the back of her hand, “just let him know if I
saw anything unusual. Since you ran out there the day you were
brought here, he figured you might be worth watching. You know, in
case you did something nut- so. But, just so you know,” she takes
another bite, speaking with her mouth open. “He’s never asked me to
watch anyone else before.”

“Where is he?” I turn to Able.

He stops pacing, glancing at me with painful
eyes. “Have you seen yourself, Fallon? No,” he shakes his head, “of
course not. Come here,” he extends his hand, standing in front of
the small mirror on Reid’s wall. “If you can walk.”

“I’m fine,” I get up, accepting his hand
support. “It’s just my head that hurts.”

Approaching the mirror, I inhale at the
image staring back.

The left side of my face looks fine but the
right side is a different story. My throbbing eye sits swelled
shut, the sensitive skin around it plumping into a dark red. Soft
spots of green and purple sprout over my cheek and a dried blood
trail stains the skin from my right nostril down the side of my
mouth. My bottom lip is split near the right corner, another
bloodstain down my chin and onto my shirt.

“Wow…” I mutter to myself, trying to keep
the shock from my voice, “…not pretty.”

“Yeah…” Able paces behind me, “and Reid saw.
He’ll be down there for a while,” he chuckles nervously.

“What happened to Mantis? Did Chief get
him?” I return to the bed. “Or Jace?”

“I’m not sure,” Able shakes his head. “I saw
you on the ground and knew I had to get you out of there fast.”

“But two against five?”

“And now Reid,” Pratt adds, taking another
bite. “I don’t know—did you see that look in his eye? He might make
this quick.”

Able shakes his head again. “Unless he goes
after Mantis, in which case, he’ll take his time. Oh man,” he
starts up his pacing again. “
Not
good.”

“Will they be alright?” I glance between
them.

“Who?” she answers with confusion. “The
Kings?”

“No,” I frown. “Reid. Chief. Jace.”

“Oh…” she laughs. “
More
than alright.
The Kings are probably wishing they hadn’t even tried by now.
Especially
Mantis. But he probably bolted,” Pratt takes
another big bite.

“What was that thing Reid left with?” I
glance to Able, “He had something in his hands…”

Able nods, “Yeah. That’d be a piece of the
dried gibb the Carpenters made for him… kind of like a glass rod.
It’s his go-to tool…”

“He’s not going to kill them.” I look
between Able’s eyes, but when he doesn’t respond, I get nervous.
“Able?”

“We’ll see,” he shrugs. “I’m not sure. He
didn’t seem particularly happy to see you like this. Uh… it
might’ve rattled something loose upstairs.”

Suddenly the door swings open and Able
springs to his feet, blocking the entry with his body. But it’s
Tucker, and Able backs away, allowing him in. When Tucker sees me,
he recoils, frowning as he throws his hand up in the air. “Aw
Hell
!”

“Is he all right?” I ask.

“Give it an hour,” Tucker comes closer,
examining the side of my face. “Shit. He’s going to kill them.”

“Seriously?”

“If he doesn’t, he’ll come damn close.”

“Where’d you pass him?” Able asks.

“Halfway down. Should probably go help him
but he told me to come up here and stay with Fallon and that he’d
be back as soon as it was done.”

“Think he’s going after Mantis?”

“Was it just him?”

Able shakes his head. “Four others.”

“Jesus,” Tucker glances over me, rubbing his
hands over his mouth. “Now I
really
feel like I should go
with him.”

“Chief and Jace are already down there.
Chief will keep him under control.”

“It’s not Chief I’m worried about,” Tucker
exhales. “If Reid gets Mantis today, it’ll be an all-out war.”

“He won’t kill him…” Able sounds unsure.
“Will he?”

Tucker tosses a glance at me. “Hard to
say.”

Suddenly, the door flies open for the second
time and Reid stalks in, instantly filling the room. His face and
the front of his clothes are splattered in red and his knuckles
bleed through broken skin. His dark eyes narrow into intense slits,
his deadly focus set on me. Without breaking contact, he orders in
low, menacing words. “Everyone out.”

Pratt jumps from the bed, Tucker and Able
slipping past him and from the room. In seconds we’re alone in his
bunker, Reid standing covered in blood and staring. Finally he
moves, wiping his face clean with the back of his sleeve, resting
the bloodied glass rod against the wall. He heads for the bed,
dipping low and retrieving the same bowl that Pratt did. Setting it
down next to him, he sits beside me. In silence, he plunges two
fingers into the lotion-like substance and smoothes it into my
face, starting with my eyelid.

Watching him work, I clear my throat. “Pratt
already put some on me.”

He continues to rub the soothing ointment
in, lightly under my eye and over my cheekbone. “A second coat’s
better.”

He moves his fingers down my nose and then
to my mouth. Dipping into the bowl for more medicine, he returns to
my busted lip, wincing, his eyes narrowing further. “Does this
hurt?”

“No.”

He nods, his focused eyes still narrowed in
slits, careful as he works. Inching my chin up so he can fully
examine me, he seems satisfied with his job and moves the bowl back
to its original place. He jumps up, facing the mirror, wiping the
blood off his face and neck with the back of his sleeve again.
“You’re staying here tonight.”

“Is that allowed?”

“They’ll make an exception.”

“For one night?”

“For me,” he yanks off his shirt, tossing it
into the corner. He looks at himself in the mirror, examining his
neck and chest. Reaching for a small piece of fabric on his
windowsill, he spits on it and starts wiping the blood from his
face.

His knuckles are skinned raw so I jump up.
Retrieving the same bowl from under the bed, I dip a finger in the
green and brown substance. It’s creamy, like a lotion, and once I
have a good amount, I turn for him. Reid’s wiping the cloth across
his forehead when I reach his side. He’s startled to see me,
frowning in confusion. I reach for his hand, intending to rub the
medicine on.

“I’m fine,” he pulls back, crossing the
room.

“Give it to me,” I follow, reaching for his
hand again. “Just stop. Let me.”

“I said I’m fine,” he circles around, back
for the mirror.

But just as he moves, I step in front of
him, blocking his exit. Taking his fingers in mine, I rub the
ointment over his bloodied knuckles, his hand jerking slightly. I
run out of the substance quickly, holding his hand and pulling him
back to the bed and bowl. Dipping my fingers in the cool material,
I withdraw more, rubbing it into his remaining knuckles before
moving to his other hand. He watches, allowing me to do this for
him.

“Oh Reid…” I frown, “what did you do?”

He shrugs.

I work quickly and tenderly, taking
advantage of the time he’s giving me. Once I’ve done both hands, I
search his wrists, forearms, shoulders and chest for any more
injuries, all under his attentive eye. None of the blood on his
face or neck is his, so I put the bowl away, back under the bed.
When I turn, he’s still facing me, still watching.

“Better?” I ask.

But Reid only exhales.

“So…” I sit on the bed, folding my legs in
front of me. “You going to tell me what happened?”

The alarm screams overhead, reverberating
through the walls to dismiss us back outside. My hands fly to my
ears but my right cheek screams from the sudden pressure and I drop
them quickly.

“You should lie down.”

I glance to the window. “What about
Rebuilding?”

Reid shakes his head. “They won’t know
you’re not there.”

“What?”

“They only keep tabs on who they want. Or
whoever leaves the gate. If you’re not down there, they won’t know
the difference.”

“But…” I look to the window.

“Fallon,” he approaches, “I can’t… I can’t
have you leaving this room. Not right now. So please,” he motions
to the bed, “just lie down.”

Reluctantly I oblige, and mostly because of
the pleading in his eyes. Reid climbs in the bed behind me and we
lay like this for a bit. With his arm wrapped securely around me,
the comfort of safety overwhelms me and I finally slip away.

His lips brush my right eye, sweeping the
bruised, swollen skin. Gentle in every way, he moves over the
painful flesh and lower, toward my open mouth. But he kisses around
my lips, aiming for the split, keeping dedicated attention to the
wound. I run my tongue over my bottom lip and taste him. He groans,
but still works around the split. I do it again. This time, he’s
ready and slips his own tongue to meet mine. He groans louder at
their meeting, pulling himself closer.

Climbing on top, he shoves a hard lump into
my stomach but then rolls off just as quickly, crossing his arms
behind his head. It takes me a second to realize he’s not coming
back. I prop myself up, staring down at him.

“You stopped.”

“I’m going to want to keep going,” he casts
a look my way. When I don’t immediately respond, he returns to
staring at the ceiling.

“Don’t you just kiss?”

“Not if I like it,” he rolls his head to
me
. “Besides
, you need to heal.”

A knock sounds on the door and I lean back,
Reid going for the crimson arch. He pulls it ajar and Tucker, Able
and Jace stand in the doorway, all gushing over one another until
spotting me over his left shoulder. They refocus on Reid, trying to
remember what they were saying. The three exchange a few quick
words before Reid steps back.

“They’re going to need to see you soon,”
Tucker pushes, trying not to toss a look my way. He falters,
casting me a glance, Jace following.

“Leisure Time,” Reid nods. “Not before
then.”

Withdrawing, he closes the door behind him
as he heads to the mirror, reexamining his face. He retrieves the
cloth from the windowsill, spits on it, and brings it to his brow.
“How do you feel?”

“Better,” I sit up, stroking the soft patch
around my right eye. “What was that stuff?”

“Villbrees,” he rubs the cloth down his
temple, “it’s got Tregmint in it. Sampson made it. Don’t touch your
face.” He spins around, wiping the piece down his cheek once more
before tossing it back on the window sill. Crossing his arms, he
stops in front of the bed, legs slightly apart and standing firm.
“I’ll put some more on after Leisure Time.”