I’d see them coming.
I was more scared that I wouldn’t.
* * * *
My head jerked up as the lights flickered on. The ones above our cell first, then in sequence all the way down toward the elevator doors. I craned my neck as the doors slid open and Chris Varro stepped out.
“Oh, look, it’s the ex,” I said. “Fucker.”
And just in case he couldn’t hear me, I showed him my middle finger.
“Brady,” Cam sighed. He climbed to his feet, crossing his arms over his chest and rubbing warmth into his prickling skin.
Chris walked closer. He looked pissed. When he reached our cage, he hit something on a control panel beside the door. A sudden squawk of static from somewhere in the vents alerted us to the fact that the lines of communication were now open.
“What the hell, Chris?” Cam demanded.
“I didn’t have anything to do with this.”
I curled my arms around my knees and snorted. Yeah, sure.
“It was you who miraculously turned up just when Garrett was having a breakdown!”
“Fuck you,” I muttered into my kneecaps.
Chris turned his gaze on me. “And given that I’m just about the only person you’ve got on the outside who gives half a fuck about you, Garrett, you might want to keep a lid on the attitude.”
“I’m surprised I rate that highly,” I said.
Chris raised his eyebrows. “Me too.”
“I don’t need your—”
Chris cut me off. “I called Cam’s parents. Told them to collect your sister from school.”
That knocked the remaining fight right out of me. Okay, so Chris might have been an asshole of the highest order, but right now he was my fucking hero, okay? I lifted my chin off my knees. “Thank you.”
He looked a little wary, like he was searching for the sarcasm. “I couldn’t tell them much, just that you’re both being held here for a while.”
“How long is a while?” Cam asked, voice quiet.
“I don’t know. It’s not my decision.”
“Are they going to tell us anything?”
Chris dragged a hand through his dark hair. “I don’t know. Hell, Cam, they’re not telling me anything.”
Cam nodded slowly, his jaw tightening. “Okay. So maybe in the meantime you can get us some blankets or something. It’s cold down here.”
“Yeah.” Chris looked almost regretful, and I wondered if he knew more than he was saying.
“Bet you wish you could read his mind, huh, Cam?”
Cam’s mouth quirked in an unwilling smile. “Yeah, that’d be handy right about now.”
“And some food and water?” Cam asked.
“Yeah, of course.”
“Ask him for my cigarettes.”
“I’m not asking him for your cigarettes, Brady.”
“Asshole.”
Cam’s mouth quirked again.
Some strange part of me had missed this. Our connection. Not the way we had no secrets from each other—that part hurt —but the way we had secrets from the rest of the universe. All those jokes and smart-ass one-liners even I wasn’t dumb enough to say aloud. Those became ours.
I’d missed his voice in my head. His thoughts and memories twisting in with mine until I couldn’t pick the threads apart, and it didn’t matter. Until the barriers separating us broke down like enzymes eating through cell walls, and those places at the edges of our consciousness flowed together. I lost a little of myself and that was frightening—terrifying, trying to hold myself together when the walls weren’t there anymore—but look at what I got in return.
I got Cameron Rushton.
My heartbeat.
I watched as Chris left.
The day dragged some more. An MP delivered two blankets and two ration packs. Cam immediately went all officer on my enlisted ass and made sure I didn’t eat everything at once. I measured out the dimensions of our cell in foot lengths and smacked my hands against the glass like I was playing the drums, just for something to do. I quit when my palms started stinging.
“It’s not glass,” Cam murmured, and I remembered he’d told me the same thing once on Defender Three.
I sat down
I was more scared that I wouldn’t.
* * * *
My head jerked up as the lights flickered on. The ones above our cell first, then in sequence all the way down toward the elevator doors. I craned my neck as the doors slid open and Chris Varro stepped out.
“Oh, look, it’s the ex,” I said. “Fucker.”
And just in case he couldn’t hear me, I showed him my middle finger.
“Brady,” Cam sighed. He climbed to his feet, crossing his arms over his chest and rubbing warmth into his prickling skin.
Chris walked closer. He looked pissed. When he reached our cage, he hit something on a control panel beside the door. A sudden squawk of static from somewhere in the vents alerted us to the fact that the lines of communication were now open.
“What the hell, Chris?” Cam demanded.
“I didn’t have anything to do with this.”
I curled my arms around my knees and snorted. Yeah, sure.
“It was you who miraculously turned up just when Garrett was having a breakdown!”
“Fuck you,” I muttered into my kneecaps.
Chris turned his gaze on me. “And given that I’m just about the only person you’ve got on the outside who gives half a fuck about you, Garrett, you might want to keep a lid on the attitude.”
“I’m surprised I rate that highly,” I said.
Chris raised his eyebrows. “Me too.”
“I don’t need your—”
Chris cut me off. “I called Cam’s parents. Told them to collect your sister from school.”
That knocked the remaining fight right out of me. Okay, so Chris might have been an asshole of the highest order, but right now he was my fucking hero, okay? I lifted my chin off my knees. “Thank you.”
He looked a little wary, like he was searching for the sarcasm. “I couldn’t tell them much, just that you’re both being held here for a while.”
“How long is a while?” Cam asked, voice quiet.
“I don’t know. It’s not my decision.”
“Are they going to tell us anything?”
Chris dragged a hand through his dark hair. “I don’t know. Hell, Cam, they’re not telling me anything.”
Cam nodded slowly, his jaw tightening. “Okay. So maybe in the meantime you can get us some blankets or something. It’s cold down here.”
“Yeah.” Chris looked almost regretful, and I wondered if he knew more than he was saying.
“Bet you wish you could read his mind, huh, Cam?”
Cam’s mouth quirked in an unwilling smile. “Yeah, that’d be handy right about now.”
“And some food and water?” Cam asked.
“Yeah, of course.”
“Ask him for my cigarettes.”
“I’m not asking him for your cigarettes, Brady.”
“Asshole.”
Cam’s mouth quirked again.
Some strange part of me had missed this. Our connection. Not the way we had no secrets from each other—that part hurt —but the way we had secrets from the rest of the universe. All those jokes and smart-ass one-liners even I wasn’t dumb enough to say aloud. Those became ours.
I’d missed his voice in my head. His thoughts and memories twisting in with mine until I couldn’t pick the threads apart, and it didn’t matter. Until the barriers separating us broke down like enzymes eating through cell walls, and those places at the edges of our consciousness flowed together. I lost a little of myself and that was frightening—terrifying, trying to hold myself together when the walls weren’t there anymore—but look at what I got in return.
I got Cameron Rushton.
My heartbeat.
I watched as Chris left.
The day dragged some more. An MP delivered two blankets and two ration packs. Cam immediately went all officer on my enlisted ass and made sure I didn’t eat everything at once. I measured out the dimensions of our cell in foot lengths and smacked my hands against the glass like I was playing the drums, just for something to do. I quit when my palms started stinging.
“It’s not glass,” Cam murmured, and I remembered he’d told me the same thing once on Defender Three.
I sat down
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