Chained to You

Little Secrets

Kai pulled the door closed and dropped down after me with an "oomf". He pulled a black, led flashlight out of one of his trouser pockets and let it travel around the cavern. There were spiderwebs hanging from every rocky crevice, but I didn't see any spiders. Thank God.

"What about the rug? Won't those people see the door?" I pointed out, tucking my hands underneath my armpits. It was too cold to be standing around like this. Kai gave me one of his signature smiles.

"You're a smart cookie, aren't you?" He winked. "But no, they won't. Crow will cover for me." Suddenly, I felt uneasy. Kai trusted Crow to cover for him? I would trust an assassin over that douchebag...but wasn't he an assassin, though? Never mind.

Noticing the shivers that kept running through my body, Kai took his jacket off and offered it to me. I snatched it without a second thought and mumbled my thanks.

"What about Valkyrie and Christian?" I recalled the screeching that I had heard earlier and dropped my head guiltily. "I-I left them there." To my surprise, Kai let out a roaring laugh and I flinched back.

"Nova, they've been training with their powers since they could walk and talk." He put his hand on my back and started walking into a tunnel entrance on the other side of the cavern.

I shrugged his hand off and jumped in front of him. "But I head Valkyrie scream-" Kai chuckled again.

"That was a warning for me," he explained. "To get you out of there." I hadn't thought about it like that and I let his voice of reason be my comfort. My eyes roved over the scar that cut across his face.

"How did you get that scar?" I covered my mouth the moment the question came out of my mouth and chastised myself; you can't just ask people things like that when you don't even know them. Kai didn't seem to care, he just ran one hand over the old scar like he had forgotten it was there.

"Why don't we sit down and relax so you can understand what's going on," he insisted. "We're safe, it's okay, Crow would have informed me if we weren't." Not if he's a traitor.

We sat on the rough, pebbly ground for what seemed like forever before he spoke again. "It might be a little bit of a shock, but I used to be part of the umbra bellator - I trust Kyrie filled you in on that?" I gave a slight nod. I tried to imagine Kai killing innocent people, but the picture just wouldn't form in my head - I guess I should be grateful. "When I had a crisis of conscious and realized what I was doing, I decided to leave...and this was their parting gift."

"T-that's disgusting!" I sputtered. "Why should you get hurt trying to stand up for what you believe in?" Kai rolled his shoulders back and stared at the cobweb dangling from the ceiling above him.

"Unfortunately, that's what happens to the good guys," he said. "This scar is just a reminder of why I have to protect you. I've been watching over you for years, making sure the umbra bellator didn't get their hands on you." That's why he looked so familiar, I had seen him before. I had seen those blue eyes near my school, walking on the sidewalk when I was picking up abandoned pennies, even as a homeless man with a sign asking for food.

"Clearly I wasn't that important if you let me stay on those streets for so long," I mused.

"I know you're not going to believe me, but those streets were the safest place for you," he confessed. "I had Donny watching-"

"Donny?! As in homeless man Donny that makes fun of my hair?" Kai gave me a rueful smile.

"Yes, that Donny," he said. "He's not a warlock, but he's a close friend of mine and he agreed to keep tabs on you...for a price of course." I was becoming accustomed to the unwelcome thoughts flying around my head. I had been shocked more times in one day than in my entire life.

"What was the price?" I asked, playing with the string of the jacket Kai had given me. Before he had time to respond, the trap door rattled across the cavern and a man landed gracefully on all fours. Adrenaline rushed through me with dizzying intensity and I pressed my head back against the rock, barely daring to breathe.

Twisting his cloak around him, Crow turned to us with a smile that made my blood boil. "Nice to see you too, Nova."