The Mechanic [BL]

[114]

Chapter 114 – Sacrificial Lamb (5)

When he was very young, Zhang Xun had dreamed of leaving Lost Paradise. He was probably only eight or nine years old and didn't know how to leave, and he couldn't be sure if the scenes described in many of the books were pictures he had put together in his mind, but he was sure that he had to leave.

He wanted to grow wings and fly to the ends of the Earth. He wanted to explore islands in the ocean with their hidden treasures, to wander the old coffee-scented alleys he saw in films, to trek through the woods in search of the remains of civilisations lost over the millennia, to sit on dry sand dunes and watch the sunrise over the edge of the desert.

Little did he know that the ancient world of mysterious unknowns depicted in the books had faded away, that the world was now covered by a network of countless satellites, with every corner visible to the eye. Nor did he know that in some years, when he was old enough, when he would actually be able to leave Lost Paradise, he wouldn't feel free at all.

Until now, now that his feet were back on solid ground but his arms were still wrapped tightly around Adam's neck. Adam's feathers were slowly retracting behind him, but he had no intention of letting go of Zhang Xun either.

It was only at this moment that the feeling of being bound and controlled disappeared for the first time.

How long had it been since he last had real physical contact like this?

Zhang Xun felt the heat radiating from Adam's body, their necks pressed together, their pulses echoing each other. A living, breathing body that was so different from his own, yet it was as if his other half that had been lost had now been sewn back together.

Zhang Xun had thought he should hate Adam, hate him for his repeated betrayals and deceptions. He had thought that his attachment had worn off and that all that remained was the confrontation between the two of them, but now that Adam was holding him in his arms like this, had broken ties with Eden and taken him away...... He found himself to be so weak, so desperately wanting things to go back to the way they were.

Back to the time when they were together in the Lab, even if it had only been superficially peaceful, even if it had only been hypocritically affectionate.

It was only after a long time that Adam finally spoke in a voice that seemed afraid of spooking him, "Are you okay?"

As if awakened from a dream, Zhang Xun loosened his arms around Adam and pulled away slightly. A thousand words stirred in his chest, ranging from angry roars to sad pleas, but in the end he simply said, in a somewhat drawn-out voice, "I'm fine."

"I anticipated that one day Eden and I would diverge, so I set up this place as a shelter a week ago. I tampered with Eden's satellite systems so as long as we don't leave the restricted range, they won't see us."

It was then that Zhang Xun turned his head and took in the scene around him.

They stood on a towering rock, sticking out of the forest behind them, teetering out from the cliff. Around them the black sea spread like shivering silk beneath the night, spreading vastly in all directions. The silvery moon in the sky made long, broken streaks across the waves and the cold shine of the stars was the only source of light in the world.

The continuous crashing of the waves and the rustling of the leaves in the wind wove the silence more and more densely, as if all the people and machines in the world had disappeared, except for the two of them. There was no past, no future, just the here and now.

"Where is this?"

"An uninhabited island on the edge of the Bahamas, where all the inhabitants were evacuated seventy-five years ago because of rising sea levels."