The Eden Projects (EDITING)

Chapter 49. Collected.

Ace had flipped Zero onto his back. "Kas. Come here, I need you to hold him."

"R-right." Kasper moved quickly, and lowered himself with a sharp inhale near the head of the bed. Gently, he pulled Zero up. "Like this?"

"Perfect." Ace began pulling at Zero's pants.

"Hey wait-"

"Ark doesn't play by our rules when it comes to placement." Ace looked him over. "What- I'm not some creep. Seriously?"

Kasper looked to Jack.

"He's right. Ark likes to hide their work. It won't be somewhere obvious."

Kasper nodded and held Zero's head in his lap. He felt the boys chest rattle with every breath he took and Zak slowly crept over. 

He's here. I found him. 

Kasper felt Zero's cheeks, they were just as pale as his own. The loose silvery curls nestled against his skin like downy feathers, framing his soft features. The lightest freckles pocked his temples like stars. Veins snaked at his neck and torso like deeply pigmented velvet ribbons on ivory. He was deadly, like a blooming bush with poisonous thorns. "He's so cold." Kasper felt his neck. Who knew monsters could be beautiful...

"So are you. You just don't feel it." Ace felt along Zero's legs and hips.

Kasper looked away. He felt odd, holding his brother again. He was embarrassed, everything about the situation felt wrong and the creeping idea that someone else had hurt him ignited every protective instinct that made up his drive. Kasper was beginning to harbor an untamable animosity deep within his core. I'll kill them all for what they've done to you. Zero looked so similar and yet so unrecognizable to the boy he remembered. This Zero was a ghost from the past chasing him into the present.

"Here. There it is." Ace turned Zero to his side and felt at his tailbone. "Told you."

Kasper looked and sure enough, a small angry black bump sat under his skin.

"Zak, I'll steady the skin and you cut it free."

"Okay." Zak swooped over, wings trailing behind him like plastic smoke. 

Ace positioned his hands at either side and applied pressure. The area bulged and the tracker rolled closer to the surface. Kasper watched Zak's freckled hand position the knife and at the count of three, he pressed the blade into Zero's skin. The thing came free almost instantly, trailing a long hairlike antenna with it.

"They likely already know where he is but we can hope we're far enough to cause them issues pinpointing him. Jack, run this around out there. Don't destroy it, just run it around and toss it in the river near town. We don't know if it'll signal anything if it's tampered with." Ace adjusted the antenna. "But it's worth a shot."

"Thank you." Kasper spoke.

"I don't want your thanks." Ace felt Zero's curls. "What he did to Fog shouldn't have killed him... but it did. He stopped Fog from healing. We don't know what he's capable of and if he's anything like you I doubt he'll be cooperative." Ace wiped his hands on his pants and rose to stand before tossing a key to Kasper. "Keep him in there. Don't let him out." Ace followed after Jack.

When the door slammed both Zak and Kasper shuddered at the noise. All the while, Zak hadn't left the bedside. He stood now, looking down at the way Kasper so delicately worked clothes back over Zero's body.

Kasper spoke preemptively. "I know."

"Why didn't you tell me..." Zak said. Not so much as a question but as a statement. It was "why wouldn't you bring me" at its core and "You didn't trust me enough to tell me" at its end.