Shai Soi

Chapter 38

The bolt hit Nathaniel square in between the shoulder blades. He grunted and fell to the floor. "Nathaniel!" His skin twitched. He groaned. At least he was still awake. Unfortunately, so was my escort. Well, other than that one man... I forgot that as two guards cuffed Nathaniel as another held him down. The cuffs acted like their guns. Except, it only shocked you if you tried to shift form. The cells I'd seen acted the same way. Nathaniel's cheek pressed firmly into the floor. Like me, he was handcuffed- trapped. With no way to get out.

You're such an idiot. Why didn't you get out of here?  I snapped.

Oh, really? Thanks for that, Rebecca, I appreciate it.

Drop the sarcasm. I eyed the guards. Though discombobulated, I could tell they wouldn't hesitate to bring out their batons again. I'd already been hit twice. But I remembered they weren't the biggest problem. She was just up the hall walking this way. I grew frantic. I'm serious. You shouldn't be here- you  can't. If she were to see you, you're good as dead. Get out of here- I can distract them...

No, you're not doing this alone. I'm sorry for what I said earlier about Sadie. It really isn't your fault, it's mine. I was just angry-

A guard tried to haul me to my feet. I whipped around. "If you want me to honor our deal then you'll wait."

Nathaniel struggled to his knees. The jolt from the gun sparkled around his torso. Sweat beaded his brow. I could sense him holding the gun's effects in check with his shara.  He wouldn't last long. What deal? Bec, what did you do?

Nothing you need to concern yourself about. I can get them to let you go. I grunted, using my shoulder to hoist him up. My shoulderblades rubbed together from my bound hands. The shot must've affected him more than I thought because his legs shook and his eyes wouldn't open up all the way. The shoak  bond kept slipping. Nathaniel's thoughts went in and out of focus.

Screw the deal. I've gotten you in enough trouble. Maybe this time I can get you out. I'm staying right here. He smiled encouragingly.

Clap. Clap. Clap. Our heads swerved to a figure clad in tight leather shorts and nothing else but a black sports bra. Her hands, still clapping slowly, were wrapped with boxing tape. Her stomach rippled with smooth muscles. She'd shaved half of her head, the hair that remained was stringy and long. As her combat boots clipped closer, I caught the glimmer of a nose and eyebrow piercing. She wore two rings around her ear. Everything about her screamed 'Danger. Run or Suffer Painful Death.' Somehow, she was still breathtakingly gorgeous- in a sharp, bad girl way, but the new look marred her natural beauty.

My jaw dropped. I'd seen her on the fuzzy monitors; I heard the guards talking about her- about how she was the one giving the orders, but I never expected this. "S-Sadie?"

She sneered. "Hello Rebecca. It's nice to see you doing well."

"Sadie," Nathaniel's expression was half amazed half skeptical, "what's going on? Why are you here?"

"Maybe because you deserted me for her." She jerked her head towards me. A guard hefted his gun. As if just now noticing her audience, Sadie pointed towards the doors. "What are you standing around for? Track the others! They can't have gotten far."

I was a little busy watching Nathaniel's reaction. His face was pale. Then I processed her words. "Wait-" The guards halted.

Nathaniel interrupted. "You work  with them?"

I cut in. "Nathaniel, I told you I made a deal. Sadie would let everyone go if I turned myself in." I turned to Sadie who was rewrapping her hands. "And that means you leave the others alone."

She snickered. Chills ran down my spine. "No, you said to let them go. I did. You never said anything about recapturing them." She nodded towards the guards again and they jogged off. "But thank you for volunteering. It would've been such a waste to chase you down." She came closer and pressed her finger into my bad ear. I yelped.

"Stop it, Sadie. This isn't you." Nathaniel pushed in front of me. His hand brushed against my hip to see if I was okay. Other than the pain in the side of my head and the acid from my broken ribs, yeah, I was superb. He and Sadie glared at each other.

"And how would you know? You always spend your time hiding yourself!" After a minute of tension Sadie looked around Nathaniel at me. "Interesting, isn't it? After a few weeks, maybe a month, a Newling like you has him abandoning his girlfriend, kissing other girls, and killing people? Oh, don't worry. I didn't need to read your mind to figure that out. Is that how long it took for him to admit his feelings for you?"

Sadie's sharp eyes roved over Nathaniel face. She grabbed his hair and slammed her knee in between his legs. He collasped, and I moved to help him but Sadie hooked her calf around my neck and pushed me into the wall. With her boot firmly pressed into my windpipe she bends down and grabs Nathaniel by the jaw. Her fingernails pierced his skin as she lifted him to face me.

She laughed deep in her throat. "Looks like she likes you too." She parted her lips and put her tongue to the corner. I could see a piercing there as well. She rolled her head towards Nathaniel. Her lips curled in a snarl. Her boot pushes further on my throat. My hands thump uselessly behind me. "I should've seen it before...her scent... she's all over you.  How long did it take for you to decide you were done with me? A week? A couple days?" Despite my darkening vision I could detect real hurt beind her cold features. The venom was still there. Honestly, it was hard to remember who was the snake.

I gagged. Nathaniel's eyes widened. "Sadie, let her go. Please."

"Hmm," she glanced upwards. I couldn't see anything. Tears leaked from my eyes.

"Sadie!"

The pressure was let off my throat and air painfully filled my lungs. I dropped to the floor. When I looked up, Sadie's mouth was over Nathaniel's and fiercely moving against his. He saw me on the ground and jerked back. Nathaniel wiped his mouth on his sleeve. "Get off me, traitor."

Sadie turned to me. "He can't even stand my touch. Nathaniel never was one for affection after so many years on the streets. He was, what, eight or nine when his parents threw him out. And after all I've done for him... You like him, Rebecca. I can see it in your eyes but think about this: How many girls has he kissed? How many more will he go through? Do you really think Slithan can be loyal to you? To anyone?  "

I stayed silent. Nathaniel may have made wrong choices, but so have I. So has everyone. That didn't mean you had to exclude them. Just because someone chose to do something differently and be different, it didn't mean you cast them out. That's what I learned from constantly being teased. Everyone's imperfect. So what?

I still had to...

"You're right, Sadie," I muttered at first looking down. I glared at Nathaniel. "You're right. " I channeled all of my anger through my shara  until even Sadie backed away. "You kissed Natalie. You hurt Riley so badly he was put in the hospital for half a year! You just tortured human beings!" I glanced at the motionless body from the fight. The fight where Nathaniel was simply trying to protect me. I started shouting at him. "You  betrayed the shai. You  are the reason everyone is here in the first place. But you..." I turned to Sadie. "You are just as bad! You are killing our kind!"

"No, of course not." She brushed her hair over the other side and turned. Surrounding her eye was a tattoo of curved triangles that resembled a bird's wing. On her bicep was another tattoo of a falcon. Under it in block print was 'S. 01- C.' Her eyes sparkled like a madman's. "I'm making the shai  better."

"How? How is keeping them locked in those measly cages making them better?"

Sadie circled me. Her dark eyes pulled at my conscious, searching for a sign that I might believe her. Her talon-like nails split the seam on my scrub's sleeve. "That's only for security measures. I was trying to make them see... make them feel... The things I can do. This is how shai are supposed to be. Come with me." Sadie came back around. Her eyes were purple with lust. She was beyond mad. "You can feel... everything. "

I glanced at Nathaniel. His beautiful wide eyes pleaded with me. He could tell he was losing the battle. I let my lips curl in the most evil grin I could. I trained my sneer on Sadie. "When do we start?"