With a new name and new life, Nathan must learn to fit in at an Academy of the Feral Investigation Bureau, or risk being sent back to prison.
*****
Escaping prison was only the be...
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"What's your name?"
"C41."
C59 smiles and nods. He is proud, and that makes me proud. He shoves me toward the kneeling bird in front of me.
"It's time to cut loose the unnecessary distractions," he says and hands me the knife.
I nod. The bird looks up at me.
"Nathan, please!"
"Goodbye, Che," I mutter and slam the knife in his chest.
I jerked awake, so violently I sat up. Che was fast to encircle me in his arms and wait for my breathing to slow down before he said anything. He stroked me over my freshly shaved head and kissed my neck.
"Okay?" he whispered.
I shook my head and rested my forehead on his shoulder.
"The same dream again?"
I had already told him about this dream. I had it so often, I barely got any sleep during the night. I took small naps during the day instead. I was so tired all the time.
"I wish I could go back to remembering," I muttered after a while of silence.
"Maybe you are, subconsciously. Did Cal ever ask you to kill a friend?"
"I don't know... I can't remember." I sighed. "All things considered, it doesn't seem unlikely."
He stroked my head again.
"Maybe you're just stressed. You're starting classes soon," Che said and started massaging my shoulders. I exhaled loudly and felt my tense muscles relax. "Loads of new people and all that."
"Nat being there makes it easier."
"Yeah, I bet. Not so scary going into something new if you have somebody with you." He put his palms to my cheeks and tipped my head up so he could look at me. "And I'll be there. And Aidan. And the others from the programme."
We were a small group of seven people in the programme. Carlos and Cassie were all Americans. Charles and Bruce were English, and Rasmus was Danish. Everyone had been picked out of prison.
Nat and I were the only cats, the rest were dogs.
"Right? It'll be all right." He smiled and gently pressed his lips on top of mine.
"It'll be all right," I agreed and kissed him back.
"You're so strong," he murmured against my lips.
His hands ran down my arms and then over my chest. He opened his eyes and looked down.
August was really kicking my arse, especially during the night, so I didn't sleep with a shirt on. It was simply too hot. And since we were outside, we couldn't enjoy the perks of air-conditioning. Che was enjoying it though.
