Sapphire Bones

Devotion

L

Cole emerged from his high a couple hours after the drug was administered. Roddy was at his side the minute he woke and the two shared a tearful reunion, fearful that their last meeting was the finale of their relationship. Cole sat up and moved out from Roddy's embrace. I refused to move from my spot at the fence; watching Cole's body spasm while under the influence restricted my limbs. I'd seen drunk men while with Peter but never one on drugs. He moaned, groaned, and kicked at imaginary dangers while the drug flowed through him. Nothing Roddy did helped ease the tense muscles in Cole's arms and the needle prick at his elbow.

"How are you feeling?" I asked, voice low and tender. Cole's head snapped toward me and if I wasn't mistaken I saw the faint outline of a smile above his jaw.

"Drained," he responded, rubbing his head with the free hand not holding his body up. "Did anything happen while I was out?"

"There were a couple rogues who passed by the cage but nobody bothered us," Roddy answered for me. They still didn't know and as long as the information wasn't needed I wasn't willing to share.

"That's because I told them not to," the rogue leader's voice came from behind me. Two cold fingers pressed down onto the flesh on my shoulder. At the touch I winced away, shuffling in the dirt away from the edge. My breathing hitched, the phantom of the cold sensation of fingers itching at my shoulder blade.

"Don't touch her," Cole snapped and moved toward me but my back was facing him. I kept my line of sight on the rogue leader outside the cage. He knelt in front of the bars, one hand wrapped around the wide metal rod while he looked inside.

"Just because I can't give her any of this," he brandished another needle from his jacket pocket and dangled it in front of the bars as if to taunt Cole. "Doesn't mean I'm not allowed to have other kinds of fun," he suggested and pulled the needle back into his coat. Two furious growls came from behind me and without glancing back I knew it was from both my friends. They weren't far back. Roddy stood inches behind me and Cole sat, still recovering from his ordeal with the drugs. I looked back at my friends; they were close together.

"I swear-," Roddy started but the rogue leader tsked with a swinging hand gesture. I shivered at his motions and inched back further until I hit a set of solid legs. Roddy knelt down and replaced the cold sensation on my shoulder with a warm one. His hand rested gently and I reached up with my own and grasped onto his fingers with my nails to keep him in place.

"Don't promise something you can't keep," the rogue leader said with a laugh. "Once I have you and your little... whatever the two of you are immobilized by whatever drugs I decide to put in you, you won't be able to stop me from doing whatever I want to her." He turned to look back at me. "Now," he smiled. "I'm going to make this game a little more interesting. Wanna hear the twist?" He elongated his words. Cole and Roddy froze behind me. I nodded, hopeful he would spare either of them.

Cole growled and lunged forward at the cage walls only to be stopped by Roddy. The legs behind my back vanished quickly as Roddy reached for Cole and pulled him back toward the center of the cage.

"Don't," he muttered into Cole's ear. "Don't let him get to you,"

"He's going to break your sobriety, Rod," Cole whispered. "He's going to do anything to break us both. We can't let that happen!" Anger flooded into his voice, a raging hurricane out at sea ready to strike anything it encountered but Roddy somehow found a way to break it down and shoulder the wave before it had any lasting consequences. Whether that be from a touch or words I couldn't hear, I wasn't sure but it worked. Cole breathed deeply and settled his shoulders. He and Roddy faced the rogue. I watched from in front of them both, their stances were protective as if I were the weakest person in the area. A porcelain doll chipped too many times already, and one more blow would do me in and ruin any lasting chance I had for survival.