Page 26 of Theta

"Happens to be my favorite kink."

I pluck at the neck of the pale blue scrub top, plastered against my skin. "It's the wet scrubs, isn't it? Really gets you going."

"Y'know, it is?" he says, smirking. "You've really got my number."

I look up at him and feel my iron grip on my emotions slipping. "That was really, really scary, Killy."

"Fuckin' A, it was," he answers. "I honestly can't entirely believe those jack-offs pulled it off. I thought for sure we were gonna die."

"At the launch, especially."

He shakes his head. "Something tells me that wasn't part of the original plan. I think they're desperate. Something happened, and I’d wager dollars to donuts my sister is involved somewhere, somehow. No one can piss people off faster than her."

My legs shake, my hands tremble, my lower lip wobbles, and I find myself struggling to breathe properly. "I…need to sit d-d-down."

Killian's brow furrows. "Hey, you're okay. It's okay. We’re safe, relatively speaking."

I shake my head, breathing coming out in tremulous puffs through pursed lips. “I…I’m not—I can't—"

He blinks a few times, as if puzzled. Which, I suppose, is fair enough. You'd think after all I've been through, a scary boat ride wouldn't faze me this much. But you can't control the things that affect you, can you?

Recovering swiftly, he gathers me to his chest and scrapes my wet hair away. "Breathe, Story. In for four, hold for seven, out for eight."

"I kn-know how to s-s-squ—square br-breathe," I stammer.

He sniffs a soft laugh. "Of course you do."

"I just—I can't control my-my-myself."

"You don't have to, Story. Let it out. I’ve got you."

I let my eyes shut and try to breathe, but I keep feeling ground bucking and heaving under us and I'm shivering as my sodden clothes steam in the hot, damp air of the tiny room.

The smell of cigarette smoke is nearly overpowering in here, and the walls and ceiling are yellow with decades of smoke-stain.

Killian shuffles us to the bed, settles on the mattress with my back to his front. He pinches the edge of the folded blanket with his toes and brings it up to where he can grab it with his hand, and then spreads it over us, tucking it under my nose. If nothing else, the scent of the wool blanket cancels the smoke stench, at least.

Damp, shivering, hungry, thirsty, and shaken by the perilous boat ride, I nonetheless find myself dropping into a fitful slumber, the firm warmth of Killian's bare chest behind me and his arms around me.

5

Somewhere, Somehow

Raised voices jerk me out of a restless sleep. The bed is narrow and short and the mattress hard as a board yet lumpier than barely-mashed potatoes, but it's a significant step up from the bare metal I've been sleeping on for so long. Feels downright luxurious. I was starting to forget what my life was like before the dark and the metal and the stench and the roll of the waves.

Story is passed out on me; we started out sitting up, but at some point slid down and now she's on her side, curled up mostly on top of me, her cheek on my chest, one hand curled up in the hollow of my throat like a delicate little baby bird.

The way she falls asleep on me so easily makes my heart crack and swell at the same time. I wrap my arms around her shoulders and nuzzle the top of her head, letting my eyes fall closed again.

If only we were alone.

But we aren't.

The raised voices grow louder—but it doesn't sound like an argument. I listen…they're watching a soccer match, I think. Despite not understanding what they're saying, the sounds of men watching a sport are a universal language. Especially when your team is losing or does something stupid, and judging by the tone of their voices, the match isn't going well.

This continues for a good half an hour more—shouts of encouragement, groans of disappointment, an occasional bicker about rules or a certain call. I've grown up listening to Sasha and the other guards watch soccer, arguing and fighting and all but coming to blows, all of it in a hodgepodge of languages.

The match must end, because the raised voices go quiet. Not long after, the door to this room is kicked open with a loud slam that has Story jerking awake.