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Chapter Thirteen
Tayla
“How was I supposed to know they were going to arrest us?” I snapped.
“Well, he tried to warn you,” Alec answered, but I shot him a furious look and he snapped his mouth shut.
He was right, of course. Adreax had tried to warn me that the Patrol was not friendly, but of course he would say that! I had no reason to trust him, either.
I paced back and forth in our tiny cell, absently biting my nails and trying to find a way out. I was starting to worry that there would be no escaping. Not only were the walls of our cell solid, but the officers who put us here seemed to have no inclination to speak with us. Whatever reason they had for holding us was unclear, and so far we could not find anyone who could understand a single word we said.
Outside the locked door I heard a commotion, and I went to see what it was about. A part of me hoped the officers were coming to free us. Perhaps they realized they’d made a mistake, and they were ready to let us go. But when I peeked through the tiny sliver of a window set high into the door, I saw something that left me even more dismayed.
The officers had Herod in cuffs, and they were being none too gentle as they shoved him down the hall toward where I was standing. Occasionally he would lash out at them, taking a kick at their shins, only to be struck with a baton or punched in the face. His face was bloodied, and his eyes were wild.
Behind Herod, the slumped form of Adreax was being dragged along as well. He looked to be in far worse shape than Herod, barely able to hold himself upright without the firm support of the two officers on either side. I sucked in a long breath through my teeth, and I felt something, a sinking feeling that made me sick to my stomach.
More than anything, I wanted to retreat from the window. I didn’t want to see Adreax’s body as he passed by. But I also couldn’t tear myself away from the view. I needed to know if he was going to be okay. I needed to know how bad it was.
I expected the guards to take Adreax and Herod to another cell, but they stopped in front of our door. I scurried back, afraid to be caught watching the officers, and not wanting to be within easy reach. Alec sat beside me in the far corner of the room, waiting anxiously as someone outside punched in a key code and the door slid open.
The officers eyed the two of us suspiciously, but seeing that we were out of the way, they went ahead with shoving Herod into the room, and then made space to drag Adreax in, too. I gasped in shock and disgust as they dropped Adreax on the ground unceremoniously, and I heard him groan in pain. His eyes fluttered, but he did not move to get up, and I felt dread seeping in.
The officers never cuffed Adreax, but as soon as they had Herod’s cuffs off, they moved to leave.
“Wait!” I cried. “You can’t just leave him like that!”
One of the officers turned toward me and gave me a curious stare with his glassy eyes, but he did not respond. He simply walked out the door and closed it behind him with a resolute click.
I looked at Herod, my mouth open in speechless horror, but he only gave me a resigned shrug.
“Help me get him rolled over, and we can check on his wound,” Herod said, stretching his wrists uncomfortably and then lowering himself to Adreax’s side.
I did not want to touch Adreax at all. The blood oozing out of the rough bandage at his side was enough to make me sick to my stomach. There was nothing I could do to help him. But Herod cleared his throat and waited impatiently for me to get a grip so we could work together. Reluctantly, I slid an arm under Adreax’s armpit and grunted as I struggled to lift his dead weight. After a few tries, we finally got Adreax propped up against the wall, and Herod slumped down beside him, wiping blood off his face with the back of his hand.
“Now do you believe us?” Herod asked in a gruff voice.
“I- I didn’t know,” I whispered, feeling ashamed, although I told myself I had no reason to have known better.
“Well, now you do, and he needs your help.”
I stared at Herod and Adreax, the pair of them so disheveled and broken I wasn’t sure what help I could possibly offer. Regardless of my feelings, I lowered myself to my knees and waited for Herod to give me directions, applying pressure just like he told me to and trying to keep from thinking about the way Adreax’s blood pulsed hot between my fingers.
“So, who are you guys, really?” I finally asked, hoping that conversation would take my mind elsewhere.
Herod looked up at me with a raised eyebrow and a frown.
“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” he muttered, but I could hear the defensiveness in his voice.
“Come on, Herod. I know you’re not merchants. I admit, I should have seen it earlier, but it’s pretty obvious now.”
“Oh? And how would you say you came to that conclusion?” He bristled, grabbing my wrist and placing more pressure over Adreax’s wound as he worked to fix the bandage.
I chewed my lip thoughtfully. “First of all, you two don’t look or act much like merchants. At least, not where I come from. Second, whatever you’re moving must be dangerous, otherwise there wouldn’t have been so much commotion about getting to it. And I assume that these Patrol goons did not just happen upon my Orb and decide to arrest people. It’s not like they have jurisdiction here, or whatever. I believe they were after someone… or some ones.”
I dragged my eyes away from Adreax’s ashen face and up to meet Herod’s eyes. He held me in a level stare, but he did not argue. Instead, he mustered a grunt and a shrug and went back to his work.
“And what of it?” he asked quietly after a long silence.
I scoffed, sitting back on my heels and staring at him in disbelief.
“What of it? You two lied to me. I felt bad for you! I really thought you guys needed help. But now… now I don’t know what to think.”
I felt like I was being torn apart. I hated seeing Adreax in this condition. He looked so weak. But at the same time, I was furious with him. I never wanted to see him again, and I couldn’t wait to be away from him and Herod. They were liars and troublemakers, and no amount of rock-hard abs could ever change that. Plus, all of my research was destroyed, thanks to them. If I ever got free of these Patrol guys, I still wouldn’t have any of the data I came here to collect. I would have to go home empty-handed, and I didn’t think I could ever forgive Adreax for that.
Seeing that Herod was done with Adreax’s bandage, I helped him lower Adreax back to the ground so he could rest. If we made it out of this alive, I meant to give that big hulking alien a piece of my mind.
