Born of Fire (52 page)

The Overseer took a deep breath. “And what of you, Seax? Why do you defend the son of Idirian Wade with such vigor?”

She answered with the one single truth she couldn’t deny. “I love him. Deeply.”

“Does he know this?”

“I’m sure he doubts me.” Especially given the way she’d been forced to act in the hotel, yet had she shown any weakness, Merjack would have killed them both. “But I intend to make sure he believes in me again.”

The Overseer nodded. “We all make mistakes that torture us the whole of our lives. Unfortunately, fate doesn’t always allow us a second chance. I hope you get yours, Shahara.”

“Thank you, Mistress.”

The Overseer smiled sadly. “He must truly be a noble man to inspire the loyalty of a seax.”

“He walks with nobility and honor.”

She nodded. “Now go, Seax. See to his safety.”

Numb to everything except the throbbing pain in his skull, Syn sat huddled in the corner of his icy cell. He swung his chains at one of the rodents that had strayed a little too close for his liking.

At times like this, he really cursed his eyesight. He was able to see every tiny crawling, slithering creature that eyed him as either a meal or a host.

But worse than the insects and rodents was the deadly chill that caused his broken jaw to ache unmercifully. He wasn’t exactly sure when it’d been broken. There had been so many blows as he was interrogated by Merjack that he could barely recall which one had caused what injury.

If he didn’t hurt so much, he’d have laughed at Merjack’s panic as the man had tried to find out what Shahara had done with the real chip.

He really had to give her credit. She’d betrayed them all. First she’d turned him in, then she’d run off with Merjack’s money and the chip.

She was some piece of work.

He closed his eyes and let the agony of betrayal ravage his soul.

How could you have done this to me?
He would have given her his life had she asked for it. But to have it taken like this . . .

He wanted to kill her.

The door to his cell opened, ushering in another stinging wind. Syn mentally prepared himself for the beating to come. Maybe this time they would finally succeed in killing him.

He listened to the footsteps approach and, though his first instinct was to fight, he didn’t move. He just didn’t have it in him anymore. His fighting days were over. Now he just wished his life would end, too.

Instead of rough hands seizing him, something incredibly soft and warm was draped over his shoulders. Stunned, he looked up into the golden eyes that had haunted him every moment since Merjack had taken him.

“Hi,” she said with a smile.

Rage clouded his sight. He tried to speak, but his
jaw and the cold made it impossible. Disregarding his pain, he reached for her, intending to tear her lying tongue out.

Shahara noted the hatred in his eyes as he sprang at her. “Syn, please don’t. You’ll only hurt yourself.”

As he lunged toward her again, Nero appeared to pull him back. “Easy, buddy. You don’t want to do any more damage to yourself.”

A man wearing the green and gold uniform of the Overseer’s guard stepped between them. “C.I. Syn, born Sheridan Digger Wade?”

His breathing labored from his pain, Syn stopped moving and eyed all of them warily.

When he didn’t answer, the man looked to Shahara to confirm his identity before he continued. “C.I. Syn, you are being remanded into Overseer custody pending a full investigation and trial of your case.”

Confused, he stared at the guard. How?

“I went to
her,
” Shahara explained as if she’d read his thoughts. “She’s agreed to hear everything.”

Oh, that was fucking great. He’d be lucky if his mother didn’t have him offed two seconds after his arrival.

The guard who’d spoken knelt down to release his chains while Nero handed Shahara his clothes.

“We’ll wait outside while you get him dressed.”

Shahara looked at Syn, who still hadn’t moved from his crouched position on the floor. “Thank you.”

He appeared so defeated and hurt that it choked her with remorse. His wounds were so much worse this time than they’d been before. It was obvious Merjack had been a
little
ticked off over her subterfuge with the chip.

She couldn’t imagine how Syn even managed to breathe, let alone move.

“Here,” she said, closing the space between them. “Let me get you dressed and—”

“I don’t need your help,” he snapped between clenched teeth as he shoved her away with a strength she found shocking given his physical condition.

She wanted to argue but was afraid to try. The last thing he needed was a struggle that would only injure him more. “Here’re your clothes.”

Syn snatched them from her and tried to dress by himself, but with one broken arm and all the other brutal injuries, he could barely move.

It was useless; he couldn’t even raise his arms high enough to pull on his shirt.

This time when she came near, he didn’t push her away. Without a word, she dressed him with gentle hands that only seldom hurt his injuries. But that wasn’t what really hurt, anyway.

The external injuries he could take. It was the wound she’d given his heart that crippled him. That was the one he couldn’t get over.

How could you
. . .

When she finished, she took his good arm and placed it over her shoulders. “Just lean on me, Syn, and I’ll walk you out of this hell.”

“You’re the one who put me here. Twice,” he snarled through his broken jaw.

Shahara’s conscience screamed its own condemnation over his condition. He’d been here less than a day and Merjack had done all but kill him. “I know, baby. I know.”

Nero took over once they were outside the cell and helped Syn the rest of the way to the bay.

As soon as they boarded the Overseer’s shuttle and launched, one of the escorts brought her a first aid kit
while Nero moved up front for the launch. “I don’t know how much help this will be. But I think there’s some stuff in it to help dull the pain.”

“Thank you.” Shahara took it from his hands. She dug around until she found the pills. “Do you need water?”

He shook his head before he roughly ground out, “They . . . broke . . . my . . . jaw.”

“Oh,” she whispered, knowing he’d never be able to open his mouth wide enough take the pills.

No wonder he’d been so silent.

Shahara looked down in shame and replaced the bottle in the kit. Once more she searched the contents for something that might ease his pain.

There was nothing.

“Sorry. There’s no injector in here, or anything else to give you.”

Syn said nothing. He just laid his head back against the wall of the craft and closed his eyes.

Wanting desperately to help him, Shahara got up, moved around the steel partition that separated her from the pilots and asked the two escorts, “Is there someplace where he can lie down until we get there?”

The man who’d brought her the first aid kit spoke up. “We could make a pallet on the floor with some of our emergency blankets.”

At the frown on her face, he turned contrite. “I’m sorry, Seax. This is a prison shuttle, not a luxury class cruiser. It’s the best we can offer.”

Well, at least the pallet would be better than his trying to sit up. “Where are the blankets?”

He led her and Nero to the storage compartments and helped her pull them out. Together, she and Nero made a semi-soft bed and helped Syn lie down.

Shahara sat beside him while the escort returned to his station. She watched Syn try to swallow and she hated herself for leaving him to Merjack. If only she could go back and change things.

But she couldn’t do that.

The least she could do now was try to explain herself, especially given the fact that, for once, he’d no choice but to listen.

“I know you don’t believe me.” She stroked his bruised cheek. “But I never meant to hurt you.”

His glare turned lethal and she could read his thoughts as easily as if they were her own.

“You’re right. I did turn you in, twice. But it’s not what you think. The first time we met, I thought you were guilty of all those crimes. Then I was approached by another seax, Warden Traysen, from your prison. He’d been investigating Uriah Merjack for years and when he learned about the chip, he decided not to prosecute Merjack for the human rights violations in the prison, but wait until he could prosecute him for murder. The only way he could prove his case was to get your chip.”

She brushed her hand across his fevered brow. “He was the one who suggested to Merjack that he contact me, and then Traysen told me what my real duty was. I was afraid to tell you my mission because I didn’t think you’d believe me. Now that I know who your mother is, I
know
you wouldn’t have trusted me. Ever. You’re too stubborn for that and I can’t blame you.”

She sighed and brushed his dirty hair off his forehead. “You don’t know how many times I’ve regretted my bargain with Merjack.”

He looked at her and his eyes were so sad, so tormented that it brought tears to hers. “I know you think I betrayed you, but I really do love you, Syn.”

In desperation not to lose him forever, she added quickly, “By the time I saw the real you, it was too late. Everything had been set into motion and I couldn’t stop it. That last night, I was going to lie to Merjack and tell him you were dead so that he wouldn’t hunt for you anymore. Then I was going to hand you and the real chip into Overseer custody.”

The accusation in his eyes spoke loudly:
You think that would have been any better?

He looked away.

Shahara closed her eyes and wished she could start over with him.

But it was too late.

Sighing in defeat, she put his hand down beside him and went to join the escorts.

Syn watched her leave. His heart begged for him to call her back.

This time he ignored it. He was through with that part of himself. The part of him that was weak and thought it needed someone in his life.

He would listen to it no more.

All he wanted was peace and solitude away from people who lied and deceived him. The only guarantee he’d ever had in this life was that
he
would never betray himself.

Taking as deep a breath as he could, he closed his eyes and vowed to think no more of Shahara.

Nero stepped forward. “She does love you, Syn. If it’s any consolation.”

He rolled his eyes, then hissed at the pain it caused.

Nero knelt down by his side and used his powers to heal him. Syn cursed as pain swept through him, only to fade. The last part to heal was his jaw.

He met Nero’s gaze. “Thanks.”

“Anytime. Should I go get Shahara now?”

“No. I don’t want her around me.”

“Syn—”

“Don’t waste your breath, Scalera. I’m tired of being lied to. I don’t even know what to believe where she’s concerned.”

“She can’t lie to me. You know that.”

“And I’m not you. I don’t come with a lie detector. Hell, even yours is defective at times.” What they’d had, whatever it was, was over.

He didn’t want to live like that. Besides, he wasn’t out of trouble yet. They were taking him to his mother for a trial . . .

Yeah, like that was going to go well for him.

Weeks went by slowly as Shahara fought with herself about whether or not she should visit Syn in his new cell. There was no doubt in her mind that he hated her.

Would always hate her.

Even so, she wanted to see how he was doing. See if maybe she could do something to help him.

She missed him so much that it became a terrible physical agony that prevented her from eating or sleeping. From doing anything other than aching for him.

Finally, she could stand no more. Even if he beat her and threw her out of his cell, she had to see him again.

Try one last time.

With that thought, she’d flown to Gondara.

Now she waited outside the minimum-security ward while the guards searched the pack she’d brought for Syn. “Okay, Seax Dagan,” the guard said at last. “You may enter.”

“Thank you.” She took her pack from the guards. “Which cell?”

“LD 204.” The guard pressed the release for the series of doors that led down a narrow corridor to the individual cells. It was visiting hours and all the inmates were confined to their rooms.

With a deep breath for courage, Shahara headed down the long line of cells. A two-inch-square window was cut at eye level in each door, but she resisted the urge to look inside. She didn’t want to see what misery the inmates felt.

She’d been responsible for putting too many of them in here. And she couldn’t help but wonder how many of them she’d wrongfully confined.

As soon as she reached the correct door, the guards buzzed her in. Her hands shaking in fear of her reception, she gently pushed the steel door open.

Syn sat on his cot, his back to her while he gazed out the window onto a courtyard below. His blue prison suit actually looked good against his dark skin and hair, and it made her want to take a bite out of him.

But he wouldn’t be receptive to her right now.

He didn’t move at all, which made her wonder what he was thinking about that had him so distracted.

She cleared her throat before she spoke. “I heard you’ll be out soon.”

He jerked around to face her.

For just an instant, she glimpsed his delight, then his face quickly turned stoic. “What are you doing here?”

Ignoring his question, she placed her pack on the small table next to the door.

She’d forgotten just how good he looked when he was freshly shaved and groomed. How absolutely devastating.

Most of all, she’d forgotten how fierce a personality
he possessed. Traveling with him, she’d gotten used to it, but now . . .

Now she was well aware of that deadly undercurrent.

“You look a lot better than the last time I saw you.”

He didn’t answer.

Sighing at his cold demeanor, she pulled the metal chair back from the table and sat down. “I had the Overseer give you permission to run your business out of here. When I called Nykyrian about it, he was more than happy to turn everything over to me. He also sent a bunch of stuff for you to sign.”