Untouched (7 page)

“You’re really not the badass I expected.”

I didn’t reply.

He stopped swinging the sticks and came to a halt, looking me up and down. “You’re nothing!” he chuckled, then charged.

Just before he reached me, I bent at the waist and angled my right shoulder inward. It met his gut as I jerked my body upward, flipping him over my shoulder. As he went, I simply skimmed the side of his face with my fingertip. The look of horror was disturbingly satisfying as he crumbled inward, ashes scattering in every direction. “No,
you’re
nothing,” I muttered as I dusted him from my clothing. Particles fluttered to the ground.

And that was it. Either Kiernan hadn’t made it to the room yet, or she’d gone. The only people left in the room to worry about were Dez, me…and
Samsen
.

“I’m curious. How many people are you willing to kill to keep your freedom?”

“How many will it take?”

“What if I were to tell you I had an entire squad of agents just outside this building? What if I said they were waiting for you?”

“They’ll never take me back to Denazen. I would kill a thousand if I needed to.”

He nodded to Dez. “And for her?”

For her
. To keep Dez from going to that place? “For her, I’d kill a million.”

Samsen stomped his feet and let out a loud hoot. “Well! Aren’t you a romantic? Come on, 98. Lemme see those
baby blues
. Look at me.”

I approached slowly from the right side, careful not to make any sudden movements. His command made my limbs twitch, but thinking of what he might do to Dez made it easier to ignore his voice.

“You’ve been living out in the world for how long now? A few months? I wonder—just how much have you experienced?” He turned his back and leaned close to Dez. I took a chance and dared to let my gaze rise several inches so I could see the back of his head. “I’m sure you’ve felt anger—you always were an angry little child—but what about jealousy?”

I started forward, a sick feeling in my gut, but Samsen held out a hand. He knew I was looking directly at him, but he didn’t turn to face me. The other hand wrapped around Dez’s shoulder and his shoulder shook with laughter. “Don’t come any closer. I may not be able to defeat you in a fight, but it’ll only take me a moment to snap her neck.”

I froze, knowing it was the truth. I could get to him, but not in time to stop him from hurting her.

Satisfied, Samsen sighed. “Dez. Since 98 doesn’t want to play…”

Something inside me came very close to breaking.

“I’d like for you to…”

The almost melodic tone of his voice turned my stomach. Unwanted memories, dark and sick, came rushing from behind the wall where they’d been stored. Things I swore never to revisit surfaced, causing every nerve in my body to twitch.

“Stop!” The scream ripped from my throat like it was made of a thousand tiny pieces of glass.

My body waged war on my brain. It demanded I move. Dissolve the distance between us and end his existence with a single brush of my skin. Yet I remained rooted.

In that moment, I understood something Dez’s ex-boyfriend Alex had said to me as we fought the night of Sumrun. Seconds before he stabbed me, he’d smiled and said,
It might feel like she’s your biggest strength, but in some ways, she’s also your biggest weakness
.

It made sense now. And it was true.

Chances were I could easily make it across the room to Samsen before he hurt her, yet there was a small voice in the back of my brain whispering,
What if you don’t?
Hesitation and uncertainty. These things were rooted deep in my subconscious because of all she meant to me. There were few things I wouldn’t gamble with. Dez was one of them.

“Your girlfriend might be cute, but this isn’t about her, 98. It’s about you and me and what you owe me. Revenge.” His voice deepened. “Look at me.”

I kept my eyes on Dez and held my breath. His voice—the command behind it—was getting harder to resist.

Samsen sighed. “If you don’t look at me, I’ll make her do something
bad
. Something you’ll never wipe from that broken thing you call a brain.”

I didn’t mean to do it. It was part shock and part fury.

I looked up and our eyes met, Samsen’s previous control over me slamming back to full strength. It hit hard, turning my knees rubbery and sending cold waves of fear rushing through my body.

He’d won.

“Now, now. That’s what I’m talkin’ about!” He snapped his fingers. “Stay where you are.”

I tried to push forward, but my feet remained locked in place. I would remain immobile until Samsen wished me to move. “Let Dez go.”

He watched me for a moment, and it all came back. The small details. The kinds of games he liked to play. Pushing slowly, he’d poke. Little things at first, to prove he had power over me. Making me move where and when he wanted. Making me do things he wanted—even making me speak the words he wanted. But those simple things never lasted long.

Samsen grew bored easily.

Slowly, he shook his head and held out his hand. Dangling between his thumb and pointer finger was a small silver key. “You’re going to walk forward and unlock her cuffs. You’re not going to touch me or attempt to harm me in any way.”

I stepped forward and extended my own hand. He dropped the key into it. The cool metal was a shock to my skin.

“We’ll be okay,” I said to Dez, leaning close to unlock the cuffs. Her wrists were red and bruised and felt too warm under my fingers.

She leaned into me, heartbeat slightly quickened. “What’s he going to do?”

Samsen chuckled and patted her shoulder in mock comfort. “
I’m
not going to do anything—98 is.”

The look on Dez’s face was nothing compared to the feeling of icy dread in my gut.

“See, I screwed something up a few weeks ago. Something big. There was this hot little Six girl and I couldn’t help myself… Anyway, I won’t bore you with the details. Suffice it to say, Denazen wasn’t thrilled to have to clean up my mess. My only chance at redemption in Denazen’s eyes was to agree to come out here and haul in you and that little bitch.”

He began to pace. “But I have a problem. You made me look bad. Got me into a heap of trouble when you ran off. You
owe
me for that.” He stopped pacing and turned toward us. With a wink and a shuffle, he stepped forward and flicked Dez’s nose.

She flinched and a small noise escaped her lips.

He smiled and nodded to the steps. “Let’s get this show on the road. Move it. Up to the platform.”

I guided her toward the steps and was thankful when she began to climb on her own. If she fought it, I’d have no choice but to force her.

There was a way out of this. There had to be. I hadn’t endured years of torment to be rewarded with Dez, only to lose her. Surely life didn’t work that way. Give you what you want only to snap it away.

Once we were at the top, Samsen peered over the edge and smiled. “Be careful and hang on to her tight. It looks like it’s a long way down.”

“Samsen,” I whispered.

Dez tensed and tried to pull free, but my fingers involuntarily clamped down. She hissed in pain and tried to loosen my grip, but my limbs wouldn’t obey. The more I tried to let go, the tighter my grip became. I hadn’t begged for anything since I was seven. I made a vow never to again—but this was something entirely different.

“Please…”

“Tick tock, 98.”

“Samsen,” I tried again, even though I knew it wouldn’t do any good. He’d been unstable even before Denazen found him. They’d played on that aspect of his personality and made it a thousand times worse. There was no remorse or pity in his eyes. He had no soul. Denazen hadn’t stolen his humanity like it did with so many others—he’d never had it to begin with.

“Fair is fair,” he said, face serious. “You stole my credibility, so I get to take something from you.” He nodded once, then smiled. “Move her a little closer to the edge. Dangle a limb or something. Make it dramatic!”

Every muscle in my body rebelled, but it wasn’t enough. His voice was a command that couldn’t—
wouldn’t
—be ignored. This is why Samsen remained the only person I’d ever come in contact with who truly scared me. Because no matter how strong my own will was, he could take it away—even when Denazen couldn’t.

Fingers twitching, I pushed out, moving Dez to the edge of the platform.

“That guardrail looks a little rickety. You should probably give it a good kick. Get it out of the way.”

It didn’t need a kick. One nudge with the toe of my shoe was all it took. It came loose with a clatter, sailing through the air before hitting the ground, several pieces coming loose and bouncing away.

“Was there something you wanted to add, dear?” Samsen said with a sickly sweet smile. “Last words or a final declaration of love, perhaps?”

“If you kill me, my dad will be pissed,” Dez breathed. She was trembling slightly, still trying to shrink away from my grasp. Her Poker Face was gone. She was desperate. “You think you got spanked when you let Kale go? That’ll be nothing compared to this. They sent you to get us—not to kill us.”

Samsen backed up a step, frowning. It was too much to hope he’d trip and tumble over the edge. “You may be right… You’re part of that pet project of his. That Supremacy thing, right?”

“Yeah,” she said, voice shaking just a bit.

A disturbing smile slipped across his lips. A voice in my head begged, over and over, for him to stay silent. But he didn’t. He opened his mouth to speak and my heart stopped.

“Oh well.” He shrugged and waved to the ground with a flourish. “Push her over.”

“No!” I screamed…

But I obeyed.

Dez gasped as I swept her feet. Eyes wide, she slipped over the edge of the platform.

I fell to my knees, fingers catching her wrists just before they disappeared. Her body jarred, stopping suddenly and swinging to the left. “I have you!”

“Kale!” she cried, grabbing the shoulder of my shirt to try to steady herself.

Samsen said to push her over. He hadn’t said not to catch her.

She managed to stabilize, but my grip was slipping. I wouldn’t be able to hold on much longer.

Behind me, there was an amused chuckle, and a moment later, Samsen was standing over us. “You’ve always been a tough one, 98. Anyone else would have simply pushed and let go. You…you are stubborn.”

I started moving back, pulling Dez up and over the edge of the track, but I should have known it wouldn’t be that easy. Samsen slammed a foot down and the unstable metal beneath our feet rattled and shook. “Stop. You’re not to pull her up.”

My muscles burned and my brain rebelled, but I stopped moving, frozen. Dez gasped and tried to hook her foot over the edge, but she couldn’t quite reach.

Something clattered to the ground on the other side of the room, catching Samsen’s attention.

“Hang for a while,” he said with a snicker, eyeing the far corner. There was a stack of boxes and several brooms. As Samsen made his way down several of the steps, I watched as something shimmered and one of the brooms disappeared. It had to be Kiernan.

“Hang on, Dez,” I said, taking a deep breath. “Grab hold of my shoulder and try to pull yourself up. I can’t—” With every ounce of strength I had, I tried to move. It did no good. “I can’t move. I can’t pull you up.”

Her left wrist still in my grasp, she reached out with her right hand and tried to grab my shoulder. At first, all she got was a handful of my shirt. The motion dragged me forward and she panicked and let go as we both began to slide closer to the edge.

“Don’t,” I hissed, frantic. “I’m fine. Try again. Hurry.” Samsen was busy checking on the noise. Now was the only chance we’d have.

She tried again, this time managing to wrap her arm over my shoulder and around my neck. “I can’t hold on,” she cried, slipping a bit. “I can’t—”

“You can,” I whispered. “Swing your leg up. Hook it through the edge of the platform. Try harder.”

She tried again—and failed.

“Denazen is impenetrable. A fortress that no one ever gets into—or out of. Yet you managed. When they took me—when they locked me back in that cage—it was
you
who got me out. You did the unthinkable, Dez.
You. Can. Do. This
.”

The tip of her sneaker popped over the edge. Closing my eyes, I focused on my right hand. My pointer finger twitched. Then my thumb. I managed to move it an inch—maybe two—but her foot slipped back into the darkness. A rage-infused scream was building deep in my throat.

Samsen, deciding that the noise had been nothing, came back up the steps and settled beside me. Kneeling down, he whispered, “What would it do to you—if I told you to let go? Would it destroy you? Snap that last remaining shred of sanity Denazen left intact? Would it push you over the edge and finally make you into the monster they tried so hard to sculpt? I always enjoyed poking you the most, 98. You tried so hard to resist. Remember?” He sighed. “Always tried—and in the end, always failed.”

My heart hammered against my ribs. In my grasp, Dez was still struggling to climb back up. She’d managed to hook her shoe into the slots on the edge of the platform and was halfway over the rim.

“Loosen your grip.”

I did. I tried not to, but it was useless. He was right. I always failed. Dez screamed and slipped a few more inches. Her leg, wrapped around the edge of the platform, unwound and disappeared.