I Am Who? - Book 2

Chapter 20 - Decisions *edited*

Oh my gosh! After reading some of your comments, I realized I forgot to upload the correct version of the chapter!!! I wondered why the word count seemed off, but I didn't have time to read over it before I posted it smh. I guess you can see where my dead brain is at work these days lol. Anyway, I hope you enjoy this updated/slightly edited version better haha

The smell of honeysuckle and lilac permeated the air, and I was comfortable and warm. Blessed peace covered me, and I didn't want to move for fear of breaking its hold. Unfortunately, consciousness could not return without a flood of memories. Blood and brutality crashed into the calm, and my eyes snapped open. Kotaro.

"Girlie?" David's face loomed over me.

The suddenness of his movement startled me, and I pressed further into the comfort of the bed where I was lying. He seemed undeterred by my skittishness, and beneath all the muddling thoughts cluttering my mind, I was so grateful for his presence. A wide smile was pasted on his features, a clear indication of his joy at the sight of my open eyes.

A hint of guilt sprang to life within me. I had not spared him more than a passing thought since arriving in the city of the Ninth and my first thought upon awakening had been of Kotaro rather than him. Worse than that, even in the midst of looking at the familiar worn lines of his face, I couldn't get the brutalized figure out of my head.

"It's so good to see you alive and awake—I have so much to tell you." He reached over and took my hand. "I thought I might have seen the last of you when those big men rode off with you, but then they took me to their healers. I don't know what sort of study they do, but whoever these people are, they know how to heal. There's naught but a scar left from that knife wound, and on top of that, I feel a good ten years younger, and it's only been two days!"

Healers. Yes, they were that, but there was something more sinister beneath that as well. I remembered in limpid detail the satisfied expression on Haoran's face at the sight of Kotaro being beaten senseless. Which reminded me—

"Have you seen Kotaro?" The words escaped my lips before I had the chance to think about the consequences.

David moved back slightly at the name, and his smile dimmed slightly. I remembered what he had thought of Kotaro and knew he must now be pleased I was asking such a question, but I couldn't stop myself. I had to know that he was okay.

"Why do you ask?" He said warily.

"Please, David. They made him fight last night, and they might have killed him when I wasn't there. They beat him horribly. I just want to make sure he's alive." I reached out and took his hand.

"He's not dead." David said slowly, and I almost got the impression that he thought Kotaro might deserve such brutal treatment. "I heard some men talking on the way in that they're getting him ready for his second proof—whatever that is."

I swallowed, and bile rose in my throat. The fight hadn't been enough to prove Kotaro wasn't some kind of threat. As terrible as it had been, I had found small consolation in the fact that the terrible brutality would be the end of it. I could never have guessed they meant to put him through a whole series of 'tests.'

I realized they were going to work their hardest to destroy him or make him slip, so they could kill him. They were monsters. Horrible, terrible monsters who wanted nothing more than to enact crazed revenge on a man who had had nothing to do with the betrayal they had received. The desire to run from this place returned in fierce vigor, and I fisted the thick blankets covering me.

"Bree—" David's voice was hesitant.

The sound of my name coming from his lips was strange. He'd always called me some kind of pet name, and to hear my name after so long was startling. He didn't make eye contact with me as if he were hesitating to speak, but he squeezed my hand gently as if to encourage one of us.