Shai Soi

Chapter 37

Help her. I'll check for stragglers.

It had been ten minutes since she'd left, and most prisoners had gotten to the ground level escaping into the woods. There couldn't be any more stragglers. I tried contacting Rebecca through shara  but the river was too overpowering.

Dammit, Bec,  I thought to myself. Something hard sank to the bottom of my stomach. Something was wrong. Something was very wrong, and Rebecca wasn't here. She wasn't safe. I didn't know where she was.

Screw standing around. I jogged down the halls. No matter how many corners I turned and how many stairs I climbed, I couldn't sense her anywhere. I ran a hand through my hair. I jolted at the sight of my shivering fingers. I looked almost as bad as Bec did when she was shot... twice. Oh god, what if she was hurt and I didn't know?

I turned a corner and heard shuffling footsteps, many of them. After assisting so many prisoners, I'd become accustomed to the frightened footfalls of refugees. Even more comforting, I felt the familiar tingling of my neck I got from Rebecca's presence. All was well. Not wanting to startle them, I stood in the middle of the hall with my palms open.

Just as I'd thought, a group of about a dozen or so shambled their way around the bend. I immediately went rigid. Unlike the others who so willingly fled the setting of their imprisonment, these shai  had their heads drooped and their shirts wadded into their fists. They looked almost... guilty. In the back of the group were two men, Jerry and Lee from the Wolf Clan, and supported in between them was Bud Brown. The poor guy could barely stand on his own two feet. Even that wasn't what set me off. My heart pounded its way to my Adam's apple until it felt like I was choking. My neck had gone cold. I couldn't sense her.

Rebecca was nowhere to be seen.

"Where's Rebecca?"

The refugees didn't answer. They glanced at Brown before becoming interested in their feet. No one would look at me. I stepped at the Howler brothers, praying for control. "Rebecca. Brown, where is she?"

The Elder glanced upwards. Bud looked awful. He was sporting a cut lip and a swollen eye. His breath was raspy. For once his broad shoulders and barrel chest failed to give him that commanding figure that came with his ex-marine stature. Now, he just seemed old and senile. His eyes remained the same. Black and unwielding. "It's for your own good."

He knew what I was thinking. With an irritated huff, he opened his mouth to speak. No,  I thought, you don't get to go first.

I slammed my hands into the Howler brothers' chests. Pulling Bud's shirt in my fingers I pushed him into the wall. "What did you do?"

My jaw burned. My teeth ground together. He'd better talk fast. "Nothing that I regret."

My self-control faltered. I banged the old man into the wall. The others tried pulling me back, but I stayed glued to the spot. I wasn't going anywhere. "Go away! Get out!" I barked.

I've been told that if looks could kill, I'd make everyone drop dead within a mile radius whenever I get angry. By the way the others sprinted down the hall, I'd just glared a nuclear explosion. I turned back to Bud. I imagined a ball of ice locked inside my chest, keeping my temper in check. But the anger towards him blazed and the ice started to melt. "Where is Rebecca? Why'd you leave her?"

The rim of his shirt cut into his neck. My knuckles ached from clenching my hands. I didn't care. I'd jump in a boiling vat of oil before giving up on Bec.

"It was her choice-" SLAM!

"I don't care!" Red spittle dribbled out of Bud's mouth. "I don't give a damn about who's choice it was! Where is she?" The stubborn idiot shook his head. SLAM! SLAM!  The janitors of this place were going to have a difficult time cleaning this wall if Bud didn't start talking.

He spat. "Nathaniel, stop. We've got to honor her sacrifice-"

"Sacrifice?" My gut plummeted. "You better tell me or-"

"Rebecca Hunter gave herself over in the hopes of saving her kind."

"Why did you let her? Isn't it you who always said to leave no shai  behind?"

"It's for the good of my people."

"'The good of your people'? She saved your pathetic behind and your people and this is how you repay her? You leave her to die?"

"I regret nothing."

BAM!  My fist collided with his jaw making him slump. "Neither do I, you deserter."

The ice had melted. The fire was ablaze. I was about to punch him again before my neck tingled. My mind opened up to a feeling of incredible sadness. Bec... I raced down the hall after seeing Brown change into his grizzly skin. I didn't care about him. My only thought was to find Rebecca. And find her I did.

I skittered to a halt and crouched on all fours behind a metal cart. Rebecca, cuffed but unharmed, walked among a cluster of guards. All wore padded armor with those bug masks. The entourage supported two SWAT-looking shields and their glowing guns. One which was pointed at Rebecca's back.

Bec, what are you doing?

The moment I sent the message I regretted it. Rebecca stumbled to a halt. The guard behind her slammed into her back sending her to the white tiled floor. I drew blood from biting my lip. I refrained from rushing towards her. "Get up," the guard in front nudged her head with his boot.

Nathaniel? What are you doing here?  The guard nudged her again-harder. My muscles shook. Nathaniel, get out of here!

Not without you.

"Get up, runt." He used the toe of his disgusting boot to push her chin upwards.

Nathaniel, I'm okay. Just-

The man behind her yanked her to her feet, practically throwing her around like a ragdoll. He pushed her into a shield. I could hear her wince from here. Rebecca's hand went to her bad ear. When she drew away her fingers were red.

Red sparked at the base of my neck. Rebecca must've sensed it because she went rigid. Another guard took out his baton and raised it to hit her. He never got the chance. I slammed my forearm into his windpipe and kicked another in the jaw. The two holding shields charged only to be tossed into the air a second later. The men with guns tried shooting, but I used a guard as a human shield. My chest heaved as adrenaline pounded through my veins. The ice had melted. There was no self control left.

"Let him go or I'll shoot!" One of them screamed behind that horrible mask. His glowing gun pressed against Rebecca's head. Something snapped. And it wasn't me- everything was already broken. It was my guard's neck. I let his body slump to the floor. Shara  visibly crackled out of my fists. I hadn't done this since... The energy slammed into the remaining guards until they were writhing on the floor, gasping for breath. I clenched my teeth, my fingers shook. I willed them to jerk and flail. They grasped their necks. I knelt next to the man who'd threatened to hurt Rebecca. "I think you should apologize," I growled. Behind the screen of his mask, his eyes bulged. His mouth stretched trying to get air. He looked a lot like his smiling mask: bug-like.

"Nathaniel!" Rebecca was on the ground. She looked terrified. Her long fingers hovered over the only still guard. Her eyes were watery, her expression morphed into something I couldn't explain. Rebecca's shara  hit me like waves. My arms shook with her fear. Wait, was she afraid of me?

Her voice scratched against my ears. "Nathaniel, please..."

All the tension went out of my body. The guards gasped with the access to air. I stepped towards Rebecca. She flinched when my hand hovered over her cheek. Blood dribbled from her right ear onto her collarbone. I opened my mouth to apologize, but a searing jolt ran up my spine turning my nerves to fire.