My Wild Pet (Whispers from the Imperial Cage #2)

Chapter 35

CHAPTER 35

Briar

I hear the faint beeping of monitors before I open my eyes. My mind feels foggy, but slowly I begin to remember the accident. The moment my fingers slipped from Gabriel’s grasp. I feel like I’m falling again in bed remembering it and I hold my hands around myself to make the memory stop. But I’ll never forget the look on his face. Or my fear in that moment.

I thought I was going to die. But clearly I didn’t .

Modern alien medicine. I bet they used some of my stem cells from my period blood. Thankfully Aefre didn’t take it all.

The door slides open, and Aefre walks in flanked by two medics. None of them talk to me. Why would they? I’m a pet.

Aefre checks the monitors above my bed. My heart rate picks up involuntarily, the memory of him watching me fall still too fresh. Surely he could have done something.

“You’re going to make a full recovery,” Aefre says.

I almost died and you aren’t even going to acknowledge that? Before I can form a response in Imperial that won’t come with punishments from my collar, he nods to the medics behind him. One of them taps on a console near my bed and the collar around my neck tightens. My skin prickles, and a surge of warmth flares through my body.

Before I can ask if the doctor should be administering whatever I’ve just been given, Aefre assures me, “It’s medicine to ease your suffering and speed up your recovery. And by the way, Ember would like to see you, if you want to see him that is? He, of course, blames himself.”

“I want to see him,” I say. I’m angry that Aefre is acting like this is all Gabriel’s fault. It’s not. Aefre created the obstacle course that was too difficult. But I’m afraid of being punished and still in shock after almost dying, so I say nothing about it.

“I’ll leave you alone for a little while. I suggest you use this time wisely,” he says and leaves the room.

A few seconds later, Gabriel appears in the doorway. He walks in quickly, stopping at the edge of my bed, his hands hovering over me as if he’s unsure if he’s allowed to touch me. “I’m so sorry. I couldn’t hold on. I tried, but?—”

“I’m okay. I know you tried your best.” My heart beats faster and a strange warmth intensifies throughout my entire body. I wonder if it’s the medicine Aefre just gave me or the relief of seeing Gabriel.

His fingers brush mine. “If I’d reacted faster—” His beautiful amber eyes are shining with guilt.

“It was me, I froze. I… I’m the one who miscalculated and lost my balance.” My voice wavers, and I realize I’m on the verge of tears too.

Gabriel and I hold eye contact for a long time without saying anything. His eyes are full of emotions that I feel as well. Then he squeezes my hand, and a sudden wave of affection surges through me. Am I awake? Is this real? It feels real.

“When you hit that net?—”

I squeeze his hand in return, that eerie sense of warmth returning and coursing through my veins. “I’m okay,” I say again, though I’m not entirely certain that’s true. I feel so… strange. In a good way, but not myself.

“We must train harder and Briar, you must trust me. I won’t let this happen again.”

“But how can we prevent it?”

Gabriel doesn’t answer me.

In the corridor beyond the glass partition, I catch a glimpse of Aefre standing with Kaelin. I can’t hear their conversation, but it looks tense. Kaelin’s gaze is directed toward us for a second, and then he says something to Aefre, and Aefre shakes his head, looking worried.

“Gabriel,” I say, using his true name under my breath. “Do you ever wonder if… if our feelings are our own?”

His expression darkens. “ Mon Dieu , of course,” he admits. “But I also know how I feel when I look at you. Even if they are messing with our minds, ma chérie , part of it must still be real. No alien technology can override human emotions for such a long period of time. I know when I look at you what’s real. And if they could make me love just anyone then they would have done that before now. I’ve been here so long, but I’ve never loved anyone before you.”

A tear slips down my cheek at his words. “Not even Fifi?”

It looks like I’ve stabbed him by asking the question, but I have to know.

“I didn’t love Fifi the way I love you. She was my companion. When they forced us to breed… it drove us further apart. But when I was having sex with you, I think it made us closer.”

“You had sex with Fifi?” Then I try to backtrack, “I mean it’s none of my business.”

“We did it as we did everything Aefre commanded us to do,” he says.

I wish we weren’t having this conversation. It’s not as if we’re talking about an ex-girlfriend. This is dark and strange. “Was it for breeding?”

“I don’t know. Possibly. They called it that. But they call a lot of things that isn’t for breeding, breeding. Or Aefre thought it would bring us closer? Or the doctor wanted to make a holo to sell to other doctors? You know Aefre doesn’t tell his pets his motives for anything.”

“But it didn’t bring you closer?” I say reiterating what he said as I understand the situation much better now.

“Non,” he says and takes a deep breath. “It made us…” he searches for a word. “?a nous a éloignés…distant.”

I don’t understand all of what he’s said but I definitely understand how one becomes distant after having sex with a friend or colleague. I myself had an incident at the company Christmas party and I regretted every day afterward. “I’m sorry. I won’t ask you about it again.”

Gabriel leans in and gently brushes a thumb along my temple. “Rest now. I’ll stay until they make me leave.”

I nod and close my eyes. All I feel is Gabriel’s fingers around mine, holding on to me so I won’t get lost in my nightmares.

Just as I’m almost asleep, I hear him murmuring something in French— “ Je reste avec toi, ma chérie ” —words I don’t fully understand, but the tenderness in his tone speaks to my heart. “Don’t worry,” he adds in English. “I’m here. I’ll always be here.”