Chapter 30
Jaime
“So, Jaime,” Steven says with a hint of smugness as we watch Adam rage in the cell, “care to explain how you had sex with this guy and lived to tell the tale?”
Rokesh whips his head to look at us, all three of his eyes widening to a comical level. “Excuse me?”
Groaning, I rub my face. “Thanks for being so discreet, brother. Truly appreciated. Set me down.”
As he does, Adam quietens, his eyes fixed on me.
Instead of mindlessly throwing himself against the force field, he crouches as if ready to leap, his tail swishing behind him from side to side.
A quiet snarl escapes his rolled-back lips as he glances at the other people in the room, but it cuts off when he returns his hungry gaze to me.
“He wasn’t like this before,” I say in explanation as I slowly move closer to Adam.
“Interesting,” one of the other Wehdi in the room notes. A doctor or a scientist, judging by his white coat. “He hasn’t been this calm since we brought him here.”
“Because I wasn’t here,” I murmur as I pull myself into a seated position right in front of the force field.
Steven shakes his head. “Be careful, Jaime.” Adam hisses at him, and when Steven steps forward, his hand instinctively finding the blaster strapped to his thigh, Adam is back to raging against the force field.
“ENOUGH!” I yell before the situation can spiral again. “Both of you, stop that. Steven, you stay the fuck back and you,” I turn my glare at Adam, “stop. Now. What you’re doing isn’t helping and you’re only going to hurt yourself.”
With one last snarl in Steven’s direction, Adam lowers himself to the floor in front of me, his back spikes flat to his spine and a soft whine breaking free from his maw.
“Oh no, you’re not doing that,” I say, still keeping my voice stern.
“No puppy murder-chameleon eyes. Don’t attack the force field and I won’t be angry with you.
I know you don’t mean it, but you need to calm down, okay?
I’m fine. I’m here. Everything will be okay.
I know that fog is riding you hard right now, but you can fight it.
You did it before, and you can do it again. I’ll be here with you, I promise.”
Whimpering, Adam grabs his head with his hands, narrowly avoiding cutting himself with his claws.
“Hey. Shh.” I press my hand against the force field, hating this barrier between us. I want to reach out to Adam and comfort him. “Adam. I mean, Rizven.” He hisses at that, which makes me chuckle. “No? You like Adam better? Is that right?”
With a quiet whine, Adam raises his hand, resting it against mine with only the force field separating us. Confused, he tries to push harder and harder, growing visibly frustrated when he can’t touch me.
“You need to disable this barrier,” I say quietly, glancing at Rokesh over my shoulder.
He’s staring at Adam like he’s seeing a ghost, then shakes his head. “We can’t. He’ll kill you.”
“No. He might attack you, but he’d never hurt me.” I’m certain of that. “Just leave the room. Please.”
There’s a whispered debate I ignore, focusing on Adam instead. “It’s going to be okay. I promise,” I whisper to him, certain of that, too.
“We’ll leave,” Rokesh says, “but we will not be lowering the force field. Rizven would hate to have your blood on his hands.”
Satisfied that they will at least leave us alone for now, I wave them off.
Getting them out of the room is step one and hopefully, their absence will help further calm Adam down.
I instinctively know that he needs to hold me in his arms and take in my scent to return to his usual self.
I have no idea where that knowledge came from, but it rings true.
Physical contact will bring Adam out of this.
I know that, but it will be a battle to convince the others that Adam would never hurt me.
As Steven and the Wehdi move out of the room, Adam stands guard, snarling at them, though at least he’s not trying to break through the force field anymore.
Once they’re all gone, he flops down on the floor again, whining as he tries to reach me through the force field.
Frustrated and desperate, but definitely not feral or aggressive.
“See? They’re gone. It’s just the two of us now.
Like down on that moon.” My words seem to calm him down, but the force field grates on both our nerves.
I need to hug him too, dammit! “I thought you’d die.
Why did you let that thing bite you, you stupid oaf?
You were the one who called them venomfangs!
Clearly, you knew they’re venomous. I nearly died chasing those millipedes for you.
Have you tried chasing anything when you can’t walk?
It sucks. And those scorpions. Fuck. I think I would have lost a finger if our brothers had not come for us.
Though you probably would have brought some disgusting natural remedy to treat the sting.
There are still a ton of bugs and other creepy things we haven’t tried eating. ”
Adam listens to my chattering like he’s entranced, but I can’t tell how much—if anything—he actually understands. I need to touch him. “Guys?” I call out to the empty room, certain they have surveillance here. “You need to disable the force field.”
“That’s not fucking happening,” is Steven’s angry answer. “He might be calm now, but you don’t know what will trigger him back into that murderous rage.”
“That’s true. I don’t know that. But I do know what will trigger me into murderous rage and that’s my brother treating me like I’m a child, incapable of making my own decisions!
” Adam tenses as I shout so I lower my voice again.
“I love you, Steven, I really do. And if you love me too, you will do this for me.” It’s a low blow, I know that, but what else can I say?
“That’s not Steven’s decision,” Rokesh says. “It’s mine. And I can’t—”
I understand his pain and his fear. If Adam hurt me, Rokesh would blame himself forever.
But Adam will not hurt me. How the hell am I supposed to convince Rokesh of that?
“He cried, you know?” I whisper, my fingers tracing idle circles on the force field which Adam mirrors.
“When he saw the hologram. He remembered what he did to you and he cried.”
“Wehdi don’t form tears,” comes a terse, slightly shaky answer.
I roll my eyes. “That doesn’t mean you don’t cry. I saw it, Rokesh. Please. Don’t do this for me. Do it for your brother.” Another low blow. Looks like I’m all about emotional blackmail today, and I can live with that. “Trust me. Rizven will appreciate it.”
“Doubtful,” Rokesh sighs. “Fine. But if he—”
“He won’t. Just do it.”
“Alright. Disabling the force field.”
The barrier flickers and dies. Adam’s hand moves forward, colliding with mine. For a single heartbeat, he’s frozen, completely in shock. Then he lunges.
I hear Steven’s cry from the speaker. “JAIME!”
“I’m fine!” I call back from where I’m wrapped in Adam’s limbs, like warm cocoon. The last thing I want is for Steven to barge in here guns blazing and fuck everything up. “I’m fine. Calm your tits, brother.”
“You calm your fucking tits, you stupid, suicidal idiot!”
Chuckling, I tune him out, focusing on my sweet murder-chameleon, who is currently sucking in deep lungfuls of my scent as if he’d been drowning and had only just resurfaced.
“Hey. That’s better, isn’t it? I’m here, Adam.
I’m here. Everything is fine.” Frantic, Adam nuzzles my neck, sniffs my hair, licks my ear, his hands roaming my body.
Is he searching for injuries or just making sure I’m real?
I can’t tell and he probably can’t, either.
“I’m okay. You saved me, remember? You saved me from that venomfang. ”
He whimpers as I mention that infernal creature, then pulls away. I start to protest before realizing he’s examining my body for bites and signs of venom, so I let him do his thing. Hopefully, once he’s convinced I’m fine, he will calm down even more.
He’s careful as he shifts me in his arms and carries me to the back of the room where the shredded pile of cloth lies.
I laugh. “You’ve really done a number on those. But who needs blankets when you have a hot guy to cuddle with?” He spreads the cloth scraps out a little before settling me on them and curling himself around me again.
“A nesting instinct?” comes a shocked whisper through the speakers. It’s in Wehdi, but not Rokesh’s voice, so it’s probably one of the doctors. “I’ve never seen anything like that in any of the affected.”
I suppress the urge to flip the cameras a bird.
I understand their scientific curiosity, but this situation reminds me a little too much of when I was locked up in that alien zoo.
People watched me there too, curious about what that strange creature was going to do next.
At least here, no one’s knocking on the glass.
“Hey, guys? You might want to turn that camera off,” I tell them. “Unless my brother and Rokesh want to see something that will probably traumatize them for life.”
Steven sounds a little panicked. “Jaime, what are you talking about?”
“What do you think? Just turn off that fucking camera.” Because I’m about to kiss Adam, and I doubt we’ll stop there. He’s not the only one who desperately needs reassurance here.
“Jaime, you’re such a fucking prick! I’ll—” The transmission cuts off and the cameras hopefully with it. If not, well, who the fuck cares? We’re all adults here.