25. Chapter 5
Chapter 5
Angela knew Zoric had entered the cell block before the door opened - his presence rippled through her consciousness like sunlight breaking through clouds. The institutional fluorescents should have made his scales look harsh and artificial, but instead they caught hints of emerald and gold she hadn't noticed before.
She should have been terrified - a stranger who could read her thoughts, an alien who had somehow saved her life twice. Instead, his presence felt like coming home after a long deployment, familiar even though she'd never experienced anything like it before.
He set something down outside her cell and settled onto it. She didn't think it was a chair but she was too tired to look.
"Are you awake Private McBride?"
"It's not fair that you've saved me twice, now, and I still don't know your name," she told him.
She was laying on the cot in her cell, still wearing her hospital gown. A slight breeze chilled the skin on her arms and her feet were cold.
Angela could fix all of these things with a simple request but she was too tired.
"Twice?" her visitor asked.
She smiled to herself. "And that's what you focus on. You're definitely a man, even if you have scales."
"My mother was human," he said.
"What was your father?"
"My name is Zoric," he said. "And I am pleased to make your acquaintance."
"Hello, Zoric, thank you for saving my life."
"It was my pleasure."
Angela laughed quietly and considered arguing. Instead, she relaxed more into the cot with her eyes closed.
"They did not think you were awake when I asked to come speak to you."
"They were right," she told him. "I'm still asleep. Why did they let you come back?"
"I said I wanted to check on you. That I had a responsibility to you."
"What kind of responsibility?" She wondered out loud. It wasn't exactly a question but he answered anyway.
"To speak to you when you were not in crisis. In the flesh and face to face, so to speak."
Angela snorted. "It's going to be a while before I can manage face to face."
"I can feel your fatigue in my bones," he told her. "I would ease it if I could."
"The company is enough," she said softly. "I can't ask for anything beyond that. Will you stay long?"
"As long as I am permitted," he answered. "Please, do not feel you must entertain me."
They sat in silence for a while, neither certain what to say but enjoying the proximity.
Angela could feel her body trying to pull her into a real sleep. "Why did you save me?" She asked, her voice barely above a whisper.
"Because I couldn't do anything else," he answered.
"I don't understand," she said.
"I will explain it when you wake up," Zoric said. "But now, you must truly sleep."
I don't want to." She mumbled.
"Your exhaustion beats at me. You will be safe and I will watch over you."
She wanted to ask him what he meant but there wasn't anything in her willing to fight him.
When she woke, it was from the best sleep she could ever remember. There were no alarms or announcements to force her to her feet, only her body reminding her that it had needs.
There were no guards to watch her stumble out of her cot to the other side of the cell. Instead, there was a stool next to the bars with a stack of clothes on it.
She washed the best she could in the sink and reached out to take the new clothes.
Angela couldn't be certain but, somehow, she knew Zoric was responsible for the clothes. They were a tunic and loose pants in a soft, gray fabric. Not a prison uniform and much better than the hospital gown she had been wearing.
Was the stool what Zoric had been sitting on? Who was he that he had been allowed to break protocol like that?
What had changed?
Angela waited for the panic that unexpected change always brought but it didn't come. Instead, she felt the same way she had when Zoric visited her. A foreign sense of calm that was more pleasant than she'd ever imagined settled in her chest.
When the door to the cellblock opened, she didn't leap to her feet to stand for an inspection. Instead, she stayed sitting on her cot, acknowledging to herself how exhausted she was. Besides, she got the feeling that the person entering would prefer her to take care of herself.
Zoric looked her over and nodded before sitting on the stool. He wore a kilt and a white button down shirt that pulled across his chest while he moved. She noted small repairs near the buttons and wondered if he had difficulty getting dressed with his claws.
"Yes," he said. "Though less since I've been able to practice."
"Practice what?" Angela was confused and slightly horrified that he'd been able to read her thoughts.
"Getting dressed. And you were projecting. I have tried to refrain from reading your thoughts since you seem to be coherent and not in crisis."
"Ah. Sorry." She blushed hard and hot.
"There is nothing to be sorry for. I am concerned that you don't seem to have many shields. It will be the first thing we start with."
"I'm confused," Angela admitted.
Zoric shifted on the stool. "I started too far into the plan. I apologize."
"There's a plan?" she asked. "Maybe you should start at the beginning."
He smiled. "Yes, I think that's a good idea. Hello, Private McBride, my name is Zoric, and I have been sent here to help the human authorities in an attempt to help heal the rift between our peoples. I am here, specifically, to see what I can do to help you."
Angela nodded. "Hello, Zoric, it's a pleasure to meet you. How and why have you been asked to help me? I'm not important enough to warrant outside intervention in my case."
"You're wrong," he said. "But I know I can't convince you of that. Instead, I'll tell you that my initial intentions have very little bearing on how we will be moving forward."
She swallowed hard. "What changed?"
"You did." His eyes held hers for several intense minutes before he looked away. He spoke slowly, obviously choosing his words carefully. "Or, actually, what happened when I walked into this facility did. Before anyone could show me to where you were being interrogated, I felt your distress, and then I felt your body start to shut down. I'm told my behavior was…aggressive."
"And then you came in and stopped the interrogation."
He shook his head. "I broke through the door and pulled you up into my arms until I could feel your flesh beneath my claws. Our bond snapped into place like someone setting a broken bone and the first thing I did was force you to breathe."
"You came looking for me," she said.
"I could not let you go," he admitted. "Not then, and not ever again. And I must apologize."
Angela frowned at him and leaned forward. "Why would you apologize for keeping me alive? I wanted to live."
"The methods I used…" he trailed off and she watched the emotions play over his face.
When she'd first seen him, she didn't think it was possible for his face to be so expressive. He was a strangely beautiful combination of a human and some kind of lizard, with surprisingly supple lips, and expressive eyes.
"What was wrong with the methods you used?" This was the most information she'd gotten from anyone since she'd been arrested. If he was willing to keep talking, she'd keep asking questions. Maybe she'd even get some answers.
Zoric gave her a wry smile. "They are at least part of what I am here to make amends for. My people believe there is a perfect match for them somewhere, and if they're lucky, they'll meet them in their lifetime. When that happens, a bond will form between them that allows them to speak without words, to feel what the other feels, and to make physical proximity to the other person a source of joy and contentment."
Angela shivered and remembered what he'd said about her projecting at him. "That sounds a little creepy," she admitted.
"It's a beautiful thing, and signals what should be a lifetime of happiness," Zoric argued, then paused. "However, my people also discovered that, with the right person, that bond could be forced. Once it was, both of them would need the other one to live. And they would only feel happiness, even if everything else in them was screaming in pain and horror."
"And you forced that bond with me?" she asked. From what he said, she should be terrified from what had happened but she wasn't.
"I'm afraid I must have," he answered. "To save you as quickly and thoroughly as I did, the bond had to be immediate, and deep enough to be permanent."
Angela nodded. "I thought you said it felt like someone setting a broken bone when you created the bond."
"To me, it did," Zoric acknowledged. "But I had reason to believe that my ability to bond with a human woman had been broken beyond repair. To create one with you healed something in me that I thought destroyed."
"And saved my life," Angela pursued. "I'm not afraid of you. Or of our bond. I'm not even sure I believe we have one, yet."
"Will you allow me to prove it?" he asked.
"Yes, please," she said. Something else occurred to her, so she put up her hand and added, "Gently, if you can. I've been through enough trauma over the last few days."
"Of course," he said, and settled back onto the stool.
A blanket of warmth wrapped around her, followed by a feeling of contentment she'd never experienced before. She closed her eyes and relaxed into it, craving more than anything to be held by the arms she had found herself in yesterday.
"Describe what you're feeling," Zoric said, his voice soft and low.
Angela relaxed more into the sensations and sighed. "It's like waking up in a fluffy blanket in the middle of winter. The only thing that will make me move is to roll over and cuddle."
"Do you want to cuddle?" he asked, and she could hear the longing in it.
"Yes," she answered. "I haven't cuddled in years."
He sighed and she could feel his regret a moment before the warm and fluffy feeling disappeared. It was followed by a sharp stab of pain in her left thigh.
Her eyes flew open and she saw one of his claws pressed hard against his left thigh.
"There are downsides," he said simply, and took his hand away. The pain in her leg dissipated, though the ache remained a little longer.
"I can see that," she said. "Do you mind if I try?"