Chapter 37 Xeni
Xeni
The group exchanges glances, though no one tries to argue against Sovran. If he wants to be in charge of this hot mess, we’re all too exhausted to fight it.
Bash squeezes my hand, his eyes searching mine. “Come on. Let’s get you cleaned up.”
I nod, exhaustion pulling at me like gravity as we step into a dimly lit bathroom with two sinks and two stalled toilets. It’s seen better days, like everything else down here.
The others linger in the main room, giving us privacy without needing to be asked. Bash closes the door behind us with a soft click before he turns to me. His eyes roam over the blood and grime streaking my skin, stopping to track the bruises and cuts from the fight.
“Sit,” he says, guiding me to the edge of the sink.
I perch there, legs dangling as he turns on the faucet. He tests the water until it runs warm, then searches for a towel. When he comes up empty, he pulls his shirt over his head.
My gaze drifts over his exposed torso. “No one told me there’d be entertainment.”
A reluctant smile tilts his lips as he wipes the blood from my hands and arms with careful strokes. The silence stretches, but Bash’s mind is occupied, so I give him space to process.
“Do you want to talk about what just happened?” he finally asks.
I stare at my hands as he cleans them, watching the pink-tinged water swirling down the drain. “It’s not very complicated, really,” I say with a shrug. “I killed him, and I don’t regret it.”
Bash pauses, his shirt hovering over a cut on my forearm. His eyes meet mine, searching but not judging. “You don’t have to regret anything.”
“He was a monster,” I continue, gaining conviction as the words spill out, “and I’m not sorry he’s gone. The world is better without him in it.”
Bash nods slowly, resuming his gentle cleaning as he moves to my face and dabs at the dried blood near my temple. “You did what you had to do. That doesn’t make you like him.”
Of course he would hear that fear, even without me saying it out loud.
I swallow hard, the lump in my throat easing at his reassurance. “All I feel is… relief. Like his hands had been around my neck for my entire life, and now they’re gone, and I can fucking breathe.”
“Good,” he whispers, cupping my face with a clean hand.
His thumb brushes over my cheek, similar to how my father would always touch me, but this one is different. It’s like he’s erasing the memories from my skin and rewriting them into something beautiful.
Something that belongs to us, not the past.
“You deserve to be free of him.” Bash presses a soft kiss to my forehead. “You survived him, Xen, and you didn’t become him. I’m so proud of you.”
The emotion hits me then. Not sorrow, and never mourning.
Profound release.
I lean into Bash, letting his arms wrap around me as he finishes cleaning the last traces of blood from my neck.
“Thank you,” I murmur against his shoulder. “For being here. For…” I force another swallow. “I don’t think anyone’s ever been proud of me. Not for anything good.”
“I’ll always be here.” He pulls back to meet my eye with that steady gaze that grounds me. “And I’ll always be proud of you, Xen.”
“Promise?” I ask in a whisper.
His smile is sweet as he nods. “Cross my heart.”
Another long sigh pushes from my lungs as exhaustion hits me hard.
Bash clocks the flutter of my eyelid, and glances down my body. “Let’s get the rest of you clean. We’ve got a long night ahead of us.”
He helps me strip the remnants of my ruined clothes. The fabric is stiff with blood and sweat, but his hands are careful as he pulls it off and scrubs away the remaining grime. He checks every bruise and cut with quiet concern.
I examine the cut on his neck, but it’s not as deep as I feared and has already clotted. We wash it, too, though Bash hisses when the soap hits the wound.
We change into spare clothes from our bags and step into the main room feeling a little more prepared for whatever comes next. The others take their time cleaning up, and we snack on some dried foods and rehydrate while we wait.
Sovran studies each of us, then leads us into the darkness beyond the archway.
The room opens into a long chamber where the walls are filled with dials and ancient electronics coated in thick dust. Down the middle of the space is another control center, and a dozen or more worn stools sit along the edge.
Beyond, plain metal doors make a perfect pattern on the far wall.
Sovran glances over his shoulder and meets my questioning gaze. “This was once where the subway system was controlled. It ran for a short time after the veil closed, but maintenance issues shut it down quickly. Our kind was always too stubborn to ask for help.”
I hum my agreement as I let my attention wander over this piece of history, locked up tight underneath the city that’s forgotten about its existence.
“Why has no one found this place?” Sakane asks.
Sovran tilts his head again as he watches us inspect the glass dials and screens. “The door you entered wasn’t created by the humans and isn’t on the maps. It was built to be hidden and has long served its purpose.”
“By you?” I ask.
Those golden eyes seem to ignite as he stares. “Indeed.”
He gives us his back once more as I twist my head to look at Bash.
“What the fuck?” he mouths, but I only give a helpless shrug.
We all hurry along behind Sovran. Metal jingles softly in the silence as he unlocks another door, and we push through into a long corridor identical to the ones we just traveled.
“More subway lines?” I ask.
Sovran nods as he beckons for us to follow. “Over the years, I’ve closed off passageways for safety.”
“Could we have even gotten to the culvert through those tunnels?” Sakane asks.
Sovran shakes his head. “That passage is no longer safe.”
Sakane’s face crinkles, undoubtedly picturing his precious maps in his mind. “Why not? Do they guard it?”
A touch of impatience flickers on Sovran’s face at being questioned. “It was discovered by patrols and has since been filled with debris. It is impassable.”
“Well, that admittedly would’ve sucked to find out,” Bash mumbles.
We walk in silence for a stretch, and when the path splits, a brick wall covers the opening to our left. Bash blinks at it a few times before staring at the back of Sovran’s head.
“How long have you been down here exactly?” he asks.
Golden curls bounce as Sovran steals a glance backward at us. “Time is irrelevant.”
Bash scratches his head and frowns. “Um, okay, I see the, uhhh, the poetry in that sentiment, but I have to say, I strongly disagree. Time is kind of important to us right now.”
Sovran lifts another brow at Bash, then shakes his head and faces forward. “Humans,” he mutters.
These tunnels are cleaner than the ones before, and Sovran leads with confidence as he navigates each twisting turn.
We reach a dead end, where a ladder scales the far wall to a manhole above.
Sovran doesn’t hesitate or look back to check on anyone, just climbs the rungs like he’s done it a thousand times.
From the way his ass muscles pop in that leather, he probably has.
“Ow,” I hiss as Bash’s elbow meets my side, and I turn to him with my mouth hanging wide open.
“Saw that.” He hikes his brow and fixes me with a look.
I grin at the show of jealousy, and some of the day’s tension lightens as he waits with his hands on his hips.
“Don’t worry, darling,” I say as I wrap my arms around his waist, gripping his ass cheeks and giving them a squeeze. “I’m a one-ass kind of guy, and yours is my favorite.”
“I do not get paid enough to listen to this,” Cato mutters, hurrying to climb behind Sovran.
“We’re getting paid?” Sakane asks as he follows.
“Enjoy the view!” I call, then bite back a yelp as Bash lifts me off the ground. My legs wrap around his waist and I clutch his neck.
“What is this?” I demand playfully. “Gonna carry me up the ladder? Is this becoming a new tradition?”
“Ass,” he mutters as he digs his fingers into my side.
I barely hold back my shriek as he hits me right in the spot that’s so ticklish. I thrash in his arms, and he chuckles as he places my feet on the ground. We both glance at the ladder, where Sovran and Cato have disappeared from view and Sakane and Ego follow behind them.
“I guess we better catch up,” I say with a sigh, but when we walk toward the ladder, Bash rushes to go ahead of me.
“Uh, rude,” I complain.
He laughs as he climbs the first rung. “Just giving you something to look at.”
“I appreciate that,” I tease as I smack his ass, and he grins down at me as I follow him. Our levity fades as we climb, replaced by caution as we head into the unknown. Bash hoists himself through the opening and reaches down to help me.
I glance around the space, attempting to find my bearings. “Where are we?”
Sovran gestures toward a long block wall with several bay doors.
“Many decades ago, this was a service garage for military fleet vehicles. They wouldn’t have to drive through the city for repairs and refueling, but about twenty years back, it was used as an entry point for an attack.
Dozens were killed, mostly civilians who didn’t even have ties to the military. A waste of life.”
For the first time since the battle, a hint of rage replaces his stoic indifference, and his eyes illuminate in a flash of gold.
“What happened after?” Ego asks.
Sovran blinks away his anger before gesturing at the solid wall behind us. “They sealed the passageways with cement blocks and abandoned it. When I discovered it years ago, no one had stepped foot here for a very long time. I closed the tunnels and created a secure place to hide.”
“Have you needed to hide, then?” Bash asks.
Sovran’s eyes meet his with a flicker of sadness behind them. “Haven’t we all?”
Curiosity begs me to ask the questions that rest on the tip of my tongue. Who is this guy, and what made him go to such lengths to stay out of sight?
But time is not on our side, and we need to escape the city while we have the night.