15. Together In This
FIFTEEN
TOGETHER IN THIS
Syasku
The hushed sound of a shhhh, shhhh wakes me. Flexing, I discover my body hurts worse than usual.
Something touches my lips, and my eyes snap open. Vivian’s face appears, and she is pressing a small orb of water to my mouth.
Seeing me, she flinches and pulls her hand back, a gleam of wariness veiling her eyes. I lick my cracked lips, sloughing the dead skin off.
I snap forward, yanking my chains from the wall, and take the water orb from her.
She freezes and her eyes go as wide as she watches me place the orb in my mouth. It bursts between my teeth and the water wets my tongue and throat, bringing me back to my senses. She takes a step back as I test my limbs, shifting away from the wall.
With my gaze glued to her, I wonder why she is giving me water, or why she is within my reach.
Then I remember… the male, Pierce… electrocuting me.
Hissing, I look down at my body and the burns seared across it. I coil my tail under me and rattle the chains. With them loose, I touch my blackened scales with the tips of my claws.
All the while Vivian watches me quietly, not even chancing a breath but also not fleeing, both rigid and ready to bolt. I keep my movements steady and precise, increasingly focused upon her rather than on myself.
It occurs to me that she is trying to see if she can trust me.
I swallow thickly, for once, glad I am in pain. It is keeping me from snatching her against me before she changes her mind.
My eyes drop to the orb in her hand.
“When was the last time you had something to drink before now?” she asks.
Her voice is soft and slow, and my eyes move back to her lips. Drink? If she is trying to put something in my mouth, I would rather it be her.
“I was given water,” I finally rasp, pointing to the inside of my arm where I’ve been stabbed and had the liquid forced upon me.
She looks at it, understanding dawning in her eyes. “Yes, through an IV, but what about water you drink? With your mouth…”
My eyes narrow. “Before now? You should know that answer.”
Her face scrunches with guilt but she reaches out her hand. “Take this. Please. You need more.”
With the pod in her open palm, I flick my gaze between her and it, waiting for the trick, almost wishing there were one so I have an excuse to touch her.
She pulls her hand back. “If you don’t want it…”
I hiss and take the pod. Squishy like the one I snatched with my mouth, and slightly wet, I find the texture strange. Keeping my gaze on her, I swallow it like the last.
She eyes me curiously, openly.
With her jacket missing, her underclothes form nicely to her figure. Her wild hair falls beautifully around her shoulders, teasing me to capture several curls and brush my fingers through them, realizing the flowery scent is fainter now. As my nostrils flare, the scent of burnt scales floods them instead, and a disgusted hiss tears from my throat.
Vivian jerks away.
I shoot my hand forward and grab her by the nape.
She gasps, straining against me as I pull her close, and her hands rise to grip my wrists. I hold firm, gentling my clasp.
When her face is before mine, her lips part. I search her face, trying to understand what has changed and why she is no longer afraid of me.
“Why?” I growl.
“I figured you had to be thirsty,” she breathes, her voice a nervous hush.
“Why?” I demand again, knowing thirst has nothing to do with it.
She leans harder against my hand, trying to put distance between us. “The water? It—it’s an apology and a… thank you.”
I consider her words. If she is thanking me, she does not hate me. It is either that or she does not know it is my fault that she remains locked up.
I let her go. “I believe you.”
She staggers under her feet and bounces back a few steps. “You could have killed me, or worse. You didn’t.” She rubs the back of her neck. “I could have done more to help you. I didn’t, and I’m sorry about that.”
My hands bunch at my sides. “You have done enough.”
She thinks this is her fault when it is mine.
“Have I? All of this is… is… You’re speaking now…”
“I do not want your apology or your thanks, female. We both know you have nothing to be thankful for.”
Her mouth shuts, and she straightens.
“But you’re talking now? If you had earlier—” She waves her arm, indignation slipping into her voice. “This could have been avoided.”
“I do not give lightly. I was taken from my home and from…” I trail off, uncertain if I want to tell her about the other female. A female I had originally thought was mine.
“From?”
I scan her slowly, wondering how much I should tell her. Even if she is trustworthy, what words are worth saying when Ursula can hear them? “I was taken at the end of a fruitful hunt. Why would I give anything to someone who only takessss?”
“Because you could have avoided being tortured. Ursula might not have hurt you…” Her face falls.
I scoff. “I do not care if I am hurt. I have been hurt many times.”
She licks her lips, clearly unconvinced and still nervous. “But you’re speaking now? You were gone for hours, and when you were gone I was delivered supplies. What changed? I’m…” Her face falls further, her voice dropping into an agonized whisper. “If I’ve made things worse for you… It was not my intention.”
“It is because of you.” I move away from the wall. “Ursula has gifted you to me. That is what has changed. To keep you alive and with me, I will work with her.”
Her lips purse then flatten, then purse again, her face a riot of fleeting emotions. “So they plan to use me against you. Does that mean if you don’t cooperate, I’m to be punished?”
I growl, having not considered that. “They will not.”
“How can you be so sure?”
“I will not give them a reason to.”
“And when the day comes when they no longer need you? What happens to me then?”
I study her as she studies me, understanding her fear. “I do not expect to live long enough to see that day, and I plan to keep you safe until then.”
Something slips from my shoulders and drops to the floor. A bundle of cloth gathers on the floor, and cinching it with my tailtip, I bring it to my hands. Confused, and smelling Vivian all over it, I bunch up the cloth and bury my face. Ripples of pleasure streak through me, dulling my pain. Trembling with fresh desire, I jerk my head up before it worsens.
Mere feet away, she stares wide-eyed at me. Something flicks across her face, but it is gone too soon for me to read.
“Why do you want me? Me? And none of the others? Why not a female of your own species?” Her voice is barely audible. “I need to know.”
I tilt my head to the side and shift the lower half of my tail to circle her feet. “There are no naga females. You were there when I woke, and I liked what I saw, and you were afraid… It occurred to me that it was not me you were afraid of.”
She is silent again, thinking about my words. “So you do want a… me,” she corrects, looking down at my tail and shifting on her feet. “What exactly do you want with me? Shouldn’t you have bargained for your freedom?”
I snort. “They have no intention of freeing me.”
She glances at my tail again. “So I’m in here to keep you company?” Anger enters her voice, realizing she did not bring this on herself. “I could’ve died.”
“You did not die,” I snap. “It will not come to that.”
“If Ursula wants me dead, then I am dead. If you want me dead, I’m dead. I have no power whatsoever. I’m just a pawn, like always! Except before you, I could have had some semblance of a life, a goal of my own. You’re speaking now, say the words—am I to just keep you company, or am I here for something else? I’m owed that much at least!”
“Owe?” I hiss, bristling. “You think I owe you? I have been chained and tortured with no hope of returning to my land.”
“Just say the words.”
“You demand too much, female. You are upset.”
“Of course I fucking am!” She swivels on her feet and storms to the other side of the room. I lunge for her to keep her within reach but am evaded.
I hiss as she lowers to the floor and sits down, turning away to avoid looking at me. She covers her face with her hands and then clenches them into fists, pressing them into her eyes.
I do not like it. “Get up.”
“No.”
I growl when she stays put.
Snatching up the bag of supplies she left behind, I shake it. “You have not eaten or have had any water and you are weak.”
“I did earlier.” She drops her hands. “Are you going to make me come back to you for food?”
I should. It would be the easiest way to get her to come close to me again. Frustrated, I toss the bag to her side.
She looks at it with shock. Furious she thinks so little of me, my teeth grit. “I am not like your fellow humans. I have made a deal, as selfish as it was, for you. I have no intention of denying you what you need to live. I am far, far too selfish for that.”
She pulls the bag toward her until it’s up against her side. “I’m not like them either, just so we’re both clear.”
Silence falls between us, and I retreat to my wall across from her. Taking the blanket back into my hands, I press it to my nose and breathe her in, not caring if she sees.
If I tell her the real reason I want her, she will never come near me again.
Though I think she already knows.