Chapter 77 Prisoner Two
Sage sat quietly in the back seat, her eyes on the back of Canyon’s head. She tried to catch a glimpse of him in the rearview mirror, but he didn’t look at her. She wanted to think of something to say but couldn’t.
:Accomplished—
Thirty minutes showed on the screen, counting down.
The door opened and Timber came out with Rhogun, handcuffed in front.
Rhogun turned his face to the sun and smiled, eyes closed, and Timber let him have a moment.
He looked good. His red hair was longer than he normally wore it, and so was his beard, but he looked healthy.
His ever-present eyepatch made him look rough around the edges, especially in the drab prisoner jumpsuit. The males hurried to the truck.
Timber opened the passenger door and helped Rhogun inside, then slammed the door and got in next to Sage, pushing the robot into the middle.
“Fox!” Canyon said, clasping hands with Rhogun over the center console, the cuffs clanking.
“Wolf,” Rhogun said, smiling fondly at Canyon.
Sage about fell out of her seat. She never thought she’d live to see the day a vod and a voxen got along.
Canyon grinned. “You saved our lives; we owe you.”
“That was some fucking monster in that hole,” Timber said. “It almost ate us.”
Rhogun motioned to the bandages peeking out from Timber’s sleeve. “I see that. Now you’re an honorary foxen, you know?”
Timber roared laughter and clasped hands with Rhogun. “You hear that, Canyon? I’m an honorary foxen.”
They quieted and Rhogun looked at Canyon, then at Sage. “Hi, vixie,” he said. “You’ve got a good male here.”
Sage smiled weakly. She was overwhelmed and didn’t know how to respond.
Canyon looked at Timber and said, “What say we let them talk.” They left the truck and shut the doors.
Sage sat on the forward edge of the seat, seeing Rhogun’s mark peeking out above his undershirt. She touched his shoulder softly. “Rhogun, I'm sorry.”
He smiled gently. “You didn't have anything to do with it.”
“Does it hurt?”
He held up the handcuffs. “Not with these on, but it hurts without them, when I'm defying orders.”
Sage gripped the back of the seat. “You defied him?”
“A group of us did. They escaped but I… couldn’t. The vod got me.”
“Oh, oh,” Sage said. “What can I do to help? Can I get a message to Dred?”
Rhogun shook his head. “Not you, vixie, that’s not your job.”
“Not my job?”
“The vixie of sign 742 is not a messenger,” he said, his voice and manner serious.
Tingles marched up and down Sage’s arms and back. Her hands fluttered to her mouth, and she searched Rhogun’s face for signs that he knew what he was talking about.
“Me?”
He nodded. “Your only job is to form a bond with your mate. Your destiny will find you, and you will bow before it. Your mate will help you be strong.” Rhogun looked out the window at the males outside with their backs to the truck.
“Your mate and his brother—there's a reason it's these two, vixie.
They're strong together, and they hold no contempt for foxen.
They're influential and connected. They're well-liked, smart, and mavericks.
They don't care what the boss says. They care what their wolf says, and their wolves are solid. Their wolves are committed to truth and the uniting of foxen and wolven.”
Sage grasped her throat, wanting to believe. “How do you know?”
Rhogun lifted his eyepatch. Sage saw his withered eye for the first time ever.
“This eye isn't dead like we always thought,” he said. “It just sees differently… when there’s something different to see.” He took a moment to breathe and smile. “It sees you vixie, shimmering in minty green magic, and it knows your full power has not even reached you yet.”
Rhogun dropped the eyepatch.
“What does it mean?” Sage breathed.
“No idea, but I'm feeling a bit of awe in your presence.”
Sage grabbed his hand. “No elder. I’m in awe of you. Me, I'm no one. Im not—”
He lifted a hand to stop her. “Enough. You are enough and you are all of us. You are the product of centuries of defiance of the demon.” He pointed at her.
“This did not start with you, Sage Serenity White, and you are not alone in it.” He pointed at himself.
“You and I, we’re witnessing prophecy come to life.
We’re witnessing divine help come to dissolve our burdens. ”
Sage squeezed his hand, tears coming to her eyes. She wanted it to be true so much.
Rhogun dropped his hand, and his eyes rolled to the ceiling of the truck. He recited, “A starred female, celestially joined, is born with the will to evade the demon. The Tether weakens.”
Sage shook her head, not understanding.
He patted his chest, wincing when he touched the mark.
“I’ve been connecting prophecies in my mind.
No one has ever put a foxen to that prophecy and many think the event has yet to happen.
No one ever quite dared name Abigail, because she’s so secretive about her renqua, but I think it belongs to her.
” He bent close, dropping his voice. “I think she’s a Primary, and Boeson’s sister.
I think the Tether has been weakening for the last 300 years, as a direct result of Abigail’s defiance. ”
Sage’s heart raced. She looked out the window, knowing she would have to explain all of this to Canyon and Timber. She tried to listen well and connect the dots of what it all meant.
“So Boeson didn’t serve all 300 years of the Bondservant Tether himself?”
“I believe he did, but not because he was a singleton like has been theorized, but rather because his sibling was Abigail White, and she was born with the will to evade the demon.
Sage clenched the back of the seat, knowing it was a will Abigail had passed on to virtually all her progeny.