Chapter Thirty-Four
“Open the door,” Vivian ordered the Intelligence.
“Sorry, Vivian, but we can’t. The door’s locked from the other side. You know that our access to command functions is limited on this dome.”
Vivian growled in frustration. “Can you see what’s happening at least? Where are they going? Where are the others?”
“Xavier and Silas are moving to the command center. River and a single soldier have boarded a small ship and are departing the facility. Three others remain in the laboratory.”
“Xavier is alive?”
“Yes, Vivian. His pulse is erratic, and we detect heightened adrenaline.”
Vivian let out a slow breath. He’s alive. “Is there another way to the command center?”
“Follow us.” The orb zoomed out of the room through the other door.
August jogged to follow in its wake. Vivian took hold of her sister and pulled her along as fast as she could. Caspian brought up the rear, carrying Xavier’s fallen sword.
Vivian could barely think. Xavier had described the forty shallow cuts on his chest as a mere warm-up. What did Silas plan to do to Xavier? And why? Vivian didn’t understand Silas’s obsession. Could this really be about the perceived slight of a denied inheritance?
The unfinished floors creaked as they hurried along. The caged yellow lights cast distorted shadows on the walls. In the quiet, Vivian focused on the sound of Delilah’s labored breathing. She had to get her sister out of here.
They convened outside of a closed door. “The laboratory contains three Martian heat signatures,” the orb said. “No weapons.”
“Can we go around them?” Vivian asked.
“Afraid not, Vivian. This is the only path to the command center with an active life support system.”
August lifted his sword. “We’ll save him, my lady. X is hard to kill. We’ll get there in time.” He carefully pushed open the door.
Harsh white lighting lit up a cluttered laboratory packed with machines and materials. In the center of the room, three Martians in lab coats huddled around a raised table. They turned in surprise at August’s approach, revealing a microscope and petri dish.
August pointed his sword at the three Martians. “Back away. Hands on your heads.”
The three Martians obeyed, stepping away from the table with raised hands and moving slowly to the far wall.
Vivian didn’t pause. “Stay with August and Caspian,” she said to her sister and hurried to a console near the closed door. To the orb, she ordered. “Show me what’s happening in the command center.”
The orb beeped in acknowledgment, and the console flared to life with a silent security camera feed. In the gray pixelated feed, Vivian could see the two men standing apart from each other, Xavier unarmed, and Silas brandishing his knife before him.
“I have to get to him,” she said frantically. “Is the door barred?”
The console began whirring with activity. “Sure, Vivian. We’re happy to help. We’ve unlocked the doors, but we cannot hold them for long.”
Vivian ran. Her breath came short as she increased her speed, following the corridor to a closed door. It slid open soundlessly at her arrival. Thank you, for once, Intelligence.
Silently gulping air, Vivian slipped into the command center.
Through the large windows, Vivian could see a small ship, parked outside on the rocky Martian surface.
Ivey. A row of consoles displayed graphs and charts.
In the middle of the room, Silas and Xavier circled each other grimly.
Their eyes remained locked on each other, neither man appearing to notice her arrival.
Silas stepped forward, slashing with his knife, and Xavier knocked his hand aside, causing Silas’s hand to flex open and the knife to clatter to the floor.
Silas pressed both hands to Xavier’s wounded chest and shoved him to the ground.
Xavier scrambled back on his elbows, and Silas pushed him flat on the floor, straddling him.
Their bodies pressed together, their faces almost touching.
Silas leaned closer to Xavier and laughed. “You always did like it when I was on top.”
“And your sadistic streak has turned into a full-blown fetish,” Xavier panted as he attempted to push him off.
Silas leaned all the way forward and—to Vivian’s shock—kissed Xavier full on the mouth. After only a moment’s hesitation, Xavier responded enthusiastically, putting one hand behind Silas’s head and gripping his auburn curls. With his other hand, he groped along the floor.
Vivian had no claim to Xavier. He’d made that perfectly clear. But it was still unsettling to see her new lover locked in an embrace with her sister’s tormentor. Not to mention his own recent torturer.
Rooted to the spot, Vivian watched Xavier’s right hand grasp the fallen knife.
His arm raised.
The knife flashed.
With a grunt, Silas rolled off Xavier, clutching his bloody arm.
Xavier sprang to his feet, the knife in his hand dripping blood. “Thank you for that lovely trauma flashback. How I’ve missed having you star in my nightmares.”
“Don’t give me that sanctimonious crap,” Silas snarled. “Your cock doesn’t lie.”
Xavier tilted his head. “I know. It’s rather appalling. I may need more therapy.”
“Join us, X.” Silas pulled to his feet, one hand holding his injured arm.
“We have everything we need now. The genetically modified DNA sample. The terraforming technology. We can adapt our descendants to live on a partially terraformed Mars. In a matter of generations, Catena will be self-sufficient and able to expand outside the domes. Think of it! To live directly on the surface. To finally be free of dependence on Earth.” Silas took a step closer to Xavier.
“You and I could rule this place. Your brains, my soldiers. We could push River aside, easily. You still want me, I know you do. No one else could ever understand what you need. What you crave.”
Vivian remembered how quickly Xavier had switched from an injured victim to an arduous lover the night before. Did he like that? She had the sudden need for a long heart-to-heart with Luz.
Xavier took Silas’s head in both hands and leaned closer to him. Vivian let out an involuntary squeak.
Turning to her with quirked lips, Xavier said nonchalantly, “Vivian, just in time. Hit him, will you?”
“I … What?”
“Right on the jaw.”
“I’m not going to let your girlfriend hit me,” Silas objected, attempting to jerk out of Xavier’s grasp.
Xavier grabbed Silas by his bleeding, injured arm and yanked him directly in front of her. “Now, please.”
Feeling like a fraud, Vivian made a proper fist like Shiloh had taught her and punched Silas on the mouth. Silas’s eyes rolled back in his head, and he collapsed on the floor. What?
“Oh, very nice. Much more effective than me doing it.” Xavier gave her an exhilarated grin and pulled his comm from his pocket. “August, I have control of the command center.”
“Well done, X.” August’s voice crackled.
“All credit goes to Vivian. She has an excellent right hook.” He grinned at her again, and Vivian couldn’t help but smile back, despite her bewilderment at the whole situation.
“Come back to the lab, will you? Vivian knows the way.”
“What about him?” Vivian looked down at Silas’s prone form. An ugly purple bruise was forming on his jaw. I did that, she thought, bile rising in her throat. How? She hadn’t even hit him very hard. “Should we …?”
Xavier’s face fell. “I can’t. I just—I can’t. Not like this, in cold blood. If I ever kill Silas, it will be face-to-face.”
Vivian shivered. “Let’s go.”