Page 18 of Cut Her Strings (Fractured Puppets #1)
Chapter 17
Use Her
Y our sister
The words echoed as we redressed and joined the others in the living room. They were in the process of eating, and I grabbed my own food before retaking the spot between Maverick and Enzo as Levi returned to his chair. I decidedly looked anywhere but at Jayce. I wasn’t ready yet for us to hash out the years of resentment, loss, love, and, ultimately, his betrayal. I knew I would forgive him, but having not seen him in years, I still required time to compose myself for the conversation we ultimately needed to have.
There were parts of it that I wasn’t sure I would ever be ready to discuss with him.
Enzo was the first to break the uncomfortable silence. “So, how about this weather? ”
Maverick reached behind me and punched his shoulder. “Shut up, you dumbass.”
Jayce stayed decidedly silent.
Maverick pulled out his notebook. “The next game will come soon; by my estimate, we have just a few days before we wake up to it. Go to sleep every night, ready to wake up elsewhere.” His eyes shifted my way. “We need to get your energy up.”
I nodded in agreement and began to devise a workout schedule to regain my original strength from before my time with Ivan.
“We have an array of specialties, but we are going to be targeted. We have the best accommodations, we have smaller teams, and Raven is the smallest contestant left,” Maverick bulldozed on.
I didn’t argue.
“That being said, we need to use her as our ace,” Maverick firmly declared.
Jayce went to protest, and I saw Levi clench his fists.
“I agree,” I stated before an argument could ensue, I wanted to be indispensable, and I needed the brothers to trust me.
“The last two games did not focus on physical strength,” Maverick continued. “The next one will most likely focus on force, and I imagine they will try to turn teams against each other. Be prepared.” Maverick turned on the couch to face me, his knees dragging against my leg, the feeling not entirely unpleasant. “I will promise you my loyalty unless it puts my team in danger.”
“That is understandable. I offer the same.”
He seemed satisfied with the answer and gave Enzo a look over my shoulder. “I am going to see if I can work up any more predictions.” Maverick jumped up suddenly and swiftly left the room .
“Never one for pleasantries,” Enzo laughed. “Well, Miss Raven, how about I help you get back in shape? Another strength of mine is training and conditioning others.”
I finally focused my attention on Jayce.
“Go ahead, we can talk when there’s time,” he said gruffly. “Besides, I think I need a sparring partner. Levi, you want to show me what you’ve got?”
Levi laughed brusquely. “Sure, man. Just leave my face be?”
We spent the next bit of time moving the furniture out of the way to provide a cleared space. It wasn’t enough for all of us, but the boys went off on their own for a bit while Enzo began working with me.
We started by stretching and working together to warm up our bodies. I lay on my back with my leg in the air as he held my ankle and pressed lightly into me, and I felt him tense.
“What is it?” I questioned.
“Your ankles have the same scars as your wrists?” he asked.
“They do,” I confirmed. “I was in the Retrieval Faction for several years.”
“So was our brother, George.”
I remained silent, not wanting to pull him out of his memories, even as his hands began to stroke my ankle in a caress.
“He was our triplet.” Enzo shuddered at the words. “He was technically the oldest, even if by a few minutes, but he never let us forget. We were inseparable, the three of us. Even working in separate Factions, we made sure to always be available. We had twenty-five years together before George was taken from us. A few years later, the Government found Maverick and me. We were separated, and I didn’t even know if Mav was alive or not while they held us in that prison, until we woke up here.”
He let my ankle fall, reaching for the other and pushing me into the same stretch.
“We met Levi and Violet as teenagers. They were in the same building as us. We all grew up outside the facility, and while we didn’t have much, I heard and saw the horrors those walls held. I am guessing that Levi told you about Violet?” He dropped my other ankle and repositioned me; I was now sitting up and stretching forward to my toes. He moved behind me to push softly down. As he did, his cold hands caressed my back, and I shuddered.
Levi had left my emotions a tangled mess of chords, and Enzo was plucking at them with his husky voice and nimble hands. “He did,” I finally confirmed.
Enzo bent over me, stretching me a bit further, and whispered in my ear, “As angry as I want to be, I can’t blame him. Who’s to say I wouldn’t have done the same in his position?” There was an unmistakable edge to his voice. He leaned back, letting me out of the stretch. “Unfortunately, Mav doesn’t feel the same way. But the truth? He blames himself. He’s the one who introduced Levi to our brother George. All of the calculations in the world can’t account for love .”
His words hit home. Isn’t that how we all ended up in this mess as part of a Resistance? Someone we loved was hurt or taken from us? We spent our lives trying to fix a Government that treated most of its citizens like cattle, only to finally hit a pivotal point and for it to be ruined by Nightingale’s own selfish want for revenge.
My anger at our circumstances boiled over, and I found my plans changing rapidly. How dare they do this? How had this gone on for so long?
We would win this game. And when we did, we would burn this motherfucking game and every one of the Sponsors to the ground. I couldn’t just try to win and then leave this country and hope it was better on the other side. This Masquerade needed to end .
He stood and reached a hand down to help me up. “Ready to show me what you’ve got?”
I clasped his hand, and a twisted smile formed on my lips.
And after we ended this game once and for all? We would do what my sister had failed to do. Cut off the head of this Government and every corrupt Official once and for all.