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CHAPTER FORTY-SEVEN

-Clay-

“HEY.”

CALDWELL’S VOICE was muffled. I blinked. Where was I?

“Hey, buddy, how are you doing?”

I jerked upright and looked around. I was in one of the storage bays, the heavy metal door locked behind me. At some point, we’d gone back through the wormhole. The ship bucked and rolled, but it was nothing compared to the first time we went through. Far worse was the way the bond had stretched sickeningly. After that, I must have passed out.

I clutched my chest, but where the churning vortex of pain and fear had been there was a neutral, steady hum. Fuzzy in a way that was similar to sleep, but different too. What was—

My stomach turned to ice. He must be unconscious.

Arcay, what’s happening?

“Are you alright in there?” Caldwell’s muffled voice came to me again.

I leaned my head back against the door. “Caldwell, I need to go back. Something’s wrong.”

“What do you mean?”

“Something’s wrong with Arcay. He’s in trouble. I have to help him.”

“How do you know that?”

“Because I can feel it.”

There was silence from the other side of the door. I knew I was going to have to explain if I wanted to get out of here. I got up onto my knees, hands pressed to the door as if I could make him understand through the thick layer of metal separating us. This was going to sound insane, but I tried my best.

“Look, it’s complicated, but Aldar have this thing where two people can be bound together and you get this kind of…link. And you can feel each other through it…” Still silence from the other side. I knew I wasn’t making sense. “I get that it sounds crazy, but it’s true. And…me and Arcay have one. I can feel what he’s feeling, and he can feel me too.”

More silence. I went on, my desperation growing. “I can feel everything he does, and he’s in pain and he’s scared and something bad is happening. I need to go and help him.”

When Caldwell did finally speak, his voice was so gentle I could barely hear it, like he was talking to an upset child. “Clay, we don’t know what happened to you on that ship, but we’re gonna help you, ok? As soon as we get somewhere, we’re gonna help you get better.”

“What?” Why wasn’t he listening to me? I clenched my teeth. “I don’t need help, I need to go—”

“The captain thinks they did something to your head, like brainwash you or something. We don’t know how, but he thinks that’s why you…have been acting strangely.”

“I already told you that’s not true. I’m not crazy, Caldwell.”

Another heavy pause. “Clay, you went insane. You smashed Kathy in the face and broke her nose. We just escaped from the ship where we were all held prisoner, they kidnapped you, and now you’re raving about going back. You have to see how that might be a little…crazy.”

Shit, I didn’t know I’d broken Kathy’s nose. I’d been oblivious to everything around me, everything had just erupted. I felt bad, but whatever Arcay was going through right now was much, much worse than a broken nose. And every second that passed took me further away from him. He was unconscious for fuck sake. My mind skittered away from what that could mean.

I dropped my face into my hands. All of the bad things I’d said to Arcay, and all the stupid decisions I’d made, came back to me like a slap in the face. Now everything I hadn’t allowed myself to feel before, that I hadn’t let myself even admit to because of some stupid fucking hang-ups I had about commitment, all came rushing in. They suffocated me, squeezing my chest and making it impossible to breathe. I clutched my head as tears leaked down my face.

In that moment, I finally saw exactly what Arcay meant to me.

And it was too late.

A sob racked my body. It couldn’t end like this. I had to think of a way to convince them I wasn’t crazy or brainwashed or whatever. My voice was strained and damp as I called out.

“Caldwell?” I paused, listening for a response. “Caldwell, are you still there?”

“Yeah, buddy.”

I sniffed and tried to steady myself.

“I know I’ve been acting weird. I’m sorry. It’s ok now…I’m ok.”

“Are you sure?” Caldwell’s voice rang out with hope.

“Yeah, it’s passed, I’m fine. I promise I won’t go crazy again. I just want to talk to the captain. Could you open the door?”

“I don’t know, man. I have to ask the captain.”

I cursed under my breath. “Ok, could you go ask him, please?” Another thought occurred to me. “Plus I really need to go to the—”

I gasped as all of the warmth left my body, plunging me into a black hole of nothingness.

“Clay? Clay??” Caldwell was calling through the door, but I couldn’t move. I couldn’t breathe. I couldn’t think.

The bond was gone.