Page 8

CHAPTER 8 - TOR

T he team’s freedom relied on me pulling off this lie. Supergal’s secret wouldn’t come out and jeopardize her or the team’s future. Knoxe and I were not ending up in the purgatory of medical examinations.

“Damaged in a scuffle, sir.” I played down the extent of damage so well that I impressed myself. But the question was, did the warden buy it?

“I’ll get Mr. Mathieson down here immediately to evaluate the technology and repair any damage.” By all accounts, he bought it.

Serena perked up at the mention of her son paying a visit.

“Thank you, sir,” I replied, praying Cole didn’t report us to the warden. “I appreciate that. In the meantime, I want to be of service and go back out with the team to apprehend the prisoners on our brief.”

Make up for dragging the team into this whole mess.

Vancor seemed satisfied with my response. “Mr. Helms, I want you assessed by the doctors immediately for any damage to your back.”

Fuck, fuck, fuck.

The doctors would know my spine was healed if they did any scans. I’d never convict Supergal to a fate of four walls, silence, and insanity. Look what it did to her father. Tor Helms didn’t tear apart families, he supported, nourished, and protected them.

“Yes, sir.” Steel pumped through my veins and hardened my muscles. Maintaining the ruse, I leaned forward and patted my leader’s leg. “Get well soon, Serena. I’ll see you tomorrow.” Next, I moved to Knoxe, clapping his shoulders. “I’ll catch up with the rest of you later to interrogate the vamps.”

Vancor bristled at the last word. “The rest of you have work to do processing and interviewing the prisoners.”

We sure did. Get Styx’s crew processed in the system and returned to the vampire homeworld for arraignment and judgment. Receive the contract points from the Guardians, freeing Knoxe and Pascal from this place once we retrieved all the prisoners, and me in six months tops if they earned more tally points to wipe away the extra they scored.

Everyone cleared out as he marched me into the next examination bay for tests, my stomach spinning faster than the blood samples in the medical laboratory next door.

I sat through an hour of being poked and prodded, having my blood taken, using every wit about me to preserve the ploy and not react once to any of the full body exam of my legs and spine.

“Everything looks normal so far,” the doctor commented.

I put on my most resigned face. “That’s good, Doc.”

When the time came to perform scans of my spine, I prayed to Mads once more. “If you can hear me, thief avatar,” I whispered when the doctor left me on the bed for the CT scan. “Please falsify the images they capture.”

“You want to owe me another debt?” The voice of Mads invaded my mind.

“Get me out of this bind, and I’ll do your damn laundry,” I replied in my head, wondering if I imagined this out of fear and self-preservation . “I’ve gotten good from practice in here.”

“I never wear anything twice,” Mads scoffed at me, and I crushed my fingers into a ball. “But, if you can get me out of doing my baby’s laundry, we’ve got a deal. My wife insists on using all-natural diapers, and that means loads of washing of unfriendly substances, if you catch my drift.”

Yep. This was Hell, all right. No man in his right mind would clean shitty nappies for someone else’s kid unless they were royally screwed. Why did I even mention it? Me and desperate situations were a bad combination.

“Fine,” I hissed back at him, hoping he joked just to mess with me.

Mads chuckled . “You really must be desperate to agree to that.” His voice faded away to nothing on the last word.

Fuck. Did he agree? Leave me to my own fate? Some part of me came to terms with my fate if it got me out of Mads’ laundry.

“You all right in there, Mr. Helms?” the doc asked through the speaker in the corner of the room.

I flashed a thumbs-up and tried not to have a breakdown. “Just nervous of the results.”

“Naturally,” he replied. “There doesn’t seem to be any change from the physical examination, therefore I’m sure you have nothing to worry about.”

I almost choked at his response. “Good,” I croaked out.

“Relax and let the machine do its work,” the doctor soothed, but it sparked me to tighten everywhere.

I closed my eyes, forcing my body to slacken. Then I prayed to Hades and every other god who might listen and grant me a speck of mercy. None replied, and I guessed I couldn’t blame Hades when I kind of blackmailed him.

Nervous sweat streamed down my face and onto the bed. My heart almost broke a rib as the machine performed its duty. I thought I was going to pass out at one stage. I thanked all the gods as the scan completed, and the bed slid out of the tube. I twisted my head sideways and watched the doctor’s drawn brow as he reviewed the results.

He came into the room, lifted me into a seated position, and offered me tissues to wipe my sweaty brow.

I dabbed at my forehead, edgy and unsure whether Mads came through for me or not. “What’s the verdict, Doc? Any miracles to report?”

If the scans showed repair to my spine, then they’d ask questions. The wrong questions that got me tested every which way, and having to make up reasons for my cure.

Lying about it was a new low for me, and I was disgusted with myself for resorting to this. I could burn for an eternity with Hades in the Underworld. Hopefully, he went easy on me for saving someone I loved, because I would torture myself over this enough that he didn’t need to add to my torment.

The doctor’s lips pressed together as he delivered the results. “You have nothing to worry about. There’s no further damage to your back.”

“That’s a relief.” I pretended to blow out a long breath. “Is there any improvement from the physical therapy and weights?”

The doc cleansed the machine that I dripped all over with antibacterial wipes he kept in his pocket. “A slight decline in muscle strength, but no miracles, unfortunately.”

Hold the disheartened face. Do not smile. Definitely do not jump off the bed and flashdance. Do not forget to thank the thief avatar.

Thank you, Mads! I’ll wash your damn baby nappies. Get them clean and smelling fresh. Kiss your damn shoes if you want, too.

Consider it a freebie for your unjust incarceration, he replied.

Yep, Hell was freezing over. I never would have picked Mads for a generous guy. Then again, Knoxe said the thief avatar admitted to going soft since his relationship with Cupid. Nothing else explained the golfing trips with Hades when they traditionally hated each other in the comics.

“I’ll keep praying then,” I pretended to joke with the doc, while smiling inside at Mad’s generosity.

The doctor smiled awkwardly, spelling I’d have an easier time catching a unicorn. “Nurse Adams, please assist me.”

The nurse came in and assisted him in lifting me into my wheelchair. One of the guards brought it from the Terra Room where I stored it before leaving for the mission.

“Thanks, Doc.” My back ached at the thought of perpetuating this ruse until I earned enough points for freedom, when I wanted to get straight back into training, running, stretching, and fighting gantii. “Am I discharged? Can I go and question the vamps and give them hell?”

The doctor wheeled me to the door. “The warden wants you to meet Mr. Mathieson in your training room, where he’s assessing your exoskeleton.”

Of course, he did. Vancor wasn’t going to make it easy for me to sustain this lie. He’d catch me eventually if I wasn’t careful.

“Catch ya’, Doc.” I coasted away, rubbing my ribs, where they took a beating from my pounding heart. Round two of the boxing match was on.

I rolled into the training room with a fake smile. Vancor leaned on the wall, a phone plastered to his ear. Cole hunched over my exoskeleton, removing a damaged part and examining the bend in the metal from where I hit the wall.

“My man!” I stretched out my fist for him, and he bumped it back.

He looked different from his last visit a month ago. Exhaustion circles were purple underneath his amber eyes. Chaotic strands of dark brown hair betrayed the hand constantly running through it. Winter pale masked his usually tanned skin.

“What’s the damage?” I held my question to Cole as level as possible under scrutiny. “Can you fix it? Don’t tell me I’ll be stuck in here.”

“Nothing I can’t fix.” He set aside the busted scrap.

“That’s what I like to hear.” I slapped my knee.

“Tell him he’s not getting a thing!” the warden shouted and marched outside to continue his rant.

Cole tapped his wrench on his palm. “What I can’t solve is how you walked back into the prison with these electrical connections broken.”

I snapped out my arm and grabbed him by the shirt. “Astra somehow healed me. If you blow the whistle, she’s going to max security and won’t see the light of day for twenty years.”

Cole squeezed his wrench as if considering slogging me with it. “I won’t say a word. Astra’s my girl’s best friend, and we protect our friends.”

I released him and rubbed my hand from clenching it so tightly. “Fuck, I’m sorry, man. You didn’t deserve that. You’ve been so kind to me, creating me this device and coming in to fix it.” It was my turn to stab a hand through my hair to ground me. “I don’t act smart or sensible if my girlfriend’s threatened.”

Cole resumed screwing a new part onto the device. “No apology necessary. I’m the same way with Luna.”

“Glad I’m not the only one,” I muttered, leaning my forehead between my fingers and thumb, rubbing it.

Things got more heated on the warden’s phone conversation, his face going redder than it did when he confronted my team.

I didn’t know how much time I had with Cole in private, so I gave it to him straight, figuring he’d want to know. “Your mom is in the infirmary. Will you swing by to visit her?”

He wrenched the bolts so hard I worried he’d bust them. “Yeah.”

“Your mother’s a good woman.” It probably wasn’t my place to offer advice when—one, there was some obvious tension between mother and son, and two, I made rash and stupid decisions. But Serena supported me when she could have put me on disciplinary action, and I felt compelled to advocate for her.

Wrench. Wrench. Wrench. “A mother who cares more about getting revenge than she does being a family?”

Boom. Walked right into a landmine.

I almost leaned forward to place my hand on his shoulder and caught myself at the last moment. “Listen, I don’t know what went on between you two, that’s your business. Make amends for whatever you’re angry about, man. I lost my father after a fight and never got to say goodbye. This is a rough place, and not everyone survives it.” The rest didn’t need to be said.

Cole was silent for a beat. “I’m sorry for your loss.”

“It is what it is.” If I had superpowers to bring my dad back, I would.

He glanced out the window at Vancor and ground his jaw. “My mom’s in here because she got too close to the fire investigating Guild traitors.”

The word traitors vibrated in my spine, and I wondered if her investigation was connected to conspirators Vartros had Knoxe investigate. Something told me that whatever we found on Mads’ USB drive was about to break the whole thing wide open.

“So are we,” I shared with Cole, hoping he might reciprocate an exchange of information.

Cole hunched over the contraption to lower his voice, probably from the cameras. “You serious?”

I crossed my arm over my chest in a vow of truth. “Like a vampire stake to the armpit.” Right through their heart.

He pretended to tap the side of the new part to disguise his next words. “ Your friend helped us trail a lead on the Brotherhood trafficking rings.” Friend, meaning Raze. “That’s when we were ambushed by vamps, and he was taken.”

I glued my eyes to the warden for the moment he ended his phone call, and we had to shut down our conversation soon. “Both Astra and our friend taken at separate locations. What are the odds, huh?”

“Significant.” Cole lifted the skeleton and pretended to admire his handiwork. “I never thought to mention this before, but Luna had a visit from your warden after they sent Astra to the Guardians. Vartros, I think his name was.”

The plot fucking thickened. “You met Vartros?”

“Yeah.” Cole removed a small screw to attach new circuits on the metal shell. “He told us he needs Astra’s help, but wouldn’t say why, and that if we tried to appeal her case, he’d deny it.”

“What the fuck?” I wheeled backward and circled the room to let off steam.

This all connected somehow. The ache sinking deeper in my bones screamed it. I had to figure out the how and the why. I tapped my forehead, going over the evidence, hoping to muster the answer.

Raze told us some crazy story when infected with Lycan venom and on his deathbed about convening with Jaz’s spirit from beyond the grave. We didn’t believe it at first, but now it started to make sense with this new information. Jaz claimed he got us imprisoned here to protect us from the Brotherhood of Serpents who sent assassins after us to kill us for intercepting and arresting a dealer trafficking water sprites. Apparently, our dead brother hid evidence to clear our names in a box somewhere near Nightfire Academy, intending to reveal it once the heat died down. Unfortunately, Styx killed that plan, but Jaz managed to pass on the message to Raze.

I had no clue if Cole knew about this, but I took a stab in the dark anyway. “Did Raze find the box he was looking for?”

“No.” Cole ran his fingers along the device, giving no sign that we discussed controversial topics. “Your enemies got to it before he did.”

“Just our luck.” Onto the next puzzle piece.

Vartros brought Astra into the prison for his “special investigation.” Betrayal flared an ache in my heart. Was she a mole and kept this from us? Did she agree to this mission to free us? Fuck. Did she even love us? I had to push aside the darkness crowding my mind and heart to fit the rest together.

Vartros got pulled from active warden duty for looking into people he shouldn’t, just like Cole’s Mom. With the help of Sentry Ben, he snuck into the prison to give Knoxe a USB with information about a conspiracy he needed our help to investigate. He believed someone within his ranks supplied the vampires with Guardian weapons and fed them information to assist them from evading capture at our team’s hands. And what do you know, we finally arrest the bastards, and they siphon the prison’s magick, break out of their cells and the prison, helping fifty prisoners escape with them.

Someone had a hand in this, all right. Someone coordinated the whole damn fiasco. Paid guards bribes. Informed the vampires how to siphon energy from the prison’s magick wards to give them the strength to get out once an insider cut the power to their cells. Aided and sheltered the fugitive prisoners somewhere.

All that cost money, and lots of it, which pointed to a wealthy patron or someone in high places. My money was on Eduardo and Devon’s family as they were Guild elite and came from wealth. Time would confirm the identity of that person, and I suspected Mads’ USB drive contained the answers we needed, and the proof to arrest the traitors. We just had to squeeze in time to review the device in between mission prep to detain the fugitives and question the arrested vamps. No pressure.

I glanced out the window as Vancor stabbed his phone screen, pocketed his device, and scrubbed his jaw. The sinking feeling in my gut said he was connected. He sent me out on missions on unsteady legs, and Pascal without his magick to defend himself, weakening the team and our chances of survival. That asshole wanted us dead. The fierce beating in my chest said he had Astra kidnapped by the vampires to kill her. Vancor wouldn’t stop until everyone with knowledge of what his syndicate was up to were all eliminated, Vartros included. We just had to prove the incidents connected.

I wheeled back to Cole as Vancor marched inside, pretending to talk about sports and social issues.

“Have you got everything you need, Mr. Mathieson?” The warden twitched with agitation at each word, clearly annoyed about something. “Do you need more materials or tools?”

“I’m good, sir,” Cole replied, lifting the metal to study it up close.

“You’ll have to excuse me, I’ve got some calls to make,” the warden advised. “I’ll leave you with a guard. You’re free to visit your mother when you’re done. Then I’ll see you out.”

“Thanks, sir.” Cole carried the skeleton over to the bench by the lockers, and I went with him. Once the warden vanished, he said, “He asked me that same question on arrival.”

“Twitchy, much?” I stroked my thumb beneath my lip.

“I noticed that too.” Cole tapped his hand on the exoskeleton. “Let’s pretend to test this out.”

I told him everything I knew while he helped me fit into the device, and I stood in it, performing the moves he suggested, completing the test. By the end, we had new leads to track, and a clearer grasp of what was going on. I had renewed hope of ending this nightmare for good and putting those that wanted me dead behind bars, avenging Serena, Jaz, Supergal, Loco, and the rest of my team, and the damn gantii those bastards trafficked.