Kate
Ican’t bring myself to look at him, to see him standing tall before all these kneeling men. Men who have destroyed my world.
They bow their heads as if he’s a god.
“Asshole,” I whisper-shout at him.
“WhereisPious?” Rune’s voice thunders over my insults. He doesn’t look in my direction and I refuse to kneel like the others. Whatever hope I felt about saving my sister is instantly gone. My heartbeat rises into my throat as I watch him search over the bowed heads paying homage before him. None of the men answer him.
“None of you are brave enough to tell me what has happened?” his voice echoes out over the crowd. A low hum of electricity rises until it crackles and whirs around us. I can feel it under my skin, especially under the mask that has molded to my face, in the most uncomfortable ways.
Out of nowhere, a bright blue light flashes across my face, making me jerk back, smacking into the stone entrance we’d just come through. To the left of my vision, a small, green light blinks spastically then a display of words and numbers flashes quickly before my eyes. “What the shit?” I grit out, pawing my metal gloves at the plate stuck to my face.
Rune launches closer to me—his suited form blocks the others from seeing me. I stumble to the side, unable to control my body. The armor vibrates over my skin, buzzing and rippling. In front of my eyes, a circular scope appears with a bull’s-eye in the middle. I whip my head around and numbers and names and colors whirl and splatter across my view.
Then I’m blind.
Utter blackness surrounds me. I can’t even see the sunlight through my eyelids, which I swear are still wide open. My body drops to the ground, a dreamlike feeling of gravity reaching out and pulling me slowly down, until my skin slaps loudly against the pavement.
I hear dozens of shuffling feet and Rune’s voice shouting out demands, yet I can’t make out the words. My limbs lift and I feel weightless. My mind runs wild; thousands of questions fill my mouth but the words won’t fall out.
My body is floating, shifting and bouncing in quick, small movements. Someone must be carrying me. If I listen close enough, I can hear the exertion of the person—small breaths of someone running swiftly away with me in their arms.
After a few moments, my body touches down on a flat, hard surface. My skin is crawling under the suit and I’m trembling wildly under the icy metal. I can feel it seeping into my skin and through my blood stream. I wonder if he’s tried to kill me. I remember seeing what these suits did to those men lying dead on the ground. But why would he kill me now when he saved me then? He could have just killed me then and taken back his mask, leaving me to rot, and forgetting about Claire.
“Don’t react in any way,” Rune’s voice whispers. I feel the coolness of his armored arm slip slowly down my cheek, making my body shiver more. “No matter what you see here, or what you feel under the skin,do not react.”
A red dot appears in the center of the darkness. It pulses quickly then stretches out into a straight horizontal line and expands to fill my vision. The red fades as if a mist and shadows and shapes form underneath. My sight clears, the red bleeding out at the edges. A scroll of blue text rolls across my vision and standing behind it is Rune, his masked face empty of emotion. “Do. Not. React.” His voice is no louder than a whisper.
The picture of him in my view blurs and crinkles with static. His features seep with reds, oranges, and yellows, like I’m looking through one of those thermal images.
My retinas begin to burn, a scorching sting that makes my eyes tear and blink rapidly. He still stands in front of me, iron face slashed with a straight line for a mouth. “Don’t,” he grounds out low.
I stare at him, trying desperately to contain my pain and emotions. The effort makes me tremble and grip my fists at my sides. His face is pale gray, words and numbers flutter and flash.A name, weight, height, kills, military history, birthday. I watch his breathing accelerate, I can hear it clearly in my ears.
Then I see it.
Emotional State:Concern. Confusion. Empathy. Adoration. Anxiety. Curiosity. Desire.
My blood freezes. I try to swallow but my throat pinches painfully. His lips turn down at each corner, and I understand immediately that he also has this optic display flashing in front of his eyes and he could see everything my body is going through. I blink slowly and empty the images in my head. I breathe in deep, trying to slow my drumming heart and stare into his robotic blue eyes.
I know it’s working because the words displayed across his face are:Relief. Gratitude.The last one still saysDesire.
“I think youlikeme,” I smile. I feel drunk on adrenaline.
His hands drop to his sides and I thud back down on the slab of metal. I didn’t even realize he’d been holding me up. “Rest as long as you need, then leave,” his eyes darken and his voice is harsh.
My trembling stills as warmth rushes up my chest. I bolt up off the table and stand in front of him. I lift my face so close to his that our breath mixes and we breathe each other in. I’m about to yell, scream at him, when the words stream across his face.Regret. Disgust.Then,Indifference.
My chest aches and my breathing catches in my throat. My face must read Humiliation. Insecurity. Hurt. I stumble back and focus my eyes on the top of his head. I can’t look at his face and see disgust. “What about my sister?”
“I will find her and bring her to you,” he says hoarsely.
“But what about—”
“It’s over. This is not something you can fight. Go. Leave here and never come back.”Disgust. Hate. Resentment. Anger. Rage.The words flash in red.
My skin tightens so hard across my chest with humiliation my ribs ache. “I. Hate. You.” It’s all I can manage to bite out. There’s a hard knot at the back of my throat that’s making it hard to breathe or swallow.
“Good,” he whispers as he spins on his heel and heads for the door. “It’ll keep you safe.”
Hate. Hate. Rage. Rage. Warning. Warning. Violent thoughts.The words flicker in big bold red text as he yanks open the door and storms out, slamming it shut behind him.
So with this metal shit on, every one of them can read emotions. How the hell am I going to get out of here?
