There was no use protesting. She was too strong. She caught his flailing hand and fastened it as quickly as the first. The sharp edge of the plastic pinched the thin skin at his wrist. He tugged without thinking, testing the hold. His wrist didn’t budge. Trapped, Nate struggled harder. His arms stretched out painfully, one to the side of the bunk and the other to the bunk above. He was exposed.
Helpless.
He couldn’t get Pixel out like this.
Agatha’s hands slipped into his hair, and this time he knew what to expect and froze. She clenched her fingers very slowly, not quite tugging.
“Good. You’re wise to settle down. I have errands to run. And sadly, I can’t trust aTinkererroaming free around my precious things,” she said. “Pixel, there’s clean water in the bucket here. Give some to Juniper if she wakes, and feel free to give some to Nathan if he asks for it. I trust you’ll be a good girl?”
“Yes.” Pixel climbed down and perched behind Nate, her pointy chin on his shoulder. He could feel the coiled tension in her body, but she kept her voice light and made herself small. “What if Nate has to go to the bathroom?”
Agatha laughed. “I won’t be gone that long. I’m sure he can hold it. This is to keep you safe too, little one. Nothing bad will happen to you if you stay here. With me.”
She left without another word. The lock clicked behind her.
Pixel jutted her chin. “I wish she’d fall in the sludge and die.”
Nate couldn’t help laughing, the sound wet and short. “Me too.”
His tired smile quickly faded, and panic that began as a tickle expanded until it pinched his lungs as hard as the ties at his wrists.
He started tugging.
He needed his hands.
He couldn’t do anything without his hands.
They were useless, already swelling up, trapped against the bed. The ties were too tight. There wasn’t enough air down here, no windows, no wind.
Nothing but blood and the musty smell of death.
Horror gripped him, snagging his breath, graying his vision. It smothered his thoughts and left room for nothing but terror and the thunderous beating of his heart.
This was no place for Pixel. He had to get her out. He was supposed to get her out. He couldn’t get her out.
“Nate!” Pixel climbed around him and stood with her hands at her hips. Her eyes glittered. Hard. Determined.
She took a deep breath and dumped the bucket of water over his head.
Breath catching on a ragged gasp, Nate stared at her. Cold water soaked his shirt, dripped down his face and sputtered at his lips.
The panic didn’t go away, but it became something he could give a name to. And then he could breathe again. Tears and water ran trickled down his cheeks.
“I’m stuck,” he finally managed, unable to find more words to explain.
Pixel narrowed her eyes. “I saw.” She nodded toward one of his wrists, where blood ran down his forearm. The thin, hard plastic had cut through his skin. “Stop flopping and hurting yourself and tell me what to do.”
Her courage startled him into a breathless smile. “Pix. You should be the one in charge.”
She grinned, brilliant white baby teeth and the crooked adult ones crowded together. Her small, warm hands wiped the water out of his eyes. “When I’m in charge, I’m not gonna hurt anybody.”
Nate’s chest ached. “I believe that,” he said, voice thick. He bowed his head and shuddered, trying to gain control of the lingering impulse to fight the ties at his wrists.
Pixel still had a chance.
She coaxed him to look up. When he blinked, more tears fell, and she kissed him on the tip of his nose.
“Pixel. You have to go without me.”
