Chapter 17

Chapter 17

          Sloane was continuing to try to comprehend what he had seen the day before. Rafe had assured him the next morning that Hoka was alive, but he did not add on that he was well. Alive was a relative statement in the grand scheme of things. Sloane hated thinking about anything that ran deeper than superficial, but it had been all that was on his mind since he had seen the horror of it all.

          Jacen and Sloane were mostly being ostracized, with Reginald throwing out some moderate insults every change he came close to them. With them all in the mess hall for dinner, Sloane and Jacen had been left with nowhere to sit. The two were standing against a wall eating. They had sure given the guys fuel for the fire of hating the already special, gifted gentlemen who had joined their ranks.

          A soldier came racing through the doors and leaned down and whispered something to the first person sitting at a table. The cafeteria area feel quiet as the whispering continued like one huge game of telephone, with only Sloane and Jacen being left in the dark. Except it never went quite that far as people were standing out and rushing out of the mess hall. They were not escaping anything, it was more like an anxiety to see something.

          Sloane and Jacen exchanged a look before deciding it was best just to follow and see what was going on. Many other people seemed to have figured the same thing.

          Soon 400 young men, give or take, were heading outside at once. Sloane had an advantage being taller than most of the other soldiers, but he was not a head taller than everyone and was having a hard time finding what was so interesting. Once he saw it he knew. It was honestly hard to miss. There was a carriage sitting in the open area between all of the barracks. The carriage was surrounded by motorbikes, things that Sloane had heard about but never actually seen before. They were only used in the capital as far as he knew, or in back trails. Motorbikes were said to be dangerous but they looked steady so he wondered if it was the speed.

          Shaking his head to try to concentrate he looked back to the center carriage where light green flags with a blue and yellow eye, an all knowing, all seeing eye, sat at the center of the flags. Those flags were the flags of the country. In stark contrast, swishing in the wind right below them, were black flags with a small purple insignia design, Bastian’s design. The president was in that carriage.

          With all of the grandeur that only someone of his caliber could muster, the president’s carriage door opened and he slide out smoothly. He was not particularly tall, but he was regal, with silver-white hair and a face that had not aged in all of his years. Sloane had never seen him, despite Bastian Gentile being the president of the country as long as he had been alive, but he would be hard to miss. He was dressed in a black suit with a purple undershirt and a lighter purple tie. In his gloved hands he held a purple and black cane that was engraved with silver circling around it. He did not look like he needed the cane to walk and it was likely simply for show, or something else Sloane did not want to question.

          Rafe and three other officials pushed through the crowd to greet the president. The other three officials shook Bastian’s hand, but Rafe and Bastian simply bowed at one another. Jacen had taught him years ago that their culture believed in bowing in greeting, but Jacen had been raised in their country and often just sucked it up and let people hug him and shake his hand. Was Bastian being calculating, or was he simply respectful of another culture?

          Sloane did not know Bastian at all other than the propaganda that was spread through the government, but after seeing Hoka and what Bastian’s experiments did to someone, he believed everything that man did was calculating. Even in the way he smiled, changing the smile to accommodate each officer he faced. It was Rafe he pulled away from the crowd, though, all the while greeting and shaking hands with the soldiers. Bastian’s eyes fell on Sloane and Jacen, and he just knew, Sloane could see it through his face, who they were.

          Bastian stopped shaking hands and walked up to them, which was not going to help with the ostracizing from their fellow soldiers. Bastian held out his hand to each of them, and being unable to refuse the president, Sloane and Jacen both shook his hands, even while Rafe winced slightly behind Bastian’s shoulder.

          “I’ve heard much about you two, Sloane and Jacen,” he said. “Including your little stunt that had you outside of the barracks all night, Sloane.” Bastian met Sloane’s eyes and he saw it, a flash of white lightning in the blue eyes that told Sloane Bastian knew far more than he would say.

          “I missed the women on the outside already,” Sloane told the president. “It’s an honor to meet you, Sir.”

          “Our women in the barracks aren’t enough for you?” Bastian asked.

          Sloane was sure there was a particular answer Bastian was looking for and he refused to give it to him. “They are too respectful for my taste, Sir.”

          “So you prefer women of ill repute,” Bastian said.

          Sloane was about to answer, “Of course,” but stopped himself. Bastian was baiting him. Bastian was asking Sloane about one woman in particular, and if he said that Ellie was of ill repute then Bastian would have more reason to dislike her, and less reason to keep her alive.

          “I prefer a woman who prefers me,” Sloane said instead. It was the best answer he could come up with that was insulting to no one.

          “Smart,” Bastian said. “I thought I would come and see our new recruits in action, Dr. Meridion has said how miraculous the two of you are. It sounds like the two of you have no side effects on your gifts, which is rare.”

          Sloane had never thought about that before. Rhapsody had always been sick after using her gifts to heal, without fail, though the degree depended on what she had done. David had the same side effect as far as Sloane knew, though David mostly had sequestered himself, making it harder to ask him to heal someone than it was for Rhapsody to be asked. Did the priestess at the temple have a side effect that he was unaware of? Did Rafe and Bastian for that matter? These were questions he could not possible dream of asking at that particular moment but that were stored for later.

          “I’m not sure what the side effect of aiming would be,” Sloane admitted. “Not being able to aim?”

          “I have a side effect,” Jacen cut in. Bastian looked at him in surprise. “Once the fire is cut off from me it burns me.”

          Bastian’s eyes widened. Sloane’s eyes narrowed. What was Jacen doing? Never tell a madman a weakness like that. Sloane was sure the president would be in a hurry to try it out after this and Jacen would spend another day burning, like Hoka.

          “Well, that is fascinating,” Bastian said. “Why don’t the two of you show me what you can do. I’m sure the people who are following us around would love to see a demonstration. Maybe if they know what the two of you can do they will show you the respect you deserve.”

          He had put every single one of the soldiers in their place with a few simple words and a glance back. Bastian continued, his back straight, “Anyone with a gift is a special guest of the president, and someone I look forward to working with for a long time.” Bastian turned back to Sloane and Jacen and said, “Just do not betray me.”

          Sloane and Jacen did not change their facial expressions. Even Rafe stood stoic, but Sloane had to wonder if his stomach was doing the same flip flops his was. Rafe stepped ahead of them and lead them all to the shooting range, the best place to show off Sloane’s skills. Bastian followed, as did a couple of hundred other soldiers. Most of the soldiers looked as if they were going to decline watching the show, and it seemed they were frightened as well. What they were most frightened of at that moment was questionable, but they were probably correct to be frightened.

          Rafe handed Sloane the sling shot with the colored pellets. Sloane rolled his eyes at something so childish, but pastel pinks, yellows, greens, and blues lit up the targets. Rafe even showed off, turning his back and shooting the pellet at his friend while wanting to hit the center of a moving target behind him. Bastian seemed fascinated by it all.

          “Give him a real weapon, Rafe,” Bastian demanded.

          Rafe pulled out a revolver, Sloane’s revolver, and handed it to him. “Don’t do anything stupid,” he told him.

          Sloane was always stupid, but if he thought he was going to try to shoot the president he need not worry. Sloane shot through the clouds of pastel into the target, hitting the bulls eye dead center every time.

          Someone ran through, changing out the targets that were littered with color and holes. He was moving fast, afraid to be out there in the open it would seem.

          Bastian turned to Jacen and said, “I hear you have to touch something for it to set on fire.”

          “Yes, sir,” Jacen said.

          “Set the targets on fire,” Bastian said. “See if Sloane can hit the center while his target burns away.”

          Jacen stepped over to each target and lit it up. He tried to do a light fire, something that would consume at a slower burn. For the last target he started closer to the center. Rafe was changing the bullets over in the revolver while Jacen moved.

          “Now shoot,” Bastian told Sloane.

          Sloane held up the revolver, his arm feeling weaker than it had before. Despite the obstacles and training, it had not been long enough for him to have grown used to having to shoot his gun that many times. He was also nervous and felt the sweat on his palm like a teenager talking to a girl for the first time.

          Still, he shot at the targets, even as the targets burned away and the bullseye on the one was almost ash. He shot and hit the bullseye every time.

          Bastian asked for one of the targets and someone handed him the large paper that would cover the target hanger. He tore the bullseye off of it and threw it. “Hit it,” he told Sloane.

          Sloane shot without hesitation and the bullet tore through the floating paper. He was growing annoyed with the test; he had already done this before for the doctors. He was wondering what Bastian was truly doing out here, because he did not believe it was simply a test for him.

          “Very good,” Bastian said, impressed. “I guess we can all forgive you sneaking out of the barracks the other night then. To see Eleanore, I presume.”

          Sloane debated lying, but he knew he was caught and lying might end with him on a table having all of his blood drawn. “Yes,” he said.

          “So you know where she is,” Bastian said.

          “No,” Sloane said. “I do not know where she is right now. I know where she was then.”

          Bastian smirked and looked around. The soldiers who had been watching could not hear the conversation, but Jacen and Rafe could. “I feel like I am being betrayed,” Bastian admitted. “You see, I also know that General Yoakim here,” he pointed at Rafe, “also left the area that night. And while he’s free to leave as he wishes, it’s a coincidence, don’t you think? I send a man to look for your friend and you and Rafe both leave the barracks the same night. Everyone is going through a lot to keep this girl out of the capital, which bothers me. Why would you think you need to hide someone from me?”

          “As far as I know, she’s not hiding,” Sloane said. “She simply believed she was not wanted in the capital, and she went home.”

          Wrong answer, and Sloane knew it.

          “Oh? She’s at home?” There was something Sloane did not know, or Rafe or Jacen, because both looked as perplexed as he felt. “Because it’s my understanding her home is gone.”

          “Gone?” Sloane asked. “What do you mean?”

          “I mean, her home was burned to the ground,” Bastian said, “so where she is staying is not at her home. You did not visit her at her home. My man came back and told me she had not been found, and yet here you are telling me you saw her, but where you said you saw her is impossible. Rafe, tell me now, why is this girl so hard to get a handle on? I sent Loqi after her and he still hasn’t returned either.”

          “Loqi?” Rafe asked. “You sent Loqi after her?” He sounded appalled.

          “If the girl does not make an appearance in front of me in the next 24 hours, I will kill her sister,” Bastian said, taking off his gloves and placing them in the pocket of his suit coat.

          “I think that might be going too far,” Rafe said.

          “It feels, to me, that someone is lying to me,” Bastian stated. He held his cane up in his hand, tightening his pale grip, his knuckles going from pale, to pink, to paler than before. It was the only outward indication that he was angry. “When this many people are trying to keep something from me, it makes me understand I need it more than I thought I did. So, Rafe, Sloane, Jacen, which one of you is going to give me what I want?”

          “Sir,” Rafe started.

          Bastian waved him off. “I already know it’s not going to be you, Rafe. You have made that clear. Including you was more of a courtesy. It’s also a warning to you that I know you have betrayed me. I just do not know how deep that betrayal runs.”

          Bastian took the revolver from Sloane and shook bullets out of his cane. He filled the revolver with the bullets and handed it back to Sloane. “Shoot the man who betrayed me,” he told Sloane. “No matter what he does, your aim will be true.”

          “I can’t,” Sloane said honestly.

          “Pull the trigger and shoot him,” Bastian demanded.

          Sloane shrugged and held the gun out, shooting the bullet free. To everyone’s amazement the bullet spun in the air, going nowhere. Rafe’s eyes were wide, and Sloane knew he had been expecting to be shot. There had been a reason Bastian had worded his order the way he did. While Bastian could not control the minds of people, he was persuasive, and so Sloane had aimed for the person who betrayed him. What Bastian did not know is Sloane did, in fact, have a weakness, but unlike Jacen he had never told anyone about it.

          He would still not reveal that weakness. “No one betrayed you,” Sloane said. “I went with David to find Ellie, and had no luck, so I ditched him and went to get drunk. Rafe heard I left and came to get me. He dragged me back. He didn’t tell anyone I left, or what I was up to. No one betrayed you, I am just weak. David came back empty handed because he was worried about what happened to me.”

          Bastian held up the end of his cane and reached it out to touch the bullet, pushing on the twirling thing that had nowhere to go. His striking it caused it to move, shooting straight ahead and towards the target. This was the one time it did not hit a bullseye.

          “I am so relieved by this story,” Bastian said, slowly sliding his gloves back on his hands. “I am relieved to know, Rafe, you are still on my side. I had heard you had forbade young Sloane from leaving, but I see now it was not a lack of help for me, it was knowing that the man before us is weak willed.”

          Bastian reached out his gloved hand who took it, allowing the president to shake his hand. “That does not make you a bad person,” Bastian explained to him. “I am sure Rafe will make you a stronger person before your time with him is through. He does it for all of my men. I apologize for the scare.”

          He turned to the soldiers who were still watching, far enough away to see but not close enough to hear a word that had passed from one man to the next. “Thank you for indulging me my curiosities,” he said loudly, for everyone to see. “It seems my time here is through, though. Rafe, why don’t you walk me back to my carriage?”

          When they were out of sight the soldiers forgot that Sloane and Jacen existed. They were more interested in seeing the president leave, and seeing if they could hear what he would say to Rafe. Sloane had confidence that Rafe would tell them what was said upon his return. Sloane and Jacen hung back at the target range, Sloane with his revolver still in his hand. He felt along the white handle, one of the only gifts his father had ever given him. The odd ridges along the sides were actually engraved names, his father’s, his mother’s, and his own. Where his father’s name is, or was, he had filed it down to make it look more like a wave. It had been an act of rebellion his father had never noticed.

          Something in Sloane’s world shifted. He felt the world shake under him while nothing happened, and Jacen did not seem to notice. Sloane looked about and found the reason his world had tremored. In the sunlight there was a man standing there who looked as if he did not belong, but Sloane could not focus on him. He was coming forward, taking shape as he did, until Sloane actually recognized him. It was not until Sloane recognized him that Jacen was able to sense him as well, turning and facing him.

          Loqi’s right shoulder was bleeding, the blood staining the black fabric. “You shot me,” Loqi snapped.

          Sloane thought about when the bullet went wild after Bastian pushed it and asked, “Why would you be standing behind a target?”

          “No, you daft dolt,” Loqi snapped. “He told you to shoot who betrayed him. You shot me.”

          “But the bullet-“

          “Did exactly what I wanted you to see it did,” Loqi snapped. “Now find Rafe so I can get this damned bullet out of my shoulder.”

          Loqi disappeared again from view, but the blood was still there, pooling at the ground. Jacen offered to stay with Loqi while Sloane went to find Rafe. He found him surrounded by other soldiers who wanted to discuss the president’s visit with him. Sloane moved forward and said, “I’m sorry to bother you, General, but I need your help.”

          Rafe made an excuse and left the other soldiers, going back to the target practice where Loqi was now clearly visible and sitting in a chair with Jacen trying to staunch the bleeding.

          “Loqi,” Rafe said, “you need to stay coherent because you need to keep up the illusion that we are not here right now. What the Hell were you doing back there? And why did you get shot?”

          “You know, you are asking a lot of a man who is bleeding on what was once a pristine uniform,” Loqi said.

          “You can make quips, you aren’t doing too badly yet, now answer the questions.” Rafe took out a knife he had in his belt and began cutting away the material. “If you saw a healer this wouldn’t scar.”

          “Most of the healers hate me right now,” Loqi said. “Sloane was told to shoot the person who betrayed Bastian. Unfortunately, I am the person who betrayed him.”

          “I was aiming for myself,” Sloane snapped.

          “I know,” Loqi said, “except you didn’t account for me being there, and that’s why Rafe thinks you need more training. You only account for what you know is there.”

          “You betrayed Bastian?” Rafe asked, revealing the gunshot wound. Rafe turned to Jacen and said, “When I tell you, I’m going to need you to heat up this blade so I can cauterize the wound.” Jacen nodded as answer.

          “I have decided to join your rebellion, Rafe,” Loqi said. “I was coming to see if I could use mind manipulation on Bastian.”

          “You don’t have mind manipulation,” Rafe said.

          “I borrowed it from a friend. Fuck, that hurt.” The bullet came out of Loqi’s shoulder and landed on the ground at their feet.

          “Now Jacen,” Rafe told him. Jacen put his hands on the blade until it was red hot. Rafe smacked the flat of it down on Loqi’s shoulder and Loqi let out a scream of anguish and Sloane wondered if for a moment the illusion broke, if anyone had heard the scream. It was hard to tell from inside the illusion bubble.

          “You wanted that to hurt,” Loqi hissed at Rafe.

          “A bit,” Rafe admitted. “Does Eleanore know you stole some of her gift?”

          “I only stole enough to make her tired,” Loqi said. “For the record, it didn’t work, or I wouldn’t have been shot.”

          “She’s a baby, of course it didn’t work,” Rafe snapped.

          “What did you do to Ellie?” Sloane was suddenly asking, reaching over to push his fingers into Loqi’s shoulder.

          Loqi reached down for the knife, ready to slice Sloane open, but Rafe slid between the two of them. “No fighting like children,” Rafe snapped. “Loqi can borrow the powers of others, but there’s a side effect to the people he borrows it from. And the time is limited. If you left Eleanore where I think you did, it’s a 4 hour travel time, you had to borrow enough to get from there, to here, and to sneak around without being seen.”

          “I took hours siphoning it,” Loqi promised.

          “What is going on?” Sloane asked, frustrated at the conversation the two were having without him or Jacen.

          “Loqi just betrayed Bastian by joining with your friend in the rebellion,” Rafe explained to Sloane as if he were slow. “He borrowed Eleanore’s gift from her to try to manipulate the president. You shot him while he was using his illusion to hide himself and he used the illusion to make you see what was actually supposed to happen, because you were aiming at yourself. Except you can’t shoot yourself. Where Jacen can burn himself with his flames if he separates from them, you can never aim for yourself, which is something you know, I don’t want to know how you know that.”

          “How did you know that, though?” Sloane asked.

          “It was a guess,” Rafe said. “I supposed I am right. Loqi, how are you feeling?”

          “Just splendid,” Loqi lied. “I feel like I could run a mile. This was exactly how I saw my day going. I love bloodshed. Wait, that part is true. I love other people’s bloodshed. I know someone I would like to spill the blood of right now.” Loqi glared at Sloane. Sloane glared back.

          “Enough, you two,” Rafe snapped. “Let’s get Loqi somewhere he won’t be seen before he passes out and can’t hold the illusion any longer.”

          “I hoped it would work,” Loqi said.

          “I know,” Rafe explained. “Come on, we’re going to my house. Sloane, Jacen, you two are coming as well.”

          Sloane and Jacen followed, though Sloane was not excited. In fact, he really wanted to pull his revolver out again and shoot Loqi. He brushed off his dislike to the moment when Loqi made him think that he had shot two of his best friends. He knew there was more to it, though. That was something to be mulled over when he had time to think, not when they had to rush him from the barracks and to Rafe’s home without being seen.

Chapter 16

Chapter 16

          Ellie sat in the little cafeteria, sipping at a glass of juice, not believing that she was sitting here amongst her neighbors and no one was noticing her, or at least noticing who she was. Loqi said they could go somewhere for breakfast if she absolutely promised not to use her manipulation on him. His illusions broke if she tried to override them, and while that absolutely was something she would taken advantage of one day, at this time she did admit the need to eat was outweighing her need to escape General Loqi at this point.

          “You aren’t going to take me where you were staying, and we are not going back to the manor,” Loqi said, “so what would your suggestion be?”

          Ellie had not thought of a suggestion yet. She was bone tired and hungry. Fighting Loqi had been exhausting, and then the vision he had shown her had rubbed her nerves raw. Her body ached in ways that should have been physically impossible, and still there it was, causing her to burn. She refused to let him know how much he hurt her, though. If she told Loqi about that he might try to do more than just kiss her. He got off on her pain, and she would have been more disgusted if she was not ready to start eating the little sugar packets if they did not bring her food soon.

          “I don’t have one yet,” she admitted.

          “You’re stalling,” he said.

          “A bit,” she admitted. “I really am useless right now, though. I’m starving and I can’t think when I’m hungry. You’re paying for this, though, right?”

          Loqi shrugged and said, “If you insist, as long as you don’t manipulate me into doing so.”

          “You don’t use an illusion on me, and I won’t use manipulation on you. On purpose.”

          “Fair enough.”

          The waitress brought them their food and the two began eating in silence. What she really needed was sleep, but she was not going to fall asleep in front of Loqi. They had stayed up through the night, watching one another, waiting for the other to do something that the other would have to fight. They had not left the site of her parents’ death.

          When the sun rose, her stomach had grumbled, and she asked him if he could cause them to not be seen. He brushed it off as if it was the easiest thing in the world to him. She did not believe she could have concentrated to do anything while exhaustion took her over, and yet he did not look as if he had just spent the night wide awake with her. He looked well rested.

          “Did you sleep and just use illusion to make me think you were awake?” Ellie asked accusingly.

          Loqi barked out a laugh. “Darling, no.” Ellie narrowed his eyes and he held his hands up in surrender. “I swear to you, I have not gotten any sleep behind your back. I simply can go longer than you can without sleep. It happens.”

          Ellie doubted him, but she was too tired to keep arguing.

          “It’s a side effect,” he explained. “How tired you are. You were actually trying to use your gift last night, in large amounts, and then I was in your head, your body is having a hard time coping because it’s not used to doing that amount of work. It just takes getting used to.”

          “Like you? You don’t even get tired,” she said to him.

          “Illusion is second nature to me now,” he said. “But I’ve had a long time to practice.”

          “You’re… not the age you look, are you?” Ellie asked him.

          Loqi smiled and drank from his cup of coffee. “Not even close,” he said. “But don’t let that bother you, I still act like I did when I was your age.”

          “I can tell,” she retorted. Loqi did not look upset by her comment, he simply smiled and let it roll off of him. She was sure he was saving it up for later, though. She had yet to figure out a way to slip him to go back to the cavern and Baye. She was not trying to make her friend worry, she had just needed to clear her head after learning about her parents. Instead of clearing her head it was full of fog and she could not grasp a handle on any one thought for long. The food was helping, but if she did not sleep soon she would collapse at an inopportune moment.

          “You must have questions you want to ask me,” Loqi said, finishing his small meal of toast and eggs and just cradling his mug of coffee.

          “No,” Ellie said flatly and struggling to cut into the thick sausage on her plate with her fork.

          “Are you afraid of the answers?” Loqi asked her.

          “Yes,” Ellie admitted. Her fork poked through the sausage forcefully enough that the end she was cutting off shot off of her plate and across the small café. She looked to see where it went to and gasped when Baye walked into the café. Baye’s eyes were searching, and Ellie knew she was searching for her. She had likely gone to the burn site and seen that Ellie was not there and came looking for her in town, wondering if she would be stupid enough to go have breakfast. Well, she was right, Ellie was stupid enough.

          Ellie opened her mouth to say something, then closed it. She wanted Baye to come over, to protect her from being alone with the general any longer. At the same time she did not know what he would do to Baye if she did come over. She had seen how cold he had been watching David tear his own eye out of his face, why would he care about someone he had never met before.

          Loqi caught her watching the other lady and leaned back in his seat. “Your friend?”

          Ellie winced and turned away. “I know her, yes.” There was no use in lying. He would see right through it and if she tried to manipulate him she would fail. Even if she managed to start to he would be alerted and it would become a battle of wills again. At this point in time he was stronger than she was, he might always be, but she was determined to try to not let him win.

          Baye spotted them, her eyes widening. She did not hesitate to rush forward and join them at their table, sitting next to Ellie and across from Loqi. “What are you doing here?” she was asking Ellie, reaching out and wrapping her arms around her friend.

          Ellie eyed Loqi. He had dropped the illusion, or at least allowed Baye into it with them. He gave nothing away other than a simple shrug to show he had done what Ellie knew he did. They why was a mystery that he may never try to explain.

          “Eating,” Ellie said.

          “If you’re seen word will get back to the president where you are,” Baye huffed. Ellie pointed her fork at Loqi, who was still dressed in the uniform of a decorated general. Baye reacted as if she had just noticed him and startled at him.

          Loqi, in usual extravagant fashion, offered Baye his hand across the table and introduced himself as, “General Loqi Quarant, Illusionist, and Eleanore’s boyfriend.”

          Baye’s look could not have gone anymore astonished as she looked to Ellie, shaking the man’s hand. “He’s lying,” Ellie said. “He’s just trying to get a rise out of me, or you, I don’t even know who he is picking on at the moment.

          “Neither of you,” Loqi said with a pout. “Eleanore, I simply want to be by your side, have I not made that clear to you yet?”

          “So, you’re like, in love with her?” Baye asked.

“I do not love her, I am obsessed with her. She’s an addiction,” Loqi admitted with his usual blasé attitude about everything. “But I will love her, and she will love me, even if it is all illusion. For now, I just need to be near her, be with her. So, as long as she is here and on your side, I am as well.” It was a glimmer of pure honesty from him. Ellie was surprised at his confession, not the obsession with her, she was not a moron, she had picked up on that when he had found her at the burned down house, but that he was willing to swear a loyalty to her.

“I-“ Baye was cut off.

“I assume you are  part of Rafe’s rebellion,” Loqi said to her.

“How did you-“

“I know many things,” Loqi said. “What good would I be as a spy if I didn’t?”

“You just don’t report back as much as you know,” Ellie said.

“I am out for myself,” Loqi admitted. “Revealing my entire hand might have me on the experiment table next. Bastian knows enough to know I’m worth every penny and keeping around, and no more than that. If I’m better than he gives me credit for, I might be worth the experiment table.

“Which is why I can’t let them know I found Eleanore,” he said to Baye. “She will go to the experiment table.”

“What about Rhapsody?” Ellie asked. “I haven’t thought about her, but if he used David, why wouldn’t he use Rhapsody in the same way?”

“David agreed to his position to protect Rhapsody years ago,” Loqi said. “I don’t think Bastian needs more than one healer, unless he loses David, and then she’s free game. But he doesn’t have someone like you.”

          “And we can’t let him have her,” Baye agreed. “Which is why she needs to come back to the cave with me.”

“To do what exactly?” Loqi asked.

“Not get caught,” Baye explained.

“Amazing life that would be,” Loqi said. “Why don’t we try something different?”

“Like?” Baye asked.

“Finding out if we can manipulate a president.”

“You just said you would be on her side,” Baye argued.

“And I am. And her side is rebelling, the same as yours I assume, and I also assume you are a reason for that, but just sitting on the sidelines is going to get us nowhere.”

Baye sat back in her seat. Ellie watched her, hoping, though she was not sure what she was hoping for. Loqi cocked his head at Ellie and said, “You could force her.”

“Not if I can help it,” Ellie said. “Every time I do it I feel this pressing guilt.”

Loqi was not demanding she change Baye’s mind, it was an inquiry into her decisions. They exchanged a look while Baye was pondering, and Ellie felt her cheeks turn pink again. The last thing she wanted was to fall for someone like Loqi, even if it was just a rush of having someone who liked her. Loqi was a twisted mind she did not have any interest in looking deeper into.

“How do we get her close to the president to try it?” Baye asked. “Because he obviously can’t see her. Once he does he’ll have some sort of defense up. I don’t know all of Bastian’s powers, but I know enough to fear him.”

“He’s  good at keeping what he does a secret,” Loqi agreed. “I am in his entourage of trusted acquaintances and I only know a few things.”

“Like?”

“No, I do not think I will be telling you that quite yet,” Loqi said to Baye.

“You said you were on her side,” Baye argued.

“I can be on her side and not show all of my cards to her friend that I do not know.”

“You barely know her.”

“When you have been inside someone’s mind you know more about them than they will ever admit to themselves.”

“Wait, is that true?” Ellie interrupted. “When you showed me that vision, you didn’t…” Loqi gave her that honest smile and she blanched. “What did you see?” she asked, horrified.

          “So much,” he said. “I know enough to know that kiss with me was not your first, but it was your first with someone you enjoyed it with.”

          “That’s easy stuff,” she sneered.

          “You admit you enjoyed kissing me?” he asked, having trapped her into an admission she was not enjoying.

          “Can we focus?” Baye asked. “I’m glad you had a night of intimacy that I have no desire to hear about,” Ellie slammed her glass on the table in a show of displeasure, but Baye barreled over it, her anger obvious but for what reason not as much, “but we need an actual plan, not just ideas.”

          “We need to get one of his experiments out to play,” Loqi said. “He’s been itching to use one on someone. Every experiment has a bit of Bastian’s blood. If you can manipulate one of those experiments, we might have an idea if we can manipulate the president himself.”

          “How do we get him to release an experiment?” Baye asked.

          “Let me go back to Rafe,” Loqi said. “I can still come and go as I please. If I refuse to go to the manor the president will just assume I am failing and brush me off for a time. I have some freedom left.”

          “What if he doesn’t?” Ellie asked.

          Loqi did not look bothered with the possibility. “It just means that my time will be over sooner than I was hoping for.”

          “You’re so casual about death,” Baye said.

          “Bastian will never suspect that I am working with the people he’s fighting,” Loqi said honestly. “I have been on his size without question for far longer than I would like to mention.”

          “And for Ellie, someone you’ve known a minute, you are willing to throw that away?” Baye asked doubtfully. Ellie wasn’t sure if she should be offended by that or not. “Ellie, I say we murder him and cut our losses.”

          Ellie turned to Loqi and said, “Don’t fight it.”

Loqi let out a sigh or resignation and said, “Don’t forget my payment afterward,” before closing his eyes.

Ellie thinned her lips in exasperation before saying, “Loqi, be honest, are you on our side?”

“I am on your side, Eleanore,” Loqi said. “Only your side, whatever side you are on.”

“Why?”

“You are just using this to abate your own curiosity now,” Loqi pointed out.

“Why?” she asked again, putting more force behind the question.

Loqi winced, he had been fighting it, but he let it go and said, “I already told your friend why. You intrigue me, and once I saw in your head I wanted no more than to be by your side, in any capacity.”

Ellie released him and slumped in her seat. She had been too tired to do that. “I need rest,” she admitted like a child.

Loqi stood and said, “Let me get you two somewhere safe, and then I will go. Unless, Baye, you have an objection to me getting help from Rafe.”

“I’m afraid he’s going to get caught and this will all go wrong,” Baye admitted.

Ellie’s head was growing foggy. She was having a hard time staying sitting up. Loqi reached across the table and lifted her like she weighed no more than a child, throwing her over his shoulder. “Come on, let’s walk. She needs to sleep. If you want to go to your home in town and not show me where the base is, I respect that. Eleanore was trying to keep me from it as well, so in case you are mad at her, thinking she betrayed you, she has been on your side this entire time.”

“I’m still awake,” Ellie mumbled into Loqi’s shoulder.

She was aware of their chuckling, and the conversation continuing even after she closed her eyes. She was sure she fell asleep in Loqi’s arms because the next time she was aware of she was being tucked onto a couch and wrapped into an old blanket. She opened her eyes and recognized Baye’s home, the one in the city she had been to several times over the last two years. She was comfortable here, but afraid with Loqi gone she would be caught.

“I will put up an illusion,” Loqi told her. “It will last a few hours so you can sleep. I can’t make it last much longer than that, though. When you awaken you will need to be vigilant, but you should be safe since you are inside.”

“Be safe,” Ellie told him, still drowsy.

“I knew you cared.” He leaned forward and kissed her, but this kiss was gentle, almost sweet. She was surprised until he bit her bottom lip, making it bleed. She reached up and touched the swollen lip and he said, “You’re too tired to truly torture you, it would be no fun.”

Baye took his spot on the couch and he left the house. Ellie watched him through the haze. “I hope he doesn’t betray us,” Baye said.

“He’s lying about something,” Ellie told her friend. “Not about being on our side, I believe him, but there’s something he’s lying about, I’m just too tired to find out what it is. I couldn’t search.”

“Ellie, get some sleep, we’ll talk when you wake up.” Baye squeezed her friends hand and said, “I’m sorry, again, about your parents.” Ellie saw the vision Loqi had given her, of two bullet holes in their heads. She had forgotten it, or pushed it aside, in the hours since Loqi had joined by her side. She believed a lot of that was his illusions. She had no doubt he had been using illusions on her. The weaker she had become the more susceptible to his gift she had become. It was no longer a war, it was not even a battle. She had felt the illusions close in on her and she had let them, especially at breakfast.

She could not dwell on the lies he told, because she knew there was no sense. She was too tired to figure it out. She closed her eyes one last time before falling asleep squeezing her friend’s hand.

Chapter 15

Chapter 15

               He had been there hours, simply sitting on a bench that was across the street from the burn site of the home. Patience was a virtue, or something like that. Loqi simply knew if you were hunting something it was often more effective just to let the victim come straight to you. And she did. Dressed in clothes she looked like she stole, everything ill fitting but black to help her blend into the shadows, even a black hat to cover the blood red of her hair, she came around what once would have been the back of the house.

               The neighbors had their lights on, but they were avoiding looking at the burn sight. Even if they did look, they would only see the broken items that were still left behind, waiting for someone in the city to clear everything away. The people of the city knew nothing more than the house burned down. To them, Rhapsody and Ellie were still missing, having run away from home. They would not have been searching for Ellie even if they had been watching the house, they thought they would never see her again.

               Ellie stepped carefully onto the broken wood. Loqi could see tears streaming down her face, but she was silent, trying to not be seen. No matter what she did, she stood out and she should be grateful he was there keeping anyone from seeing her. She did not see him, though. He decided to give her time to dig through the remains of her childhood, to say goodbye to what had been done to her parents.

               He felt nothing for their deaths, he had not known them, and they had been traitors. He would have enjoyed torturing them for more answers. Perhaps they knew something more than they had said.  Had the father possibly known what he was doing to his children? Had it been suggested to that man by someone to do that to the painting?

               Loqi sneered at himself. Overthinking was not in his repertoire of skills her preferred to partake in. It did him no good. Still, the niggling at the back of his head continued to bother him and he wished David had not decided it was easier to kill his parents.

               Because David had known something.

               “Fuck,” Loqi said to himself.

               Ellie’s head came up and she looked at the bench. Loqi knew she did not see him, but she heard him, or at least had heard something through his illusion. He blamed his overthinking, one of the reasons he preferred not to, and fell silent again.

               Ellie was holding a board in her hand, somewhere in the vicinity of where the sitting room would have been in the house. Loqi knew what she was looking for, and she would not find it. She knew she would not find it.

               He stood from the bench, having given her enough time to dig through the items on the ground. Ellie clenched the board tightly in her hand and Loqi realized too late she had, at the very least, sensed him. She swung the board up and around, ready to strike whatever was in striking distance. Loqi leaned back, just out of reach of the board, but he felt the wind of it along his face. Her aim was good, even fighting blindly.

               “How did you know I was here?” Loqi asked, truly curious.

               She looked directly at him. “I could hear you,” she told him. She swung the board again, and he knew she could see him now. He dodged, and was ashamed he almost stumbled over the rubble of her home. He jumped back and she came at him swinging again. She was scared and prepared to run.

               Loqi reached out, catching her arm on the third swing and stopping her, pulling her towards him, twisting her around, and holding her in very much the same position he had held her in when he had a gun to her back only a few days before. “I’m beginning to think you like it in my arms,” he told her.

               “You are delusional,” she snapped at him, struggling, less afraid than she had been on the train. That would make torturing her all the more sweeter.

               “No, Eleanore, you are.” Loqi played with the illusion, but left it up to her mind to make the decision. Loqi did not see the illusions that people saw when he put the illusion up, and the ones where he allowed people to choose their own illusions, unless they said names he only knew how they reacted.

               He released her and she stepped back, staring at him. She did not see him anymore, but whoever she wanted to see most. She wrinkled her nose and stepped back several feet. She looked around her. She was no longer in the open air of the burned down home, she was somewhere she felt safe. She reached out and ran her hand up and down nothing, but he was sure in her own vision she was touching a wall of some sort, feeling if it was real. Loqi had a guess where she thought she was. This very house, before it burned, somewhere she had grown up and been loved. She very well could have been seeing her father in Loqi right now, someone she missed immeasurably, but had been willing to leave behind to stay with her friends.

               “Stop it,” she hissed at him.

               Loqi felt the entire illusion drop. There they stood, facing one another, her anger flashing in her eyes, her fists clenching at her sides. He was sure she was looking for her board again to try to hit him again.

               “How did you do that?” he asked her. “How did you break it?”

               “I am telling you nothing,” she snapped at him.  

               “Fair enough,” he said. “I can torture it out of you later.”

               “I’m not going anywhere with you,” Ellie stated.

               Glancing around at the rubble Loqi turned back to her and said, “How are you going to stop me? With another board?”

               “I’ll fight my way out,” she insisted.

               “Look, you are going back to the manor with me. Bastian is anxious to meet you.” She paled. Loqi caught it. She felt she had been betrayed, he knew the look, he had seen it on many faces before. “Oh, this is amazing,” he said to her. “David knows where you are. He did find you.”

               “No,” she said, and she said it with an absolution that almost made him believe her. He felt the prick in his head, a twinge, but he fought through it, causing an illusion he did not mean. She screamed out and he did not know what she saw, but as he fought through what she was doing, she was fighting through what he did back to her.

               It was quick, but both were panting when it was done. He stared at her, a bead of sweat dripping down her face. She was fighting his illusions as he was fighting whatever it was she could do. “He thought you had a form of manipulation,” Loqi said. “He wasn’t wrong. How strong is it?”

               “I don’t know,” she said honestly. “Why can you stop it?”

               “Probably because both of us have a form of manipulation,” Loqi said. “I can feel when you are trying it on me.”

               Ellie’s lips thinned and she said, “Well, this has been a pleasant conversation and all, but I’m going to go now. Don’t follow me.” He felt it again, the twinge in his head. It caused a headache to form, but he fought through it again and once again she screamed as he threw the first thing at her he could, which was the sight of her parents bodies on the ground. She reached up and tore at her hair, pulling hard and closing her eyes.

               Loqi moved while she was fighting it, he had little choice despite the pain throbbing. He grabbed her and tackled her down to the ground, pinning her there as she fought and bit at him. He held her arms over her head and forced her to stay down. “Stop fucking with my head,” he snapped at her. “Every time you do I’ll get meaner.”

               “What could possibly be meaner than showing me my parents dead bodies?” she screamed and snapped at him.

               “You would be surprised,” he said. “Stop fighting.” Ellie went limp. She was not dwelling that he showed her the actual vision of their bodies on the floor, bullets in their heads. Likely, she thought it was just a cruel vision he was creating, when the pain had been too sharp for him to have been that manipulative at that moment.

               The two stared at one another, neither willing to move. Loqi wondered if he lost his complete illusion and they would be noticed. Before she could manipulate him, or give him another headache, he pushed off of her and looked around. He made sure to reinforce the illusion around them that kept them hidden, and unheard. Someone walked in front of a window in the house that was kitty corner from where they stood, but no one looked out the window. She did not want to be seen as much as he did not want to be seen, between the two of them no one would notice them.

               Loqi and Ellie were sizing one another up, wondering how to win the situation. Her only instinct was escape, his was to take her back to the manor. Back to the manor and back to Bastian’s experiments. He pictured this young woman in the same shape as David and again felt that disgust, wondering if she would turn into Bastian’s willing slave after she was disfigured by him. If she wanted to be the slave of someone who could torture he, he would much rather her be his slave.

               Returning her to Bastian was not an option, but letting her go was not an option either.

               “Why do you not want to go back, you would be with your siblings,” Loqi pointed out. “You were the one running away just to be with your sister and friends. No one has hurt you, you have been promised a good life, why run?”

               Ellie faltered in her stare down. He saw the question and answers go over her face, he saw her work through an answer that was satisfactory, at least to her. He did not expect her to answer him, but she did give him an answer in her next question. “Are you an experiment?”

               Loqi let out a belting laugh. “No, I’m naturally this messed up,” he admitted. “I did not need someone to experiment on me to make me enjoy the pain of others. You know about the experiments.”

               Ellie gave her hand a waver back and forth to indicate she knew very little and had been looking to him for a confirmation. He had given it to her. They were back at their stare down, neither knowing what to do or say next, while trying to figure out how best to win. Loqi could not return her to Bastian, but he could not let her go.

               “If you give me something, I will give you something,” Loqi said.

               “What?” she asked, not hesitating.

               “I am not ready to hand you over, but I am not letting you out of my sight, so you are stuck with me,” he said. “That part is not negotiable. But if you come to me freely I will tell you why David is scarred.”

               “Come to, oh ew, no.” Loqi dodged the board she threw wildly at him.

               Loqi placed a hand over his heart. “First of all, that hurts. I am pretty sure I am the best prospect you will ever get. Secondly, we would make a beautiful experiment of one another.”

               “All right, I am tired of hearing about experiments,” Ellie snapped at him. “I think I am going to leave now.”

               “You aren’t,” he said. “I told you no matter what happens now, I am sticking with you. If you would like to go back to the manor that strongly, we can. I do not recommend it.”

               Ellie stopped, turning back to him, determined. “Show me.”

               “What?” he asked.

               “Show me,” she demanded again. Loqi let out a shrug and showed her a vision that visibly raised the hair on the back of her neck and had her pale cheeks turn pink. “Not that,” she snapped at him.

               “How was I supposed to know what you meant?” he asked.

               “I mean show me the experiments.” Ellie said it with an eye roll, trying to brush off the image he had pulled up for her.

               He stepped closer to her and she stepped back, away from him. He reached out and grabbed her arm, forcing her close to him, and he said, “Stop struggling and just close your eyes. I don’t want you to imagine you are there, I simply want to show it to you.”

               “I don’t trust you,” she whispered.

               “You asked,” he pointed out. “I could be faking what I’m showing you, but I am going to show you what happened to David.”

               “You said you would only-“

               “I’ll get my prize from you,” he said. “But I don’t want another headache by forcing off your mind trick, so let me show you.”

               Ellie watched him, silent, her eyes looking over him, searching for something, anything that was recognizable to her. Nothing was, he was an enigma she did not understand, which was just proof of her innocence. He was going to break her of that innocence. He only hoped she would be as fun to play with when he did.

               She closed her eyes hesitantly. Before he could use illusion on her she opened an eye again, watching him. He simply stared her down, causing her to close her eye once more. With a sigh, he leaned his forehead against hers, causing her to jerk. His hands tightened around her arms, holding her in place while he forced the image directly into her mind.

               Loqi was not there for it, he did not see the entire experiment. He had been there for the part where David volunteered to be a part of the experiment with a young woman Loqi had never seen before. She was strapped to a table, a gag in her mouth to keep her from screaming. She had not been a volunteer. Loqi did not know where Bastian had found her, or how she came to that chamber beyond Bastian’s wall. He had come with David and Bastian had turned to them, asking them who would volunteer to help him. Dr. Meridion had been in the corner, watching, waiting for a volunteer, looking less like the kind man who worked with Dr. Torrow and more like the mad scientist he truly was, the glasses on his face gleaming in the blue lights of the chamber.

               He felt Ellie’s tightening when she spotted Dr. Meridion in the background.

               Loqi volunteered, but only as an illusion. Loqi was already hoping they would choose David over him, but if he did not pretend to volunteer Bastian would show him his disappointment, and while Loqi was not scared of much, he was scared of Bastian. In order to show Ellie the true image of what happened, he also had to show her his fear, let her feel it running through her senses, burning through her veins. She was growing stiffer under his grip with every passing second. Her heart raced. He was not sure how much longer he could keep her in place without pushing too deep into her thoughts.

               David stepped forward, offering himself as the one they would use the blood from. Dr. Meridion stood and pulled out a needle while Bastian dismissed Loqi. Loqi left the room and for Ellie he fast forwarded. He did not need her to see the waiting, the illusion was hurting her and he was running out of time.

               He came back to when David was screaming. Loqi did not hesitate to rush back into the chamber, his curiosity the bigger reason and not coming to the rescue for the young man. David was directly hooked up to the woman, whose eyes were lifeless, blood dripping from her lips and soaking through the gag that had kept her quiet. David, however, could not stop screaming, tearing at his own face, trying to remove his own eye with his fingers. Until he did. He dug deep enough, pulling his eye from his socket and still he tore at his face, his shortened nails pulling at the skin and tearing it away. Loqi watched in fascination, unable to do anything else.

               “David,” Dr. Meridion was saying, pulling the needle from the dead woman and dropping it to the ground, trying to stop the connection. “David, you need to stop right now.”

               Ellie could take no more. He felt her mind screaming through his for him to let her go and he did instead of fighting the manipulation, which did not hurt. Her nails digging into his hands did hurt, however, and he wondered when that had happened because there were bloody gashes in the sides of his hands. She was leaning back, stiff, unable to move as the connection was broken, but somehow she had still managed to reach up and grab him, trying to tear herself away from the vision.

               “Eleanore,” he said, trying to force her limbs to move, to force her to react to him in any way. “Eleanore!” he called.

               She crumpled, and he felt a breath of relief. He had seen people broken from a link like that, because he had been the one who broke them. He did not want to break her, only to torture her soul. That had almost been too much on her, though. Going into someone’s mind to show them memories was rough, even for him. He could manipulate the memories any way he wished, but it would not keep it from being an intrusion. His illusions fooled the mind most of the time, which was less intrusive, it was just a trick that most people were susceptible to, but entering their minds and showing them a memory could change their entire being if not done carefully.

               Still, it was better to risk the link with her than it would have been to have had her seen the room, to have been standing there, helpless to do anything, listening to David scream.

               Ellie was panting from the ground but she was regaining control of herself. He reached a hand out to her which she smacked away. “You just watched,” she said to him.

               “I am not a healer, Eleanore,” he reminded her.

               “You could have gotten help,” she accused.

               “I didn’t want to,” he admitted. “I don’t care what happens to David.”

               “Then why are you helping me?” Ellie asked. “You could return me to Bastian and let him do… that to me.”

               “No, I can’t,” Loqi said.

               Ellie pushed to her feet, struggling to keep standing. He was impressed she was fighting it off. It might not be easy, but he had seen grown men who had taken a link like that and been down much longer. He continued to grow fascinated by her every move. They were alike, whether she wanted to admit it or not, but he still believed a lot of that was her naivete. If she saw more of the world she would know how cruel it really was.

               “I want my payment,” Loqi said.

               Ellie’s face scrunched up in rage. “After what you just showed me you still want that as a payment?”

               “Yes,” Loqi said, and he grabbed her, pulling her close again. Once again she stiffened, but this was different. This was not from control, this was simply her not wanting to pay him back. He stopped a breath away from her and said, “Tell me to stop and I won’t kiss you.”

               “Stop.”

               “You didn’t mean it,” Loqi laughed, he could not help it. There was no manipulation to it. No headache he had to fight off. He looked down at her again and said, “I guess I should have said say stop and mean it.”

               “You are horrid,” she told him, but her lips met his and he was pretty sure she was the one who leaned into it. It was clumsy, the young lady was definitely inexperienced, but it was enough for him to know that yes, he was going to do horrible things to protect her. Because he had not lied to her. He wanted to do an experiment of his own with her, and he wondered if he could turn her to agree with his views on the world. Between the two of them they could take the whole world, and possibly take Bastian down.

               He was the one who broke the kiss and pulled away. He watched her pink cheeks and said, “Eleanore, I think I might have to join your rebellion.”