Destruction - The Oasis Project Book 2 (Complete)

Thirty-Seven - Linkin

Thierry and I walked outside, still embraced and Asmar followed closely behind us. "Where's Ira?" He asked again now that the loud music from the gentlemen's club was softened by distance. "How did you get here?"

Looking up at him sadly, I shook my head, "Ira's still with the Oasis Project, Asmar got me out during a mission in Egypt."

Thierry's eyes flickered between myself and Asmar. "You found her?" When Asmar nodded, he said gently, "Thank you." He kissed the top of my head.

"It wasn't for nothing," Asmar pointed out. Thierry's body tensed and he frowned at Asmar, non-verbally warning Asmar to pick his next words carefully. "She knows our price," was all he said.

Thierry looked down at me, brushing my hair behind my ear. "Give him your number," I agreed. When I thought that the Oasis Project was rescuing me, I knew I'd never make the deal. This was a completely different situation now. Thierry dug into his pocket and handed him a business card which had nothing except for a list of six numbers on it. "Call and I'll be there. Until then," I paused and focused on Thierry once again. "Leave us the hell alone. We'll also take that car you brought me here in."

Asmar didn't argue and quickly left us alone. We were in the back of the car and Thierry had rattled off an address to the driver before we finally started to talk. "I can't believe you're here," he breathed, his hands never leaving my body as if he was scared I'd disappear again.

"Here?" I echoed and glanced behind us as the strip club slowly faded from view. "Why am I here, why were you at a Spanish strip club?" It was hard to hide the anger from my voice. "You don't even speak Spanish."

"But you do." It was a strange sentiment, one which made my heart both ache and flutter at the same time.

I rested my head on his shoulder, the headache slowly increasing. "And you're drinking again?"

That question made Thierry tense, his arm draped around my shoulder. "I'll stop," he mumbled. It was hard to trust the word of an addict, but I had gotten him to quit once, I knew I could do it again. "What happened to you though, Tina? Where have you been?"

It was a long story, one that took the entire car ride and a good portion of the night curled up together in the living room of Thierry's Spanish villa. By the end of the tale, Thierry almost seemed sad. "I thought they cured you," he admitted, his voice full of sorrow as he ran his hand along my bare skin, careful not to touch the scars. "What did they do to you?"

Thierry knew exactly what was done to me, he just didn't want to believe it. "I can just control it better now. I still have no feeling." I repeated the fact again, this time a bit more gentle hoping he would better understand. "I'm never going to be fixed, Thierry, but now I at least won't hurt you."

"What about the vitamins, do those still help?"

I had nearly forgotten about them. I shrugged. "I don't know. They stopped giving them to me."

He slowly nodded, "Well tomorrow you can take them again, tomorrow things can go back to normal."

Normal.

The idea seemed so insane. I had just been kidnapped from a multi-governmental human science experiment who tortured me and brainwashed me to believe the man I was now using as a pillow was dead. All just so they could use me and others like me to become more powerful. Nothing about this was normal, nothing would ever be normal again. Even if things went back to how they were before, Ira was still their hostage and I hadn't had the heart to ask where Stuart was. I assumed he was dead; that bullet wound must have been worse than I thought. I just wanted to go on and pretend for one more night that things could, for once, work out in our favour.

"You look like crap. Let's go to bed." Thierry said when I stayed quiet, sitting up and keeping his arms wrapped around me. The migraine was in full swing and the lights of the room made me want to shoot myself. Even Thierry's voice, though I longed to hear it during my stay in Alaska, brought me pain. I was sweating and shivering at the same time, but Thierry and I were both chalking it up to the long journey and the car accident.

Thierry helped me upstairs and into one of his shirts which was practically a dress on me. He kept his arms around me as I started to fall asleep. I think he assumed I was already out because he started to talk, saying thing I knew I wasn't supposed to hear. "I'm sorry I left, that I failed you Tina," he whispered in my ear. Even if I wanted to open my eyes, the lids were too heavy. "If I knew you were alive, I would have come looking for you, I would have gone with Stuart when they joined the rebels." My body still didn't let me react to that, though I wanted to scream and beg for more information. "I'll protect you now and forever... I love you."