Secrets Are For Keeping

Chapter Fifteen

The world was dark.

Hands shivering, legs trembling, feet unsteady.

Darkness.

Everywhere, endless, eternal.

My hand felt to the right and suddenly it was touching cement. My breathing quickened, as my hand grew colder. I felt further forward, my hand guiding my as it rubbed against the rough wall until it suddenly hit the freezing ice of a metal bar.

I jerked backwards.

Then a light appeared. Not too far away. Close enough that I could see it. Close enough that the blast of heat that came with it could be felt from where I was.

Where I was in my cell.

Because I was in a cell. That was what this was. The metal bars and cement walls made up the cell used to contain me and prevent escape.

Voices drifted up from the darkness near the minimal white light.

"I'll do it. Okay? I'll do it. Now you need to let her go like you promised." The voice was strong, solid, definite, but laced with a drop of worry that was desperately concealed. The adjective that sang most strongly in my head was familiar, though, and it took a minute for me to understand why.

Beckam.

"Good...but the minute you break your side of this deal? I promise you, we will hunt her down." The threatening voice of an older man responded, and from my vantage point I could make out two figures standing together next to the doorway.

And then light streamed through the metal bars and blinded me. I moaned in response and hid my eyes from the light with my excessively bony fingers. I'd been in the dark for so long, that the light burned my eyes and left large black dots exploding everywhere I looked.

I fell to my knees, and had to put my arms out to avoid myself from falling down face first into the concrete. But when my arms reached out, they didn't look like my arms. They were long, bony figures, followed by skinnier fingers and hands. I choked at the sight, shocked by how skinny and worn down I'd become.

The figures were moving towards me now, and squinting, I could make out their facial features. I recognized both, but for different reasons. The one on the left was my captor, dark brown hair and pale skin covering an extremely angular face. Standing next to him was the equally as tall figure of Beckam. He had light brown hair and eyes that matched the warm brown color of it. His skin was only slightly less pale than the man standing next to him, and his expression was one I hadn't expected. Horror.

Horror at seeing me.

I scrambled backwards, away from the barred entrance to the cage. They continued staring, but Beckam knelt down next to the bars and reached his hand through, trying to touch me.

Beckam Reid, the sudden thought came, the son of one of the Leaders.

"Nova?" His voice was gentle and quiet, making my shoulders relax, even as my own pain and fear consumed me.

"Let her out." Beckam took his hand out from between the bars and stood up, glaring even more intensely at the other man. I could tell he was barely controlling his emotions.

"Of course." The man smiled without showing teeth, seeming satisfied that he'd gotten what he'd wanted. From the few sentences of conversation I'd heard, I could tell that the only one actually benefitting from this transaction was him.

The man pressed something on the external side off the wall outlining the door and all of a sudden the metal bars were swinging open and the two people were no longer separated by a strong barrier, and were instead directly in front of me. I backed up farther against the stone wall behind me, not wanting the two of them to come any closer to me.

But Beckam did anyway.

He ran into the cage, and before I knew it, I was in his arms, and he was holding me to his chest, whispering reassurances in my ear, telling me I'd be all right. Everything was going to be fine.

I looked up into his light brown eyes, melting in the warmth that radiated out from his gaze. My arms were too weak to wrap around him and exhaustion ran through my entire body. I could feel the comforting pressure of his chest as it inhaled then exhaled in perfect rhythm.

But then his soothing words stopped mid-sentence and his breath caught and his eyes were no longer focused on me.

Dread filled me, starting in my stomach and spreading out in dizzying speeds throughout my body. I didn't want to look. I didn't want to turn my head to the left and see what had caused Beckam to react the way he did.

But I couldn't stop myself from looking.

I regretted the moment I did.

A gun glinted in the sickeningly white light, held by the hands of the other man who had released me. It was pointed straight at us, positioned directly at Beckam's heart.

"Now...for your part of the bargain."