The Six | A Reverse Harem Novel | ✔️

Fifty Seven

HAYDEN’S P.O.V.

Soft skin, tangled hair, and drugged groans, enough to coax me from the edge. Blue shifted, grunting painfully as her body dragged itself from the knife’s edge of death. On the metal platform, her limbs splayed out, she sucked in a lungful of air. Sighing, content for the first time in ages, I buried unsure fingers in her air. Slowly, her head lulled to the left, muttering my name.

“I need her up and running, Juliette.” Raising my eyes, I glared at Sharife venomously. “Tag her, first, she can’t leave the phantom here.”

Without another word, the mousy woman lifted a hand. The razor-sharp edge of a needle glinted in the sunlight. Before I could react, she stabbed it into Blue’s side, sinking it as deep as it would go. Blue jerked, screeching. But it died in her throat when the drug took effect.

Juliette leaned over her partially, leveling the translucent tablet in front of her face. Data leapt across the screen, highlighting in bright green. Swallowing, I nodded at her.

“How are her vitals?”

The alienness of asking another for Blue’s status settled into my chest like a lead weight. Iris was still silent in my mind. Loneliness pierced my chest. My mind hadn’t been this quiet in years, and I hated it. For the last few years, those men were my brothers. And with them gone and Blue barely clinging to life, failure echoed in my mind.

“She’ll be fine…” Juliette drifted off. “Thanks to you.”

Sharife stepped away from us, quietly talking to Levi. Machine and man barreled into action. With a dark growl, the platforms on the end of sub closed tightly.

“What happens now?”

Her sparkling eyes darkened, growing forlorn. “We’ll have t—”

“Juliette!” Sharife shouted, twisting to glare at her. Redness glowed around the edges of his pupils, eating up the coloring. Clicking his teeth, he nodded his head. “Inside. Now.”

“Sorry,” she muttered, scrambling away from me.

From perch at Blue’s side, my eyes traced the eerie patterns of the cleaning machines. In sync, they flittered between one another, never touching. It was almost… too perfect.

“She’s getting too cold, move her.” Sharife ordered.

“No.” I rose, lording over her. “She’s not going anywhere with you.”

Levi and Sharife shared a look. Meeting me head-on, Levi smiled wickedly.

“Wanna bet?”

He struck out, aiming for my face, but I casually moved, watching as his fist passed my face. Annoyed, I balled my right hand and punched him in the stomach. As he fell forward, I caught his throat and lifted him off the ground to slam him onto the platform. My victory was shortlived.

Machine swarmed around him, knocking me onto the next platform. Metal fists plowed my sides and limbs, beating until blood seeped between my lips and poured from gashes. Sharife stood over them, his face twisted in pleasure.

“That’s enough, boys.” Instantly, they stopped. Straightening in unison, they cleared the way for him. “You’re nothing without the others. Thought it’s entertaining to watch you struggle, you’re useful, and I’d rather not have to kill you.”

Staggering, Levi rose from the ground, clinging to his throat. Despite my wounds, a smirk pulled at my lips. The nanites in my blood sluggishly drove to my wounds, healing them. Gradually, my skin knitted shut.

“Let me—” Levi shut his mouth as Sharife raised his hand.

“Get him inside.” Sharife ordered, grin widening when I spat blood onto the platform. “We need a wake up call,” he shrugged at Levi, “make it good.”

“With pleasure.”

Calling out, I didn’t fight the unyielding grip of the Shadows when they lifted me from the ground. My body sagged against theirs, tired and broken, unable to stand on my own. Balancing my arms across their shoulders, they dragged me off the platform and into the mouth of the sub.

Darkness engulfed the light, thrusting us into a dim wonderland of working machines. Silently they prowled around the space, repairing the ship and stowing the shattered plane. Confused, I turned my head to see if it was my imagination.

“What are they doing with our plane?”

Levi tipped his head to the side. “Destroying it.”

“Why?”

“Why not?”

“What do you want with us?” Levi stopped and turned to study me. “Tell me!”

Sharife followed the procession of machines carrying Blue’s still frame on a gurney. They were gently with her, careful she didn’t bounce. He turned a final time, racking dark eyes across me.

“He doesn’t die, Levi.”

“You got it, Sharife. I’ll make sure Hayden is well cared for during his stay with us.” Burrowing into the ship, our party avoided the hallway Sharife and Blue entered. Failure eclipsed me again. I was still too weak to go after her. “Here is fine.”

The machines carrying my weight abruptly turned and brought me into a room. Painted white, it was a portion of an infirmary. Empty floating beds rested unbothered beneath bright LED lights, white curtains hang from the ceiling, TV screens are suspended from the walls, and cabinets bursting with medical supplies.

“Tell me what you want from me, from Blue.” Dumping me on the floor, the machines secured my hands behind my back with metal cuffs at my elbows and wrists. Anger rifled through me, setting my spine on fire. I was tired of being in the dark, tired of running from a faceless enemy with no end! “Cat got your tongue, Levi? Only able to speak if your Soljourner overlord says it’s okay?”

Smug, Levi shook his head. “From the beginning, I could tell you thought we were after you. The amazing Six and their augmentations. Blue set the tone for everything with her ingenuity, but when she denied me the same opportunities she freely gave you…,” he scoffed, “I knew Soljourner was the perfect place for me.”

“You broke her heart when you left.” I spat. “She was beside herself for weeks thinking she did something wrong!”

“Not in the way I should have…”

“You were brought on as a consultant. She never intended to augment you… that wasn’t the deal.”

“After all I did for her…” He clicked his teeth. “It was my expertise that put Intatrium on the map, not yours. It was my drive that made all she did possible. And what did I get in return? Nothing! She gave everything to you and others.” Laughing, he looked away. “You fuck her a few times and she readily hands over the greatest discoveries in the last century without a fight.”

“Are… are you jealous?” I asked. “Are you more upset you aren’t like me or about Blue not wanting you too?”

“Jealously is what you experience over things you cannot have. I’m not jealous of any of you. You don’t have anything I can’t have.”

“Then answer the question.”

“Fine. This entire thing has never been about you or the others. You can pretend you’re important, but all you are is an extension of Blue. She’s the prize. What she and Sharife will accomplish now that they’re together…” Tapping the side of his head, he sank his teeth into his bottom lip. "How's the head? Iris still missing in action. Sharife developed those nanites himself, just for you."

Levi moved to stand in front of me. Defiantly, I stared up at him.

“Great, more nonsense. That’s exactly what I ordered.”

“None of you saw it coming, but you what? I'll be kind enough to tell you everything you want to know… but first,” he squatted, “you have to do something for me.”

Suspicious, I narrowed my eyes. “What?”

Digging into his pockets, Levi studied me. “I need you to scream.” My breath left me in a rush as he stabbed a knife between my ribs.