Page 109 of Captured Immune

“Three,” Li counts like an annoyed mother.

“We’re almost done, old lady. Chill the fuck out.”

“Two.”

The man above us isn’t moving. What is he looking at? Can he see us through the floor?

“I think you liars are forgetting what the consequences are for impersonating an Enforcer,” Li says. “What is it? Five to ten years? I hear they drug you up good with perrizo in z-prison. Do you need me to finish counting to one?”

The man above us sighs. “Come on, boys. They ain’t here. Let’s go.”

I don’t let out a breath until I hear their footsteps trudge up the stairs and out the door. A moment later, a gentle pair of feet shuffles back down. I imagine it’s Tao after relocking the door.

Arella and I remain silent, still hunched into each other as we wait to be released. Our freedom doesn’t come right away. Instead, Li and Tao speak to each other in Chinese for a while. I’m fluent in English, conversational in French and Spanish, and I know enough American Sign Language to get by. Whatever Chinese language they’re speaking has now made it to the top of my list of languages to learn. I’m going to assume they have a reason for not immediately releasing us, and although I only met them within the last hour, I trust them.

Arella tilts her head up and brushes her lips against the base of my neck. A bright beam of light shines inside me, filling the dark hollow hole where my heart used to be. It’s not just that she’s breathing on me and almost kissing me that’s got me reeling; it’s that she’s doing it so tenderly, willingly, and unprompted.

Mere hours ago, we were on a flying tire, where she told me she never wanted to see me again. She meant it so much that she even tried to lose me at a gas station. Now she’s letting me hold her like I’m the only person she wants holding her forever.

My little fireball reappears on my fingertip again, and I move it near her face. She gazes up at me with her big brown eyes, the fear in them from earlier dissolved. Replacing it is that lustful trusting look I’ve wanted to see for days. It’s the look she used to give me before all this shit happened.

I free my hand that was glued to the small of her back, to push some of her hair behind an ear. She closes her eyes and melts into my touch the way I always melt into hers. Before I even realize I’m doing it, I lean down to plant a heavy kiss against her forehead. When she doesn’t pull away, that light in my chest shines brighter. Then she sighs and squeezes her arms around me tighter, making me choke up a little.

If I never have to leave this dusty, dirty, cobweb-infested underground hideaway, I’ll be happy. It’s like a sanctuary down here when I’ve got my girl back in my arms.

26

TREY

“I apologizethat it took so long,” Li says through the opening of the trapdoor. “They lingered outside our shop for a while. I kept watching them through the walls, reading their lips. From what I could catch, they’re convinced you’re in the area. They’ve gone scouring to find you but have made plans to return later. They think you’re waiting until nightfall to come here for healing. You should go before they come back.”

I help Arella climb up the wooden ladder first, then I do the same. Li shuts the trapdoor, then Tao shoves the freezer chest back over it.

“Is it still light outside?” I ask, taking a breath of clean, not-musty air.

Li glares up at the ceiling, then nods. “Yes. The sun is starting to set though.”

“Could we stay here until it’s dark?”

“What if they return and you’re still here?”

“We’ll take that chance.”

Arella places an affectionate hand over my forearm. I’m living for any moment when she willingly touches me.

“Are you sure?” she asks me. “If they’ve gone out to look for us, that means they aren’t around here. This might be our chance.”

I scratch the back of my head. “Um, so, I’m not trying to be dramatic or anything, but if we leave now, I’m gonna die.”

The three of them scrutinize me with their eyebrows dipped.

I should probably explain.“Yesterday, well, I think it was yesterday—all my days are blending together. Anyway, it doesn’t matter what day it was. The point is that Katie, a Premonitioner, told me that she saw my death. It was right outside that shop selling all those waving cats. The Royals stab me and kidnap Arella in the daylight. So, if we could stay here until dark, that’d be great.”

With a firm nod, Li claps her hands together. “Who wants some duck?”

A half hour later, Arella and I are sitting at a small dining table with some bowls of rice, roast duck, and a side of brothy soup. Our gracious hosts took their meals to eat upstairs. They said that if the Royals come back, they’ll stomp on the floor three times as a signal for us to hide. In the meantime, they’ll work on putting their store back together since it’ll help make it look like they’re not hiding people in their basement.

I finish my meal within ten minutes. Arella cleans out her bowls shortly after I do. As I wash up our dishes, she dries them and puts them back into the cabinets.

---