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I COULD’VE STARED AT her forever. There was a part of me that didn’t want to believe this was real. There was another part of me that couldn’t deny it was. And then there was yet another part of me that wanted to know how this could’ve happened in the first place. All the possibilities paralyzed me.
Trust, but verify.
I didn’t want to. I didn’t want to be wrong. It would just kill me if I was wrong.
Ultimately, it was a good thing that my curiosity still demanded a short leash. I stepped forward.
“Raiya.” Her name escaped me once more, more at my soul’s compulsion than either my mind or my body’s.
I saw her eyes narrowed, both in frustration and rage. “Who are you?” she asked.
Her voice was slightly different. It sounded deeper than the voice I remembered, even though it still carried the same music.
“Is it really you?” I asked, tentatively taking another step forward.
“Stay back,” she ordered. A small bubble of power appeared in the palm of her hand, glowing with fury.
Despite my shock, I almost smiled. It was really and truly her. She was my Raiya.
It was then that I noticed she was holding something. Several somethings. There were several medical packs in her hands, all no larger than a sandwich bag.
Was she looking for food? I wondered.
Taking another look at her, I couldn’t have blamed her if she was. She was wearing a hospital gown, but it did little to hide how emaciated her form had become since ... I didn’t really want to think about the last time I’d seen her.
Her hair was long, longer than it had been when we were together last time. Her feet were bare, and there was blood running down her one calf.
It was her face that finally caught and held my gaze.
It was the same face, the same beauty that I’d known all those years ago. But it was much more stark, much more clear, and much more sad. The angles of her face were sharper, gaunt with dark memories and a lack of sunlight. She hadn’t aged with the passage of time, I realized, so much as with the experience of pain.
I was still in pain, too, as I was puzzled, really, as to why she didn’t seem to recognize me the way I’d recognized her.
“Tell me who you are,” she commanded, this time more forcefully.
“It’s me,” I said quietly. “Don’t you remember me?”
When she only narrowed her eyes more, I sighed. I had to get her out of here. I could worry about this another time.
“I’m not going to hurt you,” I tried to assure her. “How could I?”
“Very easily,” she shot back.
“No,” I breathed. “No, I couldn’t. Are you sure you don’t recognize me?” I took another small step forward.
“No.” Her answer was quick, and it cut me to the quick. Some part of me felt like crying.
I gave her a shaky smile. “It’s me,” I said, my voice barely a whisper. “Remember? I’m Ham Dinger.”
I waited for her to respond to me, the way she had all those years ago. Goodness knows I never thought I’d be so happy to be called “Humdinger” again.
But she said nothing. She just glared at me, with fear and distrust in her eyes.
“We’re friends,” I told her, finally. Something must’ve gone wrong, I thought. Maybe they’d drugged her or something, and she wasn’t able to recall anything.
Fear seized my heart all over again. What if she never remembered anything? What if she never remembered anything ever again, about who we were and who we could be?
I finally reached her. She seemed taller than I remembered, but she was still the perfect size for me; just from looking at her, I could tell her chin would still fit perfectly into the crook of my neck. I held out my hand. “Please, trust me.”
“I don’t trust anyone,” she retorted.
If there was anyone who could convince her she was wrong, it was me. Not for nothing was I Pittsburgh’s best associate lawyer.
“What about Adonaias?” I asked. “What about the Prince of Stars?”
She faltered at that.
“Don’t you trust him, Raiya?” I asked.
She hesitated. “I do, but you don’t,” she finally said.
I frowned. “How would you know that?”
“It’s not hard to see.”
Good, this is good. She’s talking. I had to tell myself all these lies, all these good things to refrain from screaming.
Thankfully, I was interrupted. I could hear footsteps hurrying down the stairs behind us, and they were rampant with relentless anger.
I knew I had to hurry. “Come on. I’m here to get you out of here.” My throat clogged up as I added, “You told me that you would be waiting for me. Here I am.”
Raiya’s eyes seemed to dull, clouded by confusion. “Why didn’t you come sooner?” She clutched the bags she held against her as a fresh batch of tears escaped her.
Before I could do anything else, a new round of guards appeared at the door.
It was time to go. If we could; it seemed I’d only blinked, and we were suddenly surrounded.
I stepped in front of Raiya, shielding her from their view. “Stay close to me,” I instructed her.
“Do you even know what you’re doing?” she asked.
Her tone reminded me of how she used to chastise me after the early battles with the Sinisters and their minions. Before I could argue with her, a guard stepped forward. “That’s him!” The leader of the guard I’d managed to knock out was leading the pack. “Get him!”
“No!” Raiya cried out behind me. I felt her power hit me, hard. I fell over, hitting my face on the floor, and I felt the power of her partial supernova crush into me.
This is too familiar, I thought as I inched my way toward her. Even without remembering me, she still thinks it’s her duty to protect me.
As her power pummeled into me, and all around me, I scraped myself off the floor.
I had to push back a smile. I hated myself for it, but I was thrilled to be back again, back in the middle of her power, where time had no say in how we felt or what we did.
I tried to grab a hold of her shoulders, moving closer to her as her power grew around us. As I reached out, my hands took hold of her arms, and I felt her grasp on the different bags in her hands weaken.
I wondered if I would get a chance to kiss her again, just like the last time we were stuck in one of her supernova power bubbles.
Before I could pull her close to me, she froze. “No,” she said, the terror as clear in her voice the first time we wound up together. Instantly, her power ceased.
Thankfully, it had been enough to render the guards useless and blow a nice-sized hole into the ceiling. I could even make out the sky from where we stood, thanks to the gaping hole her power had left behind.
“Good job,” I said.
“Get back.” She stepped away from me. “These are mine,” she said, indicating the bags. “You can’t have them.”
“It’s okay,” I said, holding my hands up in defeat. “But I need to get you out of here. Will you come with me?”
She scowled, and I wondered if she had always been this much of a skeptic.
Finally, she softened. Just a little. “Alright.”
She agreed, just in time. Above us, several floors of broken beams snapped free, sending a wave of building scraps fluttering down all around us. I glanced up and saw the sides of the different floors waver dangerously.
We don’t have much time. This place is going to cave in on itself.
Raiya looked at me. “It’s going to collapse,” she said, her eyes wide with shock.
“Yep.” I said nothing else as I led her through the site, trying to retrace my steps as we moved through the building. We managed to outrun several other evacuation teams, and hide when we couldn’t outrun them.
It wasn’t long before Raiya slumped against a wall, breathing hard. I could see she was shaking, and I didn’t blame her. Water from the lake was leaking through the various nooks of the building, and we were beginning to get wet.
I didn’t think it would help much, but I took off my jacket and placed it around her shoulders. “Here,” I said. “This might help.”
She gave me a small smile, and I just about melted. “Thank you ... what did you say your name was again?”
“Oh, uh, Hamilton.” It took me longer than I wanted it to for me to give her my name. I turned away from her, pretending to wipe the sweat and water off my face to hide my disappointment. “Are you almost ready to go again? We don’t have much time.”
“I haven’t moved like this in a long time,” she said, almost as if she was answering the question I’d been meaning to ask.
“Do you remember who you are?” I asked. “How you got here?”
“Yes and no,” Raiya said. “I remember who I am, what I am. But I don’t remember much about coming here.”
“Do you know how long you’ve been here?”
She shook her head.
“Do you know anything about a black hole?” I asked, deciding there was no point in getting myself disappointed anymore. It would have to be business, from here on out, until I had her safely outside this prison.
She shook her head slowly. “No,” she said. “At least, nothing for sure.”
“What do you remember?” I asked quietly, hopefully. “Can you tell me?”
Raiya’s eyes filled with tears. “Pain,” she said. “And so much more than pain.”
She slumped over, sitting with her bags tucked on her lap, her head resting in her hands. I came and sat beside her, wrapping my arm around her.
“Everything will be alright,” I said, choking on the words all over again. I didn’t actually know that, and it was beginning to get on my nerves that I thought it at all still. Especially given the circumstances.
Oh, yeah, sure, I had Raiya back. But not all of her; I had a shell of her former self, one who was weak and distrusting and in need of a security blanket comprised of plastic bags she’d stolen from the morgue.
She glanced over at me. “Are you sure you know that?” she asked.
I flustered instantly, almost guiltily. Memory or no memory, Raiya was still good at calling me out.
So I did what I did best. I changed the subject.
“Time to go,” I said. “We’ve rested long enough. The guards will still be looking for us.”
“I know.” I was surprised as one of her hands came up and caressed my cheek.
The shock of feeling her skin on mine again ached through me. That, coupled with her gentle smile and sad eyes, made my heart lurch inside of me uncomfortably.
“Thank you for saving me,” she said.
“I didn’t save you,” I replied somberly. “I’m just getting you out of here.” I took her hand and tried to pull her up. “Come on. Let’s see about finishing the job.”
“Don’t!” Raiya jerked back from me.
“Don’t what?”
“Don’t grab me like that. I have to hold onto these.” She gestured toward the bags. “They’re mine.”
I frowned, trying not to snort disdainfully. “What’s inside that’s so precious?”
Her face crumbled as she looked down at them. “They’re mine,” she repeated, this time with a hard edge to her words. “I have to protect them.”
“Okay,” I murmured, still somewhat confused. “I won’t touch them, but we need to go.”
There was a loud rumbling noise, and it made me nervous. As kindly as possible, I hurried Raiya along.
It was only when I heard screams and looked back to see the long hallways caving in, that I began to panic.
“Hurry!” I urged her onward. She seemed to catch the fervency behind my message, since she spurred onward.
“Hamilton,” she gasped as she fell forward.
I caught her and saw no choice. I picked her up, and, angry at how light she felt, carried her close to me. Raiya didn’t fight me; she tucked her bags between us, and then curled her arm around my neck.
Water poured down on us as we finally came to an elevator. I prayed it would take us to the surface.
I smashed the buttons on the wall, and it opened seconds later. Alarms were still going off around us, but I held onto Raiya tightly.
Water flooded into the elevator along with us, and I hit one of the buttons, hoping desperately it was the right one. When the lights for the ground level came on, I allowed myself a sigh of relief.
As the water level inside the elevator went down, I sensed the sky coming toward us, coming close enough we could see it. I looked down at Raiya. My hands instinctively tightened around her.
Disbelief hit me hard all over again. I couldn’t believe it. She was alive. And she was with me, here, in this place.
Well, this would be the only place where we would be able to be together, wouldn’t it? I thought bitterly.
“You can put me down,” she said, jolting me out of my thoughts.
“Huh? Oh, right. Sorry.” I carefully released her, and then moved to tighten my wet jacket around her body. “When we get back to the house, I’m going to get you into a warm bath. The last thing I need is for you to get sick.”
She shivered as I held her. But it would take more than that to stop her when she wanted something. “Who are you?” she asked.
I tried to shrug off the discomfort. How am I going to explain this to her?
“I’m here to get you out of here,” I said carefully. “Like I said, we’re friends. From ... a long time ago.”
“Does Rosemary know about you?”
“Who?” I frowned.
“Rosemary. Grandma Rosemary. She’s also known as the Matriarch.”
Grandma? I decided to ignore that part for now, especially since I recognized the other part.
“The Matriarch is the leader of SWORD, right?”
Raiya nodded. “She was the one who brought me here,” she said. Her lower lip quivered. “She was going to hurt people if I didn’t cooperate. But she went too far. As soon as I had enough power to overcome my medicine, I woke up. I was on my way out when you arrived.”
That explained the inside damage. I was confused by this, but then I recalled what Elysian had told me once: Starry Knight’s power was partially dependent on me. Since I was here, maybe that gave her what she needed to get free.
I could only speculate.
And I would have to do it later.
The elevator opened and I put my arm around her waist once more. “We’re not out of the clear yet,” I said.
We stepped out of the elevator and found ourselves in the woods near the marina. I glanced behind me as the doors shut behind us, only to see just a tree trunk. A normal-looking, nothing-out-of-place tree trunk. Lake Erie was practically within spitting distance.
So this is where they had another black site all along. I couldn’t believe how many hours of my life I had walked by this place, walked in these woods, and a secret entrance to a sadistic, power-hungry, control-obsessed organization was within spitting distance.
I was so upset, Raiya stumbled on the ground and fell over before I could catch her.
“No,” she moaned as her bags went flying. She scurried around, collecting them again.
“Stop for a moment,” I told her. There weren’t any other SWORD agents around that I could see; we probably had a few moments, anyway. “Let me help you. You’re bleeding.”
“It’s from the IV,” Raiya explained apologetically. She showed me her arms, and I could see she was telling the truth. “There’s another one on my leg,” she added, pulling up her gown to where I could see a long gash just above her calf. “It didn’t come out as easily as the others.”
I started to rip at my shirt, tearing the wet fabric into strips. “Here,” I said, “let me get them. And then we’ll go to the house.”
“Thank you,” Raiya said. She smiled shyly at me as I wound the makeshift bandage around her knee. For a long moment, I let my hand rest on her skin; I was still in a mild state of disbelief, and touching her, even if it was just to bind up her cuts and clean off her blood, was a remedy to my soul.
There was a shifting noise behind me.
I wasn’t surprised to see Dante step out of the darkness.
“I see you found her,” he said.
I leapt up at once, stepping between Raiya and Dante. “Are you insane?” I hissed.
“No,” he said. “Look, I got you in, and I see you got out. And you managed to do quite a bit of damage in the meantime. There’s going to be a good cover story in the news tomorrow.”
“You leave me and her out of this.” I took a step closer to him. “We almost died.”
“Plenty of people did die,” Dante said, with enough pleasure in his gaze that I wondered if he’d planned that all along. “And more will continue to die, especially after your power burst managed to trigger a cave-in down one of the main hallways. You should be happy.”
“I’ll be happy when you’re dead,” I told him darkly.
Dante turned away from me and gave a cordial salute to Raiya. “Hello,” he said in greeting to her. “What a pleasant surprise. It’s nice to see you again.”
Raiya frowned. “I don’t remember you,” she said, “but I have the distinct feeling I don’t like you.”
He smiled kindly at her. “I hope I will get the chance to prove you wrong.”
“No,” I scoffed, “you won’t. Leave us.”
“I’ll give you some time,” Dante said, much as he had when we were teenagers, stuck in SWORD’s prison, under his watch. “I’ll be back in a few days, when I’m better informed of what progress and recovery SWORD is making from tonight’s mess.” He smiled smugly. “Thanks for the help in the meantime.”
Raiya shuddered as he disappeared from our sight. “He’s creepy.”
“You never liked him,” I said.
“Did you?”
“No. But I thought he was useful, in some ways, so I overlooked some of the problems we had with him.”
“We?”
My heart fell all over again. “Never mind. Let’s not worry about it. Let’s get you somewhere safe.”
“I’m tired of safe,” she admitted. “I want to go somewhere where I can be free.”
I nodded. “I have a place nearby,” I said. “It might be a bit of a full house though.”
“You have a house?” Raiya looked up at me with sadness in her eyes. “Do you have land, too?”
“Ugh, well ... ” I didn’t actually want to say “My mom does.” So I went with my usual methods. “Why do you need land?”
She held out the bags in her hands. “I need to bury these,” she told me quietly. “If I can.”
“What are they?” I asked. “What’s in the bags?”
Nothing could have prepared me for her response. As her tears finally pushed free from her eyes, she answered, “My children.”
☼9☼