Chapter 12

 

Strange mirages faded in and out in front of her as Frei wobbled. She felt unusually melancholy. She didn’t even get that way drunk. She hated melancholy. So, caring about people left her heart open to pain. She knew that. Logic kept pounding her, reminding her that caring hurt but she wasn’t giving in.

Yes, she’d messed up in the past. Yes, people she’d cared about had been confusing and irritating and did irrational things. Jessie wasn’t the first to do that.

She shook her head and scowled. Memories and brooding? “Give me a break.”

She braced herself. When she touched the door, it would be electrified without a code. Hacking it would have been no problem if her hands would stop shaking. 

She shut her eyes, trying to cancel out the flickering. 

Why had Jessie done it? Why had she come here? Why not just leave the past behind? They’d got all the kids out.

Frei sighed. Suz once again faded into her mind’s eye. Sounded familiar. Too familiar.

 

Frei lay on her back. She was around twelve. The room was illuminated by the light from the building opposite. Jäger’s way of trying to catch her leaving. She smiled. Good luck with that.

She was excelling but not in the academy. Jäger had denied Huber’s request for her to be moved from the Wood group. Huber hadn’t been too bothered. Instead he was teaching her himself. Huber had kept it simple: Keep her nose clean in Caprock and keep soaking up the skills he was offering. He was pleased, Suz and her sister were happy, and she could do something more fun. Breaking locks, hacking things, being where she shouldn’t be, it gave her a buzz. A big buzz.

She’d needed to use those skills to keep Suz safe too. She’d made sure that Sawyer and Jones, two idiots sniffing around Suz, had been sold off. She didn’t want to think about what that meant. They had been after her with a greedy look in their eyes. Suz would have gotten pregnant. Frei may have been younger but anyone could see she was set on . . . what?

She shifted to lie on her side. What was it that Suz was doing? A lot of the kids had issues. Frei had a bundle of them but Suz . . . it was like she wanted everyone to know she wasn’t happy. She didn’t want help either. She just wanted to dwell on it.

Frei rubbed the bridge of her nose. She could only do so much. Her priority was her baby sister. Boys and staff were starting to sniff around her too. Unlike Suz, her sister was horrified by it. She didn’t like any attention. Frei sighed. Unlike Suz, she didn’t even have a name. Only a few did, Sawyer, Jones, Suz. Slaves like her and her sister didn’t get them.

Voices rippled through the silence and Frei sprang to her feet and peeked out of the window. Her heart sped up. Pounded in her ears.

Suz.

Suz trying to free herself from Jäger.

Frei gripped onto the edge of the sill. He terrified her. His hand was quicker than most. A flick of his wrist and kids would be on the ground, unmoving. He wasn’t bothered about anyone seeing either. She’d caught him watching her many times. She didn’t like the way he looked at her. She didn’t like the predatory look in his eyes.

Suz struggled all the way to the dorm and Frei ran to her bed. Part of her worried for Suz, the other part was livid. If she stopped drawing attention to herself, Jäger would stop having excuses to be in their dorm. The thought of him anywhere near her room made her feel sick.

The door burst open.

Frei kept her eyes closed.

“You’re pushing me.” His irritated tone made her tense. It usually preceded—

Suz shrieked and Frei tried to control her jump as Suz hit the floor. She didn’t—couldn’t move.

“Next time, I’ll have you in observation.”

The door slammed shut. Frei listened in silence, not moving, as his footfalls faded. She waited until she was sure he’d gone, that he wasn’t lurking. She snapped open her eyes and hurried to Suz. She was semi-conscious, blood trickling down the side of her face.

“What did you do this time?” Frei wanted to hit her too. She wanted to beg her to stop, stop pushing them. She couldn’t. To do that, she’d have to tell her she was a slave. That she had no rights. That Jäger, these people, Megan, they could do what they liked to her.

Suz fluttered open her beautiful eyes. “Enjoying some night air.”

Frei recoiled at the stiff whiskey breath hitting her face. “You’re drunk, again.”

Suz pushed her off, sitting up. “Maybe if you drank more, you’d stop being such a loser.”

“Me? You’re the one on the floor.”

Suz snapped her hand out. Frei was ready, used to it, and dodged it without care. “Who was it this time?”

She smiled. A smile that irritated Frei. A smile that telegraphed how much Suz didn’t care. “Head of physical education.”

Said like that was a good thing, a trophy of some kind. “A skill captain? Are you nuts?”

“Relax.” Suz pulled herself onto her bed, shoving Frei’s attempt to help away. “Not like she can get me pregnant.”

Frei scowled at her words. “No, but she just got you drunk and beaten.” She went back to the window. Jäger was talking to a guard. She sunk back in case he saw her. “Just stay out of trouble, Suz.”

“Like I’m going to listen to you.”

Frei lunged forward. Gripped the collar of the stupid leather jacket Suz wore like armor. Silver buttons. Faded. Battered. “You will.”

Suz whimpered at the venom in her words.

“You’re out of control. I can’t take care of you. I can’t get you out of trouble. I’ll risk her. I can’t risk her.” She gripped harder, shaking her. “Don’t. Make. Me. Choose.”

Suz whimpered again. Frei shoved her back to the bed and let her go. She went to the dresser and pulled out a bottle of antiseptic that one of the nicer nurses had given her.

“Why are you so afraid of them?” Suz whispered as Frei took the bottle and started to clean up the wound.

“I have my reasons.”

Suz held her wrist, her eyes searching. “What happened to you? You were carefree, you found me funny, you were so . . . shy?”

Frei freed her wrist and continued dabbing. “I grew up.”

“You are always doing what he orders you too. He calls us home for you to leave with him. Megan has noticed.” Suz’s voice was gentle. “We all have.”

“Then stop looking.” Her tone was more curt. She was sick of covering it up. It was easier to be blunt. It saved explanations. She didn’t need to be liked. She just needed to keep them safe.

“I’m not the one who needs to be worried about getting pregnant.” Suz’s eyes narrowed.

“He would never do that.” She couldn’t explain why. Huber never ever looked at her in any way other than with amusement, or a distant affection. He wasn’t that kind of man. He didn’t need to chase slaves. He had Megan to amuse him.

“He tell you that?” Suz huffed out a breath.

Frei’s temper ignited. She closed her eyes. Slow, calm, breaths. Like Huber had taught her. She placed the bottle on the side and went to the door.

“Where are you going?” Suz’s fear filled her voice.

“To clean up your mess.” Frei slipped her picks into the lock, it clicked open. She stepped into the corridor. The only light was from the monitor’s room along the hall. She was past it and down the stairs in seconds. It wouldn’t take her long.

She stepped out into the night air.

Jäger’s guard was watching for her.

She slipped past him without him moving.

Her focus was on the gym. She often had class with the head of physical education. A blunt, sharp-tongued woman but she liked Frei. She understood her. Frei sucked in a long breath. Like her or not, Suz came first but she was sick of getting rid of her mess.

Frei picked the lock to the gym. It wouldn’t take a lot to find something Caprock would send the skill captain back to her owners for. 

 

Frei sighed as she shook the memory from her head. It was as if she was getting sucked into them. She’d been able to see Jones’s and Sawyer’s faces so clearly. They had been skill captains in Caprock themselves when she went back with Aeron and Renee. Their lives had taken such twisted avenues. Jones had been sold to an Irish family, he’d worked in the docks, collecting information for them for years. Then they’d decided he was no longer useful so he’d found himself back in Caprock. He’d blamed her. She did too.

As for Sawyer, he had become a cage fighter for a cretin called Crespo. His ruthless temper had seen him do well until age caught up. Like Jones he’d been sold back to the place he’d hated.

Jones had somehow escaped from CIG custody before Lilia had chance to question him and Sawyer had scuttled off before CIG had moved in on gala night.

It had been a risk getting the kids, getting Jessie, to help. They’d bankrupted Caprock with the escape; sent Jäger running back to his brother; and Smyth, the principal, had gone into hiding. She knew better than to think that Jäger would need long to lick his wounds.

She shuddered when she thought of how close she’d been in Caprock. Alone, his hands at her throat, it had been Aeron who had come to the rescue.

She stared at the door. She never dwelled on things. She was either getting old or she needed to drink more. The door hummed as if to confirm the latter. Drink more, she could do that.