Page 109 of Under His Heel

Running away the first time had been stupid. Running away again? Alex didn’t even want to consider what Tracht would do to him. Especially after… after all that stuff with Parsons.

“No.” Alex stood up and glared at Nick. “Is that what you really wanted? Just to have me as your patsy again?”

“What? No! Why would you think that?” Nick took hold of Alex’s wrist and pulled, urging Alex back down. It would be easy to break free and just leave.

Alex sat. “I think that because you’ve always done it! Every single thing you do, I end up paying the price for it.”

“Where’d you get that idea? I’m here to save you!” Nick let go and pushed the soup at Alex. “For one, screw that guy. I can tell you’re hungry, Alex. And for another, we’ve always been there for each other. There was no good way to get us both out of it last time. It would have done us no good for me to end up dead or arrested.”

Everything Nick said made sense. It always made sense, even when Alex was getting beat up or screwed over.

The soup tempted him. It must have been half cooled by then but even so, Alex could feel his stomach pinching. “But I—no. If he catches me—”

Nick picked up the spoon and placed it in Alex’s hand. “He’s not going to catch you. There are no cameras here, I won’t tell him, you won’t tell him. Just eat.”

“I don’t want to run away,” Alex said, gripping the spoon tight. “Like, forget about that.”

“I think you’re crazy to want to stay, but fine. At least eat.” Nick maneuvered Alex’s hand holding the spoon to the bowl. “Show me you aren’t a complete pussy, waiting for orders to even breathe.”

The hell? Alex pulled his hand away from Nick and glared. “I’m not a pussy. I’m just trying to be smart.”

“Yeah, and smart is knowing when you can bend or ignore the rules. You really gonna starve yourself just because he told you to?” Nick raised his eyebrows at Alex.

Fuck it. Alex set the spoon down, picked up the bowl, and drank it all straight.

Huh. It tasted okay. His stomach appreciated it, but it wasn’t anywhere near as good as what he ate with Tracht. He set the bowl back on the table and crossed his arms. “Satisfied?”

Nick smiled and clapped him on the shoulder. “That’s the spirit! Now come on, let’s get out of here and find some place fun to really catch up.”

They paid—Alex was extremely surprised that Nick did, in fact, pony up for the bill—and headed back into the shopping center. Alex followed after Nick, listening to him chatter, trying to figure out how long he had until he had to get back to the ship.

Between one step and the next, Alex’s thoughts turned fuzzy. He stumbled forward and felt Nick’s hands catching him. “Woah there, bro. Looks like you had too much to drink.”

Huh? No. Alex hadn’t had anything. Just… just the soup. There was something about that, something important.

“Come on, let’s find a place for you to sleep it off.”

But—Alex shook his head and tried to step away from Nick, but his limbs were weak, not cooperating with him at all.

He had to… he had to tell Tracht. Tell him something. Tell him that—

[Chapter 34]

Alex woke with a headache and the taste of dust in his mouth. He tried to roll over, but lifting his arms proved to be impossible. Opening his eyes was only slightly less difficult. They felt as heavy as any weights he’d lifted at the gym.

“… meet in exactly one hour.”

Had Nick’s voice always been so loud? Alex let out a groan and let his head loll to the side. His vision was still a bit blurry, but he could make out a second bed, and Nick sitting on it with a tablet in his lap.

“You’ll forgive me if I ask for proof.”

Oh, god. That was Tracht’s voice. No matter how much Alex struggled, he couldn’t frickin’ move though.

“Yeah, yeah.” Nick stood and held the tablet out so that the screen was facing Alex. It was hard to make out Tracht’s face, but Alex whined and attempted to lift his arm once more.

It barely even twitched.

“Interesting. What did you do to him?” No hint of worry, no anger in his voice at all. That bothered Alex, but no way in hell would he let Nick see that.

---