Page 88 of Us Dark Few

The corners of her mouth turned up.

“I think so too. As much as I hate Genesis and everything it stands for, it was the most beautiful place I’d ever seen.” She felt him move an arm behind his head as they continued to stare, lost in thought.

“Genesis used to be my home,” his voice lowered.

Khalani whipped her head to him in shock. “You lived in Genesis? How did you end up being a guard in Braderhelm?”

Takeshi shook his head with a half-smile that didn’t reflect in his eyes. “My tale isn’t a happy one, Kanes.”

She shifted on her side to fully face him. “Is anyone’s personal story ever truly happy? We’re all fucked up. Some are just better at hiding it than others.”

He followed her movement with a deep frown, testing the sincerity of his words.

“I never knew my father,” he started. “He left when I was born, and my mother raised me on her own, barely making enough tosupport herself. But she always made sure I was fed and happy, and kept me completely unaware of how little we had because her love filled the gaps.

“But she wanted to give me more, a better education, and started dating a wealthy businessman in Apollo. His name was Hector. I did like him…at first. They married right when the dome was completed, and he had enough money for all of us to live in Genesis. That’s when our problems started.”

Khalani lay there in a trance as his words floated through the air like a spell, beckoning her to only listen and be still. As if any movement would break the story’s hold over her. Over him.

“For the first couple of years in Genesis, my mom seemed happy, but slowly, her laughter faded. Every now and then, I noticed bruises on her arms. Her cheeks. I often asked about them, but she’d always say that she tripped or was too clumsy. My happiness mattered more than hers, and she never wanted me to know the truth. I was fifteen and came home from school early one day. I walked in the door and heard him screaming at her. He called me a disobedient bastard, a constant disappointment, and a pitiful excuse for a son. They didn’t know I was standing in the doorway. My mother slapped him, and he punched her.

“I was frozen. My mother lay on the hard floor, and Hector didn’t care. He just walked out the door. I held my mom on the ground, and we both cried in each other’s arms. I couldn’t speak. I was horrified and scared. But mostly, I was angry. Angry that I didn’t know what was happening. Angry that Hector hurt my mother. And I was furious at myself when I didn’t do anything to stop it.” The muscles in his arms tightened.

“I dropped out of school the next day and enlisted in the Academy to become a guard. My mother objected, but I didn’t listen. I needed to be able to protect her if he tried hurting her again. A few years passed, and there were no more bruises on my mother, at least, none I could see.

“I graduated the top of my class in the Academy and was selected as one of the Governor’spersonal guards. After my final qualifications, I came home early to share the good news. Only this time, when I walked in the door, Hector had my mother up against the wall in a chokehold. I didn’t think. I just attacked. I used all my training to wrestle him off her. I punched him over and over again. With each hit, I visualized him hurting my mother, who would never harm a fly, and it only enraged me further. But I was too late. Her injuries were too severe, and she was already gone by the time I killed him.”

A light sheen was in his eyes as he continued, “No one cared about her murder. In everyone’s eyes, she was her husband’s property, to do with as he saw fit. I was the one punished for murdering Hector. Because I was the best pre-guard they’d ever seen at the Academy, the Master Judge spared my life and decided I would be best put to use in Braderhelm Prison.”

Khalani lay there with her mouth hanging open. Takeshi had his life ripped away from him in the worst possible way, just as Khalani's had been stolen. Takeshi hadn’t come to Braderhelm by choice. He was sentenced there.

A prisoner without the title.

Takeshi’s gaze was far away, face hard and muscles rigid. She saw herself in his eyes. Takeshi’s consistently harsh demeanor made sense to her now. He pushed people away so he wouldn’t get close enough to care if they got hurt. Like his mother.

“I’m sorry, Takeshi. What happened…you didn’t deserve that,” she whispered.

Takeshi glanced back as if he could feel the weight of her focus. He studied her like a kindred soul, both lost in their cruel, pain-filled world.

“You didn’t deserve to lose your parents either.”

Tears formed, and she pursed her lips, trying to hold herself together. “Do you think that,” she paused to swallow, choking on her words, “one day, we’ll see them again? Like in heaven?”

It was the first time she ever let those words escape.

He frowned and pondered her question.

“For the longest time, I didn’t believe in God. I mean, how could God do that to me? To her? But my mother believed. If there isa heaven, and anyone’s there, it’s her. And when I look at you…” Takeshi’s chin lifted, and his heated stare halted her breath, like her oxygen was his to preserve.

“I know I shouldn’t say this, but your beauty is so overwhelming that it makes me ache. It’s more than physical. It’s who you are as a person. That’s how I know if your parents are anything like you, they are in heaven too.”

Tears fell down her face without permission. And at that moment, she didn’t even care.

“It’s not fair,” she whispered.

“What is?” He searched her eyes.

“For you to know me better than I do.”

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