Page 56 of Captured Immune

I close my eyes and replay the things they did to Trey three nights ago. I hear him screaming. I see his body shaking against the floor. I picture him throwing up blood. Then I open my eyes, squeeze Trey’s hand, and give Pixie a nod.

She closes the distance between us until she’s three steps away. Then she puckers her lips and blows.

“Fuck!” Trey tries to cover his ears as I squeeze his hand with all my might. Barely a second later, he puts his arms down and breathes normally again.

“Did she do it?” Victor asks.

“I’m blowing,” Pixie says. “He seems to be okay.”

“Good.” Victor claps as if we’re part of a show. He should get a refund for his ticket because I never auditioned for this play, and I don’t want to keep performing in it. “Immune, let’s try that again. This time,reallyfocus.”

I squeeze Trey’s hand with both of mine. Pixie blows again. The same thing happens. Trey screams in agony as he uses his free hand to cover an ear.Does that even do anything?

“Try again,” Victor says.

And this goes on for the next half hour. No matter how much I beg, Victor keeps ordering Pixie to hurt Trey, who’s on his knees, gasping for air. I kneel in front of him and cup his face. His cheeks are red, and the whites of his eyes are too.

“I’m so sorry,” I plead in a low voice, hoping he’ll forgive me. “I want to shield you from the pain, but I don’t know how.”

“Don’t apologize,” he whispers as he wipes the tears from my face with his thumb. “None of this is your fault.”

My body hiccups from all the sobbing I’ve been doing. Trey knits his brows together and presses his lips into a hard line. He looks like he’s a second away from putting me over his shoulder and making a run for it. A part of me hopes that’s why he’s still here and is just waiting for the right time. I’m not the only one who needs escaping anymore.

“Stand up,” Victor orders. “Let’s raise the stakes a little. Ruby, how ’bout you try?”

Oh no.Not her.Whatever power Ruby has seems to feel like death crawling through the bloodstream.

Trey helps me to my feet, and I seize his hand. He closes his eyes, bracing himself for the pain. I shut my eyes too, just as Ruby raises her arm and hisses.Don’t hurt him. Don’t hurt him.I wait for Trey to scream, but he doesn’t.

“She’s blocking it,” Ruby says.

I don’t dare open my eyes because I can’t lose concentration. I don’t know if she’s still stinging him or not.

“Pixie, you give it a shot.”

A moment later, Pixie says, “She’s blocking mine too.”

“Excellent!” Victor says, clapping. “What progress! Let’s move on. Immune, your next goal is to protect Trey from an ice ball. Derek?”

On cue, Derek stands from his squat and draws an arm back. A sparkling ice sphere flies through the air, straight at Trey’s head.

“Fuck that.” Trey ducks and drags me down with him. The ice ball lands behind us and shatters against the floor. I don’t get a chance to take another breath before a second ice ball soars through the air and hits Trey right in the stomach. He coughs and falls to his knees as another ice ball whizzes through the air. It hits him again, right in the face. That’s going to leave a mark.

“Stop!” I shout. “I don’t know how to shield him from stuff like that.”

“And three days ago, you didn’t know how to shield him at all,” Victor says. “So try harder!”

Derek readies another ice ball and launches it at Trey. I rush in front of Trey and brace myself for the impact. It never comes. Instead, I’m tackled to the floor as the ice ball flies past me and shatters into pieces.

“What are you doing?” Trey shouts as he does a push-up over me.

“What do you think I was doing?” I yell back as I shove him off me. “I was trying to save you!”

“By using yourself as a barrier? Are you fucking crazy?”

“Obviously, my immunity isn’t working. What else do you expect me to do?”

We get to our feet as the auditorium goes quiet and I ignore the pain in my tailbone.

---