Page 134 of Coerced

He was obviously trying to figure out what was up. I knewmyface didn’t give anything away, but Gigi and Travis made little noises.

“Hmm.” Argaud shuffled closer. “I’m gonna guess Gemma, Jax, and Maddy.”

“Yeah.” I gave him that one because he’d already guessed anyway. And the knowledge would neither hurt us nor help him. “Tara, too, and a coupla guys from the college. Where would he take them?”

He didn’t answer, his face set and stony.

“Jax said you changed a few years ago. Said you started going home, which you’d never done before then. Why?”

He clenched and unclenched his fists.

“How’s your mother?” I asked.

His eyes flew wide open.

Gotcha!

35. Reverse Stockholm Syndrome

Rome

“Okay, Sir Serious, I’ve hammered out a cuirass for your giant-sized self. Ready to try it on?”

Sacked out on the couch, my good arm behind my head, I blinked my eyes open to find her standing over me with a smile.

I’d sent her off with the Council credit card that morning with orders to buy a good smartphone. When she’d returned, she’d plopped down on the loveseat and spent about an hour adding contacts from my phone, familiarizing herself with its features, and scrolling through the Internet. She had chatted with me as she’d played and I’d slowly let myself relax more and more until the sandman showed up.

I guessed she’d worked on the armor while I slept.

“Thank you, Mira. I’ll be there in a minute.”

I dreaded getting up. I’d pushed too hard and my body was finally calling me on it. I’d been using my power to absorb the pain, but that took a constant current and now I was exhausted and close to drained.

“Come on!” She nudged my hip with her knee. “Aren’t you excited?”

“I am. Very.”

I wanted that armor. Ireallywanted it. I’d crawl to her room if I had to. And I would. As soon as I could get my eyes to stay open.

“You look it,” she huffed.

Clenching my jaw, I brought my arm down, reached for one of the throw pillows, and swung my legs off the couch. With the pillow held against my side, I levered myself up, but the room spun and I bit back a groan.

“What are you doing?” John came in from the kitchen. “You shouldn’t be getting up. If you don’t take better care of yourself until we find Chance or Gemma, you’re going to do more damage.”

“What damage?” she yelped. “I thought you just whacked your head a good one. What else is wrong with you?”

I opened my eyes, saw she had knelt down beside me, and scowled.

“Nothing.”

“I’ve seen you hunched over like this a few times now. You hurt your ribs, didn’t you?”

“I told you—”

“More like broke them,” John interrupted. “Every single one on that side.”

The next thing I knew, a pair of hands swung my legs back up on the couch, then an arm like an iron bar went behind my shoulders and laid me back down on the cushions I’d piled up earlier. Still clutching my pillow, I blinked until the stars faded.

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