Page 97 of Shielded Heart 1
“The bout was called, but…he wasn’t dead. He was tough. His sponsors didn’t care—he’d failed them already, and there were countless healthy fighters they could hire, so they left him. I made a choice, then, and even after everything that’s happened…I’m not sure if it was right or wrong. I paid for him to be fixed. They had to use cybernetics due to the extent of the damage, but he lived. And while he recovered, I made my offer again. I guess I should’ve seen the signs, but I didn’t. I just saw his potential. I was too blind, too stupid to understand that hehatedme, especially after that fight.
“But he joined me, all the same. He was part of our crew for two years. And when it all came crashing down, when the Inner Reach Syndicate had finally had enough of me and my enterprise, who do you think they made an offer to?”
“Vaund,” Samantha replied.
“Vaund,” he echoed with a humorless chuckle. “Our security was tight, even then. Between Drakkal and Zakarae, we’d kept pretty well out of reach. But I thought Vaund had come around. I thought I could trust him. He led them right to us, and they…they were eager to make an example.
“They caught us off guard and killed almost everyone. It was a fight that actually meant something, a fight that hadrealstakes, and I couldn’t do anything to turn it around. I couldn’t help any of them. There were so many of those bastards, like adamned army had been dropped on our doorstep, and I fought and fought, but I kept getting pushed back.
“I ended up in an alley behind our base of operations. It was raining. I’ll always remember that, because the rain on Caldorius is sometimes a bit acidic, and there was a slight sting to it that night. They swarmed me, finally disarmed me, beat me down to my knees…and I looked up, and there he was. Vaund. I hadn’t known he was there until that moment. I thought he’d died with the others, fighting alongside us. But he’d been paid off by the Syndicate.
“He was there to finish what had been started a couple years before. Told me it was the Syndicate who’d hired him to fight me in the first place, that they would’ve paid him enough credits for him to never have to fight again. And I ruined that chance for him.” Arcanthus laughed again, even more bitterly. “He took my arms and legs one at a time, pausing between each cut to make sure I felt it. And while I writhed in pain, he saidit’s just business.”
Samantha’s heart constricted, and her fingers curled against his chest. She couldn’t comprehend her own horror over what he’d just described. It hadn’t been an accident that took Arc’s limbs—it had been torture. It had been revenge.
“Arc…” she breathed, tears welling in her eyes.
“They left me in the alley, in a puddle of stinging rainwater and blood. You never realize just how much blood you have until most of it is spilled on the ground. I don’t know how much time passed—I was in too much pain—but at some point, a pair of strong hands lifted me off the ground, and I looked up, and…”
He paused, pressing his lips into a tight line, and seemed to steady himself. “And there was Drakkal. He’d been out scouting new talent, so he missed the whole thing. He’s beaten himself up over that ever since it happened. He thinks heshould have been there to fight alongside me, that he could’ve somehow turned it around. That’s part of why he’s so protective now. He thinks he failed somehow. In his heart, I think he knows the truth. His absence saved my life.
“The energy blade had cauterized the worst of my wounds, but they’d beaten me pretty severely before that. Once Drakkal stopped some of the bleeding, he took me to the same place we’d taken Vaund to get patched up. And they…well, they did what they could, but I’ve indulged myself with some significant upgrades over the years.”
“And then you came here,” Samantha said.
“And then we came here, to build all this. I used what Zakarae taught me to keep us hidden. The Syndicate thought I was dead, and I wanted to keep it that way. It worked until we went to the Ventrillian Mall and that groalthuun took those pictures, which he passed along to his boss. Vaund.”
Sam closed her eyes as guilt flooded her. She’d asked Arc to take her to the upper city on a tour. Itwasher fault. If she hadn’t given in to temptation and called him, none of this would have happened. He’d still be in hiding. He’d still be safe.
She felt him turn to face her fully, and one of his hands caught her chin, forcing it down.
“Open your eyes, Samantha.”
She sniffled as tears flowed down her cheeks, but she obeyed.
His bright eyes were narrowed. “I know that look on your face. This isnotyour fault. I chose to take you there, and I don’t regret it. I would’ve taken you to a thousand other places afterward, whether you asked to go or not. You are not to feel guilt for mychoices.”
It didn’t matter what he thought. Even if she and Arc were destined for one another, Sam carried some of the blame for what was happening now. She hadto carry some of the blame.
“Does Vaund know where you are?” Samantha asked raggedly as she resumed combing her fingers through his hair.
“No, or he would be trying to kill me right now. We…spoke, earlier. I contacted him through the groalthuun’s holocom. I think he hates me even more now than before.”
Sam frowned. “Is that why you were drinking?”
“I was drinking because…because I thought I’d left all that behind. That I was free of it.” He lifted his arms and gestured to the black metal encasing them. “Haven’t I paid enough of a price? And now…I stand to loseyoubecause of it, too, and I cannot stand the thought of that. I cannot stand that you are in danger because of mypast.”
She placed her hand on his cheek, stroking it with her thumb. “You won’t lose me, Arc.”
He took gentle hold of her hand and lifted it from his cheek, flattening her palm against his. He traced her fingers with the digits of his free hand. “I wish I could touch you with my own fingers just once. Just to have the memory of your feel forever.”
“What do you feel when you touch me with them now?”
“Their warmth and their firmness. A hint of their texture. The same things I would feel with flesh, only lesser. It’s all…off.”
“Your hands are not the only things you feel with.” Sam smoothed her other palm down his chest. “What do you feel when I touch you here?”
“You,” he rasped softly.
