Thorn came back later that day, after Kai had left Abby and her family. He was sitting outside the woman he'd met last night's cell, talking with her about telepathy and how she'd gotten it.

She'd told him that when she and her twin sister, Rachel - her name was Linda - were little, their house had been raided by cloaked men. Linda carefully explained that these men called themselves Conquest. They followed a man by the name of Tartarus who wanted the whole human race to have unusual powers or be mutated. Linda and Rachel had been taken by the men and separated. They also killed their parents. Linda didn't know what had happened to her sister, but she had been "bought" by Tartarus and made his puppet. He was a telepath, too, so he had decided to make her one. Linda had been there for seventeen  years - she was twenty four now - until she escaped. (Then Thorn had found her.) Her sister, Rachel, hadn't been found. She had to leave without her. Linda said she honestly thought that Rachel was dead.

Kai had told her what had happened to his family, and they both silently empathized for each other. Until Thorn showed up and waved frantically at Kai.

"Pet, come here!" he called. "Combat training is starting! I'm going to be training your female friend, too. She needs to learn out to fight."

"Not me," Linda whispered to Kai.  "Abby." She stood up and walked to the back of her cell, eyeing Thorn the whole time.

Kai stood up and walked over to the taller man. "Alright. May I go get her?" He looked straight into Thorn's eyes with the most respectful, pleading look he could muster. He didn't like what Thorn did to him when he misbehaved, so he would have to be submissive.

Thorn smiled with almost compassion. "Since you asked so nicely, Kai," he said to him, then rubbed his head. Kai was pretty sure it was the first time Thorn had used his real name. "Go ahead. I'll be waiting right here." He smiled again and nodded his head.

Kai smiled too. "Thank you." He turned around and shuffled toward the door. He opened it and peeked his head in.

Abby was kneeling by Chase, who was crouched on his knees. He was holding his stomach and coughing harshly, and Abby was patting his back with a look of sheer terror.

Shintaro was standing and pacing around the room. He had tucked his long white hair in a ponytail and was rubbing his forehead in worry. He turned and stopped pacing when Kai peeked in.

"Is he okay?" Kai said, forgetting completely about getting Abby. "What's going on?" He dashed into the room and dropped to his knees in front of the coughing boy.

"He said his wound was bothering him," Abby choked out. "Then he started coughing."

"The wound probably has either clotted blood and it's effecting his lungs," Shintaro said, "or it messed up something in his stomach which is also effecting his lungs." He began to pace again.

Kai touched Chase's head. "Chase, deep breaths. That's what my dad told me to do when I was sick and coughing. Try taking deep breaths. Keep your head up, if you can."

Chase heard him and did what he was told, but kept coughing. Soon, however, the coughing died down and he was now struggling to breathe properly.

"Why didn't I think of that?" Shintaro and Abby said at the exact same time. (They're so much alike, all of them, Kai thought.) Shintaro stopped pacing and knelt down beside his son.

Kai smiled, then remembered the real reason he was here. "Oh. Abby, Thorn wants us to train together."

"What?" Shintaro said, sitting up so abruptly that he almost fell backwards. "No, that's not happening." He grabbed Abby's hand.

"Daddy, he'll probably hurt me if I don't do as he says," Abby said quietly. "I don't think I'll get hurt too badly while we train, but if I don't, he's going to hurt me more than a bruise." She smiled up at her father reassuringly.

Shintaro thought about this and narrowed his eyes. "Aaaaaargh, you're right." He groaned. "Fine. Be careful, and don't let him hurt you." He turned to Kai suddenly. "Don't let anything hurt her, okay, kid?"

Why is he asking me that? I mean, I'll do it, but ...

"Fathers just know when someone is in love with their daughter," said a voice in Kai's head. He had to slam his hands down on his knees to keep from jumping. Linda had contacted him for the first time.

You're creepy, Kai said in his head, hoping she would hear him. The reality of what she said suddenly clicked. Wait, WHAT? I don't like her!!

"We all know that's not true," Linda said, the tiniest hint of a giggle in her voice. "Even Chase knows. Don't worry, he approves, and so does Shintaro. They find you to be a good young boy for their little girl."

Kai blushed so hard that Shintaro, who was already confused, put a palm on Kai's forehead.

Kai jerked away, startled. "I'm fine! Sorry, just thinking. Abby," he said, changing the subject, "we should probably go. Thorn is waiting." He stood up, and Shintaro eyed him, then turned to Chase and started saying something to him.

Abby stood up and took Kai's hand, giving him a smile that was so dazzling that Kai agreed with Linda - he did like her.

As they walked out, Linda said something else to Kai. "Shintaro smiled at you and Abby holding hands. What did I tell you?"

~

Combat training had gone fine - except for the fact that both of the kids had gotten a couple of bruises - and lasted for about an hour. Abby and Kai were both pretty exhausted, so Thorn gave them permission to get water from the guards. The two had convinced the guards to give them four - two more for Chase and Shintaro.

Thorn allowed Kai to escort Abby back to her family, and Kai had thanked him. He told Abby on the way to the room that it was the most reasonable thing to do, and she'd agreed. 

When they made it back to the room, Chase was sitting up and taking deep breaths with his eyes closed. Shintaro was sitting next to him, but only he looked up when the door opened. He spotted Abby and jumped up, dashing to her to examine her. 

"Don't worry, sir," Kai said to him. "I didn't let Thorn hurt her." He smiled at Shintaro and handed the father a water bottle. 

"Please don't call me 'sir', or anything of the sort," said Shintaro, not unkindly, taking the water. "My name is just fine." He smiled at Kai and hugged Abby before drinking his bottle quickly. 

Abby went over to Chase and tried to give him one of her water bottles. "Please drink, Chase. It probably will help you." She paused, then continued: "If you need help drinking it-" 

Chase took the water bottle in one hand and opened his eyes. He lifted his head away from the wall behind him, where he was resting it, and opened up the bottle. "I can drink it on my own." 

Kai was surprised to hear that Chase's voice was shaky and weak, barely louder than a whisper. "I can't stay," Kai said to the family. "Thorn probably has something else for me to do. I'll see if I can visit tomorrow." He smiled at everyone - his new friends - and turned toward the door. 

"Hey, kid," Shintaro said, and Kai turned around to see what he had to say. "Stay safe." 

~

Chappy nine!! 

I still am in awe about how much I'm updating this thing! This is almost DEFINITELY here to stay! 

I really hope you all enjoy the rest of this book! There were will more books like it! (Very many. My sister and I always come up with new adventures for them - each book was about something different when we first started, and I plan to keep it that way!)

Peace!!~~~