ﮩ٨ـﮩﮩ٨ـ Tethered ﮩ٨ـﮩﮩ٨ـ

Chapter 7

━━─── • ───━━━

• Luna •

Luna coughed out a dry, bitter laugh, barely paying attention to the door closing beside Sam as he waddled into the room. The staff's remarks about this fight being more acceptable suddenly made sense.

He frowned, coming to a stop in front of her. "You don't look so good."

The smoldering rage emerged. "And you're just now noticing it? You're well aware of what's going on here."

He ran his fingers through his hair when his gaze traveled over her face. "All you had to do, Lu-Lu, was kill Faisal. You're making it more difficult for yourself."

"I'm not-" She stopped as her rage intensified. Her energy twisted in her gut, and she felt the tiny hairs on her body stand. "You're about to die."

"Look at yourself." He gestured with his hand at her. "You could've avoided all of those bruises if you'd just cooperated."

She took a step closer, glaring at him. "If you hadn't shot Amir, I would've avoided all of this."

"No." Sam's face turned sad. "You two would have ended up here regardless."

"You're wrong," she said, circling him with her fists raised.

"You don't want to believe it."

She inhaled deeply, but the rage was getting the best of her. Sam reached for her shoulder, but she pushed his arm away. "Don't come near me."

He narrowed his eyes while he stared at her. "As I said before, if you want to be angry at anyone, make it your father. Or Amir. They did this to you."

That was the final straw.

All of her bottled-up resentment and anger raged through her like a category-five hurricane. Her brain switched off, and she lunged without thinking. Her fist had only grazed his jaw, but her energy had roared up at the same time. Sam was spun around by a bolt of light that shot from her hand.

He caught himself on the wall, letting out a surprised laugh. "Damn. That was strong."

Energy surged down her spine, fusing with her bones. "How dare you blame my family for this? It's not their fault!"

He shifted his weight and slumped backward. He wiped the blood from his lip with the back of his hand. He pushed off the wall with a strange gleam in his eyes. "This is their fault."

Another bolt of energy shot forward when she flung her arm out, however, he dodged it, laughing as he whirled around, arms out at his sides. "You can't do better than that?" he teased. "Come on. I know you, Moon."

She lost it when Amir's pet name was spoken by Sam. He was on her in an instant. She darted to the corner, ignoring her muscles' painful protests. His arm spread wide, and a whitish-red beam sizzled. She swerved at the last second to avoid a direct hit.

She sent another blast arcing across the room, hitting him in the neck.

He stumbled and fell, a hand dropping to his knees as he crouched. "Someone's rusty."

The veil of fury slipped over her eyes. She charged at him like an NFL linebacker on steroids. They both tumbled in a heap of tangled arms and legs. She landed on top of him, swinging her arm back and forth. She couldn't see where she was striking, only the sting of her knuckles as they made contact with Sam's face.

He slid his arms between hers and flung them out, tripping her. He rolled, and she wobbled. She dropped to her back, squeezing the air from her lungs. Aiming for his face, she was determined to claw his eyes out. She was ready to slaughter him.

He leaned down and caught her wrists, pinning them above her head. His left eye had a cut, and his cheek was bulging. A vicious rush of gratification rushed through her.

"Can I ask you a question?" He grinned, his cheeks turning pink. "Did you ever give Amir access to your most intimate memories of the two of us? I bet you haven't."

Every part of Luna's body felt each breath she took. His weight and proximity made her skin hypersensitive. The room seemed to be tinted in a brilliant sheen of white as the power built within. Every breath she took and every cell in her body were attached to her fury.

His grin stretched. "Just like you never told him how much we enjoyed snuggling-"

The door opened at the last possible moment, and Faisal entered, a dark scowl gleaming from his eyes. Luna's attention was on Sam as the power burst from her, and she was off the floor-all three of them were off the surface several feet in the air. Her ex's hair fell forward into his eyes, and hers streamed down behind her. Faisal was just frozen, his eyes darting toward them.

"Shit! Moon has some power!" Sam mused. "What else do you have?"

Luna arched up, yanking her wrists free from his grip and slamming her hands into his shoulders. Shock rippled across his pale face for a short moment before he flew backward, throwing Faisal crashing into the wall. The cement shattered, and a fissure spread out like a venomous spiderweb. The entire room shook as both men's heads snapped back and then slumped forward. Luna expected them to catch themselves before tumbling on the floor, but neither did. Sam was hit with a fleshy splat that took her anger away.

She landed on the balls of her feet and rocked forward a step as if she'd been held up by invisible strings that had now been cut.

"Faisal?" she cried.

He didn't move.

Oh no...

She began to kneel, arms trembling, but something dark and thick oozed from beneath his body. Her stare shifted to the wall. A Faisal-sized imprint was visible, a form that reached at least three feet into the cement.

She looked down slowly. Blood pooled underneath his lifeless body and seeped across the gray cement floor, seeking her sneakers.

Luna stumbled back and opened her mouth, but nothing came out. Faisal didn't move, but Sam did, and it devastated her. He didn't groan or rollover. He didn't move an inch. And the visible skin on his hands and forearms was already paling, turning a horrific shade of white that stood out in stark contrast to the deep red of the liquid.

Faisal was gone.

Oh my God.

Sam raised his hands slowly, glancing at the body. "Oh, Lu-Lu. What did you do?"

"He . . ." she sobbed.

Time slowed, then accelerated. If Faisal was dead, Cassie would be able to sense it no matter where she was in the world. Because that's how it worked. They were linked together, as are all Tethered Souls, and if one died, the other would lose a piece of them as well.

Sam had it coming in more ways than one. Nobody else. She had even threatened to kill him, but words were one thing. Her actions were completely out of character, and she had ending up killing an innocent person.

Her hand twitched as she pressed it against her mouth. Her recent fight with Faisal came back to haunt her. And in that short moment when she succumbed to the rage-nothing in a million years had changed-she'd become something she wasn't sure she could ever recover from. Her chest rose quickly while her lungs painfully squeezed.

She'd have to explain this to Amir.

His wife was the reason his cousin perished.

The buzz of the intercom startled her in the dead silence. The voice of Alisha Bankole filled the room, but Luna couldn't take her gaze away from Faisal's lifeless form. She had a vision in which he died, and it happened. "Good job, Luna," Alisha uttered. "You're getting stronger."

Everything she knew about this organization, including how she ended up there, how far away her family was, how she couldn't see Amir whenever she wanted to, the exams, and the subsequent fights with the Defectives, was too much. And now this? Her role in Faisal's death? Things went too far.

"Moon, you did it," Sam said next to her. "Faisal is gone like the wind."

She opened her mouth to scream but there was no sound when she let her head fall back. Nothing as Greer stepped in and put a gentle hand on her shoulder before leading her out of the room. Thibeau uttered a statement that sounded a lot like a proud father, and after that, she was led from the training room into an office where Dr. Reynolds was waiting to draw more blood. Nurse Evans was brought in to evaluate her. Luna said nothing and felt nothing as the minutes turned into hours.

She'd been turned into . . . an assassin.

• • •

• Amir •

Amir became agitated quickly.

He was irritated by the fact that he didn't know how long had passed since he and Luna had last interacted. Being apart from his wife was driving him crazy as time seemed to pass quickly down there. After they woke him up and led him to a medical room, Major Thibeau disappeared, and a ton of stupid crap happened, including an exam, blood work, a physical, and the most pointless interrogation they could come up with. To speed up the process, he agreed to everything, but nothing happened after that.

The staff kept him in a tiny room with wires on the floor-likely the same type of room other prisoners were held in at some point-growing angrier by the second. He was unable to use his abilities. He could, however, glow whenever he wanted, but the only thing it did was light up the room when it was dark. Not exactly helpful. Or entertaining.

As he paced the length of the cell, he couldn't help but wonder if Moon was doing the same thing somewhere else. He couldn't feel her, but the strange link between them seemed to work only when they were close. There was a slim chance, a glimmer of hope, that she was okay in the facility.

When the door to his room opened and two commandos motioned him out, he had no idea what time it was. He brushed past them, grinning as the soldier he collided with cursed.

"Yeah?" Amir stood up to the guard, ready to fight. "Do you have something to say, Private?"

He sneered. "Let's go."

One of them poked him in the shoulder. He turned his glare on the soldier, and he wilted back. "You'd think twice before touching me again."

The guards then led Amir down a hallway that was nearly identical to the one that led to the room where his family was discovered at Ramsey. They'd descended a couple of floors in the elevator before exiting and walking into another corridor crowded with various military personnel, some in uniform and others in suits. They all gave their happy little group a wide berth.

His already waning patience was tested when they stopped abruptly in front of two dark, glistening metal doors. It didn't take his spidey sense to figure out that the doorway was rigged with chemicals.

The doors slid open, revealing a round white table after the guards entered some encrypted message into the control panel. The room was not empty. Inside was someone he couldn't wait to eliminate himself.

Alisha Bankole stood in front of the table with her hands folded in front of her and her braids loosely draped around her shoulders. "Hello, Mr. Khan. You look better since you were brought in."

He was so not in the mood to talk to her. "Why does it not surprise me that you are always around? Should we expect Dr. Kim anytime soon?"

Her lips curved into a tight grin. "No. It's only me. Sadi, too. She's somewhere in the facility."

"Oh, fun."

Alisha nodded. "Anyway, before you see Luna, I have something to show you."

He quickly shook his head. "No, no. I want to see her. Now."

She raised an eyebrow at Amir as one of the guards handed her a tablet. "What I'm about to show you has something to do with your wife. Then you can see her."

"You can't keep-" Amir spun around, his gaze drawn to the guard breathing down his neck. "Seriously, dude, you need to back the hell up before you can't breathe any longer."

The guard was half a head shorter and nowhere near Amir's level of ass-kicking capabilities, but he didn't back down. "Pay attention."

Amir tensed up. "And if I don't?"

"Mr. Khan," Alisha said, her voice tinged with annoyance. "All you're doing is prolonging what you want. Your wife is waiting for you."

He hated to admit it, but the woman was right. Amir turned and followed them down another hall, giving the guard one last cautious look. Except for the black nozzles on the wall and ceilings, everything was white.

He didn't like being there for a multitude of reasons. Alisha was close, and he hadn't seen Luna in what seemed like an eternity, and there had been no word on how he or their family and friends were doing. He was concerned about everybody and hoped they were safe.

Alisha walked up to a door and crouched down. Her right eye was illuminated by a red light that turned on. The panel's light changed to green, unlocking the door. He thought about the many ways they could flee from there even though it would be difficult to accomplish. Nevertheless, he felt as exhausted as the dry floor from whatever this building was equipped with, so he wasn't sure what he could achieve.

Men in uniform were manning several monitors inside the tiny circular room. Each screen displayed a different room, corridor, or floor.

She commanded, "Leave the room."

The men rose from their stations and exited the room quickly, leaving Alisha and Amir with the guard who had escorted them.

"What are we going to watch?" Amir tsked. "American Horror Story?"

Her brow furrowed. "This is one of many security control rooms located throughout the facility; from here, we can monitor everything on the Oasis floor."

"Oasis floor?" Amir scoffed bitterly. "Is that what you call it?"

She shrugged and then shifted her attention to one of the stations, her fingers gliding across the keyboard. "All of the rooms are recorded, which helps us monitor activity for a variety of reasons."

He stroked his stubble. "Okay."

"When our staff brings in new arrivals, one of our concerns is that they are not a danger to themselves or others," she said, folding her arms. "We take this process seriously, and we go through several rounds of testing to ensure that they are stable."

He didn't like where this was going, especially if it had anything to do with Luna. He has heard it before.

"I'd like to believe that if we can get things back on track above ground once the war is over, certain patients all over the world will be able to be a valuable asset," she exhaled. "However, Luna has shown to have some issues and can become very dangerous given the right circumstances."

Amir gripped the back of his head so tightly that he was surprised he didn't yank out a strand of hair. "If my wife did anything, it was because she was triggered."

"Let's see," Alisha said, pressing a key on the keyboard, and the screen above her to the right turned on.

Moon.

His lungs were drained of oxygen. His heart rate slowed, then accelerated.

Luna was sitting with her back against a wall on the screen. The image was hazy, but it was her-it was his wife. She was dressed in the same clothes she had worn the day she was kidnapped, which had been weeks ago. Confusion surfaced. When was this video shot? It couldn't be a live stream.

Her hair fell over her shoulders, obscuring her pale face. He started to tell Moon to look up but realized at the last minute that doing so would make him look peculiar.

"As you can see, Luna was calm," Alisha said. "Major Thibeau was in the room with her to explain what had happened following the kidnapping."

Amir noticed the various ties that bound his wife to the bed as she lay on it. He snarled. Her mouth suddenly opened and she appeared to be screaming at the man, but the sound was barely audible.

Alisha pressed a button, and a new image emerged. It took him a second to recover from the previous scene and understand what was going on, but when he did, pure, red-hot rage lit up his face.

Luna and Sam were struggling on the screen. She whirled, reaching for a lamp, but he darted in front of her, blocking her path. Amir's pride swelled as she swung on him.

That was my Moon, claws and all.

But what happened next had him looking for a way out of the room. Sam had blocked her punch by twisting her arm and swinging her around. Luna's face flushed with pain as he pinned her down on her back to the bed. He yanked her head back, and all hell broke loose.

Amir saw red.

"Once I get a hold of Sam . . ." he uttered, fury filling his soul.

"He wasn't supposed to be there," Alisha stated calmly. "But he wanted to speak with her. He attempted to smooth things over."

"He can't do anything to make things better," Amir grumbled. "He'd better not come near either of us."

She laughed. "He'll be the least of your worries. There are more gruesome images to watch."

Amir returned his gaze to the monitor, breathing heavily. They were fighting, and Sam clearly had the upper hand. But she was still struggling, her back bowed and her body twisting under his grip. Amir felt a surge of rage and a sense of panic he'd never felt before, and it tasted like her ex's blood. His hands formed fists, and he wanted to smash them into the monitor because Sam's face wasn't there.

When Sam yanked Luna from the bed and Amir saw him dragging her across the floor and away from the screen, he spun around to face Alisha. "Where did he take her? To the closet?"

"No. It's the bathroom. There are no cameras in there. We do give you some privacy." She pressed a button, and the video cut to a few minutes later when Sam entered from the right. He sat on her bed, and Luna emerged moments later, completely drenched.

Amir took a step forward and exhaled through his nose. After exchanging words, Luna whirled, opened a dresser, and gathered clothes. She retreated into the bathroom.

Sam buried his face in his hands.

"He has a death wish," Amir said quietly to no one in particular. Sam will pay for everything, one way or another.

The soldier swallowed and cleared his throat. "Right now, he isn't the issue."

Amir turned to face him, his breathing ragged. "Would you mind telling me what else could be wrong?"

He pursed his lips. "Luna murdered in cold blood."

Amir snorted. "Was it Sam?"

The guard and Alisha both shook their heads.

"No," the guard said, his eyes fixed on Amir. "The patient died yesterday morning."

"Who was it?"

Alisha sucked in a deep breath and gave Amir a solemn expression. "It was your cousin. Faisal."

No.

The floor seemed to drop out from beneath him. His immediate reaction was to deny it because he didn't want to believe Moon would have been forced to do something like that-that she was forced to kill his cousin in the first place, and that they had him in their grasp. They'd gotten to Faisal before anyone could save him from the motel.

Alisha kept an eye on him while the monitor was turned off. "I'm not showing you this to annoy or irritate you. You must see for yourself that Luna poses a threat to everyone."

"I have no doubt that if my wife did that, she had a reason." His heart pounded. He had to see her. If she'd done this . . . He couldn't bear the thought of what she must have been going through if they had come to commanded her to murder his family. "Luna is not unstable. She was ordered to kill for you."

Alisha tsked softly, and Amir added her to his Elimination list. "You've witnessed firsthand her instability."

"Because you guys are winding her up!" Amir was struggling to keep his emotions in check; he wanted to mourn Faisal's death but couldn't. Not right now. Not right in front of them. "You're all a bunch of savages!"

"Sometimes things go the way we least expect them to," she said, frowning.

"Where is the video footage?"

The guard gulped. "Trust me, you don't want to see it."

"To hell I don't," Amir grumbled. "Was it only her and Faisal fighting? Where was Sam in all of this?"

Alisha sighed. "He was in the room."

"Did he have anything to do with my cousin's death?" he howled, venom oozing from his mouth.

She raised her chin. "No. It was all Luna."

Amir turned around, threw his hands behind his head, and kicked the wall in front of him. "Why?" he cried. "Faisal didn't have to die like that."

Tears welled up in his eyelids, but he wiped them away with his hand before the others noticed.

"Mr. Khan, Luna is erratic. She murdered him without hesitation or remorse."

"She didn't mean to do this. She was frightened and trying to protect herself. I'm sure that's what happened between her and Faisal."

Alisha groaned. "Your wife is not the same person she once was."

Amir held her gaze. "Neither am I."

━━─── • ───━━━

There are more double-pov chapters after this one. Because the theme for Book Three is tethered, two points of view are needed, either in the same scene or elsewhere. However, unless the characters can read each other's minds, Character A's thoughts do not enter Character B's pov (and vice versa). Things will change quickly, and twists will continue to emerge. Thank you all for tuning in. <3