Chapter Fourteen

I was getting the fuck out of here.

I couldn't stand being here another minute. My guards hung around outside the room mostly, but Chloe kept coming in to try and convince me to wear their royal garb. I tried to flush it down the toilet and that only pissed Chloe off more and she brought more clothes in for me to wear, which I ignored.

Now it was a bunch of little things driving me insane. The fact that I couldn't change my clothes or wash my face or stick to my routine. It made me antsy and frustrated on top of already being pissed about the situation.

And granted, it was my fault in the first place, I knew that. I should have told Hades from the beginning, should have at least tried, but Hades was so terrifying when he was angry, I didn't want to see him destroy Six. And he would have too. The idea that someone was plotting to kidnap me was just the trigger Hades needed to kill someone. Relative or not.

At the same time, perhaps I could've convinced him otherwise. I could have told him Six was just a victim, not a criminal. It would've been hard, but I should've tried.

But I wasn't exactly in a position to be wishing what could have been done, what couldn't have been done. Wishing wasn't going to change the situation. Of course, waiting wasn't something I wanted to do either. I knew either way Hades would come. He always did. It was just a matter of when and could he arrive in time before I went insane in this place.

I was so afraid of being locked up again, that it actually happened-- again. One of the results I was trying to avoid ended up happening anyway. But again, I couldn't change what was already happening, so it was time to work with the situation.

I still had my little makeshift dagger from the toothbrush hidden in my sleeve, but it was hard to find an opportunity to use it. Tricho and Blake were guarding the door at all times, and the occasions where they came inside to actually check on me, they came together. I could probably handle one at a time, but two? I wasn't so sure I could take them at once with just my little dagger and what little magic I was able to use.

Which turned out to be controlled by a collar around my throat. A thin little thing that caused so much damage and sucked the magic right out of me. It reminded me a little of Alexion's god restraints, but I wasn't sure if it was the same design. Alexion's god restraints tended to be gold, but this was black naturally. I had no idea what it was or how it worked and what I could do to get it off. There wasn't a clip or anything on it. It was almost as if the collar had been made around my throat with no intention to be removed.

So I was trapped, magicless.

I needed to get the hell out, and while I knew Hades was coming, he wasn't coming fast enough for my liking. He was probably having difficulty finding this compound. That was what had happened last time. The compounds were extremely difficult to locate. They were scattered throughout the realms with cover after cover placed on it to protect it from outsiders. Seven had said the one in Atlantis had been using a steel factory to cover its tracks. What was the cover for this current compound? Was it the same one Seven had been taken to or was it another one? Surely not considering Hades had broken into that one already.

So where the hell was I?

A knock on the door made me sit up straight on the bed, but I didn't move, simply clutched my weapon in my sleeve as I leaned forward, watching the door open to admit the last person I expected to see right now.

Three came into the room, muttering something to one of the guards, Tricho, outside the room. He said something to Tricho, who returned his mutter before looking away. Three gritted his teeth, but said nothing more and came into the room, shutting the door behind him. I immediately straightened and prepared to make a run for the bathroom.

The only reason he would be here is to begin whatever the Mother wanted him to do. I was fully prepared to stab him if he came at me. Like hell was I going to let him touch me.

"Don't you cut a pretty picture there," Three said, folding his arms over his chest. I narrowed my eyes, but didn't say anything. I wasn't going to encourage him. He studied me for a moment, which confused me. Surely he'd just jump right into his attack. Finally he threw his arms down at his sides, like he was thoroughly pissed off.

"I can't fucking do this," he said, catching me off guard.

"What?" I asked. Three shook his head, reaching up to rake his hands through his hair angrily before throwing his arms down at his sides again, glaring across the room at me.

"I don't want to touch you," he said, making me raise an eyebrow, "Goddamn it." He started to come toward me and I scrambled back off the bed, putting it between both of us. He stopped and watched me closely, clearly not trusting me for a second.

"This wasn't how it was supposed to be," he sneered at me, making me frown, "You were supposed to just spread your legs the way you're supposed to for some alpha male bullshit. I was supposed to go home with Six and forget this ever happened." I tensed.

"You're the one who volunteered for it," I said. Three threw his hands up.

"No shit! Except the last thing I wanna do is impregnate some fucking rando and have kids galore. First of all, I don't even want kids. They're snotty nosed brats and second, I don't want to have sex with you. You fucking homewrecker," he tacked on angrily. I couldn't stop the laugh that bubbled up and escaped me. I covered my mouth lightly and Three glared at me.

"What's so fucking funny?"

"Homewrecker?" I asked. Three curled his lip.

"Six is mine. He's always been mine."

"Funny. He certainly didn't seem to mind being mine either," I returned. Three took several angry steps toward me and I backed up, keeping a tight grip on my weapon. Three stopped himself, then took a deep breath and spread his hands out in front of him to calm down. I blinked at that, then looked up at his face.

"Who are your parents?" I asked. Three blinked, then scowled.

"I don't fucking know."

"That thing you just did," I said, pointing to his hands. Three frowned.

"Six does it all the time. He tried to teach me to do it too. It's supposed to calm you down or some shit, I don't know. It's just one of those dumb things he does," he muttered. I frowned. He didn't seem very angry right now. No, the way he said the last thing, almost like he was remembering the experience of Six showing him how to calm down...

"Do you genuinely love Six?" I asked. Three looked at me.

"Of fucking course I do. I didn't propose marriage because I wanted a fuck buddy. I didn't offer myself to impregnate you because I wanted kids, asshole. I had to. If I didn't, the Mother would take Six away and use him as bait. By offering to do this, I put myself in good standing and that means I have the authority to decide what happens to Six. If I do this, if I can bed you and impregnate you, Six will be safe."

"No, he won't," I said, making Three narrow his eyes, "You know as well as I do the Mother won't just let you take him back. He's useless as a soldier to her. She's going to find a way to make him useful, like making him bait, or something worse. You know as well as I do that the Mother isn't going to let you save him."

"I have to try," Three growled, taking another step toward me and I backed up again.

"No, you don't," I argued, making him pull up short to glare at me curiously, "Give me time. Give Hades time to come here and--"

"And what? Rescue you and take off like he did at the last compound," Three laughed, "Do you have any fucking idea what happened over there? Four got his ass locked up for helping Seven. You think I want to risk that shit? You think Hades is just gonna open his arms to us and take us under his wing? The guy is a fucking psycho. He'll sooner kill me than help me, asshole. I'm not falling for that bullshit."

"Hades is not a complete psycho," I said, making Three give me a droll stare, "I'm serious. Yes, he has tendencies, but only toward those that threaten his family. Hades is not a bad person, I promise you."

"And why the fuck should I believe you? Why the fuck should I risk getting my ass imprisoned?" Three demanded. I was silent for a moment, because I needed to find something to convince him to wait it out. Just long enough for Hades to get here. Or perhaps...

"We can escape," I said, making Three raise an eyebrow, "Together, we can get out of this place. That way, you can be positive that Six will be safe. We can leave the compound, head out and find a safe place to wait for Hades." Three snorted.

"You honestly expect me to believe that?"

"You love Six. I know you do."

"So what?"

"If you want to protect him, you'll get him out of here. We both know that even if the Mother did let you keep Six as your husband, it won't go well. Six has had his freedom and he wants more. He's tried the things in the world outside and he wants more of it. He deserves more of it. He deserves everything in the world, right?" I demanded. Three was silent now. He stared at the floor, like he wasn't sure what to say now. I had convinced him, at least of this.

"Six deserves to live free," I continued, making Three glance up, "He deserves love and affection and the right to live the way he wants to. He deserves to eat cheeseburgers all the time. He deserves to watch dance shows all the time. Here, he'll be imprisoned. You think you can save him by impregnating me? The Mother won't stand for a useless soldier wandering around freely. She'll imprison him here and he will never, ever be happy. Is that what you want? To see him trapped for the rest of eternity? Or worse? What if the Mother gets tired of him being simply imprisoned here as your husband? What if she decides to make him bait anyway? Or worse. Right now, I don't want you to think about yourself. For once in your fucking life, think about Six."

Three flinched a little, but hid it with a dirty look he cast in my direction before looking away. He clenched his fists up tight, then abruptly turned and headed for the door. I watched him go, confused as he opened the door and slammed it shut behind him.

Well, fuck. That didn't go the way I had hoped.

Frustrated, I returned to sit on the bed with a disgusted sigh.

I couldn't imagine being married to someone like Three. He looked like a typical thug. A jerk. And remembering the things he did to Six. It was enough to make me shudder. He may love Six, I could see that in the way he talked, but he had no idea how to express that concept of love. Could I really blame him, though? His environment wasn't exactly the most loving and affectionate place.

Still, what he did to Six was wrong. He had to know that. If he loved Six, he had to know that hurting him was wrong. He couldn't be completely cruel. The way he flinched when I talked about Six, the way he accused me of taking him away, he loved Six. He just didn't know how.

Sighing, I dropped my head in my hands.

Gods, Hades, please, hurry. I'm going to go insane here.

That's how I spent most of my days. I woke up to breakfast already made for me on the nightstand, sat around for hours until Chloe came in with clothes that I refused. Lunch would come and go. I'd sit around and Chloe would come back to try and "reeducate" me. I'd refuse and disagree with her every step of the way until she got fed up and left, resulting in my dinner being small, but I didn't really care. The meals were too big and packed with enough protein for a wrestler. I needed fruits and vegetables, not just chicken and brown rice. The only fruits they'd given me were a banana and an apple. The only vegetables were brussel sprouts and broccoli. This place had about as much variety as dollar store trail mix.

Worse, the days seemed to go by. I counted five breakfasts, five lunches, five dinners. So at least five days, not including the days I spent unconscious, of which I had no clue where to begin.

I was getting anxious. I knew Hades was coming, but did he have to take so long?

Sighing, I slumped back on the bed, looking around the room when I heard a knock on the door and I scrambled to sit up, edging toward the end of the bed to jump up if I needed to. I was surprised to see Three come back into the room. He looked stressed out. Thoroughly stressed out. He didn't speak right away. He paced, as if he were trapped himself. And frankly, in a way, he was.

I let him pace, let him prowl the room, like he was looking for something. He glanced up at the cameras in the corner of the room, then returned to stand near the bed, looking at me.

"They're watching us," he said. I narrowed my eyes.
"Indeed."

"They're going to know if we do something."

"They will, perhaps, but not fast enough for us to do something about it. We just need to get out of here, grab the other artificials, and--"

"The other artificials," Three repeated, "Why do you want the other artificials? Why not just Six?"

"Because they're all just as trapped as you two are," I said, making Three frown, "They need freedom as badly as you both." Three snorted.

"Like shit they do. You honestly think they're going to want to come with us? Two is a decorated war hero. He's not going anywhere. Four is imprisoned somewhere I don't know. Five is off hiding until Six is let out of his cage. Seven's already gone. Eight isn't going anywhere. She has a life and a wife here at the compound. She's not going to leave that behind. Nine? She... she might. I don't fucking know. Ten and Eleven aren't going to leave. Twelve is still a child. She's not going to go anywhere. And don't get me started on Fourteen--"

"There's fourteen of you? I thought Thirteen was the most recent," I interrupted in surprise. Seven had told us there were only thirteen artificials, not fourteen.

"There's fifteen," Three said, frowning, "But Fourteen and Fifteen are literally infants. They were the last two created before our creator took off on us." I felt my stomach churn at that. Infants. Babies. Babies who still hadn't been abused and brainwashed yet.

"We need to get them all out," I said, "All those who will come with us."

"Hold up, hold up," Three said, putting his hands out to slow me down, "You act like we've already decided that."

"You're the one who sounded like you were ready to leave," I returned. Three lowered his hands with a frown. He didn't say anything for a moment. He looked down at the floor now.

"Look," I said, "I know we can't save them all... But we can try. We need to find out where the babies are, where Four is, because something tells me he isn't gonna wanna stay after being locked up. And Six, we need to get Six out, and something tells me Five will happily leave this place." Three gritted his teeth and looked up at me.

"You don't fucking understand. It's not that easy."

"I know. That's why we need to come up with a plan--"

"No, it's not easy to just leave this place, for us," he said, making me frown, "This is our fucking home. We've lived here our entire lives. Where are we supposed to go after this? What are we supposed to do? All we have are the clothes on our backs. We don't even have IDs or anything. How the fuck are we supposed to survive out there?"

"DNA tests will show us who your family is," I responded, "You can find out who your parents are. They will help you, I guarantee it."

"And what reason could they have for wanting to help us? Just because we have similar DNA? You think they'll want us just because we're their kids?" Three demanded. I frowned.

"Of course."

"You have a lot of confidence in people you don't know."

"I have a feeling I do know who your parents are. Hera is using genetics from people clustered on this side of the family. Chances are, I know exactly who your parents are and we're probably related," I added. Three groaned.

"This makes impregnating you even worse."

"Then don't do it," I said, making Three glare at me, "Don't. Just find a way to get the artificials out with me. If not for the other artificials, and if not for me, then do it for Six. Six deserves to have a life. If you loved him so much, you would prioritize that." Three ground his teeth together. He looked at me, then at the cameras, then turned and left the room. I sighed in frustration, walking over and plopping on the bed.

Well, that was futile. I understood it was hard to convince him, though. He'd lived his entire life here in captivity, whether he wanted to admit it or not. He knew nothing else about the world, just the lies the Mother had force fed him. He was probably scared. The idea of going out into the big world without the Mother watching you probably made you uneasy, especially when you grew to rely on said Mother.

But it couldn't continue.

The Mother needed to be stopped.

And the best way to do it was from the inside out. Get her artificials to break away. Soldiers will start to notice the artificials leaving, then eventually, surely, they would leave as well. Her army would fall apart. She would have no one. Then Hades could go in and make sure she pays for what she had done.

The problem was convincing the artificials to leave. They were born here. They were born under the Mother. All they knew was the Mother. The idea of leaving and going into a big huge universe was probably intimidating. Of course, convincing Three would be a little easier, because I could use Six to get to him.

And my stomach churned as I thought back to something Three had said.

They're not going to let Six out of his cage. His cage? Was that literal or figurative? It made me sick to my stomach to think that Six was trapped somewhere, unable to get out, unable to get help. The last thing I'd seen was him bleeding from the smack Three gave him and gods, so help me when I got out of this, I was going to give Three a beating in return for what he'd done to Six. He may claim to love Six, but his love was so twisted and confused. Again, I couldn't exactly blame him for it when he didn't understand what normal love was supposed to be like, but that didn't make it any less wrong.

I needed to get out of here and I needed to get out of here fast.

Hades was taking too long. It wasn't his fault, I knew that, but I didn't have time to waste. Eventually the Mother would get fed up with Three's fruitless visits. She was going to wonder why we weren't getting down to business.

Next time Three came to me would be the last. Either he was going to do exactly what the Mother had ordered, or he was going to take his fate into his own hands.

I just hoped he made the right choice.