arbitrate (daynight) (4 page)

“No need. He has both a night and a day nurse. They live in the apartment and will tend to him.”
 

She yanks her arm from me and glares. “Are you kidding me, Ethan? He’s my son. Our son. He needs his mother. And I need him. He’s all I have left. Your colleagues have taken
everyone
else from me. My parents. My brother. My friends. My other…” Tears are streaming down her face.

“I’m sorry. Orders from the Ten. They don’t trust you to not take off with the Heir of Thera again.”

Her mouth is hanging open. “
You
are one of the Ten. Why don’t you come right out and say it—
you
don’t trust me.”

I probably shouldn’t be noticing how beautiful she is right now, but I can’t help it. She’s filled out a little from the pregnancy, but, if anything, that makes her look
more
attractive. Despite the fact she’s wearing no makeup and has on ratty sweats and a t-shirt—that are far from SCI-approved and likely belong to Jax given their size—she looks stunning.

“Kira, you let me believe you were dead. You kept me from my own son. And despite being Cleaved to me, I found you this eve in bed with my brother. Yeah, I don’t trust you. At all.”

I might has well have slapped her across the face. She looks devastated.

“For the last year I have been a wreck. A
wreck
. I’ve been through intensive therapy. People from the SCI—not Militant Exilers like your mother would ask me to believe—have tried to
kill
me, repeatedly.”
 

“Who? Who was trying to kill you? It wasn’t the Ten. I’m sure of
that
.” My mother and the rest of the Ten had been furious when Kira disappeared, pregnant with the “future of Thera.” They have “big plans” to train our children from their youth to be future leaders of Thera and Earth.

“I
don’t know.
What I do know is that whoever is behind it had me paralyzed and then sliced open like a piece of meat. My son was stolen from me. Can you even fathom that? Can you? I still can’t, and I have to relive it every time I close my eyes. Jax helps me through my day terrors. He has been my rock and my best friend. That’s
it
. I have
never
been unfaithful to you with Jax or anyone else. Not even a kiss. I have not been in any kind of state to even contemplate such a thing. Can you say the same, Ethan? Can you? How
is
Alexa Knight? Miss Beautiful Face of the Clean Slate Campaign back on Earth? I bet when you have your arms wrapped around her, it’s not because she’s having a day terror. I hope you’ve enjoyed your carefree life while I’ve been healing from major surgery and staying up all day with your son.”
 

Kira stomps out of the room and slams the door.

I guess she knows.

Six weeks prior: Garden City, Thera

“So I don’t get it.
Your hometown is only accessible by boat?” Alexa Knight asked me. My Aunt Violet and Uncle Victor, who ran the SCI’s Clean Slate Complex in Los Angeles, had chosen Alexa for the “face” of the SCI’s Clean Slate Campaign on Earth. After seeing Alexa’s “before” and “after” pictures, I can see why. She’d been living in the back of a van with her mother and brothers. An SCI bus happened to be driving by as she was being attacked by a drug addict. The bus stopped, and a Clean Slate Complex employee saved her. Post SCI-makeover Alexa looked stunning—her buffed mocha skin and dark eyes were a stark contrast to the white shirt and designer jeans she was wearing. She pulled her curly, dark hair back into a messy bun to combat the salty wind of our boat ride.

 
I’d gotten roped into taking her and my annoying cousin Joshua—Violet and Victor’s son—back to Thera for an “educational visit.” Or more like scare the crap out of the new girl, so that she would toe the line. It’s not like I could say no since I’d been assigned to work with my aunt and uncle as legal counsel for the Clean Slate Complex. The complex took in hundreds of homeless, poor, and afflicted who needed to get back on their feet and gave them housing and jobs. From what I could tell, the results had been staggeringly positive, but I had a feeling there was more to the complexes than was advertised.

I’d met Alexa once before at an SCI fundraiser, right after Blake had told me Kira died during childbirth. So I’d been a little preoccupied that night with how I was going to find Jax and beat the crap out of him for letting Kira die. Unfortunately, decking him didn’t make me feel any better about the situation.

“It’s the best way to get
you
there,” Joshua responded.

“I didn’t ask you. I asked Ethan.” Alexa snapped at Joshua.

He dropped his head and started humming a tune and drumming a beat on the seat cushion.
“The many faces of Alexa Knight—today’s flavor has got some bite. She just told me to go fly a kite. Maybe she’ll sleep better the next night, else she’ll truly become a fright when she sees Thera’s lack of light.”
 

I chuckled when Alexa punched Joshua in the arm—hard. Any girl who refused to put up with Joshua’s crap got my automatic respect. Everyone had a relative that grated on their nerves. Joshua was mine.

I wanted no part of whatever drama they had going, but I needed to play the part of Theran tour guide. One of the many “perks” of being a member of the Ten.

“It will make sense soon,” I told her. I looked at my watch and then off into the horizon to try to gauge our progress. “It’s not too far.”

“I just don’t get how heading out into the open ocean will get us anywhere other than shark bait central,” Alexa responded.

“Truer words have never been spoken.” Joshua laughed. “My Aunt Vienna—Ethan’s mom—definitely has some bite to her. She’s a nasty one. As for the trip, I
told
you, Alexa, that this is one of those ‘seeing is believing’ kind of things.”

Alexa rolled her eyes. “If Ethan’s mom is a shark, what does that make your parents, Joshua?” Despite being a member of the Ten, I hadn’t been clued in to the true purpose behind the Clean Slate Complexes on Earth. I knew they screened people for DNT and those who had high enough levels were recruited into the SCI, but I was sure there was more going on than some shady bloodwork.

Joshua didn’t answer Alexa directly but started singing again.
“Predatory cats stalking their prey, luring them in…making them stay. Using them. Mauling them. Shredding them. Killing them. There’s no use running away, for they win every game they play.”

“Shut up, Joshua.” I glared at him. I didn’t know how much Alexa knew about the SCI, but I didn’t want to be the one fielding her questions.

“What?” Joshua grinned. “Have you met my parents? Maybe you should come live with them for a while, and I’ll go hang out at Uncle Henry’s estate.” Clearly Joshua suffered from a “grass is always greener” affliction since I considered living with my Uncle Henry—who was the Democratic front-runner in the US presidential election—only a slight notch up from living on Thera.

I needed to change the subject. “So, Alexa, tell me about your parents.”

Whereas she’d been smiling at the exchange between Joshua and me a moment before, her expression froze over. “My dad left us a few years back, and my mom passed away two weeks ago. She’d been in a coma for a while, but I’d always hoped she’d come out of it.”

I put my hand atop hers and stared into her dark eyes. “I’m so sorry. I just lost someone I loved too. So I know how hard it is.” It had been six weeks since I got the news that Kira had died. I was a wreck over it. I’d only recently returned to work. I knew I had to move past it but didn’t know how.

Alexa understood my pain. I could see it in the look she gave me. The moment, however, was interrupted by our arrival at the portal.

“What the hell?” Alexa said upon seeing the shoddy warehouse sitting atop the ocean water.

“More like portal
to
hell.” Joshua muttered. “Come on. You’ve been wanting answers. Let’s go enlarge and boggle your mind and all that.”

Jax arrived our second
night on Thera at Joshua’s behest. He’d apparently made a promise to Alexa to show her that a friend of hers, Adam, was alive and well here on Thera. Adam was the Clean Slate Complex employee who had saved Alexa’s life back on Earth. Here on Thera though, he was with the Exilers. So, to get beyond the Eco barrier, Jax’s special skill was needed. The same ability ran in my blood—something that I couldn’t let anyone in the SCI know. Jax, for some unfathomable reason, had told Joshua about his “talent” and had swore him to secrecy. A rather impressive threat must have been involved.

“I have an hour, tops,” Jax said as he checked his watch.
 

I decided to push his buttons. Kira’s memory haunted me in Garden City, and I wanted Jax to share my pain. “What’s your hurry? I can’t imagine you got another assignment after failing your last one.”
 

He didn’t seem at all happy to see me, perhaps since the last time I saw him I hit him. “
You
should stay here.”

I shook my head at him. I couldn’t keep the venom out of my words. “No way. I’m supposed to have Alexa in sight at all times. And I don’t trust you to protect her.”

Jax bit down on his lip and clenched his fists. His golden eyes looked like they were on fire. “Be careful what you say to me, Ethan. You think you have lost so much, yet you have so much more than you deserve, and others have lost so much more than you.”

Despite my promise to myself to never get violent again, I shoved him. “I’m in no mood for your word games. Let’s get this done with. My mother’s keeping close tabs on our whereabouts.”

Alexa pulled me back and whispered. “Don’t let him get to you. I want you to come with so that I’ll feel safe.” She took my hand and interlaced her fingers with mine. We’d gotten to know each other pretty well the last couple nights. Joshua had upset her upon our arrival, and she’d clocked him in the eye. That made her best friend material as far as I was concerned. Joshua and I hadn’t gotten along since he sang an evening-long rendition of “Ethan and the Bimbo Queen” at one of my Uncle Henry’s fundraisers.

Jax looked at the two of us holding hands and huffed. “Joshua, you are okay with this?” Even though I’d sensed that Alexa and Joshua had history, I had no idea how much. Besides, Alexa and I had a lot in common just having suffered huge losses. I felt connected to and comforted by her. The fact that it pissed off Jax made it even better. I gave Alexa’s hand a gentle squeeze.

Joshua shrugged and rubbed his bruised eye. “He can have her. Pretty Boy could use some roughing up.” Without missing a beat, he broke out into song.
“Mr. Perfect needs a shiner. You see…he’s a Ten…but he’s also a whiner.”
If there was ever a person who deserved to be born without vocal cords…

Jax practically spat at me. “Your stupidity knows no bounds. You never deserved her.” To Alexa he narrowed his eyes and instructed. “Remember that games can be won
and
lost. Now, hold on to my arm. It’s time to head to the Exiler camp. This will be like going through a portal…just one that I make rather than one you have to walk through—and where you don’t dry heave.” He emphasized the need to keep this mode of transport “quiet” and that the consequences for outing him would be most severe.

I grabbed Jax’s arm too, being sure to hold on extra tight. The Garden City suite faded out, and dark desert scape faded in. We arrived near a controlled bonfire, in front of a large cave where lunch was being cooked but out of sight of the Exilers. As we approached, the night watch raised their guns and pointed them at us. Intellectually understanding the conditions the Exilers live in and seeing them in person were two very different things. The unsanitary conditions. The primitive nature of it all. The inhumanity. I didn’t understand how they were able to survive with what little they had.

Alexa screamed at the sight of the guns pointed our way. She was not enjoying her field trip to Thera. Apparently, knowing that her employers rule over an entire planet had her a little upset. It had been a lot for her to take in. And Garden City was palatial and civilized compared to the Exiler camp. The guards stepped forward and surrounded us.

Jax raised his voice. “Put the guns down. Now. We’re here to see Adam Caster.”

A tall blonde came out of the cave. One that reminded me of the blind date who inspired Joshua’s “Queen Bimbo” tune. She looked us all over. To the guards she said, “They’re friendlies.” She chuckled at Jax. “Well, well, well. Jax Christo. The last time I saw you we were doing surgery together.”
 

“Surgery that would not have been necessary had you not lured Blake out of the house, Bailey. I don’t think it’s the time to reopen those particular wounds, though. I assume Blake’s still gone?” Jax asked. I squeeze my eyes shut.
I miss you, Kira. So much.
Alexa gently rubbed the top of my hand while I took deep breaths.

The blonde responded, “Yeah. Like he had a choice. Who are your friends?”
 

Jax quietly answered. I couldn’t hear due to Alexa’s high-pitched shriek. “Adam!” She yanked her hand from mine and ran to him. “I thought you were dead.” She jabbered on and on about watching him burn to death.

Adam listened to her tale before responding. “What you saw, happened. I died. And now I’m here. In Hell…I mean Thera.”

Present

“Oh Cleave-dear, give me my son. I think you owe me a few months with him.” I find Kira with Zander in his nursery. She completely ignores me, keeps her back to me. Zander is dressed in nothing but a diaper, lying on a blanket on the floor. He’s batting at some plastic grapes that used to be decor in my office. “What on Thera are you letting him play with?”

She makes a face at Zander and says to
him,
“Why
are
we playing with daddy’s plastic grapes? Because this is
the most child unfriendly place ever,
and there are no toys here, of course.” Then she leans over and blows on his belly button, making a funny noise. This gets Zander laughing. It’s adorable. Kira, however, is pissing me off.

I get down on the floor and lean over Zander and make a face at him. He bursts into tears. “Great. My own kid’s scared of me. He doesn’t even know me. And that is
your
fault.”