Chapter 25

Darren stared at the protein-rich gooey substance in his bowl. It smelled like chicken soup, even had the flavor of it, but he knew it wasn't. Like most of the prison ‘food', it was yet another iteration of the multipurpose nutrient-rich paste pharmaceutical corporations supplied to mining outposts due to its long shelf-life and various applications. The slice of bread on Darren's tray was made from the same stuff and so was the glue used for patching up engines leaking altenergy.

"Shit, Darren! Ya heard that? E-Unit or soccer?"

Only the apple on his tray wasn't made from goo, so, unsurprisingly, it was the one thing he was looking forward to eating. Then again, his lack of appetite probably had more to do with the confrontation from last night than the actual ingredients used in prison food.

Aiden should be arriving at the hideout just about now. The thought turned Darren's stomach upside-down. His hands felt clammy. Hot and cold shivers passed through him, heightening the sting from being restrained in his sore shoulders. He bit into the sour-sweet fruit, the crunch too loud in his ears. Last night, Aiden Kesley had intended to kill him. Almost had. And now he was about to walk into the biggest secret in Darren's life.

Darren shuddered, finding it difficult to swallow the apple. Had he made the right choice sending Aiden there to discover more than he'd bargained for? He had no idea. It was a ludicrous gamble, but he'd seen no other way. He wanted to live, now more so than before, to stop pretending he was okay with giving up.

The man who'd come here to kill him… Aiden Kesley's obsession with the truth was the only chance Darren had. This man was the only person who could change the course of his future or cement it, depending on who he was when he returned from the hideout.

"Oi, Darren! Get ya head out the clouds, man." Matt snatched Darren's untouched bread. "They lettin' us on the field later!"

Darren sank his teeth into the fruit again. "Terrific."

The lack of enthusiasm that must've shown through his tone had Matt scowling at him. "Ya feelin' ok?"

He wasn't. He was… scared. Terrified, in fact. Had he really made the right choice? Trusting Aiden with the hideout just because… his gut told him to? "Peachy."

Matt smacked him across the back. "Pfft. Smartass. Seriously, ya sick or something?"

"Bad sleep."

"Bad sleep or ya too busy fucking the warden in yer dreams to actually sleep?" Matt snorted, shaking his head.

What he'd done last night changed everything. It set into motion things he wasn't sure he was ready to face, yet he didn't have a choice anymore. He'd known the day would come sooner or later, he'd been planning for it, but he couldn't have foreseen this turn of events after two years of rotting in prison.

Darren pulled on his lip piercing. To think that trying to get in the pants of a man would force his hand like this. He should've seen through Aiden, he should've ignored that urge to get to know the stuck-up warden and kept his distance so he wouldn't make it so easy for Aiden to corner him. But he hadn't. He'd lost the moment he'd seen the darkness in those soul-stealing eyes.

So familiar, so soothing. So enthralling. So irresistible, like the light of a single star in a cloudy sky.

Mustering up a fake grin, Darren said, "You got me."

"On that note, he ain't in today, it seems. Nigel's in charge," Matt pointed out, tilting his chin toward the two guards at the gate.

"I guess he needed a day off." Darren eyed the bin where he'd dumped the useless maintenance access card after breaking it up into pieces. It had worked to get him in his cell, but not out, telling him Aiden had deactivated it shortly after.

Smiling at the thought of what an easy escape it would've been if Aiden hadn't done that, Darren let Matt claim the rest of the goo-based food, then watched his friend join the poker game on the neighboring table. He immediately caused a round of grunts and swearing, and Darren almost felt sorry for the evidently unsuspecting victims as he headed for the library. Before he'd taken even a step though, someone pushed him back down on the bench and grabbed his shoulders, massaging the aching muscles in deliberate circles of numbing pleasure.

Fuuck, that felt amazing.

"Shit, Darren… no wonder you are in a bad mood," Nyle said, hitting a particularly bad spot above Darren's shoulder blades. "Just let me do my magic. You need to relax."

Not only was Darren's mind stressed out, but after the hour he'd spent tied to that fucking chair, his whole upper body was killing him. "Fuck!" he grumbled when Nyle pressed on the same spot.

"How'd you get yourself in that state?" Nyle giggled innocently.

Darren gradually melted into the soothing motions. "Carrying boxes."

"Uh-huh. That sounds like a tough job for a secretary."

"I feel more like an errand boy than a secretary sometimes," he complained, letting out an exasperated laugh.

His body sagged. He needed to get his shit together and figure out what he was going to do when Aiden returned. The problem was that he couldn't really do that when Aiden was the one who dictated where and how this was going to end for him. Death was the likeliest scenario regardless of Aiden's actions, so perhaps getting to terms with that was the best he could do.

Except, he wasn't onboard with dying or rotting here anymore. He was done giving up. Just the thought of it agitated him, threw him into an inner frenzy that he couldn't stifle down, that he didn't want to extinguish just like he didn't want to deny the fact that despite last night, he still wanted to know who Aiden Kesley really was.

Fuck dying.If his hunch told him Aiden could be trusted, then he was going to roll with it. And that meant figuring out a way to get the hell out of Horizons instead of worrying about what Aiden might do once he returned.

Yes, that was it. He needed to occupy himself by thinking up a plan to break out of this prison station.

"Hmm, that explains your late-night trip out of the cell block," Nyle mused, a hint of mischief in his voice. "I do wonder what the warden had you do for him."

A shiver ran down Darren's spine. He grabbed Nyle's wrist and squeezed it, earning himself a challenging glare. "You are mistaken. I was sleeping. It must've been someone else."

Nyle stepped aside and crossed his arms. He sized Darren up for a long moment as Darren did the same. Eventually, Nyle let go of his scowl and donned his trademark flirty smile.

"I guess it was." The twink leaned in, placing his hand on top of Darren's thigh and squeezing it. "But if something like that were to happen, I would be curious to know the reason behind it… And perhaps help with whatever trouble you may or may not have gotten yourself into," he whispered, then straightened up and pecked Darren on the cheek. "Go take a hot shower. It will help with the soreness."

Darren stood up, his heart banging against his ribcage. Had Nyle just offered to help him? He blinked in disbelief, and that only made the grin on Nyle's face stretch wider.

"You should get going while the showers aren't crowded and offer some privacy," the twink urged.

Darren felt his mouth slowly curve up. "Yes… I think I will do that," he said and headed for his cell to get his towel.

When he made it to the showers five minutes later, Nyle was already waiting there.