Chapter 42

42

"Commander."

"Which vehicle is she in?" Bridger asked. Rain fell from the thick clouds above, wisps of his slicked back hair falling out of place. He was soaked through, running into rain after his world-shattering encounter with Marlena. Bridger pushed his horse to the brink of exhaustion, racing to get to Vega… He had to know if it was true—if she'd really kept a secret from everyone for fifty-five years.

The soldiers on horseback looked at each other. Two guards rode in the front on horses with two matching military vehicles sandwiched in between, and two more on horseback brought up the rear.

"Did I stutter? Which vehicle is the prisoner in?" Bridger hopped from his horse, water splashing from the puddle beneath his feet.

"The first one, sir," the other soldier answered.

Bridger handed off the reins to him and signaled the woman driving to open the door. The lock slid from its hold, and without hesitation, without thinking about anything other than Vega , he opened the door and slipped inside.

Vega's hands were cuffed behind her back, but she was alert, her eyes meeting his as he settled into the seat across from her. Bridger's stomach fell, and he had to methodically snap his jaw shut at the new scar decorating Vega's left eye.

She glowered with distaste as he slapped the wall behind him and a hidden window opened. "Drive," he ordered in a neutral tone, never looking away from Vega.

The secret window snapped shut, disappearing into the cabin's wall as it was before.

"Your eye," Bridger said, resting his arm on the back of the cushioned bench.

Vega set her jaw and wiggled her shoulders like she was uncomfortable—and she should be. She'd been riding for hours with her arms trapped behind her.

"Marlena" was all she said as the engine roared to life again, and they lurched forward, down the dirt road with potholes around every corner. "Why are you here, Bridger? Did she send you as more torture? Because if she did, it's working. I can't think of a single reason why I'd want to spend more time with you than I have to."

Bridger masked his unease and the churning of his stomach as the vehicle dipped with the uneven path. "No torture at all. I just really wanted to spend some time with you, pick your brain about a few things."

Vega broke their staring contest, rolling her eyes before attempting to get comfortable. "Wake me when we get to my new prison. I should probably rest for my next round of beatings." She rested her head against the interior wall.

Letting her sleep wouldn't get him the answers he needed. Before he lost his nerve, Bridger word-vomited. "Why didn't you tell me what happened to us when we summoned Remus? What we became?"

Vega's eyes flew open. "What?"

"Don't play stupid, Vega. Tell me why you kept it a secret—why you didn't tell me we're gods." His body had an unnatural stiffness, and he pressed his lips together in a tight line, fighting away the anger simmering underneath the surface.

"How do you…" Vega couldn't form the whole thought, her breath catching at the end.

"Marlena," Bridger answered. "You kept it from me… even before." He motioned between them with the arm resting on the bench. "Before we turned into this."

Shock turned to panic, her chest heaving and eyes growing wide as she fought for air. Her nerves lit the small cab up, searing into Bridger's chest.

Bridger removed his arm from the back of his seat and leaned forward. The vehicle was big enough he couldn't reach her without removing himself from the bench. "Hey," he drawled as she closed her eyes. "Breathe." Bridger's voice was deep and heavy like the thrum of a heartbeat. He got on his knees in front of her, hands gently grasping the backs of her calves. He hadn't remembered moving from his spot across from her…

Her piercing gaze met his, and suddenly they were in their twenties again, locked in a cottage in the woods. "Do not break down now." He heard his words inside his head like an echo.

She gulped air like a fish out of water, in large inhales with shallow exhales. The speed of her breathing slowed.

"Good," he cooed.

It didn't take her long to find her words, the scared look in her eyes changing between blinks. "Get your hands off of me."

"Vega," Bridger started.

"I said, get your fucking hands off of me." She took a controlled breath between words.

Bridger pulled his hands away and held them up in surrender. "I just want to know why you didn't trust me."

The laugh that bubbled low in Vega's stomach surprised him. It blew through her lips with a puff of air. "Because maybe I knew you wouldn't choose me at the end of this, not when your destiny was so perfectly planned out for you." Bridger stiffened as she continued. "Because maybe I knew you didn't love me as much as I loved you, and that would be my downfall. I did it to protect myself and the people who truly loved me. I did it because I couldn't trust you, not really."

Bridger sat frozen on his knees below Vega, his eyes locked with hers in what felt like the ultimate showdown. Who would look away first this time? Those eyes twinkled with memories, her attitude the same one he'd fallen in love with all those years ago.

Her words sank in like a knife to the gut. Bridger's jaw flexed once, twice. She'd never trusted you. Maybe Vega was more like Marlena than he'd realized.

No. Could Vega see his internal struggle? She'd always been able to see right through him.

All this time, all these lives, Vega questioned his alliance—even before he'd switched sides. Shame annihilated him, shredding what was left of his soul. For fifteen years, Bridger had fought against his instincts, the role he'd been raised for—and for what? Even in the beginning, the people of the rebellion never trusted him. They watched him like he'd betrayed them long before he actually did. They questioned his actions, never truly giving him a chance to fully become one of them—worried Bridger would take them down from the inside out as a perfectly placed spy by his father, by Marlena.

He'd never felt at home during those fifteen years, not even when Vega was home—slowly becoming someone new altogether.

Finding out she'd been one of the people to question his intentions as well? It broke him. The dreams had started the crack, and Vega's words were what crumbled the entire foundation.

Bridger lost their stare-off, the turmoil inside of him begging him to flee from Vega's soul-scorching stare. He forced himself off the vehicle's floorboard, but before he returned to his side, Bridger reached for the cuffs behind her back, and they responded to his touch. The metal clasp opened and fell from her wrists. When his ass hit the plush bench, Bridger opened the storage underneath the seat beside him and tossed a pouch of mixed nuts to her, followed by a canteen of water. "Eat, drink. You're gonna need it."

Vega devoured her food and curled herself onto the bench, where she fell asleep in the most comfortable spot she'd been offered since Bridger took her as Marlena's prisoner.

Bridger watched the steady rise and fall of her chest, his mental shields shattering no matter how hard he tried to forge them back together.

It took a while to wind their way down the mountain and into the valleys of Pax that would eventually turn into Fortis. Bridger had taken more trips than he could count down this road to Vega before their lives came crashing down around them. He knew where he was without looking, knowing each bump in the road like a little landmark.

They were only a few hours from the fort city—where the start of her newest torment would begin. Fuck. Bridger didn't want to see Vega beaten even in his darkest days, the ones where he'd buried the real him so deep, he might as well be dead.

The torture awaiting her in Fortis was more than a beating. The punishment there would break her.

A bump shook the vehicle, rattling Vega from her snooze. "I have to pee." Her voice jostled Bridger out of his daze.

"We're almost there," he lied. "Go back to sleep."

"Would you rather I squat in the corner?" She stared him down. "You know when I get there, I will have no dignity left. You think Marlena is going to let me slip away to the bathroom? No, she's going to make me piss myself. I already smell bad enough. Can't you give me this one last thing?" She paused, uncrossing her legs. "Let me pee on the side of the road like a lady." Her tone dripped with sarcasm.

Bridger sighed and swiveled his body to quickly tap on the wall separating them from the driver .

The vehicle quivered to a slower speed, and a squawky voice rang over the speaker into the cab. "Yes, Commander?"

"The pris—" He stopped himself from calling her "prisoner." "Vega needs to pee. Send the soldiers up front on horseback ahead of us to keep watch, and tell the others to hold back to do the same."

Vega rolled her eyes at his correction.

The vehicle trembled to a stop. Bridger waved her out when the door opened, refocusing his eyes away from what little fabric covered her ass. Act like a commander, not a horny teenager. The time she'd spent locked away had stolen the weight that usually filled her out in Bridger's favorite places. We're killing her.

Marlena had been trying to end Vega since the moment she'd cursed her, and Bridger was a pawn in her scheme—a puppet she controlled. He knew his redemption was long gone, but that didn't mean he couldn't twist the narrative, didn't mean he couldn't try to say sorry in the only way that mattered.

She's getting to you, the darkness on his shoulder said. Don't forget why you're in this position, why you chose to betray her. And there was the light who'd recently reappeared. Bridger had only ever wanted to keep her safe.

Bridger honed in on her voice outside of the vehicle through the small crack in the unclosed door.

"Can you turn around?" Vega asked, annoyed.

"No way. I don't trust that you won't run," the soldier quipped.

"Please tell me how you expect me to run in this state." Bridger winced at the sadness in her voice. "Thanks to your piece of shit ruler, I'm skin and bones again."

There was a whoosh of air with a gurgling sound to follow. Bridger's senses swelled with danger. As silent as a leopard after its prey, Bridger exited the vehicle.

His soldier held Vega by the throat, suspended in the air, while her feet kicked underneath her for purchase. "You will not speak ill of Marlena." Vega's eyes bulged, her hands clawing at the man's arms. The soldier's gaze dropped to the ground, where liquid dripped from Vega's leg. "Did you just piss yourself?" He spat a laugh.

Bridger had been building an army to follow him, not Marlena. But there would always be outliers. The army was his, and he'd be damned if Marlena snaked her way in. She had enough control.

Crack.

The soldier's body folded to the ground after Bridger snapped his neck.

Vega barely caught herself on her feet, gasping for air as her fingers danced over the dark bruise already starting to form around her neck.

Bridger didn't reach out for her, didn't help steady her. He looked behind him, waiting to see the next vehicle in their convoy. He could hear it in the distance, the engine stalled like he'd requested. His focus flicked back to Vega.

"Run."

Vega blinked rapidly. Her lips formed the question her voice couldn't find. What?

"Vega, go ," he growled, detaching the cape of his uniform from the clasps.

She didn't question him this time, only hesitating for a second to grab the dagger off the dead soldier's leg. She kicked dirt up as she darted for the woods in the distance.

Bridger waited until she was inside the tree line to drive his dagger into his side, releasing a bellow of pain.

The second soldier from inside the vehicle jumped out, scurrying to Bridger's side as he ripped the blade from his flesh."Sir! What happened?"

A familiar soldier came barreling towards him on horseback. There was an X on the sleeve of his uniform, the numeral signifying he was a level ten warrior. The other from up ahead was close behind, the horse he handed over from earlier no longer with him.

The other soldiers of varying high ranks were on alert, searching the other side of the vehicle, awaiting their orders while calling the other piece of their convoy forward.

Bridger hastily reached inside the cab for his bonded sword with one hand pressed to his side. He ignored the nagging feel of his blood healing his self-induced stab wound. "I let her out to use the bathroom so she didn't pee inside my fucking vehicle, and she snapped Paulus's neck. When I got out to check on what was happening, she'd stolen his dagger and stabbed me." He slipped the scabbard over his back. "Three stay here in case she gets turned around and circles back. The rest of you spread out and keep eyes on the road."

"You shouldn't go alone. I'll come with you," the soldier with the X on his arm said.

"No," he barked quickly. "I can handle her on my own." Bridger stepped over his cape, looking over his shoulder. "Do not sound the alarm yet. I don't need the rebels knowing she's out here roaming alone."

Bridger broke out into a sprint, and with no one around to hear, he spoke to himself. "C'mon, Vega, I know you didn't get far."