Chapter 17

One Last Broken Piece

I sigh as I climb free from the hummer when we reach the edge of the border of the United. A car is waiting for me to claim, and I walk over to it while keeping my eyes away from the commander of the United burning through me with his betraying eyes.

I was successful in discreetly replacing my contacts when I was able to hold back my tears for long enough, so I toss my sunglasses back into my bag, watching them land beside my phones. I don't even bother turning my phone on. I don't feel like talking to anyone right now.

The guards rush down to greet the man who has announced his true identity, excitement budding in their hasty pace.

I wish I could use my gift on him right now. If I wouldn't be thrown in solitude for the next four centuries, I'd do it - if my damn gift even fucking worked that is.

I glance back to see the burden, the dread, and the misery staining those deceitful eyes I once thought to be so genuine and incredible. Now they're just an endless pit of mockery for my complete naivety.

I crank up my new vehicle, and then I see Jase being handed a phone. He looks away from me, and then his eyes grow wide. I'm sure it's something gory, and right now, I don't feel like going on a new tracking mission for him. I hate the fucking United right now.

I slam the car into first gear, speeding away and shifting into the next few gears with violent jerks. I glance up to see there are quickly approaching headlights in my rearview mirror.

I know it's him. I can see his car driving like hell to catch up with me. I don't feel like hearing what he has to say. I don't feel like looking into his damn traitorous eyes.

My secret phone buzzes again, but I continue to ignore it while shifting into a higher gear, my superior driving skills showing themselves as I dust the man behind me. His headlights slowly become a distant memory to my rearview.

It'll only take two hours to get home from here. I should have just stayed grounded. But then the captain I saved, along with the other prisoners of war, wouldn't have had their freedom back. That's the only good to come from this.

The distant humming of Jase's engine almost fades completely. At this speed, I'll reach Seminole in less than an hour instead. That's fine too. I need a shower to wash away my painful heartbreak.

I had forgotten how badly this hurts. It's so much worse than the last time because I actually loved Jase, but I can't lose it like I did back then. I promised everyone I wouldn't. I'm stronger now. It's excruciating to the point I can't breathe, and I'm thankful air is only a comfort instead of a necessity. I can take it though. I have to.

Something draws my attention from my painful thoughts, making me more focused on the road ahead instead of the man I left behind. It's smoke.

I don't see fire, or even embers from a fire, so it's distant. It's at least an hour old, considering how stale it is, but where is it coming from? The only thing even around here is the Catagar, Jameson City, and… oh no… Seminole.

"No.No."

I step on the gas all the harder as I press the button concealed under my steering wheel to catapult my car forward with hellacious speed. My stomach is pulsing with my tattered heart's beat. My fingers are drawing up from the overpowering adrenaline burning through my veins.

Then I see it. There's nothing but a dust cloud in the distance where I should be seeing the towers of Seminole. All that stands there now is a thick cloud of smoke which is billowing from the rubble that is barely viewable from this distance.

My car surges forward so fast the distance lessens in a blur. As I draw even closer, I see all the unfathomable destruction unfolding in front of my eyes.

There are still small bits of the once gallant compound falling from the crumbled perches. Death radiates through the air as men uselessly shower the flames with water. So many cars are lining the facility. So many people are here to clean up the mess, but no one stopped it. It's too late.

I skid the car to a halt, and my legs carry me with my ungodly speed as I dart toward the ashes of my home.

"Rex!" I scream. "Simone!"

This was a gifted. I can still smell a strong essence lacing the air that is filled with smoke. They came. They came for me, and they killed everyone here. This is my fault.

"Rex!" I scream again, my tears burning through my newest contacts as I charge into the debris.

I hear the roaring of engines skirting to an exhausted stop, and the scurrying of men following me into the pile of rubble.

"Simone!" I scream louder in panic.

The monstrous compound has been obliterated. The miles and miles of guarded homes, schools, offices… everything… it's all gone.

The water showers down on me as they continue dousing the sizzling fires that are casting light on the devastation. I drop to my knees when I see the place my apartment once stood.

"Rex," I sob out through a pained whisper, and my tears fall all the harder to bubble up on the dry, scorched ground.

"Aria!" a voice screams, but I know who it is, and I can't answer him back.

I curl up like a child in need of a mother's embrace as I stare at the remains of my home where my brother would have been when this happened. My teary face grips the ground beneath me, and the grit clings to me as it joins me in the sorrowful moment.

I feel too sick to fight it, and I sit up quickly to expel all the contents of my stomach as the vicious waves of pain strike without mercy. It won't stop. I cough out as more rises to my throat in the form of bile.

"Aria!" Jase screams again, but I still ignore him.

He's the last fucking person I want to see right now.

"Rex," I whimper to myself, my tears still pouring freely from my eyes as I lie back down beside my pile of disgustingness.

Please give me my savage. I can't face this by myself. I need that detachment right now.

The nameless entity I'm praying to doesn't answer my plea. No one offers me solace. No one can. My brother, my cousin… they're gone.

"Aria," Jase's voice says in relief as his cool hands slide around my curled up body.

"Don't touch me!" I scream, my tears falling all the harder, but I don't have the energy to fight him as he ignores my demand and pulls me to his chest.

"I've got you, baby," he murmurs while kissing my forehead.

Finally, my absent fight finds me, and I jerk free from his embrace while staggering around on the ground. I double over, hands on my knees, and I vomit once more as the pain hits me in an excruciating takeover.

"Go the fuck away," I gurgle out while dropping back to the ground.

"Baby, your emotions are heightened," he whispers. "You can't handle something like this alone."

I stand up, something inside me snapping, as my eyes meet his with the burning glow of sheer hatred.

"I'll kill you if you fucking call me baby one more time."

He takes a step back, his eyes gauging mine, but I'm not savage. I'm just done. I'm tired of it all. It hurts too much to face, so I start fighting to shut it all down.

"Aria, please talk to me," he cautiously pleads.

"I told you to leave me alone. Don't act like you give a damn now. I hate you!"

He winces as tears stain his eyes, and then he shakes his head.

"You don't hate me, Aria, you just don't know how to deal with this. Just let me help-"

"Aria!" a familiar voice yells out, and my tears reemerge as my stomach slips into my throat.

"Rex!" I cry out, my voice crackling, my grief apparently leaving me completely delusional to believe he could have survived this.

Then I feel the warm arms around me before I see his face. I sob into his chest, praying I'm not just crazy, as he holds me to him, his voice cooing to calm me down.

"You're alive," Jase gasps. "I thought-"

"I know. I should be, but someone got some of us out before the attack. We were paralyzed, completely motionless and trapped inside our own bodies. I felt arms pulling me out, and then I passed out from the pressure on my chest. When I woke up, there were at least a hundred of us left out in the middle of the fields outside the compound. It took a while for the paralysis to wear off."

I just sob that much harder, and my brother holds me all the tighter while kissing my hair.

"I came back as soon as I could because I knew it would damn near kill Aria if she reached this before she knew I was alive."

"Who got you out?" Jase asks, shock still lingering in his tone.

"I don't know. My eyes were forced shut by unseen hands, and the paralysis made it impossible for me to reopen them until it wore off. I could hear the collapse, feel the vibrations of the demolition, smell the smoke and death toll, and taste the fire, but I couldn't move or help in anyway. I was praying my savage would be provoked, but I don't know if even that would have been enough."

Jase sighs out, and I can hear him ruffling a hand through his hair. My heart is still breaking for so many reasons, but I finally manage the courage to ask the question I've been dreading.

"Simone?" I whimper, my tears falling all the more.

"She's-"

"I'm still alive and very fucking pissed right now," she growls from behind us, and I gasp while turning around and rushing her for an embrace.

I feel her tears against my cheek as we both fall into the much needed sisterly hug.

"Captain Fricks?" Jase asks.

"Fortunately, he and some of the others went on a reconnaissance mission early this morning, so they weren't here," Rex murmurs softly.

"I need to make some calls," Jase says with his commander's tone, but I act as though he doesn't exist.

"We need to get you out of here. You've cried through your contacts," Rex whispers while checking around.

I just nod and lower my eyes to the ground to keep them from being seen by the men with full blood night vision as I follow my alive-and-well brother. Simone holds my hand, feeling my anxiety and understanding what's going on. My pocket buzzes again, and I finally pull out the phone I've ignored to see what Mr. Mask wants. I gasp as I read the first message I never checked.

They're going after Seminole. Stay away. I'll take care of it the best I can.

I quickly flip to the next one, and I shake my head in disbelief at all the pain I could have spared myself if I had just read it when it went off.

I've got your brother and Simone. They're safe. You can find them in the fields of your Mom and Dad's first house.

Then I move down to the latest one.

I hope you read this one sooner than you did my other two. Meet me in Jameson City. Shalon De La More, room 515.

I slip the phone back into my pocket, and then I pull out a pair of fresh contacts the second we reach the vehicles.

"Where to?" Simone asks while climbing into my passenger seat.

"I've made arrangements for you to stay at my place in Jameson," Jase murmurs while joining us. "The commander is offered a suite at the Shavon, and it's plenty big enough for the three of you to use until we can find you a new base to set up."

"I have a home in Hershian," Simone interjects. "I was just here as a favor to the commander and to my cousin."

She didn't even catch on. Neither did Rex. He said his place and the commander's suite in the same breath. Do Simone and Rex already fucking know?

That sick feeling returns, and my eyes cut toward Jase before they threaten to burn through yet another pair of my fake blues.

"I'm not staying in your place, Commander. It would be inappropriate. I'll get my own place," I growl, and Jase winces under my cold, callous rejection.

Simone and Rex both gasp at the sudden realization - which answers the question as to whether or not they knew - and they stare at the man who is no longer a phantom. Simone is the first to finally break the startling silence.

"So you're-"

"I am," Jase sighs out, the weight of the world now shining through his lying eyes.

"I want to get out of here," I mumble, and Rex helps me into the back of my car while offering me a sympathetic smile.

Simone shakes her head while opening the door, and then she glares at our commander while scolding, "You don't fuck someone, let them fall in love, and then keep something like this from them while constantly reassuring them they can trust you."

She hops in the car, and Jase's eyes lower to the ground as Rex takes the place behind the wheel.

"Sorry, Aria," my brother says with his pitying tone.

"Just get us to Jameson. I need a shower and a bed."

"What hotel?" he asks while backing up and turning around.

"Shalon De La More."

As soon as I know it's safe, I slip out of the room and tiptoe down the hallway in my short pajamas. Every time a creak follows my footsteps, I cringe. I finally reach my destination, and I buzz the box on the outside of the door. It almost opens instantly to reveal my masked hero.

"Come on," the familiar accent urges, and I dive in to see him in a white mask and hooded white sweatshirt.

The mask only covers his eyes and nose, offering me a glimpse of his smooth face and beautiful lips.

"Do you have a thing for matching your shirts and masks?" I muse while casually strutting behind him in the very soundproof suite.

He smirks lightly, and then his eyes cut toward the screens descending from the ceilings. I see the rubble that is now Seminole, and a shiver erupts.

Without thinking, I rush the stranger, and he stumbles backwards as my arms wrap around him in the embrace I hadn't expected to offer. Very slowly he returns the affection, and his soft lips graze the top of my head.

"Thank you," I strain out while holding back my tears.

"You're welcome," he murmurs gently while pulling back.

His dark jeans fit him too perfectly, and my hybrid stirs slightly. I sigh out for the foolish, lusty feelings I have to avoid, and I join him in the staring mission.

"What'd you find?"

"On the screen or at the underground facility?" he asks while studying the footage.

"Both."

"Well, I found some videos locked down by an advanced firewall system. I've got some special decoding devices running scans on them now to break the password protection. I heard the captain telling you they wanted information about Seminole. I think they wanted the layout more than anything. Public access laws block anyone outside of ranked officials from entering certain parts of the compound. My question is, which part did they want? That's why I'm looking at this footage, but I can't find anything. Do you have any guesses?"

I swallow hard against the guilt-ridden knot in my throat. He's so clever, but he has missed the obvious.

"Me."

He turns to me, his eyes softening as he finds my guilt streaming out in the form of tears, and he pulls me to his body in a comforting hug that I wasn't expecting, but desperately needed.

"Not you. They knew you weren't there. I promise this didn't happen because they were looking for you," he soothes, and I just cry that much harder while pushing my face into his chest.

"Then they wanted something to do with me," I sob out. "They had to. This isn't a coincidence."

He sighs while shaking his head against mine.

"We don't know what they wanted. I need to know everything that was going on in the restricted areas."

I pull back, my eyes still dripping, and I look away, feeling useless.

"I can't help you there. I'm just a tracker. I'm not a lead tracker or a high ranked official."

He frowns slightly before turning back, and then I squeal when a new voice finds its way into the room.

"I have access to such information. What do you need to know?" Simone asks, and my masked hero takes a wary step back while finding her in the room.

"Damn it, Aria," he whispers.

"I didn't tell her, I swear."

"She didn't have to tell me. I found the phone you gave her when I went to check on her. I read the message. I know you're the one who pulled us out. I can smell your scent from here just as I smelled it when you drug me into those fields. I'll tell you anything you want to know if it'll help us find out what they wanted and who they were."

He sighs out a little smoother, and then he flips the screen off.

"I need to know what experiments went on in the labs, or if there were any especially gifted hybrids being kept secret. I need to know more than you'll trust me with. I need to go," he murmurs while walking over to grab a bag.

"There are three level seven hybrids who have just come into power," she says, and he stops his retreat to turn around, surprised by her haste to prove him wrong about her.

"Can they do anything that would make these guys go after them?" he asks.

"They were killed. I saw the bodies, so it wasn't the level sevens they were after. The tech facility is working on a few mundane projects, nothing spyware related, and nothing that would help them enough for them to do this. The lab is working on some of the blood found in the underground massacre, but it was all victim blood… not attacker blood. I don't know if they might have thought they would find out who wiped out their men or not."

"This wasn't the scorpions," he murmurs softly while looking toward her. "This is whatever caused the underground massacre."

It all clicks.

"That's why no one drew a weapon. They were paralyzed like my brother and Simone," I gasp, and Simone's eyes widen.

"Well, that's odd. If that thing had left a drop of blood behind, I would have found it in the samples. It has to know it didn't leave evidence behind, so why attack?" Simone asks in bemusement. "And why attack us?"

"The Scorpions were the ones who were coming after us. I saw the tattoos and they're the ones who asked the captain about Seminole," I grumble, feeling more confused. "Is this thing now working with the same people it slaughtered?"

He grips his head while flopping down, and I join him on the couch.

"I don't know," he grumbles, and then he leans back to wrap an arm around my shoulders before returning his gaze to me.

"Let me check my logs. My phone is just down the hall. I'll be back in a minute," Simone adds, and he nods at her while staring at me.

I don't even hear the click of the door as she leaves, and I finally turn away from the intense eye contact.

"I'm sorry I couldn't tell you about your boyfriend."

His out of nowhere comment catches me off guard, and tears breach my lids again. I back away, but he pulls me back to him.

"You're not the only one who kept it from me. Besides, he should have told me before he fucked me."

He smirks lightly, and that draws out my anger more than my curiosity.

"What?" I bark.

He laughs this time while shaking his head. "You treat sex as though it's some sort of amazingly intimate thing, when it's just sex. You're a hybrid. I can't stress that enough. Unless you find your counter, sex is just your tool to make it through the days."

I huff out as tears sting my eyes. I can't discuss counter business with him. This weird draw I have toward him makes me worry, and tonight it's especially strong. I want to stay here with him, enjoy the way he keeps touching me.

Does he feel it too? I really hope it's not what I think it is. I don't want it if it is.

I can never love anyone the way I did Jase - the way I still love him.

"Fucking someone when you know they have genuine feelings for you is different than just 'fucking someone.' It changes the expectations, and it screws with their head. I don't want to talk about this right now."

My tears fall out more abundantly as they wash away my last few shreds of dignity. His amusement turns to pity as he pulls me into his warm body. It almost feels like he's trying to comfort me, but if he has never been in love, he doesn't know how excruciating this is.

Not even the best search and rescue team could find all the pieces of my shattered heart right now. I didn't realize I could ache this badly. I almost feel as though I've watched him die, but then again, I've always been so overly sensitive to emotion. The tiniest sting escalates into the deepest burn.

"You're going to be okay, Aria. I promise."

"Who are you?" I whimper. "Why do you hide from me when I'm trusting you?"

He sighs out, and I pull back to find his eyes behind the mask as I wait expectantly.

"I'll tell you soon. I need my anonymity for a while longer. I'll more than likely need your help soon."

"My help? What can I do?" I ask, my voice still crackling under the strain of my broken heart.

He starts to speak, but the sound of soft footsteps interrupts him as Simone comes back with her almost silent stealth.

"How do you keep breaking in?" he asks curiously.

She smirks and then holds out her hand where her blood swirls through a gash she has made. "I use it to slide under your door and unlock it. Handy little gift."

"Ah," he says, seeming a little impressed.

"So I've gone over all the logs, but there isn't anything of any real value," she releases with sheer frustration.

He frowns, though I'm not sure if it's because our conversation was interrupted, or if it's because of her unhelpful information.

"There has to be something we're missing. Aria wasn't there, and they would have known that. So they came for something else, something they need," he says, but it feels more as if he's thinking aloud.

Simone scrolls through her phone while assessing each log, Mr. Mask stares tediously at the screen of the crumbled compound, and I sit uselessly on the couch. Then Simone's eyes widen as she pales and goes stiff at once.

"What?" he prompts.

She looks up from her phone, her eyes flashing from me to him, and then her mouth slowly tries to bring out the words in a drawn out breath.

"Aria's blood. It was there."

He grips his head, and then he throws the remote across the room to shatter against the wall.

"Fuck!" he blares. "Why the hell was her blood there?"

"I was doing tests to see if I could find her gifts. You told her my father could use the blood to understand all the secret gifts hiding within Araya. I wanted to do the same for her."

She looks back to me, and I'm sure I'm just as ashen as she is.

"It was so little. There's barely enough to test - hell there was barely enough for Simone to work with, and that's with her using her gift. She was cautious like that. They can't do anything with that small amount of blood," I murmur, but I'm not sure if I'm trying to convince them or myself. "Besides, I've bled out in numerous fights. If they wanted my blood, they could have taken it then."

"Not your blood," Simone says with a grimace.

"What do you mean?" I ask, feeling stupid.

The masked crusader answers instead of her though. "Your blood has to stay fresh. Once spilled, it's as worthless as a dead man's blood. Simone's gift is one of the few things that enables it to stay alive."

"And I'm just now hearing this because?"

"I don't know," Simone says, her eyes turning to the masked hero. "I only found out about it during my lab trials. How did you know?"

His lips tighten, secrets churning in his eyes.

"I know a lot more about her than you realize. Right now, we need to focus on retrieving her blood."

"Why would this person want it? It's obvious they're emergent related, otherwise they wouldn't have been seeking revenge on that facility. Why team up with the Scorpions they killed now? Why would they need my blood if it matches theirs?"

"Because all descendents of emergents have a different set of cells in their blood that is incomparable to anyone else's. They may need your blood to... hell, I don't know. I need answers," he grumbles.

He shakes his head, and then he grabs his bag before throwing all of his clothes into it.

"Where are you going?" I worry while standing up.

"To see if I can find out who did this. I don't know what they can use such a small amount of blood for, but they were willing to do that in order to get to it," he murmurs while pointing to the smoldering embers of Seminole displayed on the screen.

"What are you going to do? You can't face whatever that thing was. You'll be killed," I panic, and I see a smirk tugging at the corners of his mouth.

"You worried?" he asks a little too cockily.

"Of course I'm worried. I'm going with you."

His grin grows as I start walking to the door, and suddenly he's beside me pulling me back.

"I'm not a fool, Aria. I realize I can't beat them by myself, but I can find your blood and get it back without them seeing me. The trail is still fresh, and I happen to be a pretty good tracker. Just stay here and keep this quiet. I need the element of surprise."

I huff out reluctantly, and he kisses the top of my head as my body leans into his. A tear slips out, and he withdraws to wipe it away.

"Go get those eyes covered up. Keep your phone close."

I just nod, and then he's gone before his windy trail can graze my cheek.

"He really is on our side," Simone sighs.

"You're just now believing that?"

"Well, I trusted him enough, but after seeing his reaction… he's genuinely worried about you. Is it possible he's your-"

"Don't say it," I murmur while holding my hand up dismissively.

"Aria, you're drawn to him. I can see that. He's obviously drawn to you. Hell, he's willing to face an army to hunt your blood down. I think you should at least consider the possibility of him-"

"I said stop," I cry out, more tears falling. "I can't think like that, damn it. I know you don't understand, but I love Jase. I hate him right now, and I'll never forgive him, but I'm not anywhere close to being over him either. I know I'm hybrid. I realize I shouldn't feel so strongly about anyone other than my counter, but I do."

She frowns while glancing down at her hands, her mind trying to find the right thing to say.

"You're not just hybrid. You're a special sort of hybrid… just like Araya, but more so. She loved a full blood almost as much as she loved her counter. Maybe… I don't know. I wish I knew what to say right now."

I walk over and wrap my arms around her while letting more of my overexerted tears fall to her shoulder.

"Just let it breathe. You don't have to say anything."

And she doesn't. We just stand there like the sisters we are, and I cry out my heartbreak into her comforting arms. I've never hurt like this. I only pray I can survive it.