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with enough force to make him see stars. At the same time, a mist of orange gas escaped
the shattered container that connected with his skull.
Propelled by the motion, he hit the ground hard, pain choking the wind from his
lungs. He moved out of the way of a second blow on pure instinct. A bottle of glittering
black glass connected with the floor where his head had been, a second cloud of colored
vapor hitting the air.
Stay still, Hagan. It will hurt less this way. Hope s voice lacked any kind of
inflection when she called out to him. There s no way out and I ve disabled all
communications to this room.
He tried to track her with his eyes, but the dimly lit welcoming room seemed to fade
from his vision. He was left in a dark, blind world of shapes and smears. His path out of
the room was blocked by a form that he thought might have been Hope.
He scooted back toward the door when the form moved forward. With his blurred,
useless vision, he could just make out a vial of viscous liquid. He kicked out at the hand
holding it and didn t wait for the scream to die down before he was moving.
Hope screeched painfully, throwing the vial in his direction. The glass cut his
shoulder just as he managed to close the door. Shock registered as the stinging cut locked
up, along with the rest of his arm. The deadening of his limb was pure agony. He didn t
want to think about what he would be feeling if Hope had managed to hit him with the
entire vial.
His mind worked sluggishly trying to come up with a plan of action. The apartments
were soundproof and there was no way for him to call for help. The only thought he had
was pounding in his skull: he had to get to Sekai. The jerky movements he was managing
weren t amounting to a lot of distance and even though the apartment was small, every
inch felt like a mile. Seconds stretched out into eons where he had enough clarity to
single out one thought. Sekai.
He didn t make it far. Dizziness from the initial blow to the head intensified a
thousand fold and he collapsed into a graceless slump. The screaming behind him cut off
abruptly and he lay against the ground, able to hear everything but frozen solid. When
footsteps sounded behind his back, he fought helplessly against the medicated hold.
Sekai hauled him up to his chest and ran a quick hand over his body, all the while,
his eyes tracking the small apartment. Hagan tried to tell him what was happening, but
after his assessment he stood, taking him with him.
He backed into the tiny bedroom, the only door with a lock, and dumped him onto
the bed without a word. He secured the door without looking back, his entire demeanor
changed from the playful, teasing man who had made him lunch. Now he looked like he
had before the admirals had given him to him. He looked otherworldly. Dangerous.
After five minutes of Hagan counting his dancing heartbeat, Sekai finally returned.
Every second he d been gone he d sweated and worried, so he wasn t the best of
company. Luckily, for him, he couldn t move or speak, so Sekai was spared most of his
displeasure.
He dragged a large hand through his blue hair before pressing one to Hagan s chest.
Immediately there was a flash of intense pain hammering through his core. It bled away
into pleasure after a moment and his limbs let loose a physical sigh of release as they
were given their mobility back. Pins and needles pricked his skin but he didn t mind the
discomfort.
He slowly pushed his way to a sitting position while he watched him with careful
eyes. When he could finally move without hissing, Sekai spoke, his voice a stripped, dead
tone Hagan hated to hear. Tell me.
He rolled his shoulders once more. I don t know what happened. I thought&
He trailed off and Sekai s hands shot out in barely contained violence. He trembled
as he ran his palms over his form again and Hagan refused to examine the emotion
bubbling up in his chest while he sat through his pained examination. Tell me, damn it!
Sekai finished his search, satisfied there were no serious wounds. He took a
fortifying breath and threaded his fingers in his hair, careful to miss the tender spot where
he d gotten hit.
A quick jerk had his neck bared to him, and he couldn t stop his eyes from fluttering
closed. He flashed back to the day Raimi had done the same thing, but even the memory
couldn t stir up the same kind of icy cold. Instead he wanted nothing more than for Sekai
to touch him the same way, to erase the previous actions and replace them with his own.
Hope attacked me. Only & she would never do something like that. It was weird,
the whole thing was off.
Sekai turned his head and examined the lump that had formed at the base of his neck.
It stung, but not nearly as much as he thought it should. Hope. Is she the woman you re
sleeping with? He jerked in surprise, but the Homunculus kept him from going
anywhere, running careful fingers over his back. Don t move. And yes, I know you re
sleeping with someone else. Well, sleeping with her as much as you can, considering
you re mine. The sooner you accept this, the better. I can t protect you if you re going to
be foolish, Hagan.
His nonchalant tone bewildered him. What do you mean?
I told you. You belong to me, and I you. It s been like that since before you were
born. Anyone else you ve been with is of no consequence. You could never really be
with them.
Hagan s response wouldn t have been flattering, but it never got a chance. Hope
appeared out of thin air right behind Sekai s back and viciously smashed a glittering
bottle of yellow powder over his head.
Hagan saw it in slow motion and couldn t stop her. Sekai took a breath in shock
before his eyes rolled up in his head. He slumped over, and she snarled at his prone form.
Hope! He gasped as some of the powder entered his lungs as well.
This time when she spoke, her voice wavered with emotion, the complete opposite of
the way it had sounded before. Don t worry, Hay. We won t hurt you.
The sluggish thud of his heartbeat drowned out everything but soft footsteps as they
moved behind him. He struggled to remain conscious but mind-numbing sleepiness was
coating him in an impenetrable cast. Who & are you?
Hope shook her hair, forcing her brunette ponytail to snap to and fro. He watched it
like a magician s coin, having to force his muddled mind to focus. I m exactly who I say
I am. You should be asking me what I am.
He tried to form the question but his body was too heavy. He slumped to the side and
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