I like the mathematical stuff. I seem to be pretty good at it. Then there are the computers. I’ve tried to see if I could remember anything about myself to search for answers, but not much comes to mind. Although I get the feeling I was really good at school.
“Hey.”
I turn to see a fresh-faced kid on my right. He’s cute. The longish blonde hair suits his pretty face. There’s an innocence about him, causing the two dimples in his cheeks to make him adorable as he gives me a nervous smile.
His eyes aren’t quite green, but not quite blue either. He’s on the lanky side. A bit taller than me despite not looking more than sixteen or seventeen years old. He’s a handsome kid. His cheeks turn red as I stare at him.
“Roni, right?” he says when I don’t speak. “It’s me, Torque.”
I drop the tray in my hand on the counter and wrap my left arm around him. I have three healing ribs, so I don’t squeeze him as hard as I want to.
When I release him, he’s blushing twice as hard. This is not what I was expecting to find when I found him. No wonder they were trying to sell him. He’s pretty in an almost feminine way, but still masculine enough.
John’s face pops into my head. He was a pretty man too. Definitely masculine. The way his back flexed when he took his shirt off to give me made my mouth water.
His broad back had muscles that melted into muscles. He had to be over six feet, making it all fit together like a well-made puzzle that snapped in place effortlessly. However, his face, I’ll never forget his face.
“How are you feeling?”
I chew on my cheek as I focus back on Torque. I’ve been trying to tell myself to stop obsessing over the liar that left me here. He doesn’t deserve my thoughts.
“I’m fine, I guess. Given the circumstances.”
He shrugs. “It’s not so bad,” his voice breaks, causing him to blush again. “They’re pretty cool. Besides, I have nowhere else to go. So, this place is great.”
My heart breaks for him. “Does that mean…”
“They were killed,” he says, looking down at his feet. “Nate said they were found with their throats slit. The authorities kept it quiet on the island because there was a rise in kidnappings and murders, but they didn’t want to ruin the tourism.”
Right, God forbid that happen. Such bullshit.
“I’m so sorry.”
“I’ll be okay, I guess. I mean, come on. They offered to teach us how to be badass private security guards in return for living here. This place is like the X-men academy or something.”
I chuckle and turn to grab my tray as a line starts to head our way. I grab a muffin and grapefruit. Torque starts to load his with bacon, eggs, toast, a muffin, cereal, grapes, and apple juice. I snicker.
“Hungry?”
He turns to me with these adorable dimples and that blush. “We work up an appetite in the morning training,” he says.
“How old are you?” I can’t keep the words from slipping out.
“Fifteen, I’ll be turning sixteen soon.”
Wow. That rage that’s always right below the surface rises. He’s a baby.
“You don’t have family that would take you in? Did they even offer you that option?”
“These guys are the real deal. They knew everything about my family by the time we arrived here. I have a grandmother, but she’s in a home. She couldn’t take me in. She can’t even wipe her own ass,” he says.
I give him a stern look and the blush comes back. “Sorry,” he murmurs.
We make our way to the table I’ve claimed every day since we’ve been here. I’ve made sure to give off the vibes that I don’t want to be bothered. For the most part, people have stayed clear.
“Shouldn’t you have gotten more food than that?” Torque says cautiously.
“Not in the mood to eat much.”
“You’ll need to build your strength for when you can start training. How much longer will it take for you to heal?”
I tilt my head at him and stare. Like I said, I don’t talk to anyone. I find it interesting that he knows so much about me.
He shrugs his shoulders. “You and Natasha are my family now. I asked about you.”
I nod. I don’t want to ask, but I have to. I need to know.
“Is she here?” I say and look around. “Have you seen her?”
“No,” he says as his lips tremble. “They got away with a few of the girls that were being sold outside the main auction.”
I wrinkle my brows. “I heard your voice. When they came for us in the truck. Why were you in the truck and not with Natasha? She said you were being sold with us.”
He frowns. “Something was changed at the last minute. When I went to break free, I lost my chance at the last second. I was placed on the truck not long before…” He trails off.
Not long before I was tossed inside, I assume. He must have been in transport at the same time as me. I pick at my muffin as I think about what this means.
Natasha never made it out. That John guy told more than one lie. Anger consumes me and I ball my fists on top of the table.
“Hey, she would want us to make the best of this,” Torque says, hurt and anger in his voice. “We have to make the best of this for her.”
I look across the table to see the blaze in his eyes. A look no fifteen-year-old should have. I want nothing more than to protect him. From the past, from these people, and from his own anger and bitterness.
He should not have this rage on his head. Something occurs to me as I look him over. It’s something I’ve pushed to the back of my mind for a long time.
“Torque?”
“Yeah.”
“If you don’t want to answer you don’t have to. But… did something happen to you there? Did… they…”
He drops his eyes to the table. If my rage could filet the skin off my body, I’d be nothing but flames. My head starts to hurt from the fury coursing through me.
“Never mind. You don’t have to answer.”
“We’ll find her, right?” he murmurs, lifting his gaze to mine once again.
I sit and stare at the look in his eyes. In this moment, he looks all of fifteen if not younger. I don’t want to lie to him, but I don’t think we will ever see her again.
“We don’t even know where to start,” I reply.
“They’re training us to secure, track, and hunt down people. We can use that to find her and we can make them pay for everything they did to us,” Torque says.
“We’re learning to be security.”
“Badass security. We can use it.”
His words sink in and take root. Something inside of me sparks, I don’t think I’ve ever been a quitter. He’s right, we could take what we learn and track Natasha down.
“How long would that take? She could be in danger now.” I think aloud.
“I don’t know, but I know that I’d want out no matter what or when. If I were still there, I’d be praying every day that someone would find me and get me out of there,” he says softly, a haunted look in his eyes.
I swallow hard as if his words are a pill. I know he’s right. When they were torturing me—even with Natasha and Torque in the cells beside me—I felt like I was crumbling from the inside out. I prayed every day that someone would end it all or come and get me out of there. I start to look at all of this differently.