I laughed too. “Mm. That actually sounds really good. Tubetalk.”
“Good idea. Tubetalk,” he repeated to himself.
“It’d be nice to see your mum and dad again. I bet they’re missing you.”
“Yeah.” He stuffed his hands in his pockets and toed the sand, becoming the boy I grew up with all of a sudden. “But they’re okay. They just got a spa installed.”
“Yeah?”
Mike nodded.
“Awesome. We’re staying at your house when we go back then.”
He leaned in and gave me a gentle peck on the cheek. “I miss you. Miss us.”
I nodded. “Me too.”
“I'm sorry I’ve been a bit absent lately, baby.” His tone sounded as if he was going to continue, perhaps with an explanation, but he didn't. He just looked back at the ocean, his hands still in pockets, his shoulders high.
“It’s okay, you know. I get it. I'm just glad you’re here if I do really need you.”
The shadow he cast nodded. “Well, I gotta get up to training. See you in a few?”
“Yep. Oh, hey, Mike?”
He stopped a few steps away.
“The Immortal Damned—how’s the new quarters coming along?”
He stepped back down the sand to me. “Good. I told you we moved them to the upper cell block, right—so they’d have sun?”
I nodded.
“Right, well, the new prison should be done by week’s end. I’ve got sixty knights working on it, and the Lilithian community has rallied together to help as well.”
I smiled, picturing the plans from blueprint, rising up to the three dimensions, all bright and white and airy. “Great. And when can we move them?”
“Well, even once the building’s finished, I still wanna wait a few extra days, maybe a week. They’re being fed more often and we’re seeing small changes in general behaviour, but they attacked Mr. Keeper last night.”
“Good.”
“Don't be like that, baby. He’s been really good to those kids lately. He just needed to be taught how to treat…well, humans.”
“Fine.” I rescinded. “And, by the way, don't call the new quarters a prison again, Mike.”
“Ara,” he laughed my name out. “It is a prison.”
“No, it’s a home.”
“It has bars.”
“So does a casino, but you don't call that a prison.”
“Ha!” His whole body jolted back with fake laughter. “You’re so funny.”
I gave him a soft shove. “Go to training.”
He skipped off like a ten-year-old boy. “I’ll see ya soon, baby.”
“Bye,” I called, without turning to wave at him.
* * *
The heat of electricity formed a shield around me, and even with my eyes closed, I could feel the barrier of the cage. I heard Mike’s voice over the noise, yelling at me, counting down to the second I was allowed to stop, but the pain in my head made it sound as though he was standing on the opposite side of a mountain gorge.
“I can't, Mike,” I yelled, scrunching my eyes tighter. “I can't do it anymore.”
“Just ten more seconds, baby.”
His count and my count went at different speeds. I ground my back teeth together, forcing my feet to stay flat, my hands shaking as the electricity fired from my raw fingertips and into the metal cage protecting those on the other side.
“Three, two…” I heard Mike call.
“Ah! No more.” I dropped to my knees, the electricity ceasing, leaving my fingertips icy cool.
“You okay?” Mike said. My eyes stayed shut, but I felt him nearby, felt him kick the cage softly, mockingly.
“It’s really bad this time, Mike.” I winced, pushing my hands firmly against both sides of my head.
“You’ll be right.”
“Doesn't feel like it.”
The cage door came open and Falcon lifted me to my feet. “You okay?”
I nodded, stumbling a little.
My butt found the bench at the side of the room, and Falcon squatted down in front of me, his hand just between his legs, a smile on his face. “You lasted ten minutes.”
I nodded. “I know. It felt like forty.”
He gently pulled my hand away from my head and studied my brow, running a fingertip over where it pulsed the worst. “You might need blood. Your vein is showing.”
“Erg!” I pressed it back into my head. “It feels like it’s going to split open.”
“Hey, good job, Ar.” Mike tapped my toe with his heavy boot. “You’re getting stronger.”
I looked up, my face all pinched. “I know. But it’s hurting more than it did before.”
He just smiled, writing something down on his iPad. “Welcome to getting fit. Remember I could hardly walk for days after seeing my personal trainer?”
“Yeah, but—” I drew a tight breath through my teeth. “This is different.”
“No, it’s not, baby. You just need to grow up.”
Falcon frowned, his eyes thoughtful. “I dunno, Chief,” he said, half turning to look at Mike. “I think she might need to lay down for a bit.”
“Nope. She needs to keep exercising it.” He put his iPad down and reached a hand out for mine. “Come on. One more, then we’ll call it quits for the day.”
I looked at his hand, then Falcon, and covered my face, breaking to tears. “I can't, Mike. Please. Please don't make me do it.”
“Be strong, Ara,” he said with flat sympathy. “Just one more. Come on, then I’ll take you up and run you a nice warm bath.”
My hands tightened against my forehead. I felt red, like my whole face would be blazing, coloured with my agony, as if the electricity was still lashing my fingers, sending violent surges into my brain; I held my breath, moaning in the back of my throat as the pain intensified, travelling down my neck, into my spine.
“Ara?” Mike squatted beside me. “Baby? Why are you making that noise?”
“It hurts!” I screamed, slipping off the bench. “Make it stop, Mike. Make it stop!”
A hand came upon my ribs as I curled into a ball, tucking my knees as close to my chin as they’d go. “What happened?” Arthur said.
“I don't know.” Mike knelt beside me, cupping a warm, strong hand over the two I had fused to my skull. “She just fell to the floor.”
Arthur lifted my chin and looked into my eye, forcing it open with his thumb. “Dear God, look at her pupils.”