Chapter 46: Chapter 46

I hurry into my clothes, trying to ignore the way Sanoske’s eyes linger on me, the way he bites his lower lip.

I pull on my Perfect pants, wrap my belt twice around my waist, knot my shirt at my waist, and pull my jumper over it. My gun tucks neatly into my waistband.

I slide into my boots, pull my hair back, and tuck it under a gray Perfect cap. I finish off with my gray jacket and turn to face Sanoske, who’s now frowning at my getup.

He rises from the cot and pulls me towards him, his hand tugging at mine. He cups my face in his hand and plants a kiss on my forehead.

“You will follow my orders, Alex,” he says, his voice stern.

“Yes, Captain.” I flash him a playful smile and wink. He doesn’t seem to find it as amusing as I do. He brushes off my playful mood and pulls me into a tight hug, his face buried in the crook of my neck, his breath heavy.

We hold each other close, savoring the moment. We both know this will be the last time for a while that we can do so, even though we are only just getting used to being in each other’s arms.

“I love you, Alex,” Sanoske says, pulling back and brushing a loose strand of hair out of my eyes.

“From now on, don’t believe anything I say in front of the Chinese. Just remember, I love you. And I would kill the world for you,” he says, his voice low and fierce.

My eyes widen a bit, but I manage to nod. Sanoske kisses my forehead again and then strides out of the room without looking back.

I head into the kitchen to find it mostly packed up. Haruhiko and Akira are sitting and eating the last of the porridge. Haruhiko quickly hands me a bowl with a small smile.

Kazuya enters the room and sits down next to me, gratefully accepting another bowl. He starts eating right away.

“You’re going north,” he says. He doesn’t look at me, but I know he’s talking to me.

“To find Beth,” I say.

He nods.

“We’ll have two days to get her and get back. Alex…” He pauses and looks at me. “You don’t have to come. I can go for you. I would do that for you. You can stay here safe. I wouldn’t put you in that kind of danger.”

I frown a little at his words. “No, Kazuya. She’s my daughter. I have to be there.”

“It won’t be safe, Alex.”

“Kazuya.” I pause and look him in the eyes. “I’ve never been safe. All I’ve been through since I left my school, I would go through it all again to hold her in my arms. I am going to save my daughter.”

His dark eyes meet mine, his lips pressed together. Then he nods, a smile breaking through.

“Then I will be by your side to protect you, every step of the way.”

“Thank you.”

I hear the Chinese arriving, and we quickly finish eating and clean out the room. The Chinese soldiers file into the room and begin carrying out supplies up and out of the tunnels, helped by the Kagegun and Resistance soldiers.

I notice Kazuya and Sanoske standing to one side, engaged in a heated discussion that they stop immediately when the Chinese generals appear.

They exchange stiff words, then the four of them stand back and watch the soldiers working quickly to empty the tunnels.

For an hour, I stay by Haruhiko’s side, packing bags of rations and handing them to the Chinese soldiers, who barely look at me.

Once the rations are gone, I help haul the boxes of bullets that we’d organized. I carry one down the long tunnel to the Chinese soldiers waiting at the foot of the long stairway.

On the way back, I hear the sound of Sanoske and Kazuya’s voices. As I turn a corner, I bump straight into a small figure, smaller than me and dressed in a dark-green suit with a long skirt.

A pair of sharp black eyes look back at me, her inky-black hair pulled into an intricate plait. The woman gasps, frowns at me, and opens her mouth to say something.

But then she closes it quickly, her eyes widening as she takes me in. Her gasp has caught the attention of Sanoske, Kazuya, and the Chinese generals, whose eyes narrow on me dangerously.

Sanoske merely purses his lips and looks away from me. The woman begins speaking very quickly to the generals, her eyes darting back and forth from me to them.

The generals seem to become increasingly annoyed with her and snap at her. With a determined look on her face, she steps toward me, rips my jacket off, grabs my jumper, and with a tiny knife I didn’t see her holding, slices it open.

I gasp in surprise and jump back as the scratchy gray fabric falls from my shoulders, leaving me in only my shirt.

She meets my shocked gaze with a proud smirk. “Woman,” she declares in English as the Chinese generals clamor for a better look at me behind her.

Their gazes focus on my chest and visible waist. The woman grabs my arms and pulls me to them. One of them grabs me, but Kazuya steps in the way. I don’t look at Sanoske, but I can feel his rage simmering.

“She’s a Resistance soldier,” Kazuya tells them, pushing me behind his body.

The Chinese generals train their dark eyes on me, speaking quickly in their language. I see Sanoske’s frown deepening.

“No.” The woman is smirking at me now. “She’s Alexandra.”

Kazuya and Sanoske both deny it, but the woman’s gaze is locked on mine. Her smirk tells me that she knows exactly who I am. And I have no idea how she could know that.

The generals turn to speak to Sanoske in Chinese, pointing at me, pointing at the Chinese woman.

“Kazuya?” I murmur, leaning back as far as I can from the knife the Chinese woman is still holding up.

I feel Kazuya’s hand on my shoulder. Sanoske’s gaze jumps from us to the generals. The muscles in his face tense.

“They want you,” Kazuya tells me softly.

“How did they know?” I whisper back.

“The Masters are openly hunting you. You’re a traitor, the most sought-after Perfect in Albion.”

“That can’t be,” I gasp.

“That’s why we needed you as bait, so the Resistance couldn’t get you.” His hand gives my shoulder a slight squeeze.

“What?” I squeak.

He looks at me.

“To keep you safe, Alex. And because the Perfects will do anything to get you back, you’re a valuable bargaining chip. Not that we’d actually hand you over. But we can use this to our advantage.”

I shoot Sanoske a glare. He doesn’t even acknowledge it.

The Chinese are shouting at him, but he’s trying to stay calm. It’s only the ticking in his jaw and the occasional glance at me that reveal his true feelings.

“What do they want with me?” I ask Kazuya.

“They want to hold you as a prisoner of war. To trade you to the Masters. The Masters have one of their own. They’ve heard he’s being tortured.

“They don’t think the Master we’ve already handed over will be enough to get their man back. They want both of you.”

“A Master should be enough to save their man,” I say.

“I agree.” He pauses. “There’s more.”

“What now?” I groan.

“They also want you because you’re a Perfect woman,” he says, his voice dropping a notch.

“What does that mean, Kazuya?” I press, my heart pounding. The Chinese woman is still smirking at me.

Kazuya sighs heavily, frustrated.

“For Albion’s enemies, Perfect women are seen as the ultimate weakness. The Perfect society is built on you, on Perfect women producing more Perfect babies.

“So the chance to corrupt that, to corrupt a Perfect woman, to dominate, and create a Cripple, as you so fondly call them…well, that’s a soldier’s dream.”

I stare at him. “Foreign soldiers don’t understand our society,” I scoff. “Perfect women aren’t there to be captured and corrupted. That’s savage.”

Kazuya shrugs. “That’s war. Either way, Sanoske is negotiating so they won’t…corrupt your bloodline.”

I glare at him.

“I’m not something to be corrupted,” I snap.

“I agree,” Kazuya insists. “I wouldn’t let them lay a finger on you.”

We fall silent as Kazuya listens to the rest of Sanoske’s conversation with the Chinese. Sanoske shoots me a glance, his lips pressed into a thin line. His face is unreadable, but there’s something in his eyes. Rage.

“They’ve agreed,” Kazuya tells me as two of the Chinese men grab my arms.

“Agreed to what?” I ask, my eyes darting to Sanoske’s. He looks away.

“They’ll borrow you to negotiate their man’s return. But they can’t touch you in any way,” Kazuya’s voice follows me as I’m pulled down the tunnel away from them.