Flight

Author Note: I think we should change my name from CandyRed to the "Bitch-That-Only-Posts-Once-A-Year."

I want to dedicate this chapter to:

notusuallyshy

! Your comment prompted me to finish this fucking chapter.

Also, lil_meow6 edited the fuck out of this and the last three chapters and they should or already are updated.

Here's a Playlist that inspired this chapter. If y'all care:

1.Tell Me U Luv Me-JUICE WRLD

2. Jaded-Drake

3. Still Don't Know My Name-Labrinth

4. Forever-Labrinth

5. No Guidance- (slowed + reverbed)-Drake, CB

6. Change Your Life- Kehlani

7. Playing Games (slowed + reverb)-Summer Walker, Bryson Tiller

Vote, Comment, Blood Oath <3

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Flight Chapter 4

Before breakfast was over, one of Archer's men walked in at a brisk pace and leaned down to speak into his ear. I was not permitted to look up but I couldn't help but glance. Archer's face looked annoyed but he became guarded again. He dismissed the man and after wiping his mouth, he tilted my head with a finger.

"I wasn't going to do this today." He said in a controlled tone that I knew was a front. Something was off with his answer. We might have spent two years apart but I knew when something was pulling at him.

More than likely he didn't want me to go out to the greenhouses with Kaycee today. He had wanted me to go tomorrow...but his hand had been forced.

He most certainly wasn't happy about it and in the same respect, I wondered who could force his capable body to do anything.

Archer looked into my reddish-brown eyes. Mine were lighter but not richer than his.

There had always been something swimming in the hues of his irises. I had never been able to name it. It was foreign as the clay and sun that belong to this land.

"I cannot name it for you, Mina. It doesn't exist within name."

He had explained to me once upon a time. Vulnerably on a dark evening so charged and unexplainable, I preserved the memory for when I was alone.

That wasn't a factor now. It was tucked away.

With the threat of sexual intensity, he righted himself from my gaze, "Ade. Will you?"

She rolled her eyes at his request.

*************************************

Ade looked at me, "You're not gonna try any bullshit? Because I'm

really

not in the mood."

I wasn't in the mood either so I just nodded and tried to look as pathetic as possible. Archer saw through my shields...He had the capability to read me to the bone. This had been a source of my resentment.

I could tell in the icy rims of his chocolate irises he wanted my rebellion. The hidden strength I had kept from him. He wanted to address it but not without provocation. Archer would take it personally. It was part of me that I hadn't handed over when he demanded it of me. So now it was war.

"Good," she quipped, "let's bounce." She picked up Archer's unfinished coffee and took off at a brisk pace, her long braids swishing at the same tempo as her hips.

"Keep up, Archer's pet. Mama's got a lot to do today. Manicure. People to kill. Oh, and I have to see if Sati will let me borrow those bone earrings."

At the mention of my friend's name I flinched, "Ade, how is Sati? I tried asking Tiller but he was really weird about it. Is she okay? Did something happen?" I asked quickly, trying to keep up with her sultry stride.

Ade tilted her head back and laughed, "He would, wouldn't he? God, what a stupid-ass hero."

"Is she alright?" I asked again, remembering talking to Ade was like walking into circles that smelled like expensive perfume.

Ade tapped a code into a panel; her black-painted nails sharpened to points. I t slid open with a cool rush of air and she turned to me, her arm slung over the doorframe.

"You've got a lot of questions for someone who abandoned the place. And I get it,

I do

. If I was in your position, I'd have done the same thing. Tricked everyone into loving me, break the heart of a professional killer, fly off into the night.

But you don't get to ask questions. Not to them, not to me, because while I'm a bitch, I love them. I don't leave the people I love hanging."

I swallowed... not necessarily scared of her hurting me because she wouldn't risk Archer finding out. But if memory served me right, Ade was a loose cannon. She had been flighty, impulsive, and spoiled by Archer and the rest. But she was a LAD, which meant she knew how to kill and do it well.

"Sorry for asking." I said stiffly.

She gave me a brilliant smile, "No problem."

I felt frustrated because there were things I didn't know and Ade was right. I had no business asking... but I still wanted to know.

Ade didn't say anything else just led me down hallways that were still familiar because I'd walked them over and over. It had usually been without a guard.

We traveled downward and the memory of the outside garden didn't do it justice this time of year. The area was built around the needs of the community that was not a part of ...ahem...illicit activities. There were green houses and irrigations systems built by Kaycee and her wife, Jo. It was like Dorothy stepping out from her sepia, murderous house into a burst of color and fantasy.

Kaycee had been working on building bee hives before I left. She had been enthusiastic to the point of radicalism. She'd pored over books and had obsessively watched YouTube videos with a private VPN. We had watched a video about a hive that rejected a new queen at least a forty times.

"Here ya go, Joey baby. Archer's other half reporting for duty." Ade nudged me forward and I glared at her for her forceful actions. Her whisky-colored eyes widened innocently.

Jo looked up from what she had been doing and gave me a wan smile. Taking off her stained gardening gloves she approached me gracefully. Jo still wore her hair in two, thick, black braids tied with beaded pieces of dried leather.

"Well, Mina," she put her hands on my shoulders, "Do you want me to say I am happy to see you?"

This would come off as callous if it had come out of someone else's mouth but Jo was honest down to her bones. I often wondered about her opinions of this place and the people within it. I had never heard her utter a single bad thing. She always spoke as if she had taken a considerable amount of time to think about the words first.

"It wouldn't matter what I'd want you to say Jo, you'd say what you'd want to."

Her dark brown eyes lit up and she leaned forward to kiss my forehead. I heard Ade scoff behind me.

"Sure, welcome the little trouble maker home. She only—"

"Goodbye, Ade, I think we can manage from here," Jo said serenely, also... effectively... telling Ade to fuck off.

Ade gave her a smirk and flipped me off as she walked back into the compound.

Jo let go of me and motioned for me to follow her. "Archer told me he'd put you out here, which is good. We need some extra hands to harvest Kaycee honey. But that was not supposed to be today."

I smiled sharply, "LAD emergency. Kaycee finally got her bees then?"

Jo let out a heavy sigh. "She did and I'm not sure who she's more in love with. Them or me."

I laughed, "I can't wait to see it."

We walked through the pathways between green houses and planting boxes. I saw many faces I thought I'd never see again and it made me self-conscious to see them stare at me.

God

, I felt like such a walking freak show and I hated Archer more than I ever had. Everyone knew I was back. Everyone knew that I was nothing but a fucking sex toy. They would see me as he wanted.

We rounded the corner and I saw Kaycee's vibrant energy.

Kaycee's wild, curly, blonde hair was held back by a patterned wide headband that matched the pattern on Jo's scarf. She was gesturing wildly and my heart panged a little. Kaycee, even though in her late forties, was childlike and free spirited as Jo was like calm water. They were opposite in every way . It was almost comical. Jo was from the tribe that had lived in this area for centuries and Kaycee, from what I remembered, was from Kentucky, very close to the Appalachia.

I still didn't know how they got here. When I had asked Kaycee, her whirlwind had paused and she told me it was Jo's story to tell. I had never been brave enough to broach the subject with Jo.

"Kaycee!" Jo called and when Kaycee turned to us, she lit up.

Trotting over to me, her smile bright, she hit me like a hippie tornado. She wrapped her arms around me. She still smelled like Jo's lavender soap and earth.

"I'm so glad you're here, I can finally show 'em to ya." she said as if it had been last week she had mentioned it to me.

"Okay, Kaycee."

*****

I took a deep breath and continued to hot-glue the red-gingham cloth into the tops of the empty mason jars. Jo had given me the task after Kaycee had gotten side-tracked and left me alone without anything to do.

"I think it's best you stay busy." Jo had said and sat me down in one of the work sheds.

Which sucked... because now I had too much to think about in between burning my fingers on the hot glue gun.

I'd been at this for hours and I could see the evening bleeding across the sky. I was peeling dried glue from my fingertips when I saw

her

through the murky glass.

The last time I had seen her was through a screen of tears as she hugged me goodbye before I ran into the balmy night. I never forgot her beautiful face twisted with the taste of perpetual freedom and guilt. Only the tracker that had been put into the back of her neck had stopped her.

She had held onto me tight, kissed my cheek, then gave me her brilliant yellow diamond to pawn ...so I could have money to keep going.

Looking over my shoulder, I saw no one who might cry foul. It gave me time to slip away for a moment.

I put the jar cap down and picked up a basket walking quickly down the wooden slope. I kept my eyes forward, walking as if I had every right to be in a different area than where I was allowed.

I could feel my pulse pushing against my collar and I don't know why... but I was nervous to see her face. She had been the only thing that kept me sane while I'd been here. I missed her like crazy.

And she was right past the doorframe.

"You are not permitted to leave the area." A hard hand clamped around my wrist.

Yanking back, I saw a two men in sleek fitting clothes that didn't quite hide the bulk of weaponry. I knew the community had a hidden sentry that protected them from outsiders and trespassers. Their rank was made of individuals who were killers by trade but excelled at tracking in hostile environments.

I would have never been able to escape had I been within the "community". Archer had been the leader of that faction before...everything.

A shiver worked its way down my sternum. Memories of our beginning crashed into my frontal cortex.

He had almost caught me when I had been on the run. But something happened. He had fallen off my trail and I had assumed something finally tripped him up. The only explanation...Something big had ripped him off the hunt.

But that his old team was inland— triggered me to his state of mind, which pissed me off. I didn't want to know his ticks.He already had a physical tracker encased around my neck; there was no reason for me to be constantly guarded like a fucking prized mare.

My eyes bored into the guard even though I could only see my reflection in his mirrored sunglasses.

"Excuse me?" I said icily. I might have to put up with Archer doing whatever he wanted to me but not anyone fucking else.

"I have been ordered to keep you on task and in the garden. You are not permitted to leave," he said his voice devoid of any humanity. Like a fucking machine.

"Oh really," I looked at his hand encircling my wrist, "and since when are you permitted to touch me? What do you think Archer will be more upset about? That I stumbled into a green house just barely out of range? Or your hand on me?"

His facial expression didn't change but his face drained of color.

He quickly let go of my wrist and I regarded them both, "Alrighty fellas, let's be real. I'm sure Archer has you on my case while I do whatever menial task he's set out for me to stay busy. But if I want to go into a goddamn greenhouse —I will. And we all know you won't physically stop me. So, let's all relax, alright?"

Their faces looked pinched but they knew I was right. Far from physically restraining me, I was gonna do what I wanted. From the look on their faces I highly doubted they wanted to report to Archer that they couldn't get me to focus on a simple task. It would mean he'd have to come down here himself to punish me and that would embarrass them.

I smiled sweetly at them, "So, I promise not to be an annoying bitch if you all give me some wiggle room."

"We're not authorized to give you...wiggle room." Guard number two said.

"I won't do anything crazy, I promise. I just want to see an old friend." They looked as skeptical as emotionless guards could look.

I let out a sarcastic puff of air and pointed to my neck. "Do you all not see this? I'm not going anywhere."

Another look passed between them, "Fine."

I smiled again."Thank you, boys. Stay at the door."

Touching my fingertips to the glass, I practically shook. Seeing Sati was the ultimate reminder that I had managed it. I had been free from this place. I did it for us both.

Now, we'd both have to deal with me being back.

She was standing over some plants and I guaranteed they were herbs for cooking. There was no one in this place that could cook as well as Sati. It was something the LADS had been obsessed with. They loved coming home from missions because they could persuade Sati to cook for them. And she loved doing it. If Sati hadn't been Ranger's First she would have cultivated it.

We had both been Firsts and had more leeway than other slaves. It had been nothing for us to meet in the kitchen late at night. She would let me taste-test her food that she'd be too shy to serve. We'd end up with wine glasses clutched in our hands and talking shit about anyone that annoyed us. As if we had the normal lives of twenty-something women who were shaking to take on the world.

I'd liked to think we would have met in a student union or a campus cafe. Maybe I would have forgotten my laptop charger. Or she grabbed my coffee instead of hers.

But we were free and we had aspirations. Sati had wanted to have her chance to bleed for her craft. She loved food and its connections to culture and the drive that went into creating something from thought to hand. I had seen it living in her eyes.

But circumstance hadn't favored either of us.

"Sati," I called but my voice broke with emotion.

Her eyes flipped up to mine, annoyed and glazed. Her eyebrows screwed for a second.

"Mina? There's no way I'm seeing Mina right now. God, have I finally lost it?" Her voice tinged with an Australian accent, settled around me, bringing back memories. Happiness.

I smiled faintly, "I wish."

Her pretty brown eyes widened in happiness as quickly. As her basket hit the floor, her arms were wrapped around me tightly.

She still smelled the same: like spice and vanilla. "I thought I'd never see you again." She said in my ear, her voice cracking.

"Not gonna lie, I was hoping." I said, my sadness straining my voice.

Sati had almost gone with me but she'd been torn. Torn, because she had been with Ranger for so long she wasn't sure if she could survive without him. But she wanted that freedom.

I could still feel the sharp edges of the necklace she had shoved into my hand. It had hurt to pawn it for cash.

She leaned back to look into my face, "Am I a horrible person for being happy to see you? I missed you so much."

"Who am I to say?" I asked weakly.

"I didn't know you were back." A shadow crossed her face."No one told me."

That was weird, Sati always knew everything. Ranger told her everything. That was an open secret. One the LADS had made sure to keep from Sebastian.

A creeping iciness wove into my mind when I thought of Sebastian. I had hated that bastard as much as I feared him. Archer did what he had to do for reasons I still could not figure out but he had a moral code. Sebastian was evil because he enjoyed it. Memories of when I had gotten here still bled into my dreams and haunted me. Memories that had happened before Archer had decided I was too interesting to share with anyone else.

"Mina, did you hear me?" Sati's accented voice brought me back to the present.

I smiled at her again, "No, I'm sorry, what did you say?"

She bit her lip, "I can't stay here for too long, he'll come looking for me."

"Ranger? So?"

Her face became neutral as if she was trying to hide, "Mina...He found out. Ranger knows I was going to go with you."

"Okay," I breathed, "but you didn't? You stayed."

She let go of me and rested her hands on the work table, "It didn't matter. He won't forgive me for it."

"Do you blame me?" I asked afraid of the answer. I had Archer's resentment to deal with. I couldn't handle Sati's.

She blinked away tears and gave me a watery smile, "I'll admit I did at first and I'm sorry for it. It was always there, I think, underneath what I felt being here with him and the others. I couldn't keep it from him, Mina. I told him everything and he couldn't handle it."

Her voice broke but she wasn't crying anymore. When she looked back at me she looked determined and fiery. The self-assured Sati I remembered. The one I remembered when I was a broken and pathetic thing dragged out of the desert.

"He told me all I had to do is take it back." She bit out angrily.

"And you didn't." I finished.

She took the shears in her hands and stabbed them into the table, "No, I didn't. He's been punishing me for it every day. But I won't do it. I meant every word of it."

That chilled me a little and even though Sati didn't blame me, I felt guilty regardless. So I hadn't just pissed Archer and Ade off. Ranger probably hated me as well.

"I'm sorry." I whispered and hugged myself. I'm sure Archer would be thrilled to know that I was starting to regret running.

"Don't be sorry Mina, it just shows me...It shows me who Ranger is when I don't do what he wants. He's happy as long as I pretend that I'm happy. Even Archer didn't expect that of you."

I flinched, "I wouldn't say that exactly."

Sati opened her mouth to say more but a sharp sound behind me cut her off, "Mina, you cannot wander off." Jo said, her voice hard and she was looking at Sati.

"I'm sorry. I just wanted to catch up." I mumbled.

Jo's face hardened, "Mina, you're being asked for. It's time to go."

My two guards appeared behind her and as I walked away, I heard Jo murmuring to Sati. On my way in, I saw Ranger, still as rough and beautiful as I remember. He was usually smiling but as he saw me coming in there was no mistaking how he felt about me.

The black anger in his eyes made me happy for a moment to be Archer's.

I felt like that was the only thing keeping Ranger's actions to himself.

Damn.

******

Sati knew he was watching her. She didn't even have to look up to his gorgeous face. The rugged and perfect features would be hardened with anger. He hadn't told her not to talk to Mina because he hadn't told her that her friend was back.

He wouldn't, would he?

She tied the clipped herbs with a rubber band, her nervousness making her fingers unsteady. Sati wished Jo had stayed with her but the older woman, for all her stoic wisdom, did not pry or interject herself.

If Sati didn't know better she would say that the woman was afraid of the LADS. Sati was not afraid of Kaz, Tiller, Ade, or even Archer. Once upon a time, she would have included Ranger on that list. Quite the opposite, now.