The room seemed to spin and tilt, as if he was on a roller coaster ride that never ended. Nausea welled up inside of him, until he couldn’t contain it. Throwing himself sideways, he retched onto the floor, emptying his stomach of everything that was inside of it. Even when it was empty, it still clutched convulsively.
Pulling back, AJ laid down on the cool ground. It felt so good against face, gone warm from the force of his vomiting. It was going to piss Roth off, when he came back, to find another mess to clean. AJ couldn’t bring himself to care. It had been two days, two long days, since he had traded places with Brian in this hell hole. When a person didn’t have to sleep, forty eight hours could be made to feel like an eternity.
Something tugged at the corner of AJ’s consciousness, a faint whisper that he barely noticed. Once he did, he closed his eyes and concentrated, letting it fill him. It had taken some time for AJ to figure out what that feeling was. But he’d begun to notice it before Brian had even been made immortal. The sensation had grown stronger after that.
He’d heard of this before. When two souls came together, both possessing magic, sometimes such an intense bond was formed that they actually linked to one another. For a long time AJ and Brian had been able to almost guess what the other one was thinking. Not consistently, but when the emotions tied to it were strong. When Brian had been hurt one time, AJ had known before he’d even heard from anyone.
Such a thing was rare, but it did exist. AJ had begun to suspect that he and Brian shared it, and after Brian was made immortal, he knew that they did. Just, with everything going on, he had yet to talk to Brian about it, or to explore it, even. But now, as he lay sweating and bleeding on the cold floor, he gave himself over to it. The light was the only thing keeping him sane. Without it, he knew he would have given in, done something that would have made Roth kill him. It wouldn’t be hard to accomplish.
AJ did something that he knew was stupid, but he was past the point of no return. With a sigh, he let his consciousness slip into that light, that connection to Brian. It was as if Brian were suddenly right there with him, holding him tight.
He had no idea that, at that exact moment, Brian was dropping to his knees on a boat, amazed at the sensations inside of him.
‘AJ? Oh God, how is this? I feel you. I feel your love. Oh, my darling, my baby.’
‘It’s me, Bri. I’m here. We have a connection between us that’s so strong, our magic has made a path from me to you and back again. God, Brian, you love, it’s so bright, so strong. It fills me.’
‘You’re ok? You’re still alive, thank God. I’m coming for you, baby. I’m gathering all the others, just like you were, and we’re coming for you. Don’t you dare give up on me. You hear me? Don’t you dare think about giving up.’
‘You can’t force him to release me, angel cakes. He’ll kill me before he allows that.’
‘Marzio thinks that someone of your strength can break it. He says he doesn’t know how, but something like this has to have a weakness. There has to be a soft spot, something, somewhere. If you can find it, baby, that would make all the difference. We’ll be there soon, I promise you! Geoff just got here, and Isleen says that they’re only a few hours out with Richard. We will come for you first thing in the morning.’
So much information. So much hope in Brian’s voice. He almost lost the connection. ‘oh Bri, I don’t want to hope. I don’t want to feel. If I hope, and it goes wrong, I can’t take it. I’ll go insane. I can’t go crazy, Bri, not with powers like mine. Too many people could die.’
‘Please, Alex, please! Look inside yourself, study what he’s done. Howie says you’re the best at meditating, so please, try! We’ll come for you, and we’ll distract him enough that you might be able to break it. If not, then I will.’
‘That could kill me. Then he’d kill you.’
‘You forget one thing, love. I’ll be linked with the others. Six people on my side. He’ll be so busy defending against the six of us, that’ll give you an opening.’
Despite himself, hope bloomed bright in AJ. The plan had merit. So long as he was able to do what it was they asked of him. ‘What if it’s not there? What if I can’t find it?’
‘Then I will, baby. You just hold on. I love you, love you, love you.’ The words disappeared under a wave of pure love, flowing back and forth between the two. AJ let it fill him. He opened his soul to it, so that it was in him and he was in it.
Through the connection, Brian heard Roth at the same time that AJ did. “Look at what we have here. Another mess made, young Alyck? For shame.” AJ lay perfectly still, not moving, barely breathing. Sharing a consciousness with him, Brian stayed utterly still as well. They were wrapped around one another, holding tight.
AJ’s eyes were closed, so neither of them saw what was going on in the room. But AJ heard as Roth cleaned the mess, and the thump of him sitting somewhere. “Come to me, Alyck.” He commanded. With Roth’s weave still in place, AJ had no choice but to obey. He started to rise, but was stopped by a simple command. Quivering, AJ waited. “On your knees. Crawl to me.”
Shame curled AJ’s stomach to know that his lover was with him to witness as he crawled across the floor. He tried to push Brian away, but Brian simply embraced him closer and reassured him wordlessly that he would not judge him.
But when AJ got close, he watched Roth move, and realized what the man was going to do. With everything inside of him, AJ begged Brian to leave. ‘Please, please, give me this. Please. Let me go, leave me here. I’ll wait for you, I’ll do what you ask, and I’ll be ready in the morning. For now, go, please go!’
‘Alex, you don’t have to be alone.’
‘I can’t do this with you here. Let me go, let me hide. Let me shut it down, lock it away. He can’t hurt me if I don’t let him. But I can’t stand it if you see this.’ Already AJ’s head was moving, his body following the directions given by Roth. He had no physical control over himself. ‘Please, Brian, let me go! Please!’
With a last, wordless sending of love, Brian let him go. They slid apart, and AJ almost sighed. As his body did what it was commanded, AJ started to do what his lover had asked. With a touch as delicate as a butterfly’s breath, he started to simply look at the magic that held him where he was. For the first time, he truly studied it. It was easy to see. Everyone had an essence to them that was present in their magic. Roth’s wasn’t hard to find. It was dark and black. It stuck out inside of him like a cancer.
The line traveled from Roth, down into him, to that spot in his center where magic and soul connected together. The weaves looked like lace, so intricate was the pattern. He looked at it from all angles. If Marzio thought that there might be a way out, then AJ would dedicate every moment he could spare to finding it.
Everything else shut off. He pulled himself in deep, using meditation to gain that inner peace. Only a few times in his life had he meditated so deeply. All sound, sensation, hearing, shut off. They were nothing. His entire being was focused on this lace pattern laid over his center. Piece by piece he inspected it, never touching it.
Time flew by. Minutes, hours, he had no idea. But finally his efforts paid off. On one section there looked to be a flaw. Not a large one; it was just barely there. But it was a flaw, and he could exploit that. With the right work, you could unravel any weave if you found its flaw. AJ mentally sat back and studied it. An idea began to form in his mind. While his body lay on the floor, bleeding, broken in so many places, he paid that no attention. He didn’t even know what had happened, so far gone inside of himself was he.
If he had still been connected to himself, he would have seen Roth’s anger as AJ started to smile. He would have heard the curses the man flung his way, or felt the beating that continued on. But, through it all, AJ smiled. He knew what he had to do now.