A Vault of Sins by Sarah Harian Page B

braid. “I could try picking you up. . . .”
    I moan and go limp. “Just leave me.”
    Her eyes brighten. “I have an idea. Casey!”
    Shit.
This isn’t exactly how I pictured our reunion. I need to be suave and apologetic and articulate, so he’d understand my reasons for leaving him. Not drugged and a tangle of limbs on the floor.
    “Oh no. Don’t grab Casey. That’s not . . .” I try to scramble up on all fours and end up sprawled across the carpet like a baby deer on a frozen lake. “Necessary.”
    “Casey!”
    “Shut up!” I hiss.
    It’s too late. He pushes open the door and sticks head in, his eyes darting from Piper to me. His face is flat, just like earlier. Flat, flat, flat. He’s a robot and not really Casey. I’m with hackers, right? I mean, it doesn’t even faze him that I’m a fish out of water flopping on the floor.
    “Could you be a dear and help me move Evalyn downstairs?”
    Casey sneers and tilts his head toward me. “Her?”
    “Yes, please,” Piper says, totally unaware of the huge ball of tension in the room. “If it’s not too much of a problem.”
    Casey’s shoulders rise as he inhales deeply, and then his eyes finally rest on me.
    “You’re going to make him pick me up and carry me?” I squeak. As if I hadn’t already stomped him into the ground enough.
    “Well, I’m not going to make him . . .” But by the time she’s half-way through her sentence, Casey has strode across the room and stooped down next to me. He doesn’t leave me any time to hate myself more.
    “Shit,” I breathe as he grabs me by the waist and hauls me over his shoulder like a sack of potatoes. I grunt as my stomach connects with his shoulder, and he spins me swiftly so when I lift my head, I’m staring at a horrified Piper.
    “Oh dear!” she squeals. “You shouldn’t . . . don’t . . . the anesthetics . . . she’ll throw up all over you.”
    I’m too mortified to throw up. I go limp, because that way Piper won’t see the burning in my cheeks. I wonder how much she knows of our relationship. I mean, she knows a lot more than I want her to. Everyone does.
    Casey doesn’t even acknowledge she’s said anything. I leave the room over his shoulder, lacking the energy or dignity to fight against him. Apparently his hip has healed all of the way, which I thought wasn’t supposed to happen ever, because he carries me fluidly down the stairs like I weigh nothing.
    Casey dumps me on a couch, and I moan at the impact. He turns away quickly and makes his way toward what I assume is the kitchen.
    “Morning, Sunshine.” Wes’s voice is playful, and the familiarity makes me shudder. My Rebel_W. He grins behind a cup of something steamy.
    I admire my surroundings. The couches are as plush as my bed. The living room is decked out like a modern cabin with a hefty, stone-crusted fireplace and huge floor length windows that allow a liberal amount of natural light to filter in. I take note of the wrap-around deck and infinite pine outside.
    “They didn’t throw me in another Compass Room while I was out, did they?” This lodge is unearthing all kinds of traumatic memories. Piper tried convincing me the similarities are unintentional, but I think she’s full of it.
    “You know, Casey said the same damn thing.” Wes sets down his mug on a coffee table covered with strange gadgets, most of which I’ve never seen before in my life. He picks up a spherical object to fiddle with it.
    Piper
has
to be full of it, because Wes is holding . . . “A Bot,” I breathe.
    He smiles deviantly. “Having flashbacks?” When my expression doesn’t ease up, he frowns. “Sorry. I’m not a very sensitive person. These babies are my pride and joy and sometimes I forget how people have been emotionally tortured by them.”
    “That’s an understatement.” My headache starts to pound again. “Your baby?”
    “Wes is a rogue CR engineer.” The woman who drugged me walks into the room with her