Embers & Ice (Rouge) by Isabella Modra

and forth. It was measuring his
heart rate.
    “How
am I… s’posed to hold it then?” she asked defensively, dizziness breaking down
on her again.
    He
grabbed her wrist and before she could yank it back, his calloused hands were
curling her fingers and bending her thumb over the top. She was surprisingly
frozen, feeling as though he might scatter away like a frightened gazelle if
she moved. He was much bigger up close, and more muscular than a heavyweight
wrestler. Hunter wondered if he preferred living as a prisoner in the
institution to living outside as a slave.
    “Punch
here,” he said, “and you won’t hurt your knuckles as much.”
    She
flexed her wrists and shot a glance at Marcus, who was sitting on the bench
with his hands clasped between his knees and his face impassive as he watched
her.
    She
turned back to Mosi. “Where’d you learn that?”
    “In
my home country, there is much fighting. I learn a lot of things because I
listen and watch.”
    “Well
thanks for the tip,” she replied, not sure what to make of his cryptic talk.
Mosi backed away from her slowly.
    “You
are welcome.” With that, he sauntered to the door, Marcus not far behind him.

 
    THIRTEEN
     
    “If
you show me another picture of this girl, Jenny, I’m going to strangle you.”
    Jennifer
Smart bit her lip and clicked out of the photo viewer on the computer screen.
Eli sat back in the swivel chair, his face in his hands. A long sigh fell out
of his mouth.
    “I’m
sorry Eli, I thought that one of these might jog your memory.”
    “Why
do you think showing me pictures of this girl will help me remember her? Why is
she so important, anyway?”
    “Because–”
Jenny stood and walked over to the tray of coffee, pouring herself her sixth
cup and ignoring the buzz throughout her body. “That benefit was the night you
met. Hunter told me all about you when she visited me in the hospital. You went
to Prom together.”
    “Remind
me again how this happened? How did I suddenly fall so in love with this girl,
I mean she’s not my type at all. Guys fall all over her at school. We’re
nothing alike.”
    Jenny
turned off the computer and put a hand gently on his knee.
    “A
girl like Hunter needed someone like you. You were a nice change. Trust me,
Eli, Hunter would have done anything for you.”
    “Then
where is she? Does she think I’m dead or something because that freak put me to
sleep and took away my memories?”
    Jenny
fiddled with her fingers. I am so not the right person for this
conversation , she thought.
    Eli
stared up at her through narrowed eyes for a long time. “Did you ever see a man
while you were asleep?”
    Jenny’s
heart started beating fast. She thought the figure was just part of a dream. In
a hollow voice, she whispered, “You saw him too?”
    “I
saw something. It was a man I think, but he flickered… I never got to see his
face. That’s when I woke up. I thought it was just my imagination.”
    Jenny
wiped her hands down her face. None of this makes sense. I’m healed, Eli has
no memory, and we both saw the same figure just before we woke up here in the
lab. Could it be an angel, or was it just… a dream?
    “I
don’t know who it was Eli, but I think that’s what brought us back. You have no
idea how completely rare it is that we survived cryonics; it’s near impossible
to recover all emotions and mental characteristics. If you ask me, Joshua just
barely got by with us. But,” she added in a small voice, “he feels terrible about
it.”
    “Are
you guys in love or something?”
    Jenny
looked at Eli and laughed. “Not even if hell freezes over.”
    “Then
what’s his deal?”
    Jenny
really didn’t want to attempt to describe Joshua’s deranged actions to someone
who hardly knew him at all – even she couldn’t say she understood Joshua – but
the poor boy was helpless without his memories.
    “He…
he loves Hunter. More than anything. But there’s a part of him that isn’t
exactly human.