Chapter Thirteen
Grace practically tries to bury herself in the back of Furious' jacket. It's the first time she's been on anything like a motorcycle and she is completely terrified. She squeezes so tightly, Furious finally has to come to a stop. Grabbing her arms, he lets out an exasperated sigh, "Sweetheart, you're going to have to loosen up back there, I can't breathe." Grace quickly lets go and almost falls off the bike. She wants to cry but that would just embarrass her more, so her frustration turns into anger and she goes hysterical, "I've never rode on one of these stupid things before, okay! If it bothers you so much, I'll just walk! You don't seem to care about anybody but yourself anyway!"
"Geez, will you shut up!" His interruption brings the girl's outburst to a halt and her eyes tear up now. Furious can't help but take a kinder approach, "I'll go slower okay? I didn't know it was your first time." Grace wipes her tears off her cheeks." I can't begin to imagine how many times you said that." A slight smile shows on her face causing Furious to let out a wicked cackle, "I think I know what you need. We've got to go there anyway, might as well have a little fun."
He kicks the motorcycle to life and Grace wraps her arms around his waist, but this time not nearly as tight, "Where are you taking me?" Furious replies to her with another smile, "You'll see, get ready to have the time of your life." He makes the motorcycle lunge, but it's just enough for Grace to squeal. Furious then he pulls off slowly and Grace lays her head on his back. Closing her eyes, he lets him take her wherever he wants.
The ride is much better this time, but it's mainly because her attention is on what Furious said before, about becoming Corsair. She tries to find something, anything, that's left in her life to tie her back to Alcazar. Her parents are dead, Solomon's dead, her home is destroyed, and after seeing Apollo with that other girl, she realizes there is nothing. It occurs to her, if it wasn't for Furious she should probably be dead too and she thinks about what Solomon said about him. She can see it now for herself, hope.
Furious pulls into a parking lot, "We're here," and Grace looks up with wonder. The dark building with flames rising through its windows captures her attention and she takes in the yells and chants coming from within the cathedral-like building. "What is this place?"
"It's called the Oculus; it's where grunts go to blow off steam."
"Grunts?"
"Yeah, Corsair Soldiers."
Grace gasps at the sound of it and stares at the vicious brawl going on in the middle of a crowd gathered up front. The bike goes silent, "Don't worry, you're with me, they're not going to bother you." Furious jumps off and holds out his hand. She takes it and climbs off. She instantly notices all the people clad in black leather and suddenly feels self-conscious about her appearance. Her clothes scream Alcazarian and she finds herself clutching Furious' elbow for dear life.
"Calm down, it's okay." Furious taps her arm and they walk through the wide doorway. Grace is shocked by the amount of people inside, especially the men, they're everywhere. She can feel their eyes upon her as she follows him toward the front. When they make it to the bar, Furious tells the older woman behind it, "Two shots, whiskey." The woman slings two glasses on the wooden counter and fills them both half-full of a dark brown liquid, "I hope both of these are for you." She says as she puts the bottle away.
"Mind your business, Petra."
"You shouldn't influence the girl. You're going to get her killed."
"I'm not making her do anything she doesn't want to do."
Petra gives Furious a disapproving smirk then changes the dialogue, "An Alcazarian boy was in here earlier, with Luna." Grace hears her and breaks in on the conversation, "You mean Apollo?" Petra replies to her, "Yeah, how do you know..."
Grace interrupts, "Furious is right, no one is telling me what to do." She grabs one of the glasses and immediately throws the contents into her mouth. She swallows hard and it feels like her chest is on fire. Her coughs bring tears to her eyes and Furious slaps on her back with a chuckle, "There you go, live a little!" He throws down the other shot and yells, "Another round!" Petra re-positions the glasses but Furious puts his open hand over one of them, "No, just me this time." Petra nods her approval and pours the liquor. Furious quickly downs it, "Tell Seth I ran into her, and the boy. They should be at their destination by now."
"Is that so? What do you know about that?" Petra inquires but Furious ignores her, slamming the glass down on the counter, "One more!" Then Grace follows, "Me too!" Her head is spinning and she laughs as she tries to swallow the liquor. Petra looks at both with concern and then directly at Furious, "You better take care of her Fury, do the right thing." Another devilish laugh emerges from him, "Don't I always?" He turns to Grace, speaking right into her ear so she can hear him over all the noise, "Let's go mingle." Grace looks at him confused but then bursts into more laughter as he pulls her across the floor.
Grace is suddenly distracted by a huge hand grabbing her shoulder, "Hey Beautiful, haven't ever seen you here before. You're a real nice piece of..." Furious jumps and smacks the man hard across the face, "Watch your mouth, Grunt!" The huge soldier then grabs Furious, lifting him off his feet, "The Great Furious Kaine, I can take you! Fight me or the girl's mine!"
Furious just smiles as the people around them grow quiet. Then his expression darkens and Grace begins to feel the tension rise as the crowd slowly starts to chant, "Fight! Fight!"
Most of the crowd follows as Furious grants the man's wish and the two go outside. They reach the open space in the middle and are handed long wooden poles about a meter and a half long. Silence pervades across the sea of people again as the amusement on Furious' demeanor returns. He doesn't even bother taking his sunglasses off as he taunts his opponent, "Well whatcha got, Marcus?"
The giant man charges, screaming in rage. He's at least twice in size and holds his staff high above his head. When he sends it crashing down, Furious holds his own staff up to block the blow, allowing it to break into two pieces. Simultaneously, he sends his right boot hard into Marcus' groin as the giant man bends over and Furious hurls a blinding flurry of strikes into the man's head with both sticks of broken wood.
Blood flies everywhere as Furious beats him relentlessly, "Don't ever disrespect me again!" Then Furious finishes by leaping in the air, sending another hard kick, this time straight into Marcus' face. Blood splatters as the man crashes to the ground. Furious drops the sticks on Marcus' body, spits, and then turns walking back towards Grace.
Then he leans down and whispers to her, "I hope that didn't scare you." She replies by lying to him, "No, it didn't." As they walk back inside, the crowd roars again, “Furious! Furious!” It's now time for Grace's to shock him as she expresses a desire she's been curious about ever since they got there. And after what just happened, she's sure she wants to do it,
"I want a tattoo."
"You want a what?"
"I said, I want a tattoo, something that speaks to me." Furious laughs, almost a little nervously, "Okay now Grace, slow down a little there." He pauses for a minute, then remembers what he said before, "Well I did say no one's here to tell you what to do.” Then his eyes run down her body, “So where would you like it?"
Grace didn't think that far into it, "Well I don't know." The absence of Corsair women around doesn't help so she asks, "What do you suggest?" He tilts his glasses so his eyes peer over the rims. He leans back, taking in the sight of her, "I'm not sure. I haven't get to see much of the canvas, but I'm sure we can come up with something." Grace shoves him, "You're still a jerk, you know." But this time there's something in her tone that completely changes the intent of her words. She gazes at him, imagining future kisses, and she's about to act on her impulses when an older man emerges from behind them. He violently jerks Furious around, glowering.
It's Seth.
"Furious Kaine, you and I need to talk." They go behind the bar and as they step through the door, Petra grabs Grace's arm, "You should stay here." Grace yells out, "Furious!" And he immediately stops, "No, she's stays with me." Seth places his hand on Furious' shoulder, "Come on Fury, you know Petra's not going to let anything happen to her. I need to have a word with you, in private." Furious looks at Grace who looks unsure of anything, "It's okay, I'll be right back." As he and Seth walk into the conference room, he can hear Petra softly speak to her, "What's your name, dear?"
Back in the conference room, Seth lets Furious enter and then swiftly slams the door, "Who do you think you are, bringing that Alcazarian girl to this place? Are you trying to start a riot? Furious returns the man's sternness, "She wanted to come with me, and what difference does it make?"
Seth remarks, "The difference is, word is surely to get back to Brutalius." Furious just scoffs, "Yeah I know, I'm counting on it, besides, he's already coming after us."
"No, he's coming after you. How old is she anyway? Seventeen?"
Furious runs his hand over the orange tips of his spiked hair, "I won't let anything happen to her." Seth opens the door, "You're right because she is staying here. And if she chooses to become one of us then she will need our help, not Brutalius trying to end her life. Petra will look after her for now."
Furious' takes off his glasses and steps to Seth, affirming his stance, "She wants to be with me." The old man replies this time with a calmer demeanor, "And then she will still be here, if she so chooses. Return to her after you kill your cousin." Furious stares at him for a moment before finally answering, "Yeah."
Furious turns to leave but Seth says something that gives him pause, "I watched you pick on Marcus earlier, what happened to the usual show-off I remember?" Furious looks down at his forearms and shakes his head, "I don't know, I think Brute did something to me." Seth then produces a syringe and swiftly stabs Furious' shoulder. "Hey!" He yells as Seth pulls back on the plunger, turning the vial deep red, "I need to confirm it's what I suspect." Seth pulls the needle out and places a swab on the puncture. He takes the sample over to the computer and Furious attempts to confirm Seth's suspicion, "I think it's the same thing he did to the Alcazarian boy."
Seth takes a sample and prepares a slide. Soon an image dominates the monitor covering the wall, portraying the nanobots that currently flow through Furious' veins. "You're right, but I'm afraid there's no way to reverse it, I'm sorry Fury." Furious doesn't respond, he just turns and storms out of the room. When he spots Grace waiting for him in the hallway, he walks to her, "They want you to stay."
"I know."
"But that doesn't mean I'm leaving you."
Furious' words make her smile and she stares straight ahead. With his height advantage it's as if she looking directly at his heart. She places her hand over the spot where she imagines it to be, "I'll wait here for you if you want." Furious put his hand under her chin, turning her gaze up to his. He then leans down and gently kisses her lips. Pulling back, Furious looks at Grace before kissing her again, this time on the forehead, "I'll come back for you."
They embrace until Petra finally comes in, interrupting the moment, "Don't worry Fury, me and Grace here are going to have lots of fun. I'm going to teach her what being a Corsair woman is all about." Furious responds with a chuckle, "She says she wants a tattoo." Petra looks at Grace with a wink, "Is that so? Then we might have to do something about that."
Seth reappears with two gold bracelets in his hands, "These are for you. Use them to put an end to what we talked about." Furious attaches the bracelets to his wrists and Seth gives each one a twist, "Now do what I taught you." Furious holds his hands out a summons two forward-curving, kopis-like blades equipped with wide serrated edges, "You never cease to amaze me in your designs, Seth." Furious gives the weapons a few swipes, "I still miss the fireworks though.”