Chapter Fourteen: Lexa

Chapter Fourteen
~ Lexa ~
I swallowed hard. I had given an ultimatum and I didn’t know where it would stand. I was told we would talk more about it tonight, but that had been a long way off.
All the staff had taken on a new form of cruelty since I had said my piece. But I knew my odds of getting Will out of here relied on this. When he was awake, he had done nothing but glare at me, but now he was asleep, and I was preparing to give him as much energy as it would take to help him get out of here alive. I was hopeful that S could help him find the others, but I doubted she’d be able to.
“You’re bold,” Mr. Oakley stated loudly when he finally walked in. “Giving me, a highly ranked official, an ultimatum when you’re the one behind bars.”
I didn’t say anything. I just kept my face as neutral as I could, everything relied on my ability to negotiate.
“Now, Miss. Lexa. What on earth do you think you can offer me?”
“Oh, I have a lot.” I answered with a smile. “You need someone with powers, and you can’t access them without consent. And you could torture me, as you’ve tried before on people. But I am not just a person. And I am unbreakable.” I paused slightly for dramatic effect. “And you have very little doubt about that. So, you could try and waste time and blood. Or I can give you what you want.”
He let out an unamused chuckle. And one of his ‘friends’ had the nerve to ask, “Are you serious?”
Mr. Oakley held up his hand to silence the young man who seemed to be barely out of training.
“What is your price, young lady?” He asked, his voice giving away nothing.
“Will is allowed to live out the rest of his days in the woods.” I stated.
“Oh, that is a cheap cost for a large sacrifice.” He laughed.
“I’m not finished.” I replied, matching his cold unfeeling, hard voice. “If so much as one person of powers gets taken again, the deal is off, and I kill myself. I have many secrets sir. They all die with me. Everything you hope to learn from me, will be gone. It’s just Will and I left. There’s no need to keep looking. Not when I’m willing to give you what you want.”
He looked at me hard, and I was very glad Will was asleep or passed out. I didn’t want him to know I was giving up my freedom for him. I didn’t want him to know any of the sacrifices I was about to make.
“Why would you be so protective if there aren’t more of you?” He narrowed his eyes at me.
“Because I don’t want future kids and people born to live in fear.” I answered easily. I had prepared for this. I had repeated my argument a hundred times in my head. I had rehearsed it till I knew nothing but it.
“And how do you know we won’t just kill you?”
“That’s your choice sir, but you tend to keep people for about 6 years, so I’m not sure that would truly be of use to either of us, especially since I am all that is left of people like me.”
He looked mad now. He wasn’t expecting me to be so good at the game. But I had been playing the game for a long time now. And I could tell he was very close to breaking.
“And how will you know that I haven’t broken my promises?” He asked.
“Because your daughter will be the one who takes Will to the edge of the woods, and no one else will be so much as in sight of them. She will drop him there and come back.”
He let out another cold laugh, “And what makes you think my daughter is your solution?”
I paused. I couldn’t out S. I needed her to be seen on her dad’s side. And not on mine. I needed him to believe that this was vengeance. Or a weak spot.
“Because she ruined my life.” I stated coldly. “She can take her cold heart and bury it with his body.”

Mr. O left with a slam of the door which woke up Will.
He looked around us panicked, but I didn’t move. I was trying to wrap my head around what had just happened. I was still in fight mode. I was trying to process what I had just done.
Will looked at me seriously as the staff all slowly started to trickle out except a single guard at the door all the way down the hall.
When everyone was finally gone, Will spoke.
“You look like you’re in fight mode. What happened?” He asked.
I just shook my head. I didn’t want to talk to him. I didn’t want him to know the extent of what I had just done, so I continued to stare at the wall of my cell.
“Lexa…” He said when I didn’t answer. “What happened? What’s wrong?”
His calm, kind voice is what pushed me over the edge. For the first time in a long time, I cried. I couldn’t help it. But I had just given my entire life up, and I had no idea if they would honor anything. But either way, my life was over. And either way, I was going to lose.
“Lex, Lexa, please.” He moved toward the bars with more ease than I had seen him be in since I got here. My energy transfer must be helping. “Please don’t cry, Lexa.”
I looked at him for the first time, tears still falling down my face. They would be here in a little bit to take him.
“Lex, why are you giving me energy? What’s going on?” He sounded a little scared now. He was putting together the signs. I was giving too much away.
“When they come back, you need to act and look half dead.” I responded trying to keep my voice steady and slightly cold. “You will not ask questions, and you will go with Aspen, and hopefully it is not a trap.”
“Go with Aspen?” He repeated. “Go where with Aspen?”
“Home.” I answered. “I’ll be right behind you in a day or so.”
“No. Uh-uh. I’m not going anywhere without you.” He raised his voice in panic.
I wiped away my tears that needed to be cried, but I couldn’t cry any longer. He needed me to be strong. “It is not an option, William. You will go home with Aspen, or they will kill you, and that is not happening on my watch. Not in front of me. No.”
“Lexa… Please…”
“It’s not a debate.” I went back to staring at the wall. “When they come, you go, and when you get out of sight, you run like hell.”
The doors opened, and I took in a sharp breath, wiping away any tears left.
“Are you ready, Miss. Lexa?” Mr. O all but demanded.
“Ready.” I stated.
My eyes met S’s as she did a quick survey of me while her Dad was looking the other way. But I didn’t acknowledge her. I didn’t acknowledge anyone. My eyes we’re now locked on Will. Hoping he wouldn’t blow it.