Free Judgement 8 (Subject Alpha #1) by D. H. Sidebottom

until it became a constant drone. “They’re here.”
    “Fuck!” Reid hissed as he made a grab for my hand, pulling me back despite the shock he got when he touched me.
    “Go!”
    “What the fuck?” He pulled at me again but I spun around and pushed him, taking him to ground as the window shattered and a pain shot through my shoulder, the bullet skimming my skin and leaving a deep graze. My teeth clenched with the sting but I scrambled up, pulling Reid with me.
    “Get out!” I shouted as the front door crashed open. “GO!”
    “Come on!” Reid growled as he yanked at me.
    Shaking my head, I pulled my hand back. “Please, just go!”
    “No, Elina,” both he and Jonah argued.
    “You have to go. They’ve come for me, so let them have me. Go! I promise I’ll be right behind.”
    “Not—a—chance, little girl!”
    “Fuck.” I growled when the door gave way and the space around us filled with Judgement soldiers, closely followed by Ruben.
    He stepped in front of his army of eight as I stepped in front of Reid and Jonah.
    Ruben’s eyes scanned me slowly, the depraved smirk he tried to pass off as a smile contorting his ugly face. “Well, well.” He sniggered. “You’re out past your curfew, Princess.”
    “Go back and tell Janice you didn’t find me, Ruben. I won’t warn you again.”
    He laughed, his head falling back as his body shook with hilarity. “You’re warning me? ” His smug expression made me shiver as memories assaulted me and twisted my stomach. “Now, now. Let’s not get hasty.”
    I lowered my eyes to watch him pull out a T4, a weapon created to bring wayward subjects into line. It was loaded with enough electricity to take down an entire football field, and that coupled with what we already had in our system usually succeeded in shutting us down—painfully.
    He twirled it in his fingers. Reid stepped around me, his own body humming in rage. “I suggest you go home and play with the smaller boys, Ruben, the ones you always had a thing for.”
    Ruben laughed cruelly then pursed his lips, quirking an eyebrow at him. “Oh I don’t play with boys, Reid. Only the whore in the room. She needs to come back to Judgement, me and the others are missing her sweet little ways.”
    I stiffened, nausea rising along with anger. Reid made a move towards Ruben, a loud growl spilling from him as his skin crackled suddenly. What the hell? I had wondered if he had any energy in him. I’d never witnessed even the smallest of sparks from him but now he was vibrating with energy.
    He stopped short when Ruben directed the T4 his way, warning him to back off. “Don’t think I won’t fry you, McCallum. You know me better than that.” He sighed as if bored then turned back to me. “Now, are you ready? Your mother is waiting for you.”
    Reid stepped forward at the same time as Jonah. Each guard slipped out their own T4’s, their fingers wrapped tightly around the only thing they knew could take us down.
    Ruben threatened Reid again. I hid my smile and looked to the floor, appearing terrified as I closed my eyes. Allowing the warmth to flow, I hunted for him. Feeling me, he didn’t put up a guard, letting me in immediately and greeting me with as much warmth as I spread through him, relaxing us both.
    “Get Jonah and get out.”
    “You have no chance.”
    “Please, trust me. I have a plan but I can’t do it with Jonah in here!”
    “Elina . . .”
    “Reid! I promise, you have to trust me!”
    He flared a red shot through my mind, showing me his anger, then slipped out, his huff loud in the suddenly silent room as Ruben waited for him to back off.
    He inhaled deeply and held up his hands. “Fine! She’s all yours. She’s nothing but trouble anyway.”
    I watched as Reid moved towards Jonah and Ruben grinned arrogantly. “You always made such loyal friends, El.” I bit my lip, allowing his words to anger me instead of hurt. “But I always sorted them out for you. I was always so good to