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  And They’ll Come Home

  K.M. Robinson

  AND THEY’LL COME HOME. Copyright © 2017 by K.M. Robinson.

  Published by Snowy Wings Publishing.

  www.snowywingspublishing.com

  Cover designed by Reading Transforms.

  Image copyright © K.M. Robinson Photography.

  Interior graphics by Reading Transforms.

  This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, brands, trademarks, places, and incidents either are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events, locales, organizations, or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental and beyond the intent of either the author or the publisher.

  All rights reserved, which includes the right to reproduce this book or portions thereof in any form whatsoever except as provided by the U.S. Copyright Law.

  Contents

  Title Page

  Little Bo Peep

  And They’ll Come Home

  Acknowledgments

  A Deeper Look At The Legends

  Interactive Game

  Bonus Facebook Filters

  About the Author

  Connect With K.M. Robinson

  Also By K.M. Robinson

  Jaded (The Jaded Duology)

  Golden (The Golden Trilogy)

  Want To Learn More?

  The Second Source Code Prequel Novelette

  to The Legends Chronicles

  * * *

  K.M. Robinson

  Little Bo Peep has lost her sheep

  and doesn’t know where to find them.

  Leave them alone

  and they’ll come home,

  wagging their tails behind them.

  “YOU SHOULDN’T HAVE DONE THAT.” The man grinned at Peep, eyes narrowing when she glared back. “That was a bad choice.”

  “So was your outfit,” Peep hissed. Her fingers curled like cat claws behind her back, only stretching as far as the zip ties would allow. The plastic bit into her skin.

  “Settle down, young one. You’re going to be here for a while, so you might as well get comfortable,” he smirked at her. “Or at least as comfortable as you can.”

  The bag over Peep’s head had knocked her hair in her face, pieces of it still lingered, dancing in front of her because of the static caused by the bag being ripped away. She blew a quick puff of air, hoping to move the annoying strands.

  “What do you want, Piper?” Peep growled.

  “Oh,” Piper drawled, “so you know me. Your boss taught you well, I see.”

  Boss?

  “Shame,” he continued. “I would have loved to have offered you a job. You’d have been happy on my team, Peep. Ah, well…we work with what we have.

  “Settle in, Peep,” he walked around her, inspecting her. “Oh. Should I call you Bo?”

  If her uncle were still alive, she would have decked him for talking her mother into that name. She hated it and the girlfriend that inspired her uncle just long enough to name her before she disappeared a few days later. That woman never should have been let near the pregnant lady.

  Piper turned and walked out the door, leaving Peep to sit in silence. The moment he was gone, Peep pulled at her wrists, trying to free herself. Her arm brushed against a chair as a scraping noise filled the large room.

  When she couldn’t break it, she turned her attention to finding an escape once she found the upper hand. The room was brighter than it should have been as the light shifted in through the minimalist windows high above. Metal walls grew into an unimpressive point in the center of the ceiling. The room had a slight blue tint to it. Though nothing like the glow of computer screens, that too was there.

  Peep shivered as a cool breeze blew across the floor from where Piper had opened the door moments ago. The hall must be freezing if it were still so strong. The shivering didn’t help break the restraint, even though it might have been violent enough.

  As quietly as she could, Peep scooted across the floor, making sure there were no motion sensors or cameras watching her. She assumed if there had been, her movements would have caused someone to check on her; that or they wanted to see how she would try to escape.

  Instead, she made her way to a cushier office chair. Laying her head down on the seat, she rested on the floor, waiting for Piper to return. The puffy cap sleeve poked her annoyingly in the face. Her eyes memorized every inch of the room, calculating an escape, searching for weapons, and hoping she could survive her captivity.

  She noted a few places to be careful. Knowing Piper, she assumed torture wasn’t out of the question. She pinpointed exactly where she needed to never set foot.

  Peep curled her legs up around her, sitting sideways so she didn’t throw her back out—the last thing she needed—and took a deep breath. Her uncle always told her to breathe deeply when she needed to focus and stay alert.

  “The mind gets foggy,” she whispered, not bothering to finish the thought. No need to give Piper the idea of restricting her airflow and helping the foggy process along.

  Minutes passed. Peep’s mind wanted to drift, but she held her focus. She wouldn’t give Piper the upper hand.

  Finally, the door opened again. Piper closed it behind him as he strode toward Peep. He brushed by a table, knocking into a pad of paper on a clipboard sitting on the edge. A metal marble bounced to the ground, rolling across the hard floor. It scraped along, irritating Peep.

  “When I said to make yourself comfortable, I didn’t actually think you’d do it,” Piper commented, picking up the clipboard. “Now, Peep, we need to have a little conversation.

  “I need to know about the Legends—”

  “No.”

  “Tsk, tsk, Peep. I wasn’t finished,” he chastised her. “I need to know how to reach them.”

  “I don’t know.” She leveled a glare at him as he pulled up a chair and sat in front of her.

  Peep straightened when he shifted closer, propping her elbow up on the chair behind her. It rolled half an inch back. She gripped her wrists to steady herself, wrapping her fingers around them as one wrist rested on top of the other. Piper eyed her.

  “I want to talk to Muffet,” he tried again.

  “And I want to talk to the man who developed the Irex system, but we can’t always get what we want, now can we?”

  “Listen up, Peep. You don’t have to make this hard on yourself. You can move on from this rather quickly. All you have to do is tell me how to reach Muffet.”

  “No.” Peep lifted her top leg and kicked out, connecting with Piper’s shin.

  They yelped at the same time; Piper in pain, Peep in surprise as the chair kicked out from behind her. She righted herself before Piper could, swinging back to watch him falter.

  The door burst open, slamming against the metallic walls as she righted herself. The man that entered was tall and built. Peep only had enough time to take stock of his large arms and black muscle shirt before Piper ordered him out.

  Piper turned his attention to Peep.

  “You failed, Peep,” he commented, crossing his arm over his knee, still rubbing the spot where she had kicked him. “The good news is that I don’t need you. I already know how to reach your boss. I just needed to find out if you were going to play along or not. I guess we’ll have to do this the more complicated way.”

  He sighed as if he actually cared what her decision had been.

  “No matter. Let me tell you how this is going to go.” Piper gave her a terse smile.

  “We’re about to send Muffet on a little mission. You see, I have certain things that need to be accomplished rather quickly. Now I could do them myself, but it’s so much easier to let her do all the work. I’m convinced she has access to some
things I can’t get a hold of at the moment anyway.

  “In a few minutes, we’re going to call her, you and I. We’re going to make sure she is properly motivated.

  “I need Muffet to do my dirty work, Peep, but I also need her.”

  “Why?” Peep cut him off as he paused for a breath.

  “She’s the leader of the Legends, Peep. She has something I need.”

  Peeps mind swirled, the entire room bobbing in a grand sweeping motion. What did he want?

  “I can see you’re trying to work this out, little girl, but you’re wasting your time. Only the leader of the Legends knows.”

  Suddenly, she knew exactly what he wanted. She also realized that Fet’s plan to act like the leader of the Legends had worked. They had tricked even Piper. Fet had been brilliant to suggest taking the lead and acting as Peep’s shield in preparation for something like this to ever happen.

  How easy it would have been for Piper to win. He had Peep. She had no escape… and she had all the answers.

  Distraction would be her friend now.

  “Time to earn your keep, little girl.”

  Piper reached down and grabbed Peep’s elbow, jerking her to her feet. She unsteadily got her feet beneath her just before Piper dragged his chair over and slammed her into it.

  “Here we go,” Piper sang as he clicked the device into a tripod to steady it.

  Peep glared at him as he lifted his device and made contact.

  “Behave,” he warned. “Tell her to cooperate, or you will be hurt. Tell her you fear for your life. Do whatever you need to do, just move her into action. I wanted this handled today.”

  A beep sounded, followed by static as someone outside let Piper know they had turned their cloaking device on. It sizzled through the air. Whatever Piper said would be digitally altered. She assumed it had been set specifically to his voice and wouldn’t change hers since Fet actually needed to hear her.

  Piper watched the screen, looking up at her only when it came alive with light, indicating that they were live. The noise of the Legends’ headquarters filled the room. She could hear T and BB talking in the background. Her boyfriend sounded annoyed.

  “Muffet, don’t do it!” Peep screeched. She didn’t know how to warn Fet that Piper was behind her kidnapping, but she hoped Fet would notice she had purposely used the longer version of her name. That, at least, should have indicated that more was at play.

  Piper sneered at her, lunging forward to slap her. His hand stung as it connected with her skin. Peep fell out of the chair, slamming into the ground, taking the brunt of it on her shoulder. She would hurt later.

  As she attempted to right herself, she thought she registered a gasp in the background, but couldn’t tell who it was.

  “Hello again, Muffet. I see you received my first message. So glad we could connect. If you want your lackey alive, crack the code, fix the problem. I’ll be in touch with your first puzzle,” Piper said gleefully. He was overwhelmingly delighted at the idea of sending Fet on a wild goose chase to save Peep. She knew Piper would never actually let her go.

  “Muffet, don’t. Get out! Now!” Peep screamed, praying she wouldn’t get cut off.

  Piper backhanded her, this time sending Peep crashing into the chair she had just vacated.

  “You stupid girl,” Piper bellowed, stalking over to his device to make sure the recording was off.

  When he discovered that his lackey had controlled the demise of the feed, he looked up, glaring at Peep. Heavy footsteps pounded toward her and she braced herself, eyes clamping shut despite her wishes.

  Piper grabbed Peep’s purple-tipped hair, dragging her up. She fought to find her footing as her hair was nearly ripped from her skull.

  “You’ll pay for that,” he spat at her.

  “I’m sure I will,” Peep taunted through gritted teeth.

  His breath was hot against her face. She cringed as he lingered, allowing his rage to calm down before addressing her again.

  Piper dropped her hair and used his hand to slam down on her shoulder, forcing her back into the chair. She didn’t fight.

  He straightened his shoulders, taking a deep breath. Without another word, he spun on his heels and stomped out of the room, leaving Peep to attempt to control her shaking.

  Once he was gone, her eyes darted around the room. Piper had taken his device with him and all other technology seemed to be on lockdown. She wouldn’t have been able to hack it with her hands behind her back anyway.

  The slow creak of the door drew her attention. A man walked in, slowly approaching her. It was the same muscle-head from before.

  He stepped toward her cautiously, as if she might bite him at any moment. He was at least three times her size and towered a foot above her. Red hair stuck out from his arms, goose bumps running the length of his skin from the chill in the room. His short-trimmed beard twitched when he set his jaw.

  “Easy,” he warned her, only two steps away.

  Panic coursed through her. This wasn’t right.

  The thought slipped away as the rag covered her face, lulling her into darkness.

  “YOU’RE OKAY,” A VOICE COAXED her awake. “Open your eyes.”

  White light filtered softly into the room beyond the bars. In a world filled with sliding doors and automation, the metal restraints were practically archaic.

  Peep held still, allowing her eyes to search the space as the voice continued.

  “There you go,” he said. “That’s it, pick your head up. You’ve got this.”

  There was no point in pretending not to hear. She sat up, twisting in place.

  “And you are?” she asked in a voice her boyfriend would have rolled his eyes at. He didn’t like it when she mimicked Fet’s deadpan annoyance.

  He waved her over to the bars, beckoning her to join him. With a dramatic sigh, she crawled over close enough to be just out of reach should he try to put his hands through the bars. As she moved, she searched him for weapons. Peep wouldn’t put it past anyone to be hiding a syringe or an implant gun in this place. The last thing she needed was to be chipped.

  Peep quickly pulled back, realizing she could have been chipped at any point while unconscious. In a panic, she checked her wrists, felt along her neck, and attempted to check her back.

  Her tongue ran over her teeth, looking for anything planted there. Nothing felt out of place. Her heart slammed into her ribs as she realized the man was watching her.

  “I’m not here to put on a show, you jerk,” she yelped at him, realizing she was contorting her body to try to check for a chip.

  “They didn’t chip you,” he replied, “assuming that’s what you’re looking for. They didn’t chip me either.”

  “That you know of,” Peep snarled.

  “I’ve never been unconscious,” he contradicted her.

  Peep looked him up and down as he sat on the ground by the bars that separated them. He had large arms and wore a black shirt. Black was the color of the day, it seemed. His dark hair was cropped close to his head. It made his eyes sparkle.

  He looked sadly at her.

  “As far as I can tell, you’re okay. They dropped you in here two or so hours ago.”

  “Who are you?” Peep punctuated her words, unwilling to let this little game go on any longer.

  “My name is Arach. Who are you?”

  Peep raised an eyebrow at him.

  He tipped his head giving her an incredulous look.

  “Really?” he asked.

  Peep snorted. She wasn’t about to tell this stranger who she was. For all she knew, Piper had planted him there.

  “Fine,” Arach shrugged. “Why are you here?”

  Peep continued to stare.

  “You have to answer me sometime,” Arach commented. “If Piper has you down here, it means you’re in trouble. We need to stick together.”

  “If you’re so knowledgeable about Piper and his little lair, then why are you still here? Why haven’t you found a way out
?”

  “I have my reasons.”

  “Now who’s being secretive?” Peep said, her words laced with venom.

  “My brother works for Piper,” Arach admitted. “He worked very hard to make sure I was taken care of when Piper caught me. If I act out, it might come back on him. I may not agree with Piper, but I won’t let my brother get hurt because of me.”

  “So your big plan is just to sit around here all day?” Peep questioned.

  “Maybe.” Arach lifted a leg up, propping his elbow on his knee as he wrapped his other leg around his ankle. He leaned forward just slightly, trying to engage Peep. “What’s your plan?”

  “I just woke up. No plan yet.”

  “Not having a plan could get you killed around here.”

  “So I figured,” Peep tipped her head, trying to figure the man out.

  “See this?” Arach asked, holding something out to her. “My brother designed this. It masks us. As long as Piper’s men aren’t in the room, they have no idea what is going on. It alters their audio and video feeds. For all they know, we’re ignoring each other nicely.”

  It had to be a trap.

  “I’m not trying to trick you. I think I know who you are,” Arach scooted closer. “I think you work for the Legends… I think you’re Pip.”

  She internally rolled her eyes at his mistake.

  “We have a mutual friend,” Arach started.

  “Oh?” Peep acted uninterested.

  A noise sounded in the distance. Footsteps drew closer as Arach’s expression changed from laid back to worried.

  “Back,” Arach waved. “Over there. Act like you’re still out.”

  Arach threw himself backward, tapping the device he had shown Peep, possibly re-engaging the camera system for when they were joined by Piper’s men. His frantic movements prompted Peep into action. She flung herself back across her cell, hair flinging over her arm as she hit the floor.