Bleak Devotion (11 page)

“When someone of our race comes of age, the two genders mingle together more than usual. When a male finds a female he desires to protect, he speaks with her father. The father talks to the mother, who talks with the female. If the female is agreeable, they marry. ”

“
That's a lot of talking going on. I think I like it better when the boy and the girl can just talk to each other.” She shifted around in her seat. “Have you ever, you know, felt the desire to protect someone?”

She was surprised when the couch started shaking harder. She looked up at him and found his gaze upon her. They froze staring at one another. An electric current passed between them. Blade's tremors grew. Instead of being scared, Jessica was exhilarated. She leaned closer toward him, though the whole space of a cushion sat empty between them. A warm, giddy feeling spread through her. His eyes drew her in.

“Excuse me.” Blade abruptly jumped up and ran out of the room. Jessica sat stunned on the couch. Her face fell. She closed her eyes and grimaced as the front door opened and slammed shut.

Chapter Fifteen

Jessica jabbed her fork into a pancake and shoved it in her mouth. The pancake was bland, even though she had drenched in it in butter and syrup. She chewed and swallowed. The sticky mass lodged in her throat and refused to move, even after a swig of water. She stabbed another unfortunate victim and jammed it in her mouth.

“
What's eating you?” Julie cheerily asked from across the table.

Jessica looked up, trying, but failing, to ignore Blade's well-toned form next to her. “Nothing.”

“Seriously, Jessica, I thought your plate was going to break on that last piece of pancake you just mutilated. What's up?”

She shrugged her shoulders. “I don't know. It's probably just everything that happened yesterday.” Specifically after you all left, she thought dryly.

“I know. It has me feeling all jittery.” Julie shivered and then smiled again.

Jessica raised her eyebrows at the girl. Deborah set another batch of hot cakes on the table and sat down to dish herself up a plate. “After thinking it over, I'm leaning toward us staying here.”

“I don't think that's wise,” Ben said between bites.

“
You or anyone else who wishes to leave is free to do so.”

“
You know I'll stay with you, but I think it'd be wiser if we left,” Ben muttered.

“
What are you planning on, Deborah?” Blade's deep voice quietly resonated around the room.

“
Well, we have everything we need already here, including a hideout. I'm afraid if we leave, we won't be able to find anything else like this. If we do, it's likely to already be taken over.”

“
Good point. What are we going to do about food and safety?”

“
We can keep hoarding food. Slowly give them less and less. Keep on top of gathering the vegetables. As for safety,” a sly grin grew on Deborah's face, “I'm thinking we need you to go on a supply run.”

Jessica's fork stopped halfway to her mouth. A knot tied itself in her stomach. “What do we need supplies for?”

“
We are going to expand the hideout. Add some necessaries and make it soundproof. We should have done that a long time ago, but I didn't think they would really come.”

“
Don't worry about it,” Julie said. “None of us believed it would really happen. We thought it was safe here since they had never come.”

“
It was a stupid assumption. Nowhere is safe.” The skin of Deborah's forehead bunched together for a moment then relaxed. “No use dwelling on what we can't change. I'd like to set up a warning system so we'll have more time to get in the hideout, along with some modifications.”

Julie's mouth pulled back. “What type of system?”

“Whatever Blade can manage to find. I don't know a lot, need to do some research. Or maybe Erin knows. I was thinking about motion detectors. Make them relay back to the house and the hideout. That'll give us some more warning. Maybe get some hidden cameras installed with a connection to a television in the hideout.”

“
Do we really have enough resources for that?” Ben grumbled.

“
And can we keep it hidden from them if they start looking?” Jessica added.

“
I could get another windmill while I'm out,” Blade answered. “We really have enough power now, but it would be a good backup. As for hiding it, I don't know. Some of the technology I've seen from humans is elegant. But I don't know how long it would hold out against a search. I'd have to see it.”

“
We can go over our options with Erin,” Deborah replied.

“
If it works, then what?” Ben grumbled. “Watch them take over the house while we hide forever? That sounds perfect.”

Deborah sat a little straighter and looked him in the eye. “What do you propose we do then?”

“I don't know. Fight maybe. That's what it all keeps coming back to. Blade must know of a weakness.”

All eyes shifted to Blade. He shook his head. “I know of no weakness. We have become perfect weapons. Not only with our physical change, but the way we demolish anything in sight except each other once changed. Against us, humans are weak. If you had known we were coming, you might have done something. Now there are too few left. Most of the weapons you could have used have been destroyed.”

Ben narrowed his eyes. “What weapons?”

“
Guns mostly. Knives and such would work as well, but you'd have a hard time getting that close, and if you did you'd be dead anyway. We are as vulnerable as humans, we just come with a built-in attack system.”

Deborah ran her hand over her chin. “That settles it then. We shall try and survive the best we can. Unless someone can come up with a better plan, we should get to work.”

“Fine. If you're set on it, I'll help.” Ben sounded so normal, Jessica gaped at him as he finished speaking. “Know a thing or two about them devices. I'll go have a chat with Erin and see what we can come up with for you to look at, Deborah.”

“
We would really appreciate any help you can give us.” Deborah smiled at the older man and cleared an empty plate from the table. “Blade can join us and we'll get a list put together of what we need. Next time the weather is good enough, I want him on the road.”

Jessica picked at her food, sullenly tuning out the conversation around her. The voices would rise and fall as background noise, but all she could think of was Blade out there with all of those monsters. He may have been built like one of them, but he certainly didn't act like one of them. What if someone found him out while he was away? She couldn't fathom why it mattered so much to her. After his quick escape last night, she was sure he didn't want anything to do with her.

Why did that bother her so much? It wasn't like he was anything more than a friend to her. It wasn't his perfect hazel eyes that set her heart aglow or his shaky smile that weakened her knees. She was just feeling off. Sick, maybe. Yes, that was it. She was just sick. Didn't someone ask her how she was feeling last night? This would all pass as soon as she felt better.

As the last one to leave the table, Jessica picked up her plate and took it over to the sink, where Deborah was washing dishes. She stacked her plate in the pile.

“Why don't you let me get that, Deborah? You shouldn't have to make breakfast and clean up the dishes as well.”

“
Thank you.” Deborah stepped aside to let Jessica in. “I wanted to throw something together for dinner that would be ready later on. Chili sound good?”

“
Sounds great.”

“
You can make it a little less spicy this time,” Blade said. He stood next to the sink drying dishes. Jessica wished she would have noticed he'd taken up the task before she had offered to do the dishes.

Deborah laughed. “Not so adventurous, are you?”

“Not really. Human food is so different. Our food was whatever we could get our hands on. Usually something bland.”

Jessica dunked her hands in the soapy warm water. She grabbed a plate and scrubbed it. Pulling it out of the water she placed it in the other side to be rinsed and quickly went to the next plate. Maybe if she hurried through them, it wouldn't be as bad.

“You missed a spot, Jess,” Blade said.

She looked at the plate he was holding up for her and blushed. Half of the plate still had sticky syrup with water droplets over it.

“Sorry.”

She snatched the offending plate up and plunged it back into the water. Soapy water splashed up on her shirt and the counter. Grumbling under her breath, she scrubbed the offending plate using the elbow grease her mother always told her she needed to find. Finishing, she glanced at the plate and handed it to Blade's extended hand without looking at him.

“Better,” Blade whispered. The plate started shaking slightly. Jessica flicked her gaze to his perfect face and then back down to the soapy water, where her hands were busy cleaning another plate. Deborah clanged things around noisily behind them as she prepared dinner.

“
Jess?”

“
What is it, Blade?” She snapped. His tremors intensified and she winced. She worked to find a more neutral tone. “Sorry. What do you need, Blade?”

“
I… I just… I want to say sorry for my behavior last night.”

“
You're sorry?” A strange mix of emotions cascaded through her. Part of her was still angry at him, but part of her wanted to hang on his every word.

“
Yes.” Blade hesitated, his mouth opening and closing several times before continuing. “The conversation last night—No. My feelings last night were making things difficult.”

“
Your feelings?” Jessica felt like an idiot. Like she was missing something very obvious. Blade's shaking became so hard she took the plate out of his hands and set it on the counter. Her hand brushed across his with the movement. Her hand tingled and his shook even harder.

“
Yes, my feelings…” Blade took a step back from her and looked down. “They—I… excuse me.”

Jessica stared after his fleeing form, dumbfounded. What was his problem? Was she doing something so bad that he couldn't even stand to be around her? She needed to control her anger around him more. The door slammed like it had last night and she jumped. She stared blankly through the door frame to the empty hallway.

“Jessica.” Deborah's voice startled her. She had forgotten the woman was there.

Turning back to the sink, she cleared her throat before answering. “What, Deb?”

An arm went around her waist. She looked at Deborah and tears filled her eyes. She couldn't understand why they insisted on making an appearance. Whatever sickness she had must have mixed up her internal wiring.

“
I think we need to talk.”

Jessica resisted the urge to roll her eyes. “Alright.”

Deborah gave her arm a squeeze and moved to dry the dishes. “How do you feel about Blade?”

Jessica slammed the stack of dirty plates in the sink harder than she meant to and dirty water splashed onto her again. “Egh!”

“Mmmm… it's worse than I thought.”

“
What are you talking about?” Jessica's tone was sharper than she intended.

“
You like Blade.”

“
Of course I like Blade. Everyone likes Blade. You can't help but like Blade. He's completely too likable. I almost wish I could hold on to the hate like Ben does so I could help prove you don't have to like him. Nobody should be so darn likable.”

“
Uh-huh.” A smirk sneaked onto Deborah's face. “If it makes you feel better, I just realized the feeling is mutual.”

A flame of hope ignited in Jessica's chest. “What do you mean?”

“He likes you, too. That's why he ran off just now. I'm assuming he did the same last night, from what he just said.”

“
He did,” she said in a small voice. Her heart pounded wildly in her chest.

“
I haven't talked to him, but I gather that he's leaving because he can't control himself anymore. He hasn't lost control much anymore before you came. He's gotten really good at not changing, but whatever it is that you are making him feel is more than he's able to control.”

“
I… do that to him?”

Deborah nodded. “Tread carefully, dear. I wish you both the best though. You're both so wonderful. I truly hope you can both find a way to make it work. It would be good for everyone to see love can still happen in this world, especially between the two of you.”

Deborah dried the last dish and returned to rummaging around the kitchen. Jessica stared at the dirty sink water. Blade liked her? Blade liked her! Joy soared through her until his name entered the analytical part of her head. Blade. His blades. Whatever he was feeling for her made them appear. Jessica pulled the plug and watched the dirty water drain.