CARNAL, The Beast Who Loved Me (19 page)

“Wait!” Rosie shouted as he repeatedly tossed it up into the air and caught it. “Until that cools off. It could burn you.”

He laughed and shoved the whole thing in his mouth. Speaking around cheek-filled biscuit, he said, “This is good!”

Without thinking, Rosie picked up an empty cookie sheet and smacked Skirmish across the back. She knew it wouldn’t hurt him, but hoped it made a statement.

“Serene put me in charge, while everybody’s gone. You have to do what I say!”

The kid laughed even harder, but said, “Yes, ma’am.” When he finished the biscuit, he said, “Are you gonna send Carnal after me?”

“What? Why would you think that?”

“’
Cause, you know.”

“No. I don’t know. Why would you think that?”

Rosie looked at Razzle. “Because people are saying that Carnal is claiming you.”

“Claiming me for what?” Razzle’s eyes widened. She looked at the two other girls she’d picked as helpers and the three of them instantly turned into a giggle huddle. “Razzle?”

“Claiming.” She waved a hand. “It means making you his forever female.”

Rosie looked down at her flour-covered hands. “Oh. Well, your sources are questionable. ‘People’ have got that wrong.”

She looked up in time to see Razzle and her friends giving each other a look while the boys smirked. To Skirmish, Rosie said, “No. Carnal will not be ‘coming after you’.” She huffed. “That’s ridiculous.”

The wood stoves heated up the school kitchen so that Rosie was dabbing perspiration from her temples. “Let’s get these kids fed.”

Her version of pigs in a blanket was a hit and, as Razzle had said, the kids, building, and clothes stayed clean. The worst of the mess was in the kitchen as a result of cooking with flour. When everything was clean and put away, Rosie turned to Razzle. “What do we do now?”

“We find ways to occupy the kids. If their parents aren’t back by bedtime, we’ll bed down here.”

Rosie looked around. “How does that work?”

Razzle pointed at a wall of cabinets. “Bedding for lock down.”

“Huh. Okay, I’m going to take a minute to sit, then I’ll see if you need help out there.”

Razzle nodded. “Alright.” She turned to leave. “Supper worked. You did good.”

Grateful for the praise and encouragement, particularly since it came from a fifteen-year-old, Rosie smiled. “It worked because I had a great sous chef.”

Razzle cocked her head to the side. “I don’t know what that is.”

“Second in command in the kitchen.”

“Oh.” She grinned and opened the door to leave. Rosie heard her saying to her friends, “Hey. I’m the sous chef!”

A few adults came straggling in. Among them was one older male who was missing a leg, two females who were in the later stages of pregnancy, one younger male who had, apparently, been blinded, and an older female who was bent like her back had been broken and mended that way.

Rosie made another batch of ham and cheese biscuits for the new arrivals.

The children, younger and older, seemed to have adapted remarkably well to an event that would be considered terrifying in most societies. In any world. Rosie supposed that was what happened when it was the only way they’d ever known. She hoped things were being set in motion, in Free’s mind, to bring an end to that way of life.

She made herself a cup of bergamot tea, opened the small door on one of the stoves to expose the burning embers, then pulled up a chair and sat. She could hear noise through the solid wood door, but it was comparatively quiet in the kitchen. Closing her eyes as the first sip of tea hit her taste buds, she sat savoring the respite, mulling over everything that had happened since she woke that morning, and hoping the people she’d come to know would be returning safely.

She’d taken a thrilling ride to the wasteland, had a picnic with Carnal, attempted to ride a motorcycle by herself, and had corrected that disaster thereby exposing herself, exactly as she’d promised Kellareal she wouldn’t do. She’d watched Carnal set a signal fire, accepted a post as proxy caregiver for all of Exiled’s next generation, baked bread for the first time, and fed a warehouse full of hungry kids.
Not a bad day’s work
, she mused. Then her thoughts turned to what the kitchen helpers had said about Carnal and claiming.

Enjoying the feel of the warm cup in her hands, she asked herself if it could be true that Carnal was courting her and was not just after a ‘corn shuck’ stand. Imagining a possible future there in Newland with Carnal wasn’t hard, but the direction of those thoughts took her to Glen. She’d thought she loved Glen, but she concluded that, if Glen had returned her love, he wouldn’t have chosen Black Swan over her.

Those were the thoughts she was quietly turning over in her head when Razzle burst through the door.

“One of the little ones is hurt.”

Rosie set the cup down and rushed out into the large room, but Skirmish had the child in his arms and was bringing him into the kitchen.

“Set him down on the counter. There,” said Rosie pointing behind her.

The little boy appeared to be a level one or two. He’d fallen and split open a lip, that was bleeding profusely. Rosie grabbed one of the clean dish towels, wet it, and held the towel to the wound. The child watched her with big eyes, but didn’t speak and didn’t cry.

“What’s his name?”

“Rush,” Skirmish answered.

Rosie nodded. “Is there a first aid kit?”

Skirmish looked at Razzle, who said, “If there is, I think it would be in here.” She and Skirmish began opening and closing every cabinet, each taking a side of the big room.

“Rush.” Rosie spoke quietly and deliberately, taking care to keep the child calm, although that didn’t seem to be a problem for him. “We need to clean this up and make sure it’s just a little nick. Okay?” He nodded bravely. She pulled the towel away and saw that bleeding was slowing. She smiled to reassure him. “Hey. It’s getting better already.”

“Found it,” Skirmish called. He trotted over with a wicker basket and opened the lid.

Rosie leaned over to look inside. There were various sizes of cotton strips tied with ribbons and several glass jars. Rosie looked between the two level tens. “Either of you know what’s in these?”

“I don’t know the names, but this one,” he retrieved a jar that contained a gold-colored ointment, “is what Flora always uses when I get cuts like that.” He nodded toward Rush.

“Okay. Is there anything she uses to clean up first?”

“Uh, yeah.” He looked into the basket. “I think it’s this one.” He pulled out a jar of cloudy liquid. “She puts this on with a cotton thing first.

Rosie looked at Razzle. “We need to get you level tens trained in first aid if you’re going to be left in charge of these kids.”

Razzle nodded, but looked like she was taking that very seriously.

Rosie turned her attention back to Rush. After cleaning him up with water, she used the liquid Skirmish pointed out and dabbed it on Rush’s cut.

“Rush, you’ve been so brave, but if you feel like crying, you can.”

He shook his head back and forth to register that her suggestion was decidedly, “No.”

“It’s up to you. Just saying it would be okay with me.” She threw away the cotton and began applying some of the ointment. To Razzle, she said, “Do we have any extra clothes? I’d like to put him in a clean shirt.”

“Maybe. I’ll look in the level one room.”

Five minutes later, she returned with a shirt that would fit the little guy.

“There you go,” Rosie said. “In a week it’ll be like it never happened.”

Rush gave her a shy smile and scooted like he wanted to get down off the counter. Rosie lifted him with a grunt. He was apparently so dense that his weight was easily three times what it looked like it should be. She set him on his feet. “There you go.” The way he went tearing out of the room, she figured it wouldn’t be long before he’d be in need of additional medical treatment.

Rosie was about to suggest that they begin getting the kids to bed, when one of the level tens burst through the door.

“They’re back!” he announced. “False alarm. Everybody’s fine.”

Within minutes smiling parents were coming through the door collecting their babies and hugging them tight. Rosie found Razzle in the crowd and mouthed, “Good job.”

Razzle gave her a dazzling smile in return, just as a father claimed the toddler she was holding on her hip. Rosie spied Charming looking over the room trying to find her. She waved and he started making his way through the crowd.

“Dandy and Scar need you at the bar. It’s gonna be busy.” He grinned.

“Okay. Good to see you in one piece.”

He cocked his head. “You were worried about me, Rosie?”

“Of course. What do you think? Hold on a minute.” She made her way back to the kitchen and grabbed her shawl from the hook where she’d left it hanging. When she rejoined Charming, he opened the front door. “So tell me what happened. Somebody said false alarm. But I know that’s not right because I was there when the signal fire was lit.”

“You were?”

“Yes. Carnal had taken me for a ride and we saw the dust.”

“Oh.” Charming looked away. “Well, we sent scouts and everything was quiet. Whatever you saw, either it was something else or they changed their minds.” He leaned in. “Probably started this way, remembered the last time they fucked with us, shit their pants, and had to go home for clean up.”

Rosie laughed out loud. “Glad you were here to provide the color commentary.”

“I don’t know what that is, but if you’re glad, I’m glad.”

As soon as Charming opened the south porch door that led to the Commons, she knew he wasn’t kidding. The place was packed and the noise was almost deafening with celebratory mood. A dozen musicians had already set up and were accompanying laughter, singing, and dancing that reminded Rosie of Irish jigs. The fire from the pit burned bright and lit the room to match the mood.

Rosie began serving drinks. Some of the kitchen workers had been called in to help keep glasses and mugs washed and clean.

It didn’t take long for Rosie to realize that some of the females in the crowd were humans. There was little doubt that they hadn’t been taken by force. They were definitely there of their own volition, and, by the looks of it, having the best time of anyone present. She didn’t see any human males, but according to what Dandy had told her, that was to be expected.

She’d said that Exiled were producing more males than females, which meant that some of the Exiled would eventually mate with humans when they were ready. In the interim, the young males were not without options for sex partners.

Rumor had it that the human female population would fight each other for an opportunity to be with one of the young Exiled males. And why not? They were beautiful, forbidden bad boys with enough sexual prowess to be an endless source for female fantasies.

Rosie could see why that would not make the Exiled popular with human males, who probably saw them as a necessary evil. A
temporary
necessary evil, who would not be tolerated if they had a way to defend themselves from the Rautt, or get rid of them altogether, along with the Exiled. It occurred to her that, for all their advanced abilities, Exiled were rather innocent in not anticipating how treacherous people could be.

Carnal stood on the other side of the bar from Rosie with bright eyes and a curious look of anticipation. She’d watched him dance with a dozen different human girls, all of them clearly intent on more than a twirl. As he stood in front of Rosie, one of the girls slithered up next to him, pressing her body into his side. “Carnal, baby,” she purred. “Let’s go somewhere more private.”

He looked down at the blonde rubbing herself against him.

Rosie felt an unpleasant surge of jealousy roil through her veins. Looking at the girl, she said, “Want something to drink, Catty Kay?”

Carnal laughed hearing her use the name of the cat she detested. Without looking away from Rosie, he took the girl by the shoulder, pushed her to arm’s length, and held her there. She scowled and turned her head toward Rosie with a glare that could kill.