CARNAL, The Beast Who Loved Me (35 page)

“Good to go, Carnal.”

“Will we be ready at the top of the hour?”

Rosie recognized the other hybrid from the bar, but he’d never been chatty and she didn’t know his name.

Carnal turned to look down at Rosie. “You get on first so I can make sure you’re protected.”

Without argument, Rosie swung her leg over the rear of the bike and pulled the sides of the coat over her legs. When Carnal was satisfied that she was settled, he mounted in front of her with a warning glance toward Yellow, who, though silent, was making a show of smirking about the way Carnal was fussing over Rosie. He started the bike and led the way out of the shed and into the night.

Rosie knew the bikes had headlights, but Carnal and Yellow didn’t switch them on. They rode side by side even though the rain must have felt punishing, and she marveled at their ability to see in the dark and navigate the rough spots in the road that hadn’t been repaired in decades.

Farsuitwail was dark except for a couple of lamp lights that stood out like beacons against the surrounding blackness. Carnal stopped in front of City Hall.

“Take her inside to wait,” he said to Yellow. “I’ll get the mayor.”

Without being told, Rosie swung off the bike and started up the steps to City Hall.

Yellow didn’t dismount, but ascended the steps on his bike and parked under the portico, which gave temporary shelter because it faced north and the rain was driving from the south. He was waiting for Rosie when she reached the top.

Without a word he strode purposefully toward the big wooden door. It was locked. Yellow looked at Rosie before shoving his shoulder into the door where it latched. The thick solid wood door flew open and she was amazed all over again by the incredible brute strength of the hybrids. She looked at Yellow, who smiled in return and motioned for her to enter.

He withdrew a box of matches he’d kept dry inside a lined breast pocket and lit one. Looking around, he found an oil lamp sconce on a nearby wall. Two matches later the lamp was lit and Rosie could make out shapes well enough to keep from tripping over things. Her shiver was a reminder that she did have a small fraction of human DNA always creating comfort issues. She gave her body a mental instruction to be warm and the chill receded instantly.

The large foyer was getting brighter as Yellow went around lighting lamps.

“You want help with that?” she asked.

“Not unless you can find another box of matches somewhere.”

Closing her eyes, she asked the question, and instantly knew where to find matches. She walked to a corner table, opened the left drawer and said, “Oh, look. Matches.”

Yellow stopped and eyed her curiously, but said nothing. She began to light the lamps on the other side of the room. When that was done, she said, “So what now? You want to play cards?”

He didn’t seem charmed by her effort at interjecting humor into a grim situation. His reply couldn’t possibly have been delivered with less feeling. “I know what that is. I don’t have cards. I don’t play cards.”

Rosie pressed her lips together and looked around the room. “Well, there you have it, sports fans.”

Concluding that Yellow wasn’t the talkative sort, she sat down on a padded leather chair that faced the door and leaned on one arm rest, prepared to wait in silence for Carnal and the mayor.

Carnal went to the nearest house that had a light burning. He figured he’d get better information faster if he found someone awake. After he began pounding on the door, he saw a shape move by the window.

“I’m coming in one way or another,” he shouted. “Open the door now.” A man opened the door a crack. “Where does the mayor live?”

When he realized the nocturnal visit had nothing to do with him, the man opened the door wider. “Two blocks down that way,” he pointed to Carnal’s right, “and one block east.”

“I’ll show you.”

Carnal looked around the man, searching for the owner of the young voice who had volunteered to be his guide. A human boy, perhaps fourteen, stood behind the man who was probably his father, looking sleepy, but up for an adventure.

“Thank you,” Carnal said. “I need to know now. Right now.”

“Let’s go,” the boy said.

The boy’s father grabbed him. “It’s raining. And cold.”

Carnal looked at the man. “I’m Carnal, the Extant’s son. We will consider this a personal favor.”

The man loosened his hold on the boy, who said, “I’m Max.” To his father, he said, “I’ll get my raincoat.”

Max was gone no longer than a minute and was half into the coat before he arrived at the door.

“Have you ever ridden on a motorcycle, Max?”

The boy’s eyes almost popped out of their sockets. “No,” he whispered, like he was on the verge of receiving keys to the kingdom of his dreams.

Carnal couldn’t help but smile. “Get on behind me. Hold onto me. Lean when I lean. Show me where to turn and where to stop.”

Max nodded. He kept his right hand on Carnal’s shoulder and motioned with his left. In less than three minutes Carnal was barging into Comstock’s house.

“It’s an emergency. Get dressed now. You’re accompanying me to City Hall. You have five minutes.”

“What…?”

“I’m here as the Extant’s proxy with the full weight of his authority. Do it!”

Comstock rushed toward the back of his house as his wife peered around a doorway with wide eyes.

Carnal looked down at Max. “You okay, human?”

Max grinned. “Yeah. The ride here was…”

“Cold and wet.”

“No. Well, yeah. But it was… the best. You know what I mean?”

Carnal was thinking that if the human got that much of a thrill from a three block ride at a pace Carnal could match jogging, there was no telling what he would think about a flat out sprint across the wasteland.

The woman staring with one eye from the doorway was starting to bother Carnal. “I’m not going to hurt your husband. We just need him to help with organization. That’s all.” She blinked, but didn’t move otherwise. “Tell him he has two minutes. No more. Or I’ll drag him out of here in as-is condition.”

She disappeared from view. Within a minute Comstock emerged looking like he’d slept in his clothes and pulling on a ratty raincoat that, like the boy’s, looked like it had seen much better days.

Carnal turned to Max. “You want to go home or you want to hang around and help?”

“Help,” he said simply, eyes alive with excitement.

“Can you jog over to City Hall?” Max nodded. “Meet up there?” The boy nodded and took off.

“Get on,” Carnal said to the mayor.

Comstock looked at the bike like it would devour him. “I’d rather…”

“Get on!” When Carnal roared, the mayor completely forgot about his fear of the motorcycle, quickly deciding that it was less of an evil than the Extant’s burly son.

Rosie stood when they burst through the door.

Carnal acknowledged her first simply by looking at her and blinking, but he spoke to Yellow. “Light that fire in the conference room.” To the mayor, he said, “After you.”

Comstock followed Yellow down the hall. Carnal gave Rosie a quick kiss when she was near enough to grab, then said, “Rosie, this is Max. He’s going to help us wake the humans.”

“Hi, Max.” She smiled.

He returned her smile, but looked suddenly shy.

Observing that reaction, Carnal said, “Yeah. Don’t feel bad, kid. She makes me speechless, too.” Max blushed at that. “Can you be trusted?”

Carnal watched Max closely for changes in his heart rate, his breathing, and dilation of his pupils.

“Trusted how?”

“To not betray us to the Rautt?”

Max scowled. “Why would I do that?”

“Yes or no.”

“Yes. You can trust me.”

“Then come with us.” Carnal put his arm around Rosie and walked her to the conference room. He let her go as soon as they entered, saying, “Mr. Mayor. We have a situation.

“In about twenty minutes my brethren will be arriving here. We’re crossing the wasteland tonight, attacking the Rautt in the early morning. Your weapons and your people who are trained to use those weapons are going to help us.”

“That’s insane!” Comstock was too shocked to hold back and be politic.

“May. Be. But we’re doing it and your people are going to help.”

“With no plan? How are we going to…?”

“How many people were preparing for the attack planned six weeks from now?” The mayor pursed his lips. “Do I need to remind you that I can tell if you lie?”

Max jerked his head to look at Carnal and blinked a couple of times. He then looked at Rosie for confirmation. When she nodded, Max’s gaze returned to Carnal with a whole new layer of respect bordering on hero worship.

Rosie knew how to recognize that special something that Carnal had. Her father had it. It was an indescribable quality that can’t be learned or acquired, an inherent alpha trait that causes even the baddest of bad asses to make a subconscious agreement to follow.

“Two hundred, give or take.”

Carnal stared at the mayor for a few seconds. “You believed you could murder all of us with two hundred humans? You must have
a lot
of faith in your weapons.”

Max was clearly stunned by the news that Farsuitwailians were planning to massacre the Exiled. His young face scowled and he shrank back from the mayor as if he found being near him suddenly distasteful.

Comstock swallowed hard. “We do.”

“All right,” said Carnal. “We can take one hundred thirty-six. We need your military leaders here first to help us decide who will go and who will not. People who can make decisions quickly. Do any of those people live nearby?”

Comstock raised his chin. “Yes. Three come to mind. Thon Borgen. Clave Sychon. Rhod Forshep.”

Carnal looked at Max. “Do any of those names sound familiar to you?”

Max nodded. “Mr. Forshep. Ms. Sychon.”

“You know where they live?” The kid nodded again. Carnal looked at Yellow. “Let Max show you where to find these people. Get them out of bed and bring them back here. Don’t allow them to dawdle. They don’t need to be at their best. They just need to be here. Now.”

Yellow started for the front door, assuming the kid named Max was trotting along behind. Max didn’t get any warm fuzzy feelings emanating from Yellow, but he was excited about a second opportunity to ride on the back of a bike.

For an undetermined number of repetitions, he was congratulating himself on being in the right place at the right time. He was delirious about the fact that Carnal had come knocking at his house when there were so many others he might have chosen. Max had no idea why he’d been so lucky, but he owed his good fortune to his father’s middle-of-the-night heartburn. The discomfort had caused the man to rise and light a lamp in the front room. It was as simple as that.

By the time Yellow reached the front door of City Hall, Carnal’s crew was arriving with Dandy on the back of Easy’s bike.

Yellow looked at Clash and Joy. “You two come with me.”

In twenty minutes, Clash, Joy, and Yellow returned with Max and two of the architects of the plan to annihilate hybrids. The mayor had identified the address of the third and given directions so that Carnal and Easy could fetch him.

By the time they were all assembled in the conference room, Free and the rest of Exiled were arriving.

Rosie made her way over to Dandy and whispered, “How are you doing?”

Dandy looked at her with eyes too bright. “Hopeful?”

Rosie nodded and squeezed her hand.

“Report,” said Free as he entered the room like a force of nature.

“We have three of the military leaders. Two will cooperate.” Carnal pointed to Clave Sychon and Rhod Forshep.”This one is out. Put him under guard,” he told Joy.

Thon Borgen bared his teeth at Carnal, intending to look menacing, but the sight of short flat blocky teeth being displayed as a threat struck Carnal as so funny he laughed out loud.