Conceived in Blood, A Post-Apocalyptic/Dystopian Novel (22 page)

Thackery tapped the moving object. Slowly it came into view. He could even make out the black tattoos on the man's head and the blade in his hand.

"I don't think you need to worry about this Neville guy or his kids, they're about to meet the 'Viders."

"No shit!" Dawson stepped back. "Thackery, widen the shot, let's see their camp."

The red head's fingers danced over his desk. The picture whirled and shifted.

Harlan's stomach cramped and he swallowed bile.

Finally, he focused on a cluster of people. A handful stood off to the side near a rectangle of earth.

"I think that's a grave." Thackery shifted to the pile of fresh dirt in the center then enlarged the people.

Two women, one with a sling across her belly, and two children came into focus. The woman with the sling looked up. That face. He knew that face. Harlan collapsed onto his chair. After years of searching, hunting, praying. "That's my sister."

Chapter 23

Belle tamped the damp earth around the bush's roots. One small silvery bush for Stiletto’s grave; one green needled bush for Hammer’s. Her sons. Grit filled her eyes and unshed tears burned her raw throat. Her babies.

Behind them, the camp bustled preparing for the move. She’d bugged out so many times, she’d been ready to leave in an hour. But this was the first time she was leaving behind her children.

Nattie sat on a rock, plucking leaves off a branch. They littered the ground at her feet.

Between the adults, Belle's daughters played with the rag dolls she'd made. Five-year old Cat rocked her baby in her arms while two-year old Sol tucked hers to sleep on a bed of rocks. Belle had to find a way to keep them safe.

Which meant questioning the only person she considered a friend. Hopefully, Nattie wouldn't take offense and run away. They'd be leaving soon, and she didn't want the other woman left behind.

"How did you know I'd been poisoned?" Setting one hand on the sling holding her newborn son, Belle rose to her feet and turned her face to the sun. The warm rays couldn't touch the cold knot of grief deep inside her.

Humming, Nattie braided the naked twig with two others. "I noticed my bottle of oleander extract was missing. It wasn't concentrated enough to kill, but whoever drank it would become very sick. You became very sick and the baby came early. Both could be attributed to oleander poisoning."

Belle peeled the blankets away from John. Her baby had come early because of the poisoning? She counted his toes and fingers, listened to his breathing. "Did it hurt him?"

"No." Nattie's matted hair swung over her shoulders. "He seems healthy."

Thank God. Thank God! She covered him back up but soon her pulse raced and heat pounded through her veins. "I can't believe Ann did that."

Or that she'd felt sorry for her beating. Maybe North was right; maybe Belle had to toughen up.

"Ann?" Nattie tucked her dreadlocks behind her ears as she tilted her head.

"The new girl staying with us." Belle dusted her hands on her skirt. "Someone told her about the lean times and she decided I needed to go, so she could live."

"She was rabid, that one."

"But cunning. She must have added the poison to our meal before North gave her to the Head Provider." There'd been plenty of opportunity when Belle had served Nattie. How could she have let that happen? Her legs buckled and her teeth rattled inside her head when she dropped to the ground.

She could have lost all her children in one day.

Startled, John flailed in the sling. His tiny arm and leg hitting her stomach. "Shh, you're safe. That mean ol' Ann won't hurt you anymore."

Marshall had dragged the girl along on her and North's hunt. Her 'Vider planned to make certain Ann didn't return.

God forgive her, Belle hoped the girl suffered.

Nattie clucked her tongue, confusion wrinkled her forehead. "Ann didn't poison you; the Head Provider did."

Belle's head whipped around so fast, the motion burned up her neck. "Huh?"

"Marshall poisoned you." Nattie touched the tips of her braided twigs together then tied them in place. "I caught her at my camp. She tried to cover it by saying she wanted more of my aphrodisiac. I gave it to her, and that's when I found my oleander extract missing."

Belle's thoughts raced. It wasn't Ann, it wasn't Ann. "But North will kill Ann." An innocent girl. Oh Lord, was this punishment for sinking to the depths of the 'Viders, of wanting revenge? "And Marshall will kill him."

Nattie smiled, revealing black stumps. "I know."

She wanted North dead?

Belle blinked. The coldness in the pit of her stomach expanded. "But...but..."

"You'll be safe enough. As a 'Vider, no one will harm you. And having declared North your mate, no one can rape you. 'Vider code is until death." Nattie tapped her temple. "Sometimes, we can use it to our advantage."

Spots danced in Belle's vision. Breathe. She had to breathe. Ohgodohgodohgod. She was about to be left at the mercy of the 'Viders without a protector. She'd seen what they'd done to other women. She stuffed her fist in her mouth. And they'd take away the children.

"You and I, we'll take care of each other. Raise the girls right." Nattie set the crown of twigs on her hair.

Rocking the baby, Belle shook her head. "Nattie, Marshall is Head Provider. She can break the 'Vider code."

Nattie pursed her lips and looked to the right. "Nah. They live by the 'Vider Code, won't break it."

"Marshall hates me. She tried to kill me and my children. That isn't in keeping with 'Vider Code." They were forbidden to kill each other except in jury-approved combat. As an honorary 'Vider, Belle wasn't allowed to have a weapon.

Nattie's face went slack. "Makes sense. Then again, maybe that's best. A rotten seed always gives bad fruit."

Belle's mouth fell open. She couldn't have heard right. Nattie was her friend. "My children are not bad."

"Your sons murdered a little girl before the Raiders killed 'em." A light flickered in Nattie's blue eyes. "Have you changed your mind about murder and cannibalism?"

"No, of course not!" But these were her babies. Her sons.

"Then how can you love or mourn those that enjoy killing and eating people, and savor children's flesh as a delicacy?" Throwing the headpiece at Belle's feet, Nattie picked up her skirts and flounced away.

Her boys couldn't have been all bad. They couldn't. They were part of her and she wasn't evil.

But was she good?

She'd survived by turning a blind eye to the suffering of the tribute. Shouldn't she have tried to do something? Her father tried.

And had died for it.

She had added to the 'Vider numbers. Six live births; three of whom still lived. Two had taken another life before theirs ended.

The horn blew.

Her daughters rose and headed toward their belongings. Time to move the camp; time to find someone else to kill and eat. And she was going along with it.

Like always.

Trudging behind the girls, she stared into the faces of the tribute. Resignation on those who had been here longer, envy as some women stared at her baby in the sling, and numb terror on the newcomers.

Clutching their dolls, Cat and Sol joined the group of 'Vider children protected by 'Vider women. They laughed with their friends and pushed each other.

So different from the newcomers. In their shock, the young among them remained unprotected, but they were guarded. The food must be kept safe.

If the Raiders did attack, she would pick up a weapon and help them. She would...do nothing. Belle's shoulders sagged.

Brolyn, a female 'Vider juror, waved Belle over.

With a shake of her head, she declined and rushed to her travois, holding all her family's possessions. North had built it before her first move. She hated dragging the heavy thing, but she'd done it. Time and time again for ten years.

She'd learned on her first move that someone could be killed for leaving even one thing behind.

Now it would save her from choosing a tribute to help her move, one that North would kill for food once he returned. If he returned.

Marshall was an accomplished warrior, and she didn't stick to the 'Vider way. North wouldn't be expecting such behavior from his Head Provider.

Belle rubbed at her stinging eyes and picked up the travois' harness. Stepping into the point of the elongated triangle, she strapped herself, shifting the baby as she worked. Once secure, she latched onto the two long poles at her side and started walking.

"Why didn't you pick a male tribute to carry for you?" Titan sidled out of the bushes, munching on a strip of juicy meat. His gaze raked her up and down. "You dishonor the 'Vider code by refusing."

Belle shuddered. She hated North's cousin. He'd tried to rape her that first summer. He'd ripped her clothes off and had beaten her nearly unconscious, before North had found them and pummeled him senseless.

Titan had skulked about her ever since, waiting.

"I would not dishonor my... mate by choosing a tribute without his approval." She walked a little faster, slipped into line between her neighbors.

"You shouldn't have taken him as a mate, Mirabelle." Titan fell into step beside her.

Her stomach cramped. He liked her fear, almost as much as he enjoyed inflicting pain. It was a subtle difference between him and most of the other 'Viders. But she appreciated it.

A 'Vider up ahead glanced back and stopped. "Titan, you're supposed to be on guard duty. Get your ass up here."

"Be right there." Titan raised his hand then veered into Belle. "Once North is dead, the Head Provider will revoke your bonds." He grabbed hold of her bottom and squeezed. "You won't get away from me again, and I'll do what North couldn't. I'll——"

He yelped and released her.

'Vider Brolyn punched him in the chest. "Guard duty, Titan. Now."

"Yes, Juror." Titan ducked his head and jogged up the line.

Brolyn marched beside Belle then pulled a knife and tucked it next to John.

Was this a test? She wasn't allowed to carry a weapon.

"We face many threats on this journey, 'Vider Mirabelle." Brolyn glared at Titan's back. "The other jurors agreed to allow you to carry, until North returns. We know he taught you how to use it. I hope you remember those lessons if the time comes."

With that, Brolyn marched away.

The cold metal pressed against Belle's stomach in sharp contrast to the softness of her baby. Taking one hand off the travois, she removed the dagger. Blue stones twinkled from the gold hilt. So this was the way it began. The first Head Provider had killed to keep his family alive.

Titan was just as dangerous as that stranger, if not more.

She tested the weight in her hand. Light and sharp, no doubt. 'Viders didn't have any other kind of weapon. Belle tucked the dagger into her waistband.

If Titan did come after her, he'd be surprised.

She remembered every lesson North had ever taught her.

Chapter 24

It was a sad waste of meat. Marshall stood in the shade of a pine and surveyed the body in the clearing. Flies flew in and out of the female's mouth. Blood pooled along her back, blackening her skin while gases bloated her belly. “You may have the clothes.”

Marshall's latest tribute, Ann, stripped the dress off of the corpse’s body then took off her own clothes. Ann turned this way and that, trying to entice North to look at her naked parts.

Seemingly oblivious, he crouched in the matted grass, running his hands over the area. The stained blades indicated where his boys had died. Marshall hoped the others had trampled any evidence that Titan had stabbed them with the arrows.

North was an expert tracker.

A chill washed over her skin. And Titan was an idiot. Eventually, North would realize what had happened. Would he save his wrath for his cousin, or would he turn on her?

"This is such a pretty dress." The female, Ann, held the yellow dress against her exposed curves.

North stood and followed the tracks to the river.

Ann stomped her foot and punched her way into the dress she'd removed from the corpse.

Ann was definitely rabid and utterly useless. Marshall had planned to use the girl to distract North——the better to sneak up behind him and slit his throat. Now Marshall would have to think of another way. She hoped the female's attachment to North wouldn't cause her to try to save him.

Marshall would need all her attention on killing him; she couldn't afford to be distracted.

With his eyes on the ground, North strode up the embankment and past her. "They went this way."

Marshall ground her teeth. He wasn't the only tracker. She knew the footprints headed into the forest.

In the clearing, Ann wadded up her old clothes, grabbed their pack of supplies and followed.

Marshall kept pace behind him. Animals quieted. Stepping through the dapple sunlight, she fingered her dagger. Stabbing him in the back would be easy. Hitting mid-back would paralyze him from the waist down.

But he'd still have the use of his arms to fight.

Leaping onto his back was out. He'd hear her running up to him. Her senses grew ultra-sensitive during the hunt. She doubted his would be different.

"How could he keep that old hag?" Ann muttered under her breath.

Ducking under a low pine bough, Marshall smiled. Maybe she could use the girl in another way. Ann enjoyed watching others suffer. If North kept rejecting her, Ann might be persuaded to turn against him.

North picked up his pace, jogging through the forest.

Marshall ran behind him. Wouldn't that be something? North killed at the hands of his own tribute. She leapt over a boulder. He'd already told everyone how rabid the girl was. No one would question his death. Especially if Marshall told how he'd broken his vows by bedding the girl.

It was perfect.

And, better still, Mirabelle would be forced to seek protection elsewhere. Marshall had an extra spring in her step. By the Great Spanner, she was brilliant.