The Vigilantes (The Superiors) (16 page)

“You only do it to gain something from me. Not out of kindness. No need for guilt.”

“You got a way of putting things. I’m a kindhearted woman.”

“Yes.”

“Alrighty then. I’ll bring you some food tomorrow. But I’m bringing a stake with me.”

True to her word, Sally brought Draven three packets of dried sap the next night. He took them through the bars and turned away from her, not wanting her to see how his hands shook. He didn’t let himself think the thought that had been at the edge of his mind all day.

What if she doesn’t bring them?

He opened the first packet and poured the powdery flakes into his mouth at once, and then the second packet, and then the third. Although he hadn’t had food in over a month, he didn’t stop to savor it. He couldn’t allow her time to her change her mind, or let someone come in and discover them before he had a chance to eat. So he ate them all at once, like an animal. After a bit, the mouthful of dried sap began to dissolve. Sally sat in her chair, and when he turned and pointed to the jar of water on the floor beside her, she simply looked at him. He made a motion as if drinking from a cup.

She only looked at him with that same blank expression. “You can drink water? I thought you could only drink blood.”

He shook his head and pointed. He didn’t want even a tiny flake to escape his mouth, and he knew if he spoke, an entire cloud of sap powder would escape. Sally sighed and handed him the jar. “This better be worth it,” she said. “You’re a whole bucket of trouble.”

He took the jar and drank all the water. Although he wanted more, needed more, he didn’t ask. If he asked for too much, perhaps she would no longer return and talk to him, show him her small gestures of kindness. She was the only good thing in this place, in his life now. His only link to anything resembling hope. He couldn’t lose her.

“Let me help you,” he said when he’d finished the water. He had eaten six rations. Two days worth. He’d missed twenty times that much, and lost so much blood. It didn’t even begin to quench his thirst. But his head had cleared and he’d grown more alert, more focused. More aware of his hunger.

“I got me a stake, and iffen you don’t let go of my hand, I’ll stick it right in your eye.” Sally held her hand through the bars and he took it. How had he ever found the warmth of a sap repulsive? He wanted to drag this one through the bars and roll in her. Nothing had ever felt so much like relief, like life.

“Do not scream,” Draven said softly, holding her gaze and drawing her closer. “It will hurt.”

He put his teeth in her finger and slid them through the skin. The moment they entered, he had to fight the urge to yank her to the bars and pierce her jugular. Instead, he pulled hard on the pellets until the bitterness swelled into his mouth. But he didn’t spit it out. It provided nourishment, no matter how distasteful.

A finger provided a small sip, nothing very juicy. But after the initial bitterness, he drew on her finger, trying to get as much as possible before she realized his intention. He didn’t draw much, but a bit flowed into his mouth. Enough to whet his appetite that much more.

After a few moments, he closed her skin and licked every trace of sap from it. He raised his eyes to hers, keeping her hand in his. They looked at each other. He held her gaze a long minute and wished he could read her thoughts. Although she didn’t speak, her heartbeat came faster than usual. He could hear the rush of her blood, overwhelming in its attraction.

Keeping his eyes on hers, he lifted her wrist to his lips. She didn’t move. Blood pulsed in her wrist, through the bundle of veins rushing with sap, with life. He bowed his head and sank his teeth into her wrist and pulled. All the while, he waited for the stake to sink into him, and he thought it would be worth what she gave him. She didn’t stop him, though, only crouched on the other side of the bars and let him drink until his mind began closing down. He pushed her away, harder than he’d meant, and twisted as far from her as he could inside his bonds.

“Why’d you let me do it?” he asked, looking from her to the door in alarm. “Why’d you let me? I could have killed you. I never wanted to stop.”

She stood from where she’d fallen and dusted herself off. Then she fed her jacket through the bars. Still she stood too close, so he let the jacket fall to the floor. If he reached for her, if he had her again, he wouldn’t stop.

She settled herself in the rocking chair and picked up her knitting. After a while she said, “Yeah, but you did.”

Chapter 25

The days started getting longer, and
Cali
and Shelly looked out on their balcony with longing. One evening after he’d eaten, Master came back into the room.
Cali
and Shelly both looked up and, without awareness, shifted closer together.

“I was talking to an acquaintance the other day,” Master said, as casual as if he came and talked to them every day. “An acquaintance is like, a friend, of sorts,” he continued in the same absent way. He looked at the window with the bars while he talked. “And this…person…reminded me that you need names. I have called you ‘male’ and ‘female’ up until now, but I’ve paid for you both in full, so I suppose I should name you.”

“We…have names,” Shelly said in a tiny voice.

“Is that right? I guess you do. What were you called?”

“My name is
Shelton
, but I’m called Shelly. And she’s
Cali
.”

“Alright,
Shelton
and
Cali
. I’ve made arrangements, or plans, I guess you would say. I forget to be simple with you sometimes. Well then. I’ve made plans, and we will be staying here a while. I would like you to produce a child. In the summer, I would also like for you to produce some food for yourselves. I know you don’t know much about what is...uh, available. Do you know this word?”

“Yes, Master,” said Cali, trying to keep the sarcasm from her voice. Did he think they’d gone brain-dead?

“Well then. If you let me know what you’d like to grow for yourselves, I’ll see if it’s available at the local sapien supply store.” Master walked to the door beside the window and unlocked it. “Here’s your garden area. You may come and go through this door as you please. Outside is secure.”

“Thank you, Master,” Shelly said. He looked at Cali with as much excitement as she felt. A garden. Their shared passion.

“Yes, well, seeds are cheaper than buying you food. You don’t earn your keep any other way.” Master turned abruptly and walked out, closing the door behind him.

Cali and Shelly looked at each other, and then they both scrambled for the door. The temperature hovered below freezing, but it wasn’t painful that night. They stood on the crust of snow and looked out onto the city, twinkling with lights. They could see much more from there than from the window. The garden space covered a narrow balcony that ran along the building for about two human lengths and stuck out almost a length past the door. Around the balcony, the same iron bars that covered the window kept them from attempting escape or suicide. The same bars lined the top, but it lay open to air and sunlight and water like the sides.

“It’s small,” Shelly said after a minute.

“It’s wonderful,” Cali said.

“Isn’t it, though? Sweetie, we are gonna have so much fun out here. You just wait and see.”

They stayed outside until they started shivering. Finally the cold got to them, and they had to go back inside. While Cali showered she marveled, as she did every night, that the shower here had warm water. She used the full two minutes of warm before getting out. Shelly, now in a good mood, paced around while planning their garden.

“Come here. I’ve got so much energy!” he said, clapping his hands. “Let me do your hair.” Cali loved having him do her hair. At first she’d found it strange to have him pull and twist and pluck at her hair, but she’d gotten used to it, and then she’d started to like it. Shelly’s grooming made her feel loved, and it was one of the only times he touched her. He liked it, too.

“You got the best hair,” he said as he worked. He sat back and looked at her after each little burst of inspiration, admiring his creation.

When Shelly had tired of primping her, he went to the bathroom and came back in his ragged old clothes, the cotton shorts and sleeveless shirt he wore to bed. Cali had already changed into the worn shift that reminded her of home. She climbed in bed next to Shelly. He had his back to her and she didn’t move for a minute, just waited for her courage to build. Then she scooted over behind him and curled around him.

“That’s nice,” he said, his voice sleepy.

“Do you want to…you know?” She put her hand on his stomach.

He covered her hand and linked his fingers through hers. “I hope you’re not saying what I think you’re saying.”

“Master wants us to…make a baby.”

“Make a baby? Girl. Please tell me you’re not serious.”

“What? We should do what he wants, right?”

Shelly laughed and sat up. Cali couldn’t see his face in the dark, but she was glad for it. That meant he couldn’t see her, either. “Okay. I know you’re young and innocent and all, but really?”

“Okay, forget it. We don’t have to.”

“You’re not gonna get all sad on me now, are you?” Shelly asked.

“No, I’m fine.”

“Good. ‘Cause I’m not ever gonna have a baby with anyone.”

“Why not? You’re always saying I’m pretty and stuff. And you love me.”

He laughed again. “Oh my lord and master. Cali, Cali, Cali. Girl. I do love you. You’re like my best friend, the best I’ve ever had. And if I liked girls, shoot, I’d pick you in a second. I wouldn’t even have to think about it.”

Cali sat up now. “What do you mean?”

“You know how I said I was in love with my master before? My male master? He didn’t make me do anything I didn’t wanna do, trust me. And it wasn’t because he was my master, or a Superior.”

“Okay…”

“And you know how we always point out that one boy on the street who looks so good? Both of us do? The one we look at every morning?”

“Yeah…”

“Girl. Don’t you get it? I only like boys. I don’t like girls.”

“But you like me.”

“You really don’t know this, do you? I thought you knew all along. I am not, you know, excited by girls. I never had babies with any of the girls at the other place because, see, I can’t. I only do it with boys.”

“Ohhh. Wow. Really? I’ve never heard of anyone doing that…by choice.”

“Seriously? Girl, you need to get out more,” Shelly said, and they both laughed.

“Wow. So…what’s Master going to say?” Cali asked after a pause.

“He can say whatever he wants, I never told him I’d impregnate you. I can’t help how I am. He’ll figure it out eventually.”

“That’s actually really funny,” Cali said, laughing a little. “I can’t believe I didn’t know.”

“Girl, I can’t either. I talk about boys more than you do.”

“How long you think we can last until Master figures it out?”

“Oh, he’s supposed to be all smart, right? I bet he’ll never figure it out. He’ll be all, ‘Why isn’t it working? Where’s my baby?’” Shelly said in a mock accent. They both laughed and settled into the bed, side by side. Shelly had made her laugh and not feel stupid. Relief washed over her—she hadn’t wanted a baby, anyway. She’d been starting to think it had something to do with her, though, that she had something wrong with her. And she’d been worried about having a baby.

Still, it might have been nice to be mated with the person she was going to be with for the rest of her life.

Chapter 26

Draven hadn’t seen Sally since he fed from her, and in his more lucid moments he cursed himself for giving in to his hunger and ignoring the possible consequences. Hunger had prevented him from thinking clearly. He should not have touched her.

Each time he woke and found himself still alive, a small amount of surprise accompanied the discovery. When Sally didn’t return, he assumed she had either gotten caught or simply no longer maintained sympathy for him. If her people had seen the marks on her wrist, or if they had discovered the packets of sap she had brought, they wouldn’t allow her to return. But Draven imagined they would kill him immediately if they saw that he’d bitten one of them. The second option made more sense. Whatever had come over Sally to let him feed from her, it was unlikely to reoccur.

She had taken pity on him because he relieved her pain. Or perhaps his drawing from her finger frightened her into submission. He didn’t presume to know her thoughts. Before that night, she’d chatted throughout her watch, even while he slept. But that night she hadn’t said anything after the incident. She had only knitted her blanket and left, not even taking her coat from him. If someone approached the shed, he could push it back through the bars. He’d hear them coming—if he lay awake when they came. If he slept, though, he didn’t imagine he’d wake when someone approached, so he didn’t use the coat during the day. But when he awoke in the evening, quite cold, the jacket did nothing to warm him. Without body heat, he had no way to warm himself once he grew cold.