by Keri Lake
“What is your problem?” I ask him, voice low to keep the others from hearing me. “Why haven’t you killed someone yet?”
“They’re women.”
“And?”
“I don’t hurt women.”
As much as I admire his ethics, now is not the time for it. Even Yuma trots behind us like he’s a wolf who suddenly has morals. “These aren’t normal women. These are psychopaths who happen to have vaginas.”
One of the women shoots me a glare over her shoulder, and I glare back.
“They don’t mean you any harm, therefore I have no reason to harm them.”
“Would you quit talking like a monk? You’re an Alpha, for Christ’s sake.”
“And they have guns. Many of them.”
“What about the girl you held down back there? The one you threatened to kill?”
He shrugs and exhales a forced breath. “They called my bluff.”
“And the guy you punched in the face?”
“He’s lucky to be breathing after what he said to you.”
“You’re curious. That’s why you’re going along with this.” The fact that he doesn’t deny my claim only stokes my frustration. “Well, your curiosity could very well get us killed.”
“They appear to be a strong group of women. They’d make a good ally out here.”
“So long as they don’t execute you first.”
“I’ll cross that bridge when I come to it.”
Except that bridge could be a treacherous cliff that they throw him off before he has a chance to think about it.
Thirst tugs at my throat, while the hot sun beats down on the back of my neck, as we hike the sloping, open ranges of craggy peaks slashed by the occasional deep canyon.
At last, we reach a camp at the foot of a mountain, where at least a few dozen cabins stand clustered together. At a glance, I would bet the place used to be a resort, of some sort, given the close proximity of each building and the picnic benches placed throughout.
A tall fence lines the perimeter of the place, with female guards posted at every few feet.
More females bustle around inside the camp. As if every woman left on the planet has congregated in this one place. Scattered amongst them are small children, goats, chickens and pigs, a chaotic camp crawling with life.
“What is this?” I ask, loud enough for the leader of our troop to hear me.
“Home.”
In the middle of the camp stands a large metal platform with a pole sticking up from its center, and as we approach, I take notice of the charred wood beneath it, and what appears to be a blackened footprint imprinted on the steel surface. Halting my steps, I grab Titus’s arm, bringing him to a stop, and in doing so, Leather Vest comes to a stop, as well.
“What is the purpose of this?”
“You’ll see. First, you meet Freya.” Leather Vest gives a nod toward one of her soldiers and hands off the rope to Titus’s neck.
I take hold of the stretch of rope between the girl and Titus, wanting to keep him in my sights. “Who?”
“Our leader. She’ll determine if you’re worthy.” Grabbing my wrist, Leather Vest attempts to break my grip of the rope, but I tighten my hand, and the irritation bleeds through her clenched teeth when she says, “Release him now.”
“No. Not until I know what you plan to do with him.”
“For now, he’ll be held in one of the huts. Comfortable, while we meet with Freya.” Pain shoots up my thumb as the wretched woman bends it back, and I release the rope on a curse.
“To determine whether I’m worthy of what?” I glance back at where Titus is led toward one of the back-row cabins. Yes, he can take care of himself. Yes, he’s strong enough to take on a number of these women. Knowing that doesn’t eliminate my uneasiness.
“To stay.”
“I don’t want to stay here. I have no business here.”
Leather Vest shrugs and waves me off. “Then, you’re free to go.”
“And my … companion?”
“Companion? Is that what you call him?”
“I’m not leaving without him.”
“Well, you don’t have a choice. He belongs to us now.”
“I told you before, he belongs to no one.” I glance back at the sacrificial platform behind me. “What is it exactly that you plan to do with him?”
“For the next fourteen days, every young fertile woman in our camp will have sex with him, myself included.” The wink she shoots me makes me want to slap the smug grin right off her face. “After that, he’ll be offered as a sacrifice for fertility.”
No less ruthless than the Marauders we were taught to fear, these women seek out men to use and discard. “You’re hoping to be impregnated.”
“If the monster between his legs is anything to go by, at least half of us will be with child by the end of two weeks.”
“You have no idea what he is, do you?”
“He’s what every man in this world is.” The resentment in her tone is telling of a scorned woman.
“You’ve been hurt.”
“You haven’t?”
“Yes. But not by Titus.”
“Doesn’t matter. He’s a man. They’re all savages.”
There’s no reasoning with this one. Whatever happened to her has turned her too hard and inflexible. “I’ve changed my mind. I’d like to speak to this Freya, after all.”
Gathered inside the small cabin that appears to have been converted into some kind of plant sanctuary, with damn near a hundred different breeds crowded into the small room, I sit across from a pleasant-looking, old woman sporting silver hair and tan, weathered skin. A younger girl, maybe no more than ten, stands off to the side, fanning her with a woven mat attached to a long stick.
I feel as if I’ve stepped into another world, perhaps a whole other time, as I stare down at the herbal tea she’s offered. Behind me, another young girl braids my hair, an annoyance, given the circumstances, but I endure it out of a show of respect.
“I hear you have some information to pass along, regarding the male Lilith has brought back to us.” She gestures toward Leather Vest, who stands off to the side, arms crossed, as if to mediate the meeting.
Lilith. How fitting.
“Yes. He’s my companion. And I don’t intend to share him with a village.”
“I’m afraid we don’t follow that philosophy. Men are shared amongst all women. Their seed is spread for all to bear fruit.”
“Well, that’s just it. The fruit you stand to bear will end up killing you.”
“Some will die in childbirth, that’s true.”
“More like all will die.”
From the corner where she stands, Lilith snorts, the sound testing my patience. “Yet, when we came upon you in the cabin, the two of you were engaged.”
“That’s because I’m incapable of carrying a pregnancy to term. But if I was, I wouldn’t come within a foot of his cock.”
“Seems you’d have to stand farther than a foot to miss it.”
Clearing my throat of the urge to throttle Lilith, I direct my attention back to the more reasonable, elderly woman. “Titus is what’s known as an Alpha. He’s a genetically superior breed.”
“Obviously.”
“Can you zip it? For one minute?” I rub my hand down my face, thoroughly irritated with this woman and the girl behind me who’s pulled my hair three times in the last five minutes. “He has incredible reflexes, can walk among Ragers. He’s not your average male--”
The older woman holds up her hands to silence me. “Wait. You say he walks among Ragers?”
“Yes,” I say, a thought striking me. “He’s known throughout the Deadlands as the God of Monsters.”
“A god … And who is it that worships him?”
My next response will either be intriguing enough to spare him, or will fast track him to a horrific death.
“The Ragers, of course.” Frowning, I tip my head. “You’ve seriously never heard of the Alp
has?”
“I want to see this.” The dubious tone in Lilith’s voice is enough to make me want to test that left hook Titus taught me two days ago.
“As do I.” Freya waves Lilith over and whispers something in her ear, but no matter how much I strain to listen, I can’t make out a single word.
Eyes narrowed, Lilith makes a growling sound in her throat before exiting the cabin, and I set my attention back on Freya.
“What’s going on?”
“We’re going to test this.” With the help of the young girl who’s stopped fanning her, Freya gets to her feet and waves for me to follow. “Let’s see if your companion is indeed a god, as you say.”
I follow her out of the tent to where Titus stands waiting, the leash at his throat only goading my anger, particularly when it’s Lilith at the other end of it. Surely, he has to have a clue what these hyenas have in store for him.
The two of us follow after Freya and Lilith, with two more of their soldier women taking up the rear.
As the group leads us beyond the camp, I lean into Titus and lower my voice. “If you had any idea what these women intend to do, you’d surely find it in your heart to bend the rules.”
“I would suffer torture before I’d consider raising a hand to a woman.”
“Well, depending on your definition of torture ...”
Freya comes to a stop before what appears to be a dried up quarry that’s surrounded by walls of rock and stone. At the base of it, a hoard of Ragers, the biggest I’ve ever seen, pace in the small space where they’ve been corralled like cattle. Maybe a thousand of them. Or more, even. The sounds of their growls converge into a low humming that reminds me of a bees’ nest.
“What … the hell?”
“Sisters who became infected during our hunts. Seems the numbers are tipping out of our favor, as of late. More hives falling to infection, or at the hands of marauders.” Freya shoots me a sad sort of smile over her shoulder. “Finding a mate has proven fatal for some of us. We keep them fed with animal carcasses and, of course, the men we bring into the camp. But their numbers keep growing, and their appetite doesn’t seem to wane.” Waving her hand in dismissal, she nods toward Lilith, who removes the rope at Titus’s throat. “So … I understand you’re a god.” As soon as she says it, I can feel Titus’s stare boring a hole in my temple. “Prove it. Make your way down there and mingle with our girls. Arms tied.”
“You try anything tricky, and we’ll add one more to our collection.” Lilith taps her finger against the gun at her hip, and though her words seem directed at Titus, her eyes are on me.
Titus frowns down at the Ragers pacing in the quarry, who haven’t seemed to catch sight of us yet, and he huffs, as if he’s suddenly nervous.
As if he has any reason to be nervous.
At this point, I’m just glad he hasn’t disputed her and destroyed my plan.
Without a word, he makes his way down the path to the pit of the quarry and, once at the bottom, casts his gaze toward me. He strides toward the crowd of female Ragers, who hiss and growl at him, and stops on the periphery of the fence.
“Inside! If you will!” Freya’s voice carries down into the canyon and appears to stir the infected, whose excited twitching reminds me of a cluster of bugs crawling over each other.
The way he rolls his shoulders, I imagine Titus groaning with her request, though I can’t hear it from here. He hops the fence and steps inside the pit, where the growls intensify. As he makes his way toward the center of it, I can see from my bird’s eye view the way the crowd parts for him. The Ragers keep their distance, and it isn’t long before their swiping and clawing at him settles, along with their growls, almost as if they’re comfortable in his presence.
It isn’t long before they ignore him all together and go back to their pacing, as before.
“By the gods, I’ve never seen anything like it.” The awe in Freya’s voice matches the incredulous expression slapped across Lilith’s face. “It’s true, then.”
“It is. And any human female who tries to bear his child will suffer a painful death.”
“We can’t sacrifice him. Such an act would bring terrible things upon us.”
“I still want him,” Lilith whines. “I want to have him. Just once. To be with a god is--”
“Not happening. As I said, he’s mine.”
“You’re nothing but a little girl, with very little experience.”
My anger boils to the surface, and before I can stop myself, I backhand her across the face. Slapped with shock, she holds the now-red flesh of her cheek, and gritting her teeth, she volleys a punch that I dodge. When I jump back, I take the stance Titus taught me.
With an incredulous chuckle, she glances back at Freya, then to me. “How ‘bout if I kill you and keep him for myself?”
“How ‘bout if I kick your ass before you have the chance?”
Another swing, and I dodge it a second time, following up with a glorious left hook that knocks her back a step, and when she blots her nose with her finger, a dot of red coats her skin. A rush of adrenaline races through me, and I prepare myself for the next punch.
A swing I didn’t anticipate comes out of the right, and my jaw rattles when it crashes into my cheek. Another hit sends me flying backwards.
“Thalia!” Titus’s roar from down below is white noise to the pounding of blood in my ear and the ringing that won’t stop.
“Who’s bloody now, bitch?” Lilith pounces toward me, but I roll to the side, sending her knees crashing to the rock. On a growl, she scrambles to her feet, and when she tries to pounce again, I throw a kick square into her stomach.
With a grunt, she tumbles forward, catching herself on her arms.
Two weeks ago, I’d have been a bloody mess, begging this woman for mercy. Now, I can’t wait to get to my feet again, to test my right hook.
“Enough!” Freya’s voice echoes around us, reverberating off the surrounding rock. “Fighting over him is useless! As she said, he cannot be satisfied by just any woman.”
I sure as hell didn’t say that, but I don’t argue her point.
“We’ll give him the choice,” Freya says, with a promise in her voice. “He’s welcome to stay here, among us, or leave in peace. Where did you say you came upon them, Lilith?”
“In the cabin by the river.”
“Then, if that’s where he wishes to return, we will honor it.”
“And … and what of her? She’ll choose to go with him!”
The older woman’s gaze falls on me, as I push up to a sitting position. “That is her choice. That’s the beauty of how we live. Many of our sisters aren’t given that same courtesy in this world.”
“I just … wanted him. Once.”
Arms still bound, Titus jogs his way up the rocky path until he reaches us. His muscles are damp with sweat and have undoubtedly captured the attention of Lilith, who unsheathes a knife and cuts away the rope binding his wrists.
Head tipped back to the enormous Alpha beside her, Freya stares up at him with a gleam of fascination that wasn’t there before. “Titus, you have proven yourself, and you are welcome to stay, or you are free to go.”
“And what about the other men I arrived with?”
“They’re just regular men, therefore they’ll not be extended the same offer.”
With a nod, Titus swipes up my arm and starts in the opposite direction.
“Wait.” The urgency in Freya’s voice brings him to a reluctant halt with his shoulders slouched. “My daughter Lilith asks if she can offer you pleasure before you leave.”
Daughter?
The contemplative look that Titus shoots back at me has my hand balling into a fist at my side, ready to knock it off his face. He shakes his head. “Nah, I’m good. Thanks.” He tugs me after him again, but I dig my heels to resist.
“What you’re doing to these men … it’s no different than the marauders. No different than the mindless Ragers. You’re producing children born
of a hateful and vile act.”
Lilith steps toward me, as if to attack, and Freya throws out her arm to stop the woman. “You are right, child. We are no different than the marauders.” She lowers her arm, and I watch as the warmth in her eyes fades with sadness. “I suspect you’ve never been pinned beneath one before. You’ve never screamed no so many times your throat burned. You’ve never had the dirt choke you, as they held you down and took you like vicious animals. You’ve never felt the entire world slip out of your grasp, as you watched your own child violated beside where you lay bleeding out.”
I slice my gaze to Lilith, whose lip quivers, eyes brimming with tears, while her mother’s words seem to take her back in time.
“You see … inside every man lies a savage. A beast to do his bidding for good, or evil.” Her gaze flicks to Titus and back to me. “I pray you never feel that helplessness in your life. But if you do, know that the universe is watching. And for every action, there is an equal and opposite reaction. The children born of these men will be raised by loving hands, so they will never be so inclined to take as adults.”
I want to argue that they’re innocent and that they don’t deserve this fate, but in truth, I don’t know anything about those men, or what they’ve done.
Chapter 35
The lantern flickers, as I sit on the edge of the tub with my head tipped back, while on his knees, Titus daubs the wound at my cheek where Lilith punched me. The corner of my lip is swollen and split, burning with the sting of his earlier cleaning.
There’s something about Titus when he’s gentle like this. It feels like a mountain lion opting for a salad, instead of meat.
“You fight like a girl.” Only a twitch of a smile shows his amusement, as he continues to daub my wounds. “A strong and brave girl.”
“When they were talking about stringing you up on that stake and burning you, all I could think about was how many I’d have to kill to keep that from happening. I’ve never felt such a thing in my life.”
“What did you feel?”
“Fear. I was terrified. There was nothing strong, or brave, about it.”