Now Callie had received this line a time or two in her past, usually in some kind of bar and usually delivered with a bit more enthusiasm. Still, Scott reacted not unlike the way she had back then, with a “you’ve got to be kidding” expression coming over his face. She had a terrible urge to smirk until she caught sight of the tense, strained expression on Dev’s face. How could young man possibly have such a terrible hold on Dev? Callie couldn’t comprehend it. Or had she misunderstood Dev’s character?
“Hey, Callie.” Dev used casual words, but no casual tone. “I thought Ruth said you were leaving.”
“Oh, I am.” She nodded vigorously and both men relaxed. “In a few days.” The men tensed again. She reached over and snagged a piece of freshly cooked bacon, crunched on it.
“Callie.” Scott spoke her name slowly, drawing out the “L” sound, and stepped towards her, his expression intent. “You—”
“Ruth,” blared Dev, shouting right into them, even though Ruth was upstairs, and Callie winced at the noise. “Breakfast!”
Scott rolled his eyes. “Turn down the foghorn, Dev, do you mind?”
Dev responded with a weird urgency. “Everything’s fresh. We might as well eat now. Callie, maybe you should go tell Ruth breakfast is ready.” The hint of desperation in Dev’s voice disturbed Callie and she turned to glare at Scott.
Scott pointed a finger a Dev. “Shut up for a minute, you.” Then, to Callie, finger included, “Pack your bags and leave.”
Bite me. She didn’t say it, not a good idea. “I will. Just, not today.”
Scott cocked his head, eyes suddenly lit with interest and some alarm. “Callie, I have a question for you.” From behind Scott, Callie could see Dev shaking his head at her, warning her as Scott continued, “Why wouldn’t you leave today?”
“Because I have to look after my sister.”
“That’s a very strong drive of yours, is it?”
Strange way to put it, but Callie answered, “I suppose that’s true, yes.”
“Okay…” He grabbed her forearm, which was at odds with his earlier hands-off attitude, and stared deeply into her eyes, like how one would gaze into a lover’s eyes. Callie was repulsed. “Callie, drop to the floor and do fifty pushups. Not here,” he added as she glanced down at the kitchen’s linoleum. “In the den.”
She withdrew her arm from his grasp and considered the situation, moving her gaze back and forth between the two men. Dev seemed puzzled whereas Scott radiated tension and doubt. Even fear. While Callie had no desire whatsoever to follow any directive of Scott’s, her gut told her to do it, to pretend Scott had control over her, as a way to understand what control he actually did have over Ruth and Dev.
God knows that talking to Ruth and Dev had thus far not revealed much of the situation to Callie. She went with her gut.
“Okay.” Callie smiled, deciding to add a bright attitude to her demeanor, given that everyone was acting, and these were the silliest orders she’d ever received. She slid her gaze past a troubled Dev to Scott, who looked…relieved. How would this peculiar young man have reacted if she’d refused to obey?
Now was not the time to find out. Instead, she walked into the den, giving her step a little bounce, then dropped to the floor and started the pushups. Human women were often unable to do pushups for any length of time unless they worked on their upper-arm strength. Given that Callie had spent over half her life on all fours, this was a not her problem, and the exercise was a breeze. She was aware of Scott standing at the threshold of the den, watching her short workout. Once he left at the twelfth pushup, Callie let herself glance up at Madison, whose too-serious gaze rested on her. Callie winked as if they shared a secret, and reassured, Madison returned the wink.
Dev didn’t know what to make of it. Callie, by refusing to leave Ruth, seemed to outright disobey Scott, which he’d never observed before. Going by his reaction, neither had Scott. Then when given another directive, Callie without any of those muddled looks first-time people usually got, bounced off to the den and executed fifty pushups.
Maybe Callie would find it easier to be a member of this “coterie”—Scott’s favorite word since he disliked the term zombie—than some would. Maybe obeying Scott—well, when she did—would go easier on her than on Dev. Though he couldn’t quite wish that lack of will on her.
She should have left the house, but Dev had lost the ability—he sneered at himself—to even warn her off. He didn’t have the strength to do anything but “good work”. Whatever the fuck that meant.
Ruth had been his good work this last month or two months, however long it had been. Dev did recall her appearance when she’d arrived—high, skeletal skinny, bruises, walking like it hurt, a fucking mess. And look at her now. She was happy, sometimes.
Or was that Scott talking? Scott talking about rescues and making people healthy.
Dev shook himself, trying to stop this internal monologue that ran around his head in circles till he started feeling crazy. What he had to do was clean up the kitchen and get Madison out of the house, away from the TV and Scott—the combination was going to make her a zombie and that was the last thing he wanted. Bad enough for an adult, but kids… Dev feared the brain damage caused by a Minder’s influence would be irreversible for a child.
He stalked into the den and Madison jerked her head around.
“Let’s go for a bike ride, Mad.”
She slid a knowing finger to her face, placing it directly over her lips to indicate she was staying silent. Then she jumped up, put on her shoes and Dev followed her out to the garage.
He didn’t want to think about what Scott was doing with Ruth. “Earning her trust”, he supposed. Problem was, Scott’s trust issues were unlike most other peoples. He didn’t trust, and he didn’t deserve to be trusted. Not anymore.
“Callie did fifty pushups. I counted.” Madison sounded impressed and her voice brought Dev back to the present. They were outside, down the street, and he couldn’t remember leaving the garage, let alone walking down the sidewalk. How long had they been outside? He ground his teeth, but refused to be drawn into the anger and confusion that came with memory lapses. Instead, he watched Madison who was about to get back on her bike, and he was about to run beside her again. He sometimes got so caught in his head, spinning around the same thoughts again and again, that he worried about finding his way out. Madison’s presence in his life actually helped, and if he weren’t so concerned about her safety, he might have been thankful for her living with him.
“She did,” Dev agreed. Not sparkling conversation and a bit of time lag, but the great thing about Madison was she didn’t mind as long as Dev was there and said something eventually.
“Can you do fifty pushups?”
“In fact, I can.” Dev seemed to think the fitter he was, the better he could defend himself. The idea of defending himself was a joke, but still he ran, he lifted weights and, yes, he did pushups.
“Can you teach me? I want to learn how to do them.”
“Sure. They’re not complicated. But wait until Scott’s gone, okay?” He didn’t like Madison to do anything that might catch Scott’s interest and give her away.
Madison pouted, almost a scowl.
“Better that way, Mad. Okay?” He put a hand on her shoulder.
She immediately leaned into him, practically falling off her bike in her desire for a hug. He felt guilty. Small children needed touch. He knew that, but tended to forget because of his own predilection to avoid touch. Madison, unlike anyone else, he didn’t mind contact with. So despite the fact it was awkward as hell given his half-crouch, and it caused her bike to clatter to the ground, he drew her into a big bear hug. She nestled there for a while, her small body soaking up affection until she got restless.
Finally she squirmed out of his hold. “It’s boring when Scott’s here. Why’s he staying so long?”
“It’s good for him, to get away.”
“Away from what?”
“Fr
om his other home.” Dev gave a sharp shake of his head. He tried not to think of Scott’s other home and besides, it was the wrong conversation to have with the child. Fortunately she moved on to the next question. “Where’s your bike, Dev?”
“In the garage.” He wasn’t quite sure where this was going.
“I want you to bike with me,” she announced, her chin raised in decision.
“Okay.” He scratched his jaw and noticed that he needed to shave. He forgot that sometimes too. He hated all the things he forgot. “One problem. You’ll need to bike on your own then. I can’t hold on to your bike and ride my own.”
“I know that.” Her tone implied he was silly to think she’d overlooked this important fact. “I’m ready.”
“Sure?” Dev had gotten rather used to always keeping his hand on her bike seat. He gamely ran along, and after she started yelling for him to let go, he did.
It was just as much work to run beside Madison, with his arms outstretched ready to catch her now-wobbly bike. She kept her balance and the wobble smoothed out and he found he was smiling as he jogged down the road with her.
Later Dev went for a run on his own. Scott even encouraged the activity, which made Dev a bit uneasy. Still, he was pretty sure it was his own compulsion, not Scott’s, that drove him to exercise.
After his run, he peeked into the den to see Callie playing cards with Madison in silence. That was okay. Scott thought it normal that Madison liked anything with numbers, and cards had numbers. Thank God Scott wasn’t seriously interested in Madison.
Dev showered and, as he got dressed, heard the vacuum cleaner start up. Odd. Despite what Dev had told Callie earlier, Ruth rarely did housework. At first, Ruth had been too sick to do anything and now she had little inclination. She was young, a bit of a slob, and lazy. Dev couldn’t give a shit. He didn’t have much to do anyway and God knew he needed to keep busy. He used to have a life… No, just don’t go there. It solved nothing to dwell on the past. There was even a reason he was here, if he ever remembered it.
When Dev descended, because he knew Scott would want his company, he saw it was Callie vacuuming. As he stepped into the living room, she switched off the motor.
“Good run?” she asked.
Easy to answer. “Yes.” He tried to move away, because he just didn’t want to get caught by one of her questions. Besides, the way she watched him set his teeth on edge.
“I’m going for a run later today. Sometime we should run together.”
He nodded. Noncommittal.
“But”—her voice took on a forced bright tone—“first I have to vacuum. Because Scott said I should. What do you think of that?”
Here he did feel caught. Shit. He hated it when the wheels started spinning and he couldn’t find an answer or even an appropriate response. His mind became this hamster running on an endless wheel and he didn’t know how to get off.
“Never mind,” she put in hurriedly. “I didn’t ask that. I meant to say, I think it’s great.” At his baffled look—he couldn’t remember what she was talking about, what was great—she added, “Me doing chores. It’s like I’ve become part of this household or something.” She lifted her shoulders in an exaggerated shrug and turned the vacuum back on.
Strange, thought Dev, watching her. She didn’t seem to be much different than this morning, before Scott had pushed her. Now it was true, memories, at least Dev’s, were problematic. Yet he could have sworn that it was an adjustment, a strain, to be forced to obey a Minder. It cost a body.
But maybe, just maybe, it didn’t cost Callie. Maybe she’d be able to leave.
The melody of “Hotel California” drifted through his mind and Dev could only think for the hundredth time that he loathed that song.
“Dev,” called Scott from the kitchen. No push behind it, but the threat of a push was more than enough to propel Dev towards his Minder.
Chapter Seven
Supper was an odd affair. Callie remained upbeat, even after Scott kept talking to her, pushing her. Dev could tell her manner rattled Scott, as he had Callie washing the dishes, mopping the floor, cutting the grass in the backyard.
She did it without blinking, giving Ruth occasional hugs, because Scott’s focus on Callie was making Ruth nervous, even jealous. Dev had often wondered just how much of Ruth’s crush on Scott was Scott and how much was Ruth. Not that it would go beyond that, given the Minder’s past.
“I hope we can be good friends,” Scott told Callie as Dev led Madison up to bed.
Dev didn’t wait to overhear her response. The bitterness flooding him over the word “friend” was too much to bear. Foolish Ruth, calling her sister here. Dev would never have betrayed one of his family in that way and brought them into this nightmare. However, Ruth was young and lost, and it was hard to muster a lot of anger towards her.
That night Dev stared at the ceiling. Madison was in bed, asleep he hoped, although she had whispered questions at him. Well, the same question. Namely, “When is Scott going to leave?”
Scott visited often, and rarely stayed more than one night. Right now he didn’t seem in any hurry to leave. And why was that?
He wanted to gain Callie’s trust, since she’d “decided” to become one of the coterie. Ruth was thrilled, or you might think she was thrilled by her enthusiasm, if you didn’t notice the edge of nervousness.
Dev had yet to figure out if Ruth was trying to get out from under Scott’s influence by bringing her sister in.
Or not. He blinked, testing his thoughts. They weren’t too disjointed tonight, which implied that Scott hadn’t pushed much today. Scott claimed he didn’t want to push Dev at all, but no matter how far gone Dev was, he knew not to trust that claim. Despite Scott’s desire to be deemed “good”, in his own mind and in the minds of others, he could never resist using his powers.
Dev turned away from thoughts of Scott, desperate to think of someone else. Like Callie who had visited him in the middle of the night. He found himself wondering if she’d return. It might actually have been hope, though he had a hard time identifying the emotion, it had been so long.
But no, now he remembered. Scott had eyed Callie with some suspicion before telling her she was not to talk to Dev. After that push, she wouldn’t be entering his bedroom tonight.
Dev turned onto his side and pillowed his head on his arm. It didn’t really matter. He couldn’t even engage in a coherent conversation. She’d already cottoned on to that fact, given that she hastily answered her own questions whenever Dev got stuck trying to respond to something she’d said.
He had nothing to offer her but despair. And good cooking.
He must have dozed, because he didn’t notice the door opening, only it closing, and her shadow gliding towards him.
“Dev?” A bare whisper. He didn’t move, just stared, wondering how she could be in here after Scott’s directive. She must have a strong drive to visit Dev, then, and he tried to fathom why that would be so. It was very strange, and hope, that strange, foreign creature, leapt in his chest again.
He couldn’t show it. Couldn’t show anything. Scott wouldn’t like it. They had to pretend and protect, all for doing good work. There was a reason for this. A reason… A gray hand appeared in his line of vision, waving in the near darkness. He couldn’t see well, but he could see enough for Callie to draw his attention back to her.
“Your eyes are open.”
“Yeah,” he admitted. Easy response.
“I thought you might be sleeping with your eyes open, because you didn’t seem to notice me.”
“I noticed you, I just…” Get lost in my head. All the fucking time.
“Don’t explain.” She dropped into a crouch, placing crossed arms on the edge of his bed, propping her chin on those long, graceful arms, and gazing at him. It was night, but the streetlight allowed him to see her face, if not terribly clearly. He had the impression she could see everything about him. Good thing he’d kept his boxers on, despite the heat. Not tha
t it mattered. It wouldn’t, to an asexual.
He liked her presence, liked the way she smelled cool and fresh, the way she tilted her head to the side. Her mess of hair that should have looked unkempt, but instead was attractive.
The word sexy floated through his brain, but he dismissed it until, with a shock of recognition, he realized his dick was hard and he jolted up to sitting.
“What?” she asked, careful not to move. He’d been perspiring from the heat, but unlike most men, his odor appealed to her. She couldn’t describe it except warm, male, even welcoming. Not that Dev would actually welcome her getting closer. At least right now.
He was tense again. He hadn’t been for a moment there. She would have liked to crawl into bed with him and bury herself into his sheets, into the smell of him. But men didn’t like to cuddle. They just liked to fuck.
Then again, Dev was different. He cooked, he looked after small girls, he went into trances. Maybe he didn’t just fuck women.
Not that he was interested in her that way. He obviously had bigger worries, given this household and its strange rules.
He sat with his knees up, arms resting on his legs, and he seemed…surprised, perhaps.
“Something happen?” she asked.
“No,” he denied quickly, despite the fact that he appeared to be on high alert. “Why are you here?”
She chose her words with some care. “Scott kept me busy today, but I like talking to you.” When he didn’t answer, she added, “Is that okay? That I like to talk to you?”
His gaze rested on her, giving little away. “You shouldn’t.” Oh dear, he was reverting back to those dire warnings of his. Not the most interesting thing about him, even if there was a part of her that warmed to the concern that inspired it.
She decided to explore what he meant. “I shouldn’t talk to you because of Scott?”
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