by Raven Dark
“There wasn’t a lot of blood from that one. The burn cauterized it. It was already healing when I examined it.”
“But the wound got infected while I was with Talak and his men. Steel had to make a poultice.”
“Unless it bled, you wouldn’t have seen anything different. Not unless you broke the skin. It would have had pus coming out of it, not blood.”
“Doc. Sir. I’m sorry…it’s just.” I closed my eyes for a moment, suddenly envying Hawk’s stoicism, wishing I had his Yantu calm right now. “My whole life, my blood has never turned blue. Can you explain that?”
“No,” he said gently. “I can’t. The truth is, I just don’t know enough about what’s happening to give you the answers you want. Plus, you’re a Violet, which means your body is different than ours anyway. Perhaps your blood only started changing when Madi’san’s blade hit you. When you were injured this time, it might have switched something on inside you. Maybe nearly dying triggered it. Even the poison that was on her blade might have interacted with your blood and caused it to change. I just don’t know.”
He paused and picked up the vial of fresh blood, holding it out for us all to see in the low light of the room.
It had been a little more than fifteen minutes, I guessed. With bated breath, I leaned forward and looked at the vial. Half of me was hoping the blood there would look perfectly normal. The other half, the half that needed answers…
Sheriff leaned over and so did Doc, both getting a good look. The blood was a dark blue, with the faintest hint of a glow.
Once more, I closed my eyes, but when I opened them, the blood in the vial was still blue, still luminescent.
Doc looked closer. “It’s not as bright.” He held the vial up close to the original one we’d brought. “That’s…interesting.”
“Why do you think it’s different this time?” I asked, with a look at Sheriff. I checked on my palm; the bleeding had stopped.
“I haven’t a clue.”
“You’re just a fountain of information, aren’t you, Doc?” Sheriff teased.
He shrugged and set the vials down, then quickly cleaned my palm with antiseptic before putting a bandage on the cut. “This is very strange.” After a few sips of his drink, he licked his lips and sat back. “We will find answers, though. I promise you both, I’ll dig, and I won’t stop until I find them.”
“How?” I asked.
“Well. General, you and some of the men are going out to Delta on a run next week, right?”
“When she’s well, yeah.” Sheriff nodded to me.
“Then I’m coming with you.”
“We’re always glad to have you on a run, Doc, but why this one?”
“Because. The only way I’ll find the answers we’re looking for is by doing the research. That means gathering raw data. I kept a few vials of Madi’san’s blood, but I’ll require live subjects. Setora is the only living Violet I have access to, and doing tests on her alone wouldn’t give me enough data. I need to test other Violets. We’ll only find those outside the Grotto.”
Sheriff nodded again. “Then we’ll be glad to have you along.”
While the two men talked, I reached over and picked up the vials of glowing blood, looking at the dark, much less luminescent second one.
It made me feel a lot better that Doc would be looking into what was happening to me, and that he and Sheriff were willing to dig for the answers. A sense of home, of acceptance wrapped itself around me, soothing some of my nervousness. I just wished I could have shut down the fears that still whispered like demons in my mind.
What was I? Was I suffering from some strange illness that would eventually kill me? I’d just started to feel like I had a place to belong, and people to belong to, but would Sheriff—and my other masters—really still want me when the answers we sought finally came to light?
Almost a week passed before preparations for the trip began. I’d been given the all-clear to return to my chores, though Cherry had me on modified duty, just in case.
After having lunch with both Pretty Boy and Steel the afternoon before we were to leave, I returned to the laundering hole. The Grotto was buzzing with excitement over the upcoming trip. People I had rarely seen outside the clubhouse dinners were running around with crates of this and that. Tents were erected and checked over for any wear and tear, and sleeping rolls were being mended and hung to air out on clotheslines. I had no idea that going on the road took so much planning. Frankly, I figured we’d pack a few bags and head out into the dawn. Apparently, the process took a lot more work.
“Hey, Violet. Perfect timing,” Cherry’s voice called out from near the laundering pond. “Come on over, will ya?” She was standing in the middle of a pile of blankets in the common area of the slave quarters, a cleaning brush in one hand, and a bottle of some type of liquid in the other. Crash, Gretle, Diamond, and Doc were gathered around her.
“Hi, Cherry.” I made my way over to them. “What are you all doing?”
When I drew close, the smell of vinegar reached my nose, the fumes burning my eyes.
“Oh, we’re cleaning the blankets you guys are taking with you. We found a whole pile of them in one of the back storage rooms. It gets cold as fuck up north. Steel wants to make sure we have enough blankets for you."
Doc nodded over at me as he helped Crash unfold one of the massive blankets. “Your body still hasn’t made up for all the blood you lost. You’re going to freeze if we don’t take extras with us, no matter how many bodies sleep next to you at night.”
The implications there caused me to blush, Doc to clear his throat, and Cherry to laugh.
“Right. What would you like me to do?” I stepped over a blue bundle of fabric and noticed the vat of hot water and vinegar they were apparently dipping the blankets in.
“Actually, you and I are going to color your hair.”
“Oh. Lovely.” Pretty Boy had mentioned yesterday that I’d need to be in disguise for the first part of the journey. We’d be heading out first to see that Lars person they’d talked about in one of their meetings, the person my masters thought was stealing their gems and switching them with worthless glass.
Doc grinned at my sour expression. “Better to be safe than sorry.”
“Yeah,” Cherry added. “I always said that hair of yours gives you away every time, and we don’t want you getting kidnapped. Again.”
A few minutes after I’d arrived, Cherry had me sitting in the dressing room, in a barber’s chair. She’d applied a plant-based dye that turned my lavender locks to a black so dark it was almost blue. I’d spent the past hour having cold sap applied to my scalp and combed out through the ends, over and over again. Once my glob of hair was piled on top of my head and covered with a cloth, Cherry and I made our way over to the private slave bath.
Since my strength had returned, Cherry and I hadn’t had the chance to spend a lot of quality time alone. With the smaller, four-person pool to ourselves, and relaxing water to soothe us, we could finally have the conversation that was almost twelve years in the making.
“Cherry,” I said delicately, looking at her as she got undressed. “Tell me about those scars.”
Her lips pressed together, but she nodded and turned around, letting me see the evidence of a hard life. Her upper and middle back was a mess of scars, what looked like overlapping welts that criss-crossed in a chaotic pattern. She must have been holding her breath, because her elegant shoulders dropped, the muscles smoothing flat like the bark of a tall tree.
“Most of these were from my time spent in Captain Roth’s household. He was the one who bought me from the Death Blades.”
The Death Blades. The men who’d taken us after I’d tried to rescue her from the house across the street from mine when I was six.
She stripped off the rest of her clothing, then slipped into the water.
“Was it Captain Roth who whipped you?” I asked her softly.
“No, not him. It was his Violet, Tria’sa
n.” She gave a bitter laugh as she began to scrub her arms with a washcloth. “At first, I felt so relieved, you know? Relieved that I was out of that fucking place the Death Blades had me in. That’s where they took us, me and you that night. The Hotel, they called it.”
At my confused look, she held up a finger, then dunked her auburn hair into the cool water for a minute. I started washing my arms and neck, careful not to get my covered hair wet.
“I don’t know how the hell you got out, Violet. I tried, fuck, I tried to get out.”
“How long were you there for before this captain bought you?”
“Six years.” She scrubbed her hair, then piled the red curls on the top of her head, thick shampoo holding it in place.
“What were you doing at that house when I found you, anyway? You told me it was your uncle’s?”
She gave me a sharp look. “You remember that?”
I nodded, not even bothering with an explanation at this point, since everyone said pretty much the same thing when I brought up all I’d heard while I was still unconscious.
“Wow. Yeah, that house across from you was my uncle’s place. My father’s brother, so not related to Dice,” she quickly added. I smiled at the defensive tone as she continued.
“See, I wasn’t born in Mount Dire like my mother and grandfather. My mother had left home before I was born, ran off with some creep she’d been sneaking around with outside of Zone 2.”
“How did you end up coming to the Grotto?” I leaned back as far as I could against the rock without disturbing the towel wrapped around my head.
“Well, it turns out that my grandfather had been putting out the word about his missing granddaughter. He told me it took forever to find me. By the time he did, Roth already had me on the auction block. Sheriff’s men had to pretend to buy me.” She ducked her head in the water again, removing all trace of shampoo. When she came back up, she squeezed out all the excess water, knotted the long mass on top of her head, then leaned back, mirroring me.
Her eyes were suddenly fierce, almost menacing. “I tried to kill that Violet bitch. Captain Roth lost it, but he was too greedy to kill me. So he put me up for auction, one of those high-class ones. That’s when some of the guys from the Grotto found me.”
She wouldn’t meet my eyes, her cheeks flushed with shame, I thought. Remembering my own auction, my heart went out to her as the sting of Damien’s betrayal cut at me. Did one ever get over being put on display like that?
“And you’ve been here ever since. Is that why you aren’t…” I quickly realized what I was about to say and cut myself off, then tried to think of something I could say instead. But she heard the unspoken words, anyway.
“Why I’m not a club whore? Pretty much. The guys here leave me alone. They know I’m…damaged goods. Plus, Dice would kill anyone who took that kind of liking to me. His rank as the one-time General protects me.”
“What about Crash?” I asked, relieved that she wasn’t offended by my tactless question earlier.
She smiled, and her cheeks turned pink. “Well, Grandfather seems to like him. Alright, enough chit-chat—”
But I interrupted her. “Cherry. Maker, I’m so sorry for what happened to you, to us. I’m so glad that the Dark Legion found you, so glad that you could meet your grandfather and have him in your life.” My eyes stung with tears for her.
She nodded, her jaw clenched hard, but her eyes softened. “It is what it is, Violet. I’m here now, you’re here, and if that ain’t the fucking craziest coincidence, I don’t know what is.”
We both then laughed, our fear and shame, hurt and sorrow, fading into the past.
“Light of the Maker, is that me?” I asked, looking at the fall of raven dark hair that surrounded my face and cascaded down my chest.
It was amazing how much one’s hair color could completely change a person, both inside and out. Looking back at me in the mirror above the sink in the slave quarters was a young woman with large violet eyes, a sensual mouth, and smooth alabaster skin.
“Yeah, it’s you alright. Your amazement gives you away.” Cherry chuckled dryly. She started brushing out the now dark tresses of my hair until it was dry.
Someone cleared his throat behind us, and we both turned. Crash was standing there, a small pouch in his hand held by a drawstring.
“Crash? What’s up?” Cherry set the brush down and patted me on the shoulder, letting me know she was done.
“I need to speak to you, Cherry. Got a minute?” His voice held a tinge of shyness I found so endearing. Crash was a genuinely good man.
“Uh…sure. Let’s step out. Setora needs to change.”
It seemed like Crash had only then noticed me, because he did a double take. Or maybe it was my hair. I grinned.
“Like it?” I asked him, fluffing out the dark, long strands.
“Sure. You look different, so I guess that’s the point, right? Looks good on you, Setora. I don’t know what Pretty Boy is going to think, though. He’s pretty damn picky.” He gave me a wink and a smile, then the two of them walked out of the quarters.
Crash was definitely right about Pretty Boy being so…fussy. He spoiled me, yes, but as my days in the Grotto went by, his lust had transformed into a kind of reverence for me, like I was his most treasured possession. It didn’t feel confining or controlling; in fact, it was freeing. I never knew that a dynamic like ours could occur between a master and his slave. The same could be said for all of my masters—there was something bigger, stronger between us.
I put on a fresh clean frock knowing that I’d soon have to be fitted for more appropriate clothes for our trip. While I waited for Cherry, I started cleaning up her small space and the common area the women here used. I was just about to empty the dustpan at the back entrance when I heard them.
“Cherry, I’m going to miss you. I still can’t believe they’re letting me go on the road with them. It’s an honor to ride with the Dark Legion. Until now, I thought I had no hope for being anything more than a cook. And I think I have you to thank for that. You must have put in a good word for me. So…thank you.”
I couldn’t see them, only hear them, but I imagined Cherry blushed at the attention focused on her from Crash’s words.
“Nope, I did no such thing. You’re a good man, Crash, and perfect for the job. Now, I want to ask you to do something for me. I want you to promise me that you’ll watch over Setora while you’re all on the road. I know her men are there, but you never know what goes down in this world.”
“Of course, Cherry. I promise.”
“She’s young, she’s naïve, bless her, but she’s a magnet for trouble. Okay? Just keep an eye on her.”
“I will, babe.”
It was suddenly so quiet that I thought for sure that they’d walked off, but then I heard Cherry speak again.
“What did you do, Crash?” Her voice wasn’t admonishing but rather surprised.
“Remember what I asked you awhile back? Well, since I’m going to be gone, I wanted you to have this. You can wear it how—”
I walked off then, letting them have their privacy, all the while smiling at my friend’s happiness. Hope filled my heart. If anyone deserved a love story and a good man, it was Cherry.
Now if I could only get my masters on all the same page. Was it possible for the five of us to one day have something substantial like what Crash and Cherry had? Or was my head once more in the clouds, being the naïve girl that Cherry had alluded to just now?
I shook off all the serious thoughts and continued cleaning up the room. Maybe the dye had done more than color my hair. I laughed at myself just as Cherry returned.
“Okay. I’m back, sorry about that. Let’s go through all the things you’ll need.”
I watched her go through the various outfits that hung in the small closet that the club women used. As I did, something caught my eye. A shiny silver chain stood out in contrast against Cherry’s pale throat.
“Cherry?”
“Hmm?”
I grinned. I knew for a fact she was cursing me for being too inquisitive. “What’s that you’re wearing?”
Cherry turned around, her eyes wide. She fingered the chain, sighed, then pulled the remainder out from her top. On the bottom, connected to the chain, was a ring with a red stone. I stepped closer to examine it.
“A ring. Cherry, do you—”
“Yeah, yeah, I know you know what it means. And, yes, we’re together. Now, we got a lot to do, Violet. No more gushing.” She hid her huge smile and turned back around to hunt through the clothes once more.
I nodded, excitement bubbling up. “Then let’s get this done so we can talk. I have so many questions!”
Cherry hooted with laughter, I snorted. I was going to miss my friend over the next few weeks.
Chapter 6
The Sting of Forever
The next day, Sheriff took me on a much needed tour of the Grotto, insisting that I see everything it had to offer before we left it behind for nearly a month. The high cliffs and greens were bathed in early morning light, a weak sun peeking out from off-grey clouds. We were leaving today.
The incident with Madi’san seemed a distant memory; I’d awakened feeling strong. Doc had taken the stitches out more than a few days ago, so I didn’t have to wear the bandage anymore. I had a wicked scar right between my breasts, still pink and standing out against my otherwise smooth, pale skin. I hated the scar. For some reason, as he told me more than once, Sheriff loved it. He wouldn’t tell me why, but every time he saw it, he ran his finger along it. Or his tongue.
Since the night at the wishing well, Sheriff had slept in his bed with me, but he still hadn’t taken me, nor had he pleasured me past release. We slept in the nude, him with his arm around me, his cock often pressed against my ass, but nothing more.
Doc had cleared me for more intense activity, and yet Sheriff had done little more than strum my clit or finger me idly while we laid in bed.