“I won’t tell anyone about this. I get it,” Jinady said, looking away.
“Jinady, it’s hard to keep secrets from people we love. Try to remember that even if you tell Figaru not to punish her, he will if he finds out. Even if it’s five years from now. Swear to me you won’t let it sneak out.”
Jinady picked dead skin from the cuticle of his thumb. Had Vandrel just insinuated that he was in love with Figaru? How did he know anything about that? Had Figaru spoken to him? He must have.
“You can’t act strange in front of Figaru when you’re around Leatha,” Vandrel said. “He’ll figure it out.”
Jinady cleared his throat. “I won’t tell him. I won’t tell anyone. Even if Figaru suspects something happened he’ll need me to confirm it to take action. I’ll never do that.”
Vandrel smiled. “Good.” He danced his claws over the wooden table. “So, listen…”
Jinady frowned. Vandrel whittled a shaving of wood with his claws.
“I’m sure you don’t want to be a teacher now, and you probably don’t want to go back to the shelter. Let me take you to the army cabins.”
“I can go back to the shelter.”
Vandrel spoke through his teeth. “Damn you, Leatha.” He drove his claws into the wood.
Jinady reared his seat. Vandrel looked at him.
“I didn’t know Leatha did this. When no one had seen you at the school, I figured it out. I was looking for you for another reason.”
Jinady stiffened. He glowered at Vandrel. “I know. She said the army had ‘claimed’ me.”
“She’s got a big mouth.” Vandrel stood. “We have to draft a mortal-born innocent. You’re the only one who doesn’t have to work the fields right now.”
“No one told me I could be drafted if I came here. Figaru said for me to think about joining the army like it was my choice. Is that the only reason I was rescued?”
Vandrel headed for the stairs. “Walk and talk. If Leatha shows up it will be annoying.”
Jinady followed.
Chapter 11
Jinady walked behind Vandrel with his arms folded and head lowered. He couldn’t talk himself out of this attitude. He knew he was better off here than with the Caldra. The problem was that he felt deceived. He was promised freedom. Why hadn’t they just told the truth? He would have still gone with them. He believed the incident with Leatha was a fluke. He could forgive that. Being drafted was just cruel.
He was too caught up in his self-pity to listen to Vandrel. The demon stopped in front of him amid the cabins of the army.
“Are you listening to me?”
Jinady refused to meet his eyes. “Shards burning out. Demons getting into the girls’ section, or something.”
Vandrel put one black claw under Jinady’s chin and tipped his head up.
“My sympathy for you is about to run out. I’m the general of this army. I can make your life miserable if you test me. You think you’ve got reason to complain? Try three days in the stockade without food or water.”
Jinady lowered his eyes. He exhaled heavily through his nostrils. His leverage from the incident with Leatha appeared worthless now.
When they resumed Jinady saw Scor walking toward them.
“Hmm,” Vandrel said. He grabbed Jinady’s arm. “This way.”
They stepped off the main gravel path onto grass. Jinady assumed they were trying to avoid him.
Jinady shouted. “Scor!”
Scor tipped his head at him.
Vandrel released Jinady. They were just off the path at the entrance of a small cabin.
Vandrel looked at Jinady without malice. “You know him?”
“He helped rescue me.”
“You need to pick some better friends.”
Scor approached. He was surprised to see that Scor was taller than Vandrel. Vandrel seemed so much more foreboding.
Scor narrowed his eyes at Vandrel. “Getting greedy, General? I think someone else has his eye on this one.”
“We’re not mated. I already have Rowan, remember?”
Jinady resented being ignored but recalled that this must be the same Rowan Scor had spoken about. Leatha’s husband, who she shared with Vandrel, who Figaru had assaulted. And wasn’t he an Available, too?
“Maybe you got sick of the long lines.”
Vandrel drew breath to reply but Scor spoke to Jinady first.
“So you joined up already. Huh, kid?”
“No. I’ve been drafted.”
Scor laughed. “Oh, that’s slick. That’s how Figaru’s going to win you over?”
“He’s the only available mortal-born innocent,” Vandrel said. “We need shards.”
“When did you get here? Two days ago?” Scor said to Jinady. “You must be thinking it was all a trick.”
“Stop instigating,” Vandrel said through grit teeth.
“Who, me?”
“And stop being insubordinate in front of a soldier.”
“Don’t get your feathers ruffled.” He looked at Jinady. “You ask for me on your first mission. I’ll be your guardian.”
“That’s not going to happen,” Vandrel said.
“What do you know? Jinady and me are old friends.”
Someone called from inside the cabin. “Scor?”
Vandrel and Scor stopped. Jinady looked at the cabin door. There was a red slash painted on it.
“I doubt Figaru cares if you see Rowan anymore,” Vandrel said to Scor. “I could give a damn, myself. But Leatha won’t have it.”
Scor leaned close to Vandrel. His words were sharp as daggers. “Fuck Leatha.”
Jinady took two steps back.
Vandrel looked down a moment and smiled. “Hmph.”
In a flash, Vandrel’s arms shot out. Oscillating tendrils of color burst from him into Scor and Whomp! Scor was thrown back into a tree. The trunk cracked, sending splinters of jagged wood everywhere. Jinady covered his mouth with both hands.
Scor propelled himself toward Vandrel, baring his claws. Vandrel drew his broadsword faster than the eye could follow. Scor halted, snarling.
“What happened? Scor?” Rowan called from inside the cabin.
“Just fine, babe!”
“I don’t want to fight you,” Vandrel said.
Scor adjusted his posture and glared at Vandrel with calm malevolence. “I’m going to see him, Vandrel. Nothing short of a blood chain on me will keep me away. You want war over this? I’ll do it. He’s the only thing in this place I care about. I’ve got nothing else to lose.”
“It will be war if you let Leatha know,” Vandrel said. “If you don’t, then we have no problems.”
Scor sneered. “Pssh. Is that all?” He opened the door to the cabin. “Should have just said so.” He went in.
Vandrel set off. “Let’s go.”
Jinady followed him back on the gravel path. “It was bad luck you had to see that. Never mind about it. Rowan’s another one you’ll want to avoid.”
“Hmm.”
Vandrel stopped and faced him. Jinady’s heart sped up. He’d retorted a little too loudly.
“What have you got to say?”
Jinady eyed him gingerly with his head lowered. He wasn’t sure if was actually being asked his opinion, or if Vandrel was challenging him again.
“Spit it out, boy.”
Jinady drew a long breath. “The whole trip here, Major, Eban, Huckly, Figaru, they were all convincing me that men weren’t forced to be with demons in the settlement. Now I see a guy who’s locked up. The big general gets him. Leatha who runs the school gets him. It looks like he’s close to Scor. He’s not being given any choice.”
Vandrel smirked.
“You and Leatha are the ones I need to stay away from,” Jinady said.
“You have no idea what’s really going on.” He continued walking. “You’re off the mark on this. You’ll see. At least I know whatever we rescued you from didn’t break your spirit. Save it for your training.”
&nbs
p; Vandrel opened the door to a square cabin with a flat roof. The two men in the office (a middle-aged officer at a big desk, and a thirty-something secretary at a smaller table) stood in attention when Vandrel entered.
“General Vandrel!”
“That’s fine, Marshal,” Vandrel said to the older one.
The men relaxed.
“This is the new draft Jinady. The one I told you about. Make a note that I don’t want to be his guardian. He doesn’t like me.” He turned to Jinady. “Goodbye, solider. Hopefully you’ll wise up by the next time I have to deal with you.”
Vandrel left.
The words gave Jinady a twinge of humiliation. This was the last place he wanted to be.
The younger soldier, a freckled man with blond sideburns, stifled a laugh. “Oh, shit!”
Jinady looked at him.
“How did you piss off General Vandrel so fast?”
“All right,” Marshal said.
The blond soldier erased his smirk.
Marshal was a head shorter than Jinady with a broad apple-shaped body. He gestured to a wooden stool in front of his desk. Jinady sat down, hunching his shoulders.
“First off, you need to relax,” Marshal said.
Jinady sat up more. He almost wished he could have Vandrel’s spell again.
“You’re the first draft in ten years. We don’t like to do this. We did it cause we had to. All the men here joined cause they wanted to. You may find that you want to stay in too. It’s the best work you can have in this settlement. Let’s say you don’t like it, you’re only put down for one season. Did you get that?”
“No,” Jinady said.
“We need your help for this harvest season. When harvest is done, when the fields frost over, you’re free to go. We’ll have other boys who’ll be able to help. That’s four months we’re talking. You’ll get all the benefits the enlisted men have.”
“Shard gatherers get high wages,” the blond soldier said.
“That’s right,” Marshal said, as though he’d forgotten. “Everyone wants that rank. There’s no combat. You’re always protected. You got an easy job, and a ticket out of hall chores.”
“Hmm,” Jinady said. His stomach was starting to settle.
“There’s one rule you can’t forget: never kill a demon. Not a succubus, not an incubus, not even a spiky. Don’t lose your innocence. This goes for humans too, but I shouldn’t have to tell you you’re not supposed to kill another man.”
“How do you know I haven’t already killed a demon?” Jinady said.
“Vandrel would have noticed. He can read it in your aura. Are you still trying to get out of this? You’re looking at a sweet gig here.”
“No, it’s fine.” Jinady took a deep breath. Being around humans again was a relief. “I’ll make the best of it.”
Chapter 12
Jinady had a week of training while bunking with three other soldiers in a cabin that slept six. Two of his roommates were the newly demoted ex-shard gatherers now being trained for combat.
Jinady was taught the army’s customs in his first day. The rest of the time he spent exercising or climbing a log wall. Apparently he was going to have to climb a mountain in his missions. He was dismissed from any combat drills but he had to run. A daily drill included sprinting while a solder beat a drum. The objective was to reduce the number of beats it took for him to get from one point to another. By the fourth day, his clothes no longer fit. There was no uniform, but one office had neatly folded piles of clothes and boots in many sizes. The mess hall was just as bountiful, despite the lack of meat.
After the evening meals was Jinady’s free time. The first week he used the time to collapse in bed. Now he’d built up the stamina to explore. One night, he parted ways with two former shard gatherers he’d become friends with to wander alone. The sun had set, but the camp was well-lit by hanging lanterns.
There were very few soldiers in the camp that week. He knew they were busy defending the last open border. Sometimes droves of men would come back from the border to crowd the mess hall. This evening the camp was deserted. Jinady walked through the smaller cabins that housed officers.
“Hey.”
Jinady looked around him. He was at Rowan’s cabin. There was a cavity between the logs for a window. When he came up close to it he saw the window had been boarded up by knotty sheets of wood. The bottom left corner of the boards had been torn away and resembled a mouse hole. Jinady neared it. The faint glow of a lantern illuminated the far corner of the cabin and he strained to see in the semi-darkness.
“Hello,” Rowan said through the hole.
The source was nearer than Jinady expected. His mouth had to be right at the hole. The voice was soft, as if he was scared someone else would hear him.
“Hi,” Jinady said. “You’re Rowan, right?” He hadn’t had time to wonder about him during the week of training. Running into Rowan reignited his curiosity.
“Do you know who I am?”
Jinady pursed his lips. After a moment he said, “Scor mentioned you.”
“You know Scor?”
“Well…” Jinady fidgeted.
“I’m chained in here, and I’m powerful lonely.”
“Why are you chained?”
“Figaru put a blood chain on me.”
Jinady looked down. The grass was so dim it looked black.
“The chain comes out of my neck and attaches to the wall. It started out as a single link. Every day it grows one link. I’ve got seven chain links now. It’s finally long enough for me to turn my head.”
“How do you…” Jinady bit his bottom lip. “Why would Figaru do that to you?”
“He’s does a lot of bad things to me,” Rowan said. He sighed with tearful tremors. “I made up my mind not to take it anymore. Started fighting back. This is where it got me.”
“Figaru doesn’t seem like that.”
Rowan’s voice became prophetic. “Don’t trust him, Jinady. He’ll pull you in. He’ll hold on so tight you can’t breathe. Then he’ll figure he doesn’t want you, but he won’t let go. Once he gets fixed on a guy there’s no getting away. Not in his settlement, where he’s the high and mighty. When Figaru decides he can’t love someone he hurts them instead. Don’t fall into his trap, like I did.”
Jinady’s mouth had gone dry. His legs were weak.
After a moment something about the words dawned on him. “How did you know my name?” Jinady said.
There was a long pause.
“Scor told me about you.”
A distant bell started ringing.
“Damn it,” Jinady said.
It was time for the night exercises. If he was late he’d be given an idiotic demerit, and then would have to do exercises during his free time after dinner tomorrow. He wished he’d sought this cabin out earlier.
“I have to go.”
“I understand. It was good having someone to talk to for at least a little while.”
“I’ll come back tomorrow.”
“You don’t have to,” Rowan said, “but I’d really like that.”
“I promise!” Jinady ran off.
Jinady’s mind wandered as he jogged with a group of five soldiers around the camp. He remembered something Leatha said about Rowan:
You can’t keep beating a dog and expect him not to bite you.
He thought of Figaru. He’d been so comforting. The memory of his embrace made Jinady’s heart ache. He couldn’t imagine him hurting a human. He’d seen what Figaru did to the Caldra, but those were demons. It was different with mortals, wasn’t it?
Scor, on the other hand, was a shifty character. That was one thing Jinady knew for certain. If Rowan was allies with Scor he probably wasn’t trustworthy either.
It couldn’t all be a lie, however. Something terrible had happened between Figaru and Rowan. Jinady had to keep his distance from Figaru until he understood. He focused on running.
“I can’t talk about that, Jinady,” Rowan said.
“Not yet. If it got back to Figaru that I told someone…I’m suffering enough here. I kind of have to get to know you better before I can trust you.”
Jinady sat below the hole on the grass with his back against the cabin. After some pleasantries he’d asked what happened between Figaru and him.
“I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have pried.”
“It’s ok,” Rowan said. “I’m desperate for company. I’ll tell you anything else you want to know.”
“Well, honestly, I’ve heard a lot about you. I’m curious.”
“What have you heard?”
“Leatha said you’re her husband. Vandrel seems to be with you too.”
Rowan gave a soft laugh. Jinady waited.
“I’ll tell you about Leatha and Van, then.” He paused for a moment. “I guess it starts when I applied to become an Available. I was trying to get free from Figaru by joining the army. Figaru found out and told them not to accept me. That just about knocked the wind out of me.
“Leatha and I were close. I went to our secret place where we used to meet with all my things in a bag. I told her I was going to run away from the settlement. I told her which way I’d be headed. I asked her to come with me and protect me. I’d marry her. We’d live together far away from Figaru and his settlement.
“Leatha could never leave the settlement. I don’t know if I really was going to leave for good either, to be truthful. I couldn’t forget about Scor. Figaru was still locking him up in a cage back then. He had it almost as bad as me. I just needed to do something. Something to shake me loose.
“Leatha told me to stay hidden in our secret place. Just to make him think I ran away, and not really do it. She’d get me everything I needed. When she left I took off. I knew I couldn’t trick him. I had to get out for real.
“I headed for the south border, just like I planned. Leatha came running after me, but then I was just about over the hill. She couldn’t go into the shard light. I ran down through the fields, and through the next gully.
Incubus Master: Complete (Yaoi) Page 10