Raven tugged on my arm. “I think we should go. He’ll be able to protect us.”
I rolled my eyes. Not only did I wish that she wouldn’t have said that out loud, but did she not realize this man was radiating power? If Halton was dangerous, what was the Puppeteer?
I looked over at the man in question. His eyes were dancing with humor. I obviously wasn’t doing a fantastic job of controlling my facial expressions.
Raven stood up. “You have yourself a deal.”
I sighed. “I guess that means we’re both onboard.”
He strode to the door. It only took him two steps. “Then let’s go.”
I started to gather our blankets, while Raven went for the stool.
He shook his head. “No, leave those things. You will not need them.”
I begrudgingly let the covers fall back to the bed. If we left our things, they wouldn’t be here when we returned. In fact, our house would be occupied if we ever needed to come back. It wasn’t much, but it was ours.
I forced my chin up and squared my shoulders as we left the only home I had ever known. I had a terrible feeling that we would never get the opportunity to come back.
Thankfully, we left at night so there were no witnesses to retell the story of how awkward it was for me to climb into the first motorized vehicle I had ever seen. If the Puppeteer was worried about me getting the leather seats dirty with all the filth that coated me, he didn’t say a word. In fact, none of us said anything. I thought that me and Raven were both terrified to say anything and the Puppeteer looked like a brooder.
I had no clue what type of vehicle we sat in, but it was shiny, and big, and smelled good, and one thing was for certain: the Puppeteer must have been extremely rich to just afford the gas. It was highly coveted these days.
At first, I sat ramrod straight, afraid to touch anything more than necessary, but considering the drive was long, within an hour, I found myself slouching.
Though Raven was asleep in the back seat, I fought off sleep, refusing to miss out on any part of this journey. I stared out the window at the forever changing scenery that was so different from the House of Ash where it sat on flat land, looking like a castle, while the shacks were in sectioned rows in front of the house Also, the trees had become thicker once we passed the Carolina mountains.
The Puppeteer hadn’t said one word on our drive, and I had followed suit, but around hour five, my curiosity got the best of me. “Where is your house?”
“As soon as you cross Old Virginia, you will start to see people. The House of Hybrids is twenty minutes over the border.”
The landscape was extremely pretty. I had never left Old Florida. I had always dreamed of seeing more of Old America, just not like this. I had more questions, but I felt that I had used all of my courage on the first question.
Therefore, I didn’t ask any more questions for the next several hours. Not even when the Puppeteer stopped the car and got a can of gas from the back of the vehicle. I was dying to know where he had gotten his gas from. Not that I needed to know for any other reason than I was trying to determine how insanely rich this major was.
As soon as we crossed the border, I saw houses. Not shacks, but actual houses, and they were all scattered out as if they had claimed their own land. Wasn’t the Puppeteer afraid the humans would revolt against him if he didn’t keep them in extreme poverty or under close scrutiny? The houses were so spaced out; how would he keep his thumb on the humans?
“What are you stewing about over there, Little Thorn?” His voice came out hushed but still made me flinch.
I turned a little in my seat so that I could see his profile. If the snake was going to strike over my questions, then I would at least prefer to see it coming.
“Why are there workers all the way out here?”
He cut his blue eyes to me for a second before returning them to the road. “Because they have chosen the land that their house sits on, and they prefer the acreage instead of being stacked upon one another. You’ll see that some houses are closer together, and again, that is because that is their preference.”
I couldn’t control my jaw from dropping. “You gave them a choice?”
“Everyone should have a choice where they want to live. If they decide they want to leave, they can sell me their land and move at any time.”
I narrowed my eyes. “And you would just let your workers leave to go work for someone else?”
A smile lifted the corner of his lips. “Is it so hard to believe that humans would actually like working for me?”
Yes, actually, it was. I had seen what other unrivaled were capable of. It was impossible for them not to lord their power over the humans. I doubted that this man was any different.
I leaned forward in my seat as I saw an old man sweeping off his porch. His wife was outside, planting some sort of flower.
The Puppeteer must have caught my look of confusion. “We take pride in our things. There are no humans living in hovels here.”
I leaned back in my seat. We were still just things, though.
I heard Raven stir in the back seat. I put my fingers up to the glass window as we passed by a beautiful home that reminded me of something I had read about in a book once. Before all the books were burned or taken from us, that was. There had been a home that was on a plantation somewhere in the southern region of Old America. It had been grandiose, elegant, and beautiful. This home was all those things. It sat way off the road with big trees lining a long driveway that led toward the breathtaking home. I put a hand on the door and gawked as the car slowed a little.
“Do you like it?”
Startled, I looked over at the Puppeteer. Was he asking me, a human, what I liked?
Before I could answer, Raven yawned out, “What’s not to like?”
Without taking his eyes from me, he said, “Glad you like it. It’s my home.”
I couldn’t stop the words from leaving my mouth. “You don’t live in the actual House of Hybrids?”
He shook his head. “No. The houses were intended to help educate up-and-coming royals and the unrivaled that held power. Some like to still stay in the houses, even after they graduate, because there is safety in numbers. I prefer to live alone.”
I swallowed. My mouth suddenly became very dry. How powerful must a major be in order to be confident enough to stay in a huge house that didn’t look guarded?
A few minutes later, we were parked in front of the House of Hybrids. On autopilot, we followed behind the Puppeteer.
There were people outside, bringing in loads of firewood. As we passed by them, they gave us smiles and nods, which completely startled me. I looked over at Raven to ask if she was seeing what I was seeing. She simply caught my look and shrugged. However, her eyes were just as wide as mine as we took it all in.
The house wasn’t like the House of Ash. It wasn’t nearly as fancy. I had never been on the inside of any of the other houses, but I had heard rumors that no expense was spared on the designs. The House of Ash was extravagant with fireplaces in every room and each of the unrivaled got an interior designer just for their room. This place was huge, yet it was just the bare necessities.
The house was made of dark stone with turrets coming up in several different places. It had a little of a Medieval vibe going on, which was in total contrast to the beautiful plantation house that belonged to the Puppeteer.
As we walked through the main hall, I noticed pictures on the walls and runners on the floors, but there weren’t expensive vases, imported rugs, or gadgets in every corner. Was the House of Hybrids poor?
Laughter boomed beside me, making me jump. I put a hand to my breast, trying to keep my heart in my chest.
When the Puppeteer stopped laughing, he said, “You will never have to tell anyone how you feel. One only has to look at your face to know your every thought. Is the house not to your liking?”
I cast my eyes downward when Raven elbowed me in the side.
“I didn
’t mean to be rude. It’s just that it is very different from the House of Ash.”
He pointed in the direction he wanted us to go, and we took a right down a corridor. “You ladies will soon realize that we don’t waste our money here on frivolous things just so we can brag. If we were to brag about anything, it would be our powers, but we don’t even do that. There’s no need. You’ll find that those who brag are often the ones who are lacking in whatever subject that they are bragging about. The money we make, we circulate to the humans. This is why they don’t live in the dirt-floor shacks. We keep our people happy and, in return, they work twice as hard for us.”
An unrivaled who didn’t hoard his wealth? I found that hard to believe, yet here I was, seeing his house and his people with my own eyes.
He pushed open a door that led us into one of the biggest kitchens that I had ever seen. “We didn’t cut corners on our kitchen, though. Geralyn would have taken a wooden spoon to me.”
A big, burly woman appeared from a pantry. Her shoulders were wide, and her hair was short and curly, framing her plain face. As soon as she noticed us, she narrowed her eyes at our appearances.
“I keep telling you not to bring me any more strays.” She threw a huge sack of potatoes on the counter and wrinkled her nose. “If you tell me that I’m to employ them in the kitchens, I think I’ll quit right here and now.”
I swallowed nervously as I looked up to see how the major was taking all this. His blue eyes shimmered with mirth before he gave her a wink, leaned a hip against a counter, and crossed his muscular arms.
“Have I told you how pretty you look today, Geralyn?”
She rolled her eyes but couldn’t stop the smile that came upon her chubby face. “Flattery. It’s always flattery with this one.” She looked at me and Raven again. “Fine, but I will not allow them near my food unless they take a bath.” She shook a finger at me. “Especially that one. I’m not even sure there is a human underneath all that mud.”
It was quiet, but I heard the Puppeteer mumble, “I’m not sure there is a human under there, either.”
I felt my face flame as the woman then asked, “Where did you pull these two from? The pits of hell?”
He snagged an apple from the counter before he straightened up. “Maybe. I did see some rats that were as big as hellhounds. Does that count?”
She shooed him out of the kitchen.
The Puppeteer smiled as he said, “Come on, ladies; I’ll show you where you can get cleaned up since neither of you live up to the health warden’s expectations.”
The woman—Geralyn—laughed as we left the kitchen.
I couldn’t believe what I had just witnessed—an unrivaled had held a light conversation with a human worker. If I wasn’t mistaken, which I never was, the human woman adored him and, as unbelievable as it sounded, I thought that the feeling was mutual.
I took in my surroundings again as we walked for what seemed like forever. We didn’t venture up the steps to a different level. We were still on the same floor, but somewhere behind the kitchens. Finally, the Puppeteer stopped in front of a door.
“We allow workers to live in the house that is directly behind this one for a year, rent-free. That is for our farmers, butchers, and cattlemen. For the staff that are employed in the House of Hybrids, we allow you to stay here, in this house, for a year. This gives everyone a chance to save up money. Payments come in an allotted amount at the end of each quarter. When you feel you have saved up enough, you can move out and build your own house, on your own land.”
Raven’s mouth dropped open. “We could build a house together?”
“Yes, I guess you could. However, I don’t recommend this. I have seen friends or lovers part ways, and they have to go before the court to determine who gets the house.”
“We would never part ways,” I said.
He shrugged as if he didn’t care one way or another. “Take your showers, or baths, if you prefer, and then get dressed in the clothing that you will find provided for you in one of the drawers. More will be delivered later on. After you are dressed, go back the way that we just came and ask Geralyn what you can do to help. Raven, you can take this room, and Thorn can take the one right across the hall from you.”
We both froze, unable to move.
“Is there something wrong, ladies?”
“A lot of things, actually. Are you saying we get our own rooms?”
He nodded.
“And these rooms”—I opened up one of the said rooms to see that it was twice as big as our shack back home—“have an area where we can bathe?”
“Yes, that is exactly what I’m saying. There is even hot water.”
Raven almost swooned. “The House of Ash only had baths in each room for the most powerful majors of the house.”
“Well,” he said, “I think that you’ll find that this house is very different from the House of Ash in a lot of things.”
Raven opened her door and, without hesitation, ran in with her arms wide as she did circles like a small child. Me, on the other hand, knew better than to get used to this life.
“I would stay and try to convince you that you are safe here, and if I decide to bite, I won’t bite too hard, but I can’t. I have more important things that I need to take care of. Go take a bath, Thorn. Who knows? You might actually enjoy working here.”
Enjoy working directly for an unrivaled that was a major? I doubt that day would ever come.
I watched him as he whistled his way down the hall, while Raven felt the sheets on her bed, talking about how soft everything was. She might have fallen down the rabbit hole, but I knew that nothing in the unrivaled world was ever what it seemed.
I sat on the edge of the tub, wanting to take my very first shower and, at the same time, dreading it. Washing away the mud and the soot terrified me.
Right before I had hit puberty, there had been a nice woman who lived several rows back from us. She’d had a daughter who was as beautiful as she was kind. She would always bring leftovers that her mom had packed up over to our shack for Raven and me. The father had helped us mend our door and roof over the years, and he had been the one who had helped us build our bed. They were good people. In poverty and dark times, it was hard to find good people.
A major from the House of Air had been visiting the House of Ash. As he had come through our village, he had noticed the beautiful brunette. Without asking permission, because he didn’t need it, he had taken Lacie away from her parents. She had never been returned.
When the father had gone to search for her, he had been told that she had been punished for thinking she could change her station in life. She hadn’t survived the punishment.
The inconsolable mother and father had then packed up their belongings and left the village. We all knew that they wouldn’t make it very far, not without the safety of others, but it had been a risk that they had been willing to take.
Before they had left, however, the mother had come by to hug me and Raven. She had played with my hair for a few minutes before something had come into her gaze. She had then stood up and dug through her sack until she had found a pair of scissors. Then, with harsh movements and sobs racking her body, she had cut my tresses.
I had stood there, not moving an inch, as she had hacked all my hair from my head before moving on to Raven. Raven hadn’t stood still like I had, though. She had fought the poor woman then cried when she had seen her hair hit the ground.
When the father had come in, the mother had thrown herself into his arms. I still remembered her telling him, “I had to, Galen. They will be safer now that they look like little boys.”
Raven had run out of the cabin, scared and upset, and the father had gone after her to calm her down.
The mother had looked at me with pleading eyes, like she had been trying to get me to understand. “You remind me of Lacie. She was so beautiful. Everyone noticed her. It’s my fault she died at the hands of an unrivaled. I had too much pride. I had helped c
reate something so beautiful, and that pride of wanting to show her off got her killed.”
With a death grip, she had grabbed my small hands, and I’d known she was suffering more pain than I had ever witnessed. I had silently prayed that I would never know that sort of pain.
“Thorn,” she’d said, “promise me that you will do everything you can to become unnoticed. Use mud, keep your hair shorn, and don’t make eye contact with any of them.”
I’d nodded.
Then she had pulled me in for a hug and wept. “I would take you and Raven with us, but I have a feeling we won’t last long out there. And I’m a coward for saying this, but I hope that feeling is right. I miss my child.”
Those last memories that I shared with Lacie’s parents had haunted me ever since. I’d done my best to do exactly what I’d promised that day, seven years ago. I’d let my hair grow back out, but I had always made sure it was covered in mud.
I sighed as I turned on the tap water then shed my nasty clothes. Once I took a shower, I would have officially broken that promise.
As the warm water beat down on me and I lathered myself with the most divine smelling soap, I cried. I had avoided the path of the unrivaled for years … to find myself right under their noses.
I had barely glanced at myself after putting on the new clothes, but now that Raven stood in front of me with her mouth open, I knew what she saw.
“Shit,” she mumbled. “I mean, I always knew there was someone pretty under there, but seeing you squeaky clean is pretty damning. Is it okay for me to hate you?”
I was too tired to give her a smile. Tired of working my fingers to the bone just to turn around and give everything back to the unrivaled. I was nineteen years old, and I just had my very first shower. The exhaustion of always trying to stay hidden had broken me.
“Do you think we’re safe here?” she asked as she tucked her brown shirt into her matching pants. “The Puppeteer doesn’t really sound that bad. I mean, the stories we’ve heard of him painted a different picture of him.”
House of Deception: The Unrivaled Series Page 4