“One step at a time. What do the humans have going on in the way of education?”
He cocked his head. “I don’t know, but I can find out.”
“Good. Kellareal is a close, um, family friend. But I don’t agree with what he’s done here. This isn’t freedom. It’s just another kind of servitude. And twenty-five years is quite enough to repay any debt.”
Rosie went back to work feeling a small consolation knowing she’d planted the seed of an idea that might eventually stop the cycle of Exiled sacrificing their children to monsters. She didn’t know what Kellareal had been thinking when he set this up, but she didn’t like it.
She went through the motions of performing her tasks. Dandy tried to be pleasant. That is to say, pleasant for Dandy, but Rosie was too traumatized by the scene she’d witnessed to care. Her mind was busy thinking of ways to wipe out the Rautt without using her abilities as witch or demon or both.
The next morning she woke from a bad dream and rose before it was light. She thought she’d go down to the kitchen for water, then try to go back to sleep, but part way down the stairs she realized there was quiet conversation in the back of the house. Focusing her attention, she could hear bits and pieces. Enough to know that Free was talking to Serene about his conversation with Rosie the day before. She wanted to eavesdrop, but she’d been born with her parents’ memories intact, including her father’s ardent sense of right and wrong.
That voice in her head said to turn around and go back to her room. Quietly. So she did, where she lay in bed wondering, for the thousandth time, if she shouldn’t just go home. Nothing was keeping her there. She didn’t need Kellareal for transportation or permission or to help her find the way. She’d just been letting life take her along like a leaf floating on a river. Every day she’d made the decision, consciously or unconsciously, to give it one more day.
Maybe she wanted to see what would come of Free’s and Serene’s discussion. Maybe it was the beginning of the end of their quarter century of bondage to a misbegotten deal. If she’d played a small part in that, she’d feel good about it. She decided to wait a little longer and see.
When she woke again later, a stream of light was coming through the shutters on her window like a vestige of hope and she found she was feeling a little more like herself.
That day she was more open to Dandy’s attempts to engage her. She even managed a laugh when one of Charming’s friends spilled a glass of cider on his own crotch. His friends were merciless, including Charming.
“Cub. You didn’t really shit yourself! The john’s just over there.”
“Wait till the sun hits the leather! Ouch!”
“You’re gonna be begging for mercy in a really high voice.”
The kid turned a bright red, not appreciating the laughter at his expense, even if it was all in good fun. Rosie approached the table, sending a rippling wave of magic-laced intention ahead of her.
“What’s so funny?” she asked.
Charming and his two cohorts turned and pointed at Cub, whose pants were perfectly dry.
“He spilled cider…”
Rosie looked at them like they were crazy. “The glass of cider is full.”
They looked at the glass and, seeing that it was full, regarded it like it was a snake about to strike. Cub, on the other hand, looked at her like she’d hung the moon. He was just as confused as the others, but he didn’t miss the fact that his reversal of fortune coincided with Rosie’s arrival.
CHAPTER FIVE
Carnal hadn’t slept in his parents’ house in so long he couldn’t remember exactly when the last time had been, but he still thought of it as ‘home’. The incident with Blaze had left him with such a profound sense of loss and guilt that, for the first time in memory, he felt like he had no discernible direction. The status quo with the Rautt seemed pointless, in addition to being fruitless.
They had his brother, dead or alive. What they’d done to his best friend was shocking even for Rautt. For days after it happened he fought vomiting every time he thought about it, but there was another memory that had slid in behind the horror and paired itself with the recollection. The girl behind the bar.
She’d looked at him in a way… well, it had seemed to him that she understood everything he was feeling. It was all there, in her eyes. Her very green eyes. He got the feeling that she not only saw what he was feeling, but felt some of it herself. He knew it could have been his imagination. After all, he was out of his mind with grief at the time, but he didn’t think so.
He pushed the ale away and stood, having decided it was time to grow the fuck up and face the fact that drinking wasn’t going to make the pain go away. It just made good sense go away. It was time to get the hell out of Humantown, connect with his family, and face life without Blaze.
That newfound wisdom was bolstered by his curiosity about why that human girl had been behind the bar in the Commons. It had also been growing, nagging at him, and overriding the power of his usual distractions to distract. Humans were rarely invited to the Exiled settlement, and employing one of them was simply out of the question.
Carnal arrived in the dead of night, but at least it could be said that it was deliberate, since he was sober for the first time since Blaze’s death. He closed the door slowly enough that even Exiled ears wouldn’t be disturbed in sleep, climbed the stairs with the same stealth, and closed the door to his room.
It was a dark night, no moonlight coming through the shutters to make out where his bed was, but it didn’t matter. He knew his own room well enough to find the bed in the dark.
He pulled his boots off and set them on the floor one at a time, let the leather vest fall from his arms, and pulled the Henley over his head. That left him in heavy cotton pants comfortable enough for sleeping. So he pulled the covers back and crawled in. When his body came in contact with what could only be another person, he said, “What the…?” and pulled back, but not fast enough.
He didn’t remember exactly how he’d managed to fly across the room and hit the far wall, but once he slid to the floor, he jackknifed to his feet, ready to face the attacker, who seemed to be a woman.
“Who is that?” she demanded. “What are you doing in here?”
Carnal could hear footsteps from upstairs. Charming. And from downstairs. Free and Serene. Within seconds the room was full of people. Charming found the matches by the lamp and lit it.
Carnal looked at Rosie, who was wearing a white shimmery nightie that left little to the imagination, along with a confounded mix of interest and confusion.
“Brother,” Charming said simply, “welcome home.”
Carnal stared at Charming for a couple of beats before turning his attention to Free and Serene. “What is this human doing in my room?”
It sounded like an accusation. Hearing that tone, Free’s jaw tightened. He didn’t like the entitlement he heard in his son’s tone. “Not like you were using it.”
Quickly interjecting in hopes of keeping things from escalating, Serene said, “She’s a friend of Kellareal’s. He asked your father for a favor.”
Carnal looked back at Rosie, who thought it best to sit on the bed, pull the covers over her lap, and keep quiet while the family hashed things out. But while that was taking place, her eyes were wandering over Carnal’s upper body, which was tan and defined in a way seldom achieved by human males. He was a living, breathing work of art. She remembered what she’d overheard Charming say about Carnal ‘fucking his way through Farsuitwail’. She had no doubt that he’d had plenty of opportunity to do exactly that, between the divine body and the cocky attitude that exuded male confidence.
The next time he looked her way, she gave him a fine impression of her Auntie Elora’s little wave and said, “Hi. I’m Rosie.”
He cocked his head to the side as if considering that while his eyes fell to her breasts. “Yeah. I see that.”
“She’s not for you,” Charming said in a way that caused Free and Serene to e
xchange a worried glance with each other.
Carnal turned to his brother with a little smile. “No? I think she’s old enough to decide for herself,” he taunted. Charming took a foolish step forward, but Free put out his arm and stopped his youngest son’s progress before it became a middle-of-the-night sibling scuffle.
Carnal laughed at that, then turned toward Rosie. “So. What do you say, human? The bed’s big enough for both of us.”
Rosie started to get up. “I’ll sleep downstairs on the couch-thing.”
Serene stopped Rosie and pulled the covers back over her. “No, you will not. Carnal will sleep in, um, his other brother’s room.”
“Crave’s room?” Charming looked and sounded astonished.
Even Carnal, who seemed to Rosie like the sort who’d be hard to surprise, looked stunned at that.
“Yes, Carnal,” his mother said. “Go get some sleep. We’ll talk about this tomorrow.”
For the first time, Carnal looked at the decidedly girlie surroundings. “What in crapnation have you done to my room?!?”
“Carnal!” Serene took on a no-nonsense mother voice that was deeper and almost boomed. “Go to bed.”
He looked at his mother. “I’ve been defending Shit City for seven years. I’m not a child, Serene.”
“Then don’t act like one. Go to bed. We’ll talk tomorrow and you will be respectful to our guest.”
Carnal looked back at Rosie. “With all due respect.” He could not possibly have said that with more sarcasm. He picked up his stuff and, on the way out, with arms full of boots and discarded clothing, bent and gave his mother a kiss on the cheek.
She smiled. He chuckled. They all filed out closing the door and Rosie was left alone in the ‘crapnation’ room that belonged to the eldest son. She turned off the lamp and replayed the event in her mind again and again while sleep evaded her. One thing was certain. There was something about Carnal, something besides the obvious.
Rosie woke at the usual time, got ready for work and, as usual, found that everyone else had gone by the time she made her way downstairs. Serene had left something for her in the warming oven. When Rosie took it, she made a mental note to thank Serene for looking after her in that way. It was a kindness beyond mere hospitality.
She’d halfway expected to see Carnal downstairs, but like the rest of the family, he was, apparently, gone.
The night had brought a chill that made Rosie draw her shawl tighter on the short walk to the Commons. She hadn’t closed the door before Dandy was saying, “Build up the fire, Rosie. Every time the door opens, the heat goes with it.”
“Okay,” she said.
Rosie built the fire to a bright blaze, went through her list of chores that were practically second nature at that point, and stopped to have the sausage and biscuit snack she’d picked up from Serene’s kitchen on the way out.
“So…” she said, taking a bite.
After a minute, Dandy looked up from cleaning the ale tap. “So?”
“So, Carnal came home last night.”
“Carnal?” Dandy returned her attention to her task. “Did he?”
“Yes. Do you know him?”
Dandy looked at Rosie like she was slow. “I’m his brother’s Promise. Of course I know him.” As realization dawned, Dandy narrowed her eyes. “Oh. No. Do not think what you’re thinking.”
Rosie looked up. “I’m not thinking anything. Just asking a question.”
“Yeah. Well, I’m just saying. Do not ask any more questions. That boy goes through humans like corn shucks. You’re a good worker and I’ve gotten used to you. I don’t want anything messing with that.”
“Dandy,” Rosie laughed, “I think there was a compliment in there.”
“What was ‘in there’ was a good stiff warning, if you have any sense at all.”
“Okay. Okay. I hear you. Carnal is a bad boy. Play with fire, you get burned, and all that.”
“Play with fire, you get burned? I like that. And it definitely fits. Exiled females wouldn’t take Carnal’s escapades seriously, but human females are different. They get the idea that a fuck is a promise. Or so I hear.”
Rosie nodded. “Got it.”
“Good. Back to work. And forget about Carnal.”
“Right.”
“You’re not forgetting about him, are you?”
“I am.” Dandy raised her eyebrows. “I am! Really!”
Dandy shook her head and turned back to cleaning the tap. “Don’t say I didn’t tell you.”
The door opened, letting in the chill. Rosie looked up to see Carnal striding toward the bar looking for all the world like he owned it. And everything else.
“Speak of a demon on horseback,” Dandy muttered and Rosie made a mental note to ask how that had come to be a saying.
Carnal took a stool right in front of her. “Dandelion,” he said while looking at Rosie.
“Carnal,” she answered matter-of-factly.
“Rosie.” He said her name in a way that was teasing, but also like he’d known her for a long time, intimately.
“Carnal.” Rosie tried to mimic Dandy’s off-handedness.
“What do you need?” Dandy asked him point blank.
“Why so hostile, sister? Just stopping by to say hello and welcome Kellareal’s guest.”
“Kellareal’s guest is off limits to you.”
Dandy got his attention for the first time. “Why does everybody keep saying that? It’s not as if I eat young maidens.”
“It’s exactly as if you eat young maidens,” Dandy countered.
He laughed at that. “There’s nothing scary about me, Dandy. I’ve never forced anything on a female and I never would.”
“Yeah,” she said. “You just go around being you.”
“What’s wrong with that?”
Dandy just shook her head and turned her back to him.
“Well,” he said, as he cleaned the claws he’d extended on his right hand. Rosie watched with fascination, thinking the abnormality was oddly sexy. “Just thought it would be good to get to know the person who’s sleeping in my bed.” His chin remained dipped while his eyes found hers.
Rosie just blinked, not sure how to respond to that, and not wanting to become a corn shuck, metaphorically or any other way. But even with her limited experience, she could see that Dandelion was right. Rosie was unable to tear her gaze away, thinking that Carnal’s seductive looks and ways were trouble with a capital “T” and that rhymes with “D” and that stands for drool.
With effort she turned away and began stacking glasses for easy access to accommodate the lunch crowd. She didn’t turn around again, but after a few minutes heard Carnal say.
“Okay. Gotta go. Later, Dandy. Later, Rosie.”
Out of the corner of her eye, Rosie saw Dandy toss off an annoyed and dismissive wave. Rosie said, “Bye,“ but didn’t turn around.
Both of them felt the temperature drop when the door opened.
“You know,” said Rosie, “you need a vestibule.”
“A what?”
“Um, it’s like an entry inside a building, a space between an inner and outer door. In a climate like this one, it can act as a buffer against weather.”
Dandy stopped what she was doing and cocked her head to the side. Rosie was getting used to the fact that Exiled did that when they were confused, curious, or interested in something.
“Not sure I understand.”
“Okay. You need to build, er, have built, an enclosed porch on the other side of that door.” She pointed at the door. “When someone comes in, they open the outer door and close it before they open the door that leads into the Commons. It won’t keep all the cold out, but it would make a big difference.”
Dandy considered that for a couple of seconds. “We need to tell Scar. He could get that done.”
Rosie nodded, just as the first of the lunch diners began to file in, bringing the cloudy day chill with them. Dandy looked over and smiled like they shared
a secret and nodded in return.
Rosie didn’t see Carnal again for two days. She supposed he was living in the house, occupying a bedroom on the same floor, but she never saw him coming or going. She also didn’t see him at the Commons or hunkered around any of the fires that burned around the settlement at night. She supposed that if he’d really been interested in her, she was worth more of a pursuit than a single short, casual flirt.
As Dandy’s confidence in Rosie’s ability to handle the bar alone had grown, she’d begun to duck out to the weaving barn after lunch. On one such day, one of the kids Rosie recognized as being a friend of Charming’s came rushing in looking wild-eyed.
“Give me a bottle of the whiskey. Charm’s hurt.”
Rosie stood on tiptoes and reached high for a full bottle. “Charming’s hurt?”
“Yeah. Broke his leg. We think.”
She handed over the bottle and rounded the bar, jogging toward the door. She pulled it open and ran smack into a wall of flesh named Carnal.
He grinned. “Hold on, human. What’s the hurry?”
“Charm’s been hurt,” the kid said on his way past without stopping.
Carnal jerked his gaze back to Rosie as his brows came down. His look was so fierce and scary, she could imagine that Carnal’s enemies would turn and run if they looked into the face of his anger.
“Hurt?” He didn’t wait for confirmation, but turned and ran after Charming’s friend with a speed that was dizzying.
By the time Rosie reached the training field, Carnal was kneeling on the ground next to Charming. Serene had also made it there ahead of her. Rosie felt eyes on her as she made her way to where Charming lay on the ground trying not to show the pain he was in.
She hesitated, remembering the promise she’d made Kellareal about not using her abilities, remembering how her father felt about clean lines between right and wrong, promises being on the side of right, breaking them being on the side of wrong. She weighed that against her feelings about the kindness and acceptance Charming had shown her, a stranger wearing the appearance of Exiled’s creators and oppressors.
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