Byron wanted some saplings to sell, and he was tired of waiting. Renting a breeder cost a lot, but it cost less than owning one. Though the male wasn’t the defective part of Byron’s pair, he’d have to go. Too bad his sap wasn’t as appealing as the female’s. The male was obedient and well trained. That souldamned female caused nothing but trouble, always asking for more chain or more seeds or more jars. Never stopped asking for things, except when it ran away. And its value would drop significantly if it couldn’t reproduce. He’d lose money if he sold it now, and he hated to lose money on any investment.
Byron drank his meal and went to the door between the room and the garden to make sure it had closed tightly. “Stay out of the garden,” he said. “Nothing grows out there this time of year.”
He left the sapien apartment, disgusted with the stench of them that clung to him for a few minutes after his visits to their apartment. Soon enough he was outside, and the streaking wind sucked the rank odor from him. He debated walking but decided against it. Too windy and too cold. He’d just drive over and play a game at the bar, maybe drink a glass of wine or two, and then he’d come home and go to bed. Nobody ever needed him down at the office, and he didn’t want to work tonight, anyway. He was stuck in a dead town working on a dead case. As much as he despised Meyer Kidd, at least the brat’s visit might bring a little life to the job.
When he’d nearly reached the bar, his dash screen lit up with Marisol’s lovely face. “Hey, baby,” she cooed when he switched her on.
“Hello, my lovely wife,” he said.
“How’s the case going?” she asked. “Is my big tough husband giving them hell?”
Sometimes he wondered if she called just to irritate him. If he’d made progress on the case, she would have known about it. And yet she insisted on asking about it as soon as he answered, almost as if she wanted to goad him.
“Of course,” he said, his voice even. “What are you getting into tonight?”
“Oh, you know,” she said with a wave of her hand. “This and that.”
“Going to a club, then?”
She laughed. “You know me too well.”
“I have been married to you for over two hundred years.”
“Ugh, don’t say it like that,” she said. “You make it sound like I’m ancient.”
“You don’t look it,” Byron said. “You’re as beautiful as the day we met.” He didn’t have to lie to her, either. Hers was a beauty of the timeless variety that lasted through all the fads and changing ideals, undeniable even when she didn’t fit the decade’s popular mold. And though she had both the means and connections to schedule the world’s premier sculptors, she never surgically altered her appearance.
“Why, thank you,” she said, beaming as if he hadn’t paid her that same compliment thousands of times. “I like to look my best.”
“For all those men you’re going to dance with.”
“Don’t be silly,” she said with another dismissive wave. “It’s just dancing. You can’t expect me to sit at home and rot for the next ten years.”
“I don’t,” he said, trying to smile through wooden lips. “Go have fun.”
“You could come home and visit.” Her lips made a pretty pout. “I haven’t touched you in so long I’m beginning to forget what you feel like.”
“I wish you’d what all men feel like,” Byron said. “I hate to think about all those men groping you on the dance floor.”
“You’re so silly,” she said, though she looked delighted. “I only dance with a few people, and they’re usually all Enforcers.”
At least she was in good hands, though he didn’t like to think of her in any hands but his own. He trusted the Enforcers from his office back home, though. They would never betray him. Unlike the ones in Princeton, they all respected him.
“Did you call to ask my permission?” he asked with a small smile. He parked outside the bar but made no move to get out.
She laughed. “No, I just wanted to see your face. I miss you. The kids are growing so much you won’t recognize them.”
Byron just shook his head at her never-ending charade that they were still human.
“Oh, you’re no fun,” she said, pouting again. “Why won’t you play along? You’re such a grump sometimes. I don’t know why I even call.”
Byron sighed. “I’m sorry. You know this case is wearing on me.”
“I know, baby,” she said, smiling now. “I bet I know something that would cheer you up…”
“Not unless you have some new evidence.”
“I have evidence of how much I miss you,” she said. “Want me to get out my joystick?”
He shook his head. He didn’t like sex gadgets nearly as much as she did. “I’ll try to visit soon. I only want the real you, not some electronic version.”
“Oh, okay,” she said with a sigh. “Where are you, anyway? It looks like you’re in the car. Are you out?”
“Just to get a drink,” he said. “I’m tired of my apartment.”
“Oh, I wish I was with you,” she said, her voice nearing a whine. “Or you were with me.” She never seemed to get jealous as he did. But then, he never gave her a reason to.
When they’d said their goodbyes, he went inside the bar, though he had no appetite for strangers. All he wanted was the comfort of Marisol, his kids, his home. Upon entering, he drew the attention of a table of women near the bar. He hadn’t changed after work, though he had no designs in wearing his uniform tonight. He sometimes took pleasure in all the pandering and bowing and sirring he got from Thirds, but tonight, he only wanted a quiet place to sit and some decent conversation.
One of the women who had noticed him slid in beside him at the corner table as soon as he sat down. “Want some company, sir?” she asked, turning towards him and resting her elbow on the table. Mounds of cleavage spilled from the exceedingly low neckline of her shirt.
“I’m married,” Byron said.
“Married?” she asked, blinking at him as if he’d proclaimed himself a sap. “But sir…”
“Happily,” Byron said. “So no.” He despised Third women, most of whom tried so hard to be sexy that they came across like caricatures of whores. No one knew how to be sexy like Marisol anymore, while maintaining some class. When the disappointed woman had heaved her comical body out of the seat beside him, Byron switched on the tabletop screen and began to search for an active chess partner.
Chapter 15
The wind whipped Draven’s shirt around him like a sail. Though he wore denim trousers to temper the wind, it sliced through his other clothing. He should have worn the canvas jacket Sally had rescued with his other clothing, but he did not want to go back for it—he was too close to Cali’s. He waited for the torrent of wind to desist before he leapt over an alleyway to land softly on Cali’s roof.
As he did each night, he skirted the building and checked for Byron’s Rosso before visiting Cali’s garden. Tonight the parking lot lay empty. After the last time, he could not risk calling with Byron home. He had nearly caught Draven drawing from Cali. If the wind had not abated for a moment before Byron opened the door, Draven would not have heard his approach. He had already betrayed Byron through disobedience and defiance, and he could not risk Byron discovering that he now called upon Cali on a regular basis.
Draven dropped from the roof to the side of the garden that Cali could reach with her chain. Though he could not reach the door through the bars, he could reach a pot of soil and a few scattered pebbles the sapiens had culled from the dirt. When he grew impatient of waiting, he began tossing small pieces of gravel at the door. After a few minutes, the door opened and Cali’s mate stepped through.
“Hey you,” he said, swishing his hips on his way to the bars. “Cali don’t want to see you. But you can suck on me if you’re hungry.”
“Oh?”
“You know it.”
“Thank you.”
“I’m Shelly, if you wondered. And you’re the famous
Draven I’ve heard so much about. Been itching to meet you for real.” Shelly pressed himself against the bars.
“I would draw from your arm.”
“Any way you like it.”
Draven shook his head and tried not to smile. Men who liked men always noticed him, for reasons he didn’t understand—even sapien males who liked males, apparently. Shelly seemed intent on emitting a steady stream of chatter while Draven ate. Draven could hardly mention his annoyance, though. He ignored the boy’s voice and drew quickly, knowing he was lucky to eat at all.
“Thank you. Is Cali alright?” he asked when he’d finished eating.
“Oh, you know,” the sap said with a wave of his hand. “She’s just being a girl.”
“Does she not wish to see me tonight?”
Shelly shrugged and cast his eyes about, refusing to meet Draven’s.
“She does not wish to see me ever?”
“Who knows,” Shelly said, then lowered his voice. “You know how she gets.”
“Will you ask her to come and bid me adieu then?”
Shelly paused and then sighed. “Oh, alright. The two of you, I swear. Not that I blame her. You’re pretty cute for a Superior.”
“Thank you. And you are a cute sapien,” Draven said, though the words jarred strangely in his mind and hung just as strangely in the air.
Shelly laughed and went back inside, shaking his head. Draven waited for Cali again, wondering what Shelly had meant—not that he blamed her for what?
After a few minutes, Cali came out dressed in her usual jumpsuit with a thin towel wrapped around her shoulders as well. “What do you want?” she asked before she’d finished closing the door. She turned to him. Her face looked pinched, though Draven could not make out any new bruises.
“I only wished to know why you wouldn’t see me.”
“Well, here I am. But you can’t come back here. Master will kill us both. I had to lie the other night, and I’m not sure he believed me. I hope he didn’t see you. But I can’t risk my life just so you can eat. Go find someone else to feed on.”
“You’re quite right. I’m sorry that I was careless last time. Byron is out tonight, though. I will not return when he is here.”
“Then why didn’t you come last night?” she asked, her voice accusing.
Draven drew back to study her. “You’re angry with me.”
“Why would I be angry?”
“I don’t know,” he said slowly. “Are you upset that I didn’t call upon you last night?”
“Of course not.”
He reached out and took her arm and drew her close. “Cali, he was here last night. I checked several times, and his car was here each time. I did not want to risk your life or my own. I know as well as you what sort of man he is.”
“Oh.” She looked down at his hand on her forearm.
“I am sorry I didn’t get to close your bite. Does it hurt you very much?”
“Some,” she said. They stood together for a few minutes, the wind shrilling around them and slapping strands of her hair and her warm breath into his face.
“You’re bleeding,” he said finally. He could hardly stand to be so near to her when he could savor sap on her, yet not have her.
She pulled away. “Yeah. And now Master is going to get another breeder, three more times, before he gives up on me having a baby.”
“But you have a baby.”
She began crushing a small clump of dirt with her toe. “It’s not mine.”
“Whose is it?”
“One of the other escapees. She died, and Master took the baby.”
Draven blinked, unable to comprehend. “But…that’s stealing. That’s illegal. The baby is the property of the owners of the parents.”
Cali shrugged. She did not appear concerned. But Draven knew something about Byron, something the Enforcer had done illegally. He had witnessed it. And Byron knew that. He would not want a witness to his crime. If he had the chance, he would ensure Draven’s silence by whatever means necessary.
“I see,” Draven said, not sure what else to say. “Do you not want offspring, even now that you’re mated?”
“No. I mean, I love Leo, but Master’s just going to sell all the babies I have.” She stepped closer to Draven again, dragging her chain across the concrete. “But he said if I can’t have a baby, he’s going to sell Shelly anyway, and buy another female who can produce babies to sell. So I either have to lose Shelly or let those breeders…” She ceased speaking, and the wind took the place of her voice for a few moments while a lull fell over them. “They’re really scary,” Cali said, raising her eyes to Draven’s. Simply speaking of them made her heartbeat quicken, and Draven could savor a trace of fear seeping from her.
“Let me take you,” he said, reaching through the bars to touch her face. “I’ll not force you to breed or produce offspring, and I’ll not take your mate from you.”
Her eyes filled with uncertainty. Although she no longer protested, she had not agreed, either. At last, she had begun considering his offer.
“Where do you live?” she asked, her voice barely above a whisper.
“We’d have to run at once. I’d have to steal you. Byron is an important man, an Enforcer of the Law. He would have us tracked. We’d find a place far away and hide until he was content with new saps, and then we’d gradually introduce ourselves to a new place. I’ll not tell you it will be easy. Especially with a baby.”
“But I won’t have to have babies. Not ever? What if you change your mind?”
“I won’t. I’ve never cared for them.”
“Let me talk to Shelly,” she said, turning away.
“Cali.” He caught the corner of her towel. “I want you to come with me. I value you. But if you don’t, I imagine you will do fine in childbirth. You are older than many of the sapien mothers I’ve seen.”
Cali studied the hand grasping her towel. When she tugged, he released it, and she pulled it around her shoulders and huddled against the wind before sliding the door open and passing into the apartment. Draven waited for quite some time, the iron bars chilling his hands. When Cali returned, she wouldn’t meet his eyes.
“I can’t come,” she said.
“Oh?”
“Shelly doesn’t want to. He’s afraid for the baby.”
“Then I will take you alone.”
She raised her eyes to Draven before dropping them again. “Last time…and I have this chain…”
“I’ve told you, I’ll break it.”
“How can you break this huge chain?”
“With my hands.”
“You can break this chain with your bare hands?”
Draven smiled. “Yes. Why are you so astonished? Do you doubt me?”
“I don’t know,” Cali said, shaking her head. “I mean, I can’t leave my family.”
“Then stay. Perhaps you will change your mind after you’re bred. Perhaps you will want something better for your own child.”
“Do you know all about them? The breeders, I mean…”
“I know of them. They are said to be quite successful.” Her heart beat strangely for a moment. She shivered, but Draven could not determine whether cold or fear caused it. “I cannot continue calling like this, Cali. Someone will see me if I return so often. Perhaps, if I only come once in a while... I would like to know that you are safe. I owe you much gratitude for feeding me all these nights.”
“Does that mean you won’t come back? Like that time back home when you left?”
He smiled and took her hand through the bars. “What is this? Will you miss me?”
She scoffed. “What? Of course not. Why would I? You only make me weak.”
“You have made me stronger, my jaani. I will miss your taste.” When he moved to take his hand away, Cali held tight. “What is it?” he asked.
“Do you know when he—Master, will bring him here?”
“Byron is not one to waste time. But still your mind, little pet. I’ve
seen humans who were no more than children give birth quite successfully. If it’s motherhood you worry over, you’re already a mother. And your mate seems suitable enough, although I find no surprise that he is unable to perform the duty correctly himself.”
“What does that mean?”
“He treats you well, yes? You’re fortunate that you are kindly matched. I imagine he will be quite adept at helping you with your baby.”
“No, why’d you say that other part?”
Draven smiled. “Oh, I don’t know. I do not wish to be involved in your match. If you are well cared for, that is enough for me to know. If only your master would do the same.”
“Why won’t you answer my question?”
“You’re intelligent enough, Cali. You must know that your mate likes men.”
“Oh.” Cali ran her thumb along his. “I did know that.”
“Sometimes that changes with time. For Superiors, anyhow. Some like both. It’s good that yours is trying.”
“Wait, Superiors are like that, too?”
“Some.”
“Oh.” She paused “You do, too?”
He pulled his hand away. “No. I’m a man who very much likes women.”
“So you think Shelly will change?”
“I’d like to offer you reassurance, if that is what you seek. I’m certain your mate cares for you and will share the burden of raising your offspring once they are born, even if he is unable to give you one. The more often you try, the more likely you’ll succeed. Byron will likely hire breeders any time you are without offspring, if you are unsuccessful with your mate.”
“Would you have chosen him as a match for me?”
“I’d not choose a match for you until you requested one. But if you convince yours to join us, I’ll take you both.”
“You’re not very good at answering questions.”
Draven considered his words before answering. “I’d not choose a mate for you unless I thought you well matched. Choosing a male who prefers males is not the best match. I’m surprised Byron didn’t notice. If he wanted you bred quickly, he should have chosen differently.”
The Renegades (The Superiors) Page 6