Jael turned, her hand gently cupping Alyssa’s cheek as she bent to her. Jael’s lips were as soft as her hands were callused, but her tongue was a flame that ignited a fireball burning through Alyssa’s belly and down her legs.
Breathless, she withdrew her hands to break the connection. She blinked at Jael, but her breathing was deep and even, her features totally relaxed in sleep except—was that a faint smile? Had her subconscious imagined the kiss, or had Jael projected the image? Her stomach jumped nervously and her face warmed at the thought. If it was Jael’s doing, was it intentional or an unguarded thought that slipped out because Alyssa had drugged her? It didn’t really matter which, because both made her heart race.
She indulged herself with the rare opportunity to study a small crescent-shaped scar on Jael’s cheekbone and another that bisected her upper lip. Her breasts were well shaped and small enough that Alyssa suspected she never wore a support band. At least she couldn’t detect one now. She stared at the faint outline of nipples against the soft cotton of Jael’s T-shirt, and her hands twitched with the impulse to stroke them into hard peaks. She jerked her gaze back to Jael’s face, suddenly afraid those blue eyes would be open and Jael would be listening in on her very lascivious thoughts. But she slept on, her eyes moving in deep REM sleep under lids rimmed with thick lashes. Alyssa wanted so badly to cup her sculpted cheek and feel Jael’s mouth against her for real, not just in an imagined scene.
Jael’s hands rested on her flat belly, and Alyssa ached to hold them in hers again. But she was afraid of waking her. Her nails were short and neat, but her knuckles were crisscrossed with small white scars. She stared at Jael’s long fingers and wondered how those hands would feel on her skin, against her sensitive nipples, pushing inside her. Stars, she needed to get out of here, go somewhere else, think of something other than Jael’s long body, naked and touching her everywhere.
She reluctantly stood, gathered the empty dishes, and left Jael to sleep.
*
Jael stood in the shower and let the water pour over her. When she woke, her head and thoughts were remarkably clear. She would have never expected to get a remedial lesson in meditation from a first-life, but the legion of voices that had been lingering in her head was finally gone.
She was refreshed but not relaxed. Tension sang through her body like the twang of a bowstring. Her deep, restorative sleep had been followed by a series of tantalizing dreams that took her back to that field of flowers and Alyssa. She closed her eyes and allowed herself one last indulgent memory of spruce-colored eyes, fiery spikes, and snowy skin. Dung, she needed a tumble. She slid her hand down her belly. She was slick and hard and swollen. She rested her back against the shower wall and widened her stance. She conjured an image of Tan kneeling, that talented mouth working her sensitive flesh as she massaged the turgid nerves. Tan was probably downstairs. One quick mental message would easily bring that mouth upstairs to replace her fingers for real. But the image that made her swell to bursting, throb to the edge, and explode in a wave of pleasure wasn’t Tan’s dark eyes and smooth brown skin. Instead, emeralds and fire burned through her and left her legs trembling, her chest heaving, and her belly with a pleasant ache.
“Let this flow as it will, First Warrior. This is not a river you need to dam and control.”
Maybe she’d never soul-bonded, but she’d had crushes and lovers in many of her lifetimes. They were always affectionate relationships but ones she knew she would move past if circumstances sent them along separate paths. She didn’t understand this sudden infatuation at a time when she should be focused on her mission. But fate paid no heed to human logic. She’d learned that many lifetimes past.
So, maybe she should just let go and kiss her. Jael flushed with the thought, and she rinsed quickly to step out of the shower before the pulse building again in her crotch needed a second round of relief. First, she had to be completely honest. If who Jael had been, who she still was, didn’t scare the Advocate away, then she’d kiss her.
*
The chatter around the dining-room table fell silent when Jael descended the stairs to join them. She hadn’t taken a meal with the group most of the past week, and, judging from their expressions, they were surprised at her appearance now.
“I’m starving,” she announced without ceremony and settled into the seat at the end of the table. The smiles and chatter instantly resumed as they passed platters of spicy scrambled eggs, chorizo, tortillas, refried beans, and sweet fried plantains to her.
Nicole went back to entertaining everyone with a story about hiking and stumbling onto an amorous threesome skinny-dipping in a crystal-clear pool at the base of a waterfall. Jael watched Furcho spoon plantains onto Nicole’s plate, his eyes never leaving her as she waved her hands about to punctuate her tale. Apparently, Jael wasn’t the only one interested in a little physical awakening.
While Nicole was gregarious and animated, Alyssa’s other assistant was serious and quiet. She’d only heard Uri say more than a few words once when he struck up a debate with Diego on the merit of luxury credits as incentive for invention. Uri argued that necessity is incentive for invention. Diego argued that luxury credits stimulated enterprise before necessity dictated it.
But she wasn’t interested in Nicole or Uri. Her gaze followed Alyssa as she rounded the table with a fresh carafe of coffee, refilling everyone’s mugs. Second picked up her plate and motioned for Alyssa to take her seat. It just happened to be the chair next to Jael’s.
“Good morning,” Jael said.
“Good morning,” Alyssa cocked her head as she studied her. “You look rested for the first time this week.” She glanced down and smiled at Jael’s plate heaped with food. “And hungry.”
“I am, thanks to you. But don’t think you can get away with drugging me again. I won’t be so trusting next time you dump something in my tea.” She softened her admonishment with a smile.
Second returned from the kitchen and set a plate of food and a steaming cup of tea in front of Alyssa.
“Sorry, but the hordes have already consumed the plantains. I know they’re your favorite,” Second said. “Next time, I’ll put some aside for you.”
“Thanks, but we’ve got to get over to the clinic. I’ll just take a tortilla with me,” Alyssa said, stuffing a couple with eggs and beans.
“Eat your breakfast,” Jael said, transferring some of her plantains to Alyssa’s plate. “I think you and your assistants could use a day off, too. Let somebody else take DNA swabs today.”
“Really?” Nicole was listening, and her eyes lit up at the prospect. “I’d love to find a way into town for a little shopping.”
“I have an order placed at the local market that Furcho can pick up for me, and then he can accompany you to whatever shops you want to visit,” Second said.
Diego frowned. “You already asked me to go.”
“Let Furcho,” Jael said. “We’ll start training in another week, two, tops, and I need you to check the preparations for that.”
“Fine. I didn’t want to tag along after a woman shopping anyway,” he said.
Furcho patted his shoulder. “How about I bring back a keg of your favorite beer?”
Diego stopped frowning. “Deal. The cargo transport is parked out front. I’d planned to leave right after breakfast.”
Nicole turned to Alyssa. “Want to go? We could hit a few shops while Furcho picks up the order.”
Alyssa hesitated. “I am running low on a few teas.”
Jael cleared her throat. “If you could give Nicole a list, I thought you might like to hike up the mountain with me today. I want to show you something.”
“I’m not low on anything urgent, and I love to hike.”
She laughed, remembering Alyssa’s incessant complaining as she’d walked the four klicks up Jael’s mountain. She gestured to Alyssa’s feet. “Well, it will be much more pleasant if you wear the proper shoes, rather than those sandals.”
“I have s
ome hiking boots and thick socks you can borrow,” Nicole said. “I’m pretty sure we wear the same size.”
“Are you sure you don’t mind?”
“Not at all. Do I have time to run back to my quarters for my credit disc?” Nicole asked Furcho. “I can grab the boots and socks for Alyssa, too.”
“Go. I won’t leave without you,” Furcho said, smiling as she jumped up and raced out the door.
“Wait,” Alyssa called. She turned back, her face flushed with excitement. “I’d better change, too, into something more appropriate for hiking. I’ll be right back”
“Take your time. There’s no rush,” Jael said, smiling. “You should eat your breakfast first.”
Alyssa snatched up a stuffed tortilla to take with her and pointed at her plate. “Don’t eat my plantains. I’ll be right back.”
Jael eyed the sweet treat she’d put on Alyssa’s plate and moved to steal a bite.
“I wouldn’t do it if I were you,” Second said.
Jael looked up and winked at her cousin, then shoveled the remaining plantains from her plate onto Alyssa’s. “She’s going to need the energy for the hike up the mountain.”
Second regarded her. “You’re taking her to the nest?”
“Yes. Ours, not the wild one.” She waved off Second’s offer to refill her coffee. She was edgy enough about the task ahead without the added caffeine of the strong, dark coffee. She nodded her thanks when Second poured her a glass of juice instead. “It’s time to be honest with her. We’ll have everyone screened in another week or ten days. When that’s done, we’ll be telling the rest of them anyway.” She looked at Second. “Are you worried about her discretion?”
“Not at all.”
“What then? I can see it on your face. If you want to say something, say it. We’ve never kept anything from each other.”
“You like her, don’t you?”
Jael had finally admitted that to herself, but she wasn’t sure she was ready to admit it to anyone else. Not even Second. “What’s your point, Second?”
“I can see she’s special. I just don’t want you to screw things up.”
“Are you saying I don’t know how to handle women?”
Second barked a laugh. “I’ve seen you handle plenty.” Then she grew serious. “But this one could be different.”
Jael stared at her empty plate. “I was reminded last night, when I fell into her trap and was drugged to sleep, that I have no control over what happens with her.” She looked up into Second’s affectionate gaze. “The Collective Council warned me to just let things happen. Their words, I believe, were something to the effect that our destiny is a river that shouldn’t be dammed.”
Second gave her a crooked smile. “Just watch out for the rapids, because I’m betting that red hair comes with a few rough spots.”
Chapter Eleven
“Prophet! Prophet! Prophet!”
The lights blinked and people hurried to fill the few seats left in the coliseum, while others stood shoulder to shoulder on the ground floor in front of the stage. The lights dimmed and they chanted louder.
“Prophet! Prophet! Prophet!” The rafters reverberated with the thunderous sound as a lone man walked onto the stage. A spotlight followed Cyrus to the center, and he stopped to face the chorus of voices. He held up his hand and they immediately fell silent.
“I’ve just received news that tornadoes have leveled almost an entire city in Region Three-North Sector.” The coliseum filled with the rich quality of his amplified baritone, laced with undertones of sadness and regret. “Thousands are missing or confirmed dead, and this town, which is the center of egg production for the North Sector, has been put out of business for the foreseeable future.”
A murmur rippled through the facility.
“The World Council, of course, has sent disaster teams armed with nourishment and temporary shelters until the town can be rebuilt.” Cyrus searched the thousands of faces as if working out his next words, then held his hands out, palms up, in a beseeching gesture. “But who will nourish their misguided souls? Who will deliver the message they need to hear?”
The crowd shifted restlessly. “Who will be a messenger of truth?” Cyrus pointed his finger and swept it from one side of the coliseum to the other, as if searching for a button to push. A man among the standers shot his arm up, and Cyrus zeroed in on him. “Come up and speak, brother.”
The man shuffled through the press of bodies. An usher clipped a small amp to his shirt and helped him onto the stage, where Cyrus shook his hand.
“What message do you have for us, brother?” Cyrus asked.
“Uh, I was gonna say, uh, that my mate’s family are chicken farmers just outside that town.” His voice broke with the next sentence. “We haven’t been able to contact them since yesterday when the storms hit.”
Cyrus put a comforting hand on his shoulder, and the man nodded his thanks. When he spoke again, his voice was stronger. “I’m headed that way tomorrow to find them. And when I do, I’m going to tell them about, uh, The One. I’m going to help them see that we’ve been wrong and now we’re being punished.”
“And why do you feel compelled to do that, my friend?”
“Because it’s the natural order of things. And, in departing from the natural order, we have brought this plague of hunger and death upon us. The only way to right things is to return to The One and the way he intended our world.” It was the practiced response of the cult and he recited it well.
“Very good, brother.” Cyrus steered the man toward the side of the stage where someone had placed a folding chair. “I want you to sit right over there, and before we all go home, we’ll ask for volunteers to accompany you on your mission.” He waited until the man was seated, then turned back to the crowd. He let their anticipation build during a prolonged dramatic silence before he spoke.
“I have spent a lifetime studying the ancient religions. Each had its own faults. Each let the carnal nature of mankind subvert its system of beliefs. So, it’s no surprise the two great religions that survived as others died off—the Muslims and the Christians—became extinct when their struggle for dominance culminated with the Great War of Religions.” He paced the stage to let that message sink in.
“But as I read the ancient texts, I realized that both were built upon the same basic truths—one creator, one power, our compulsion to sin and the judgment that will surely follow. Both texts tell us The One called disasters upon mankind as a warning when we were disloyal and deserted the natural order of things. You might ask, what is the natural order set forth in those texts?”
He held up one finger. “Man was created first to be protector and guide to woman, the giver of life. It is the natural order. As men, we are born with the physical strength and level emotions needed to keep order. Women are the incubator from which life springs, and it is our job to keep them safe from harm, whether it is harm others would do to them or harm they would do to themselves by trying to fill a man’s role in life.”
He held up a second finger. “The natural order is for man to join only with a woman and a woman to join only with a man. The diversity The Collective preaches is merely justification for departing from The One’s natural order and giving yourself over to carnal lusts. It has led to chaos, men lying with men, women lying with women, and many women refusing to bear children at all.”
His voice, indignant, rose with each sentence.
He held up a third finger and shouted at them. “We began to burn our dead. The ancient texts tell us that when the day of final judgment comes, we will rise up from our graves to rejoice in heaven or burn in the eternal purgatory of our wrongdoings. The Collective thought is that we must burn our earthly bodies to reincarnate into another life. I’m here to tell you that reincarnation—if it truly exists—is nothing more than souls struggling to be born again and again, hoping their next life will finally end in the peaceful grave where they can rest until the great judgment.”
He
wiped spittle from his lips and nodded as male voices murmured affirmations to his rant.
He lowered his voice to normal, soothing tones. “But The One has been patient, waiting patiently before stepping in and laying down a warning. Unrelenting rain has brought mountains down on our heads. Violent storms have leveled entire cities with tornadoes in the midlands and hurricanes on the coasts. Drought in some sectors and floods in others have destroyed crops, and for the first time in more than a hundred years, we don’t have enough to feed the entire world. So, who will eat and who will go hungry?”
Cyrus took out a handkerchief and mopped his sweating brow. He had them on the edge of their seats, and he loved it. This was so much better than a classroom of bored students. “I’m here to tell you that members of The Natural Order will be fed. The One will smile upon us, while those who ignore his warnings will go hungry.”
He motioned for the man seated on the stage to join him. “Now, who will go with this brother to spread the word? We have volunteers down here at the front with information about where and when to meet so that you can travel together to deliver our message and feed those victims who respond. We need men for certain, but we need a few women, too, to talk to their sister women who are surely lost and grieving the loss of loved ones. While people are signing up, I am going to turn you over to Brother Donald.”
Another man, blond and fit, jumped onto the stage and tapped his IC to activate the amp application. “If you’ll look on the back of your program, you’ll see the words to an anthem I wrote. I’ll sing the first verse, and then you join in when you catch on to the tune.” He took a deep breath and began singing in an energetic tenor. “We are soldiers of The One marching to The Natural Order. We’ve turned from the path of chaos and disorder—”
Dragon Horse War Page 11