The Corded Saga

by Alyssa Rose Ivy

  “We’ll do routine hunts or buy it from the Rurals.”

  “But in case those aren’t successful, you’ve learned to make do without it.” As a society we’d gotten use to making due without a lot.

  “Exactly. We’ve figured out how to supplement our diets.”

  “Is there any job you’d like me to do?” There was nothing good that was going to come from discussing the need to supplement. It was a raw reminder of how desperate everyone was.

  “That depends on you.” He smiled.

  “What do you mean?”

  “I can’t make you do physical labor. I have plenty of men for that.” He gestured to the five men tilling. “But you don’t strike me as the sort who likes to sit around. You wouldn’t have signed up for this job if you were.”

  “Exactly. I’m here to get my hands dirty.”

  He laughed. “Then so be it. I’ll quote that to Mason if he takes issue.” He handed me a standard size trowel. “I assume you know how to use one of these?”

  “Yes. Are we planting something new?”

  “Yes. I need holes two inches apart in rows about sixteen inches apart. We’re planting peas.”

  I made a mental note of the measurements. “I’m on it.”

  He shook his head. “You’re something else. Good to have you on board.”

  I spent the morning making holes and filling them with seeds. It felt great to get my hands in the dirt again. When I focused on the job, I could almost forget we were inside. The heat lamps caused sweat to pour down my face, but it reminded me of working in the sun. I thought of Thomas and Quinn and the games we played as kids. I would see them both again one day. I was determined.

  A bell rang, signaling lunch, and I reluctantly set aside my tools. I could have worked sunrise to sunset if it meant forgetting about all my other troubles, but I had to follow protocol, and working through lunch wasn’t part of it.

  “How was your first morning?” Taylor asked as we all took turns washing up in a big sink.

  “Great! I want to come back this afternoon, but I’m not sure if I can.”

  “Enthusiastic, huh?” He grinned. “You planted double the peas I expected you too.”

  “I work fast. Thanks. And I will definitely be back tomorrow.” I headed to the elevator, excited to find Addison. For the first time in days I felt useful.

  “Hey!” Addison waved from next to the elevator.

  “Hey. How did you know I’d be here?” I felt a rush of relief at finding her so easily. I wasn’t exactly sure where to go for lunch, and I didn’t want to get lost and find myself in trouble.

  “Mason sent me a message.”

  And that explained why Jarrett wasn’t waiting for me. As much as I didn’t want to find myself in trouble, I knew Mason didn’t want me to either. “Would you want to have lunch together?” It felt strange to ask, I’d never had to before.

  “Of course. That’s why I’m down here, silly.” She grinned, and we headed to the cafeteria.

  “Do you want to eat somewhere else?” Addison whispered after we filled our plates with a mix of vegetables and some sort of grain I didn’t recognize.

  “Where?” I asked just as quietly.

  “There’s an empty room across the hall. I doubt anyone would care.”

  “Sounds good.” I followed her out of the dining room.

  I pulled out one of the hard plastic chairs at the white table. Addison sat down next to me. We didn’t say anything for a few minutes, we both dug into our food—it was bland, but it went down easy enough.

  “How are you?” Her brown eyes locked on mine.

  “I’m fine.” I set down my fork, nearly done with my lunch already.

  “Are you sure?” She pushed aside her empty plate.

  “Yes. It’s been an adjustment, but I’m getting used to it.”

  “Is Mason...” She hesitated. “Is he treating you all right?”

  “Yes. He’s been nice.” Nice wasn’t the right word, but I didn’t know what to say. I’d sworn I wouldn’t reveal just how much space he was giving me.

  “Is he going to help you?” She leaned in. “With your sister?”

  “He says he’s going to try.” And I was determined to take him at his word—for now.

  “Try? He knows that’s the only reason you’re here. Why hasn’t he done anything yet?” She frowned.

  “I understand it isn’t easy.” I was surprised by her reaction. Everyone was so afraid of Mason, did she really expect him to help?

  She looked unconvinced, but the shook her head. “Ok. Are you free this afternoon?”

  “I think so.” I wasn’t sure how my schedule would work now.

  “I think it should work like mine. At least that’s what I would assume.” She sipped her lemon flavored drink.

  “Do you have plans?” Free time wasn’t something I was used to.

  “I thought I’d go swimming.”

  “Swimming? Like in a pool?” I’d never been in a pool before, but I’d been in the pond on our property many times. I learned to swim in a sloppy way, but it worked well enough to keep my head above water.

  “Yes. Where else? The men don’t mind when we use their pool during the day. They’re all out anyway.”

  “Okay. I’ll join you.”

  “Great!” Addison sounded excited for the first time. “Let’s go back to the suite so we can change.”

  The suite. I hadn’t been back since the Cording. Did I still have a room there? “Do you have something in particular you swim in?”

  “Yeah swimsuits.” She looked at me funny. “Are you done?”

  “I’m done.” I didn’t enjoy the food enough to clear my plate. Maybe helping with the farming would make it more appealing.

  We cleaned off our trays and headed back to the elevator. We shared it with several men, but not Greer. I let out a relieved breath when we reached our floor.

  Inside the suite, Addison tossed me two bright pink pieces of fabric that had to be undergarments. “Why would I need these?”

  “To swim in.”

  “You said you swam in swimsuits.” I asked with confusion. I’d never had a true swimsuit before, but this couldn’t be one.

  “This is a swimsuit. It’s a bikini.” She smiled. “You haven’t seen one before?”

  I examined the pink material. “Are you sure about this?”

  Mora walked over and laughed. I hadn’t realized she’d been listening. “None of us care about anyone seeing us half naked. All the Circle men have seen us naked already.” Her laugh was light but her face wasn’t. She was annoyed at me, which didn’t come as a surprise at all. Considering the circumstance, she was being more pleasant than expected. “That’s right. Mason’s the only one who’s seen you.” She rolled her eyes and walked out of the room.

  “Ignore her. She’s just bitter.” Addison frowned.

  I waited until we were alone again, but just to be careful I lowered my voice to a whisper. “Do the girls think I’m the one who asked for a personal Cording?” We’d discussed this once, but now that more time had gone by maybe Addison knew more.

  “Of course not.” Addison undressed without any attempt at modesty.

  I looked away and attempted to change while keeping on my shirt. The swimsuit was even skimpier than I expected. It barely covered my breasts, and I was more than a little bit uncomfortable about having my entire midriff and 90% of my lower body exposed too.

  Addison laughed lightly. “You really are concerned with people seeing your body. You have led such a sheltered life.”

  “I know. That’s not a bad thing.” I was realizing more and more just how sheltered and lucky I was. Sometimes my father’s protectiveness had frustrated me, but I understood it now. I wished I could thank him for it, but I never would. I fought back tears. I would only mourn in private.

  “No. It’s not.” Addison looked out at some spot in the distance. “But it’s not realistic. Does all that protecting help you now? No. It l
eft you less prepared.”

  I’d never heard Addison talk that way. She was usually upbeat in her own quiet way. I realized in all of my focus on myself I hadn’t asked about her. “Are you okay?” I slipped into a pair of sandals Addison offered.

  “Yeah. Of course. Why wouldn’t I be?” She responded quickly, grabbing us two pink towels from a closet. There was so much pink. I assumed it was a way to emphasize femininity in a world where it barely existed.

  “I was just checking.” I accepted one of the towels, covering as much as my body as possible with it as I followed Addison out of the suite.

  As Addison predicted, the pool and the glass enclosed room around it was empty. I dropped my towel on a chair and watched as Addison jumped into the greenish-blue water. I followed right after. The cool water was warm enough to be comfortable. There must have been some sort of heat source in the kidney shaped pool.

  “What do you think?” Addison came up for air.

  “It’s nice.” I floated on my back. Floating was much easier than swimming.

  “I come here a lot. It’s a nice escape.” Her long dark hair flowed behind her as she floated next to me.

  “How old are you?” She looked close to my age, but I couldn’t tell for sure.

  “Nineteen.” She used her arms to move around the pool but her legs remained relaxed.

  “You’re pretty much the same age as me.”

  “Are you older or younger?” She paddled closer to me.

  “I’m eighteen.”

  “All the other girls are at least twenty three. I was kind of the baby of the bunch.”

  “Was that hard?” I wanted to be better about keeping the conversation focused on her. I refused to turn selfish because of my situation.

  “The hard part was the transition. I went from completely off limits to part of the group, you know?”

  “So the men left you alone before?” I wanted to know more about her experience.

  “They noticed me once I was sixteen or so, but Mason was strict about eighteen. He said that’s the legal age they used before.”

  “Central goes with fifteen for breeding, don’t they?” That’s what I’d heard at least. I wouldn’t have been surprised if they went with twelve.

  “Yeah. They say it’s different because it’s not sex, but I think that’s worse.”

  “The implantation?” At least she understood my distaste for it.

  “Yeah. And all that. At least sex is with an actual person. There’s a relationship even if it’s not really deep.” She closed her eyes.

  I didn’t say anything for a moment. I wondered if Addison had felt anything for Mason. “Have you been with Mason a lot?”

  “No. Only a few times. I don’t think he even wanted to, but he kind of had to in his position.”

  “Why would you think he didn’t want to?” I didn’t want to press her, but I was more than a little curious.

  “He seemed to feel bad. He didn’t want to hurt me. Maybe he just remembered me being a kid.” She stopped floating and leaned against the wall.

  “Do you know how old Mason is?”

  “He’s pretty young actually. Maybe twenty-three.”

  “So most of the girls are older than him?” I’d assumed he was older. There was something about his eyes and the way he carried himself. Plus he ran the club. He was awfully young to be doing that.

  “Uh huh. Central has cracked down harder the last few years. I think almost every other girl our age is in Central if they weren’t kidnapped by the Reine or something.”

  “So it is true? Central takes girls who aren’t breeders?”

  “They’re trying to make everyone a breeder, but it doesn’t seem to work.”

  “Oh.” Why hadn’t the traders sold me to Central then? Had the Reine really paid more? Or was it out of fear of what would happen if they didn’t keep the Reine happy? It wasn’t worth worrying about. The past was the past.

  “Do you like it?” She flipped to her stomach and started to swim.

  “Like what?”

  “You know what I’m asking.” She smiled. “Do you like being with Mason?”

  “Why would you ask?” I struggled to come up with an answer that wouldn’t give everything away but wouldn’t require me to outright lie either.

  “I’m just wondering. Some girls like it, but others don’t.”

  “Do you?” I turned to question around.

  “With some guys.” She looked up at the ceiling.

  “Who?”

  “Not Mason if that’s what your worried about.”

  “I wasn’t worried.” I met up with her on the other side of the pool.

  “Giles is always sweet, and last night...”

  “What? What happened last night?”

  “Last night I went back with Ethan.” A blush crept up her cheeks.

  “Oh.” I refused to let it bother me. He’d been waiting a long time to get on the Circle.

  “Did you like last night?” I asked out of a combination of curiosity and politeness. She’d brought it up for a reason.

  “Yes and no.”

  “What do you mean?” I tried to keep all emotion from my question.

  “Physically it was good. He’s more gentle than the others, you know? But he was so distracted, and I knew I wasn’t who he wanted. He’s hung up on you.”

  “Why do you say that?”

  “He asked about you afterwards.” She returned to the wall.

  “That’s not being hung up. He feels guilty.” I swam over to the side and held on to the wall.

  “For leaving?”

  “Yeah. When he left he was rejecting me, and he knew that. I’m over it. I don’t care anymore, but I think seeing me again reminded him of what he did.”

  “Oh.” She tapped her fingernails on the side.

  “What’s Jarrett like?” I needed to change the subject. Thinking about Ethan reminded me of home, which brought back so much sadness.

  “I’ve never been with him.”

  “Really?” I asked with genuine surprise. I thought being on the Circle means you got the most time with all of the girls.

  “Why do you think Mason let’s Jarrett spend so much time with you?”

  “What do you mean? Because he trusts him.”

  “Kayla, Jarrett doesn’t like girls.” She swam over to me.

  “Oh.” I let her words set in.

  “You didn’t realize that?” She squeezed water out of her hair.

  “Should I have?” Was that the sort of thing you were expected to notice? I had so little experience dealing with anyone outside my family.

  “No. I guess not.” She dove under and came back up on the wall next to me. “Sometimes I forget how recently you got here. It feels like a lot longer.”

  “I feel that way too sometimes.” My farm felt like lifetimes ago.

  “I’m glad we got to do this today. I’ve missed you.”

  I smiled. “Same here.” I meant it strangely enough. One of the benefits of Sray was meeting Addison. I’d never expected to meet a girl my age.

  “Have you missed me?” Mason walked over to the edge of the pool. His expression was unreadable.

  I said nothing. Instead I watched as he unbuttoned his shirt and slipped out of his pants. He stood there in just his shorts.

  “Are you going to join us, Mason?” Addison asked when I still said nothing.

  “Yes I am.” He jumped in, splashing us both.

  He came up from under the water, his arms snaking around my waist. “I haven’t seen you since I left this morning.”

  I laughed nervously. “Yeah, I slept in.”

  “I’m going to go.” Addison smiled before pulling herself out of the pool. She toweled off before quickly disappearing outside the room.

  “She left in a hurry.” Mason still had one arm wrapped around me, while the other hand held the side of the pool.

  “She probably thought you wanted privacy.”

  “Privacy? And
why would I want that?”

  “No reason. She just thought it.” I looked away. Despite sleeping in the same bed with him, being in the pool in two tiny pieces of fabric felt more intimate even.

  He laughed. “You don’t have to pretend to be so innocent, Kayla.”

  “Who says I’m pretending?” I put a hand on my hip. I didn’t have to worry about staying afloat while Mason held me.

  “How was your first day on the job?” He changed the subject.

  “Enjoyable. Thank you.” I was grateful I’d had the chance to get out of the room and contribute.

  “Taylor says you did a great job.”

  “You’ve already checked up on me?” I wasn’t surprised.

  “Yes.” He offered no apology.

  “Oh.”

  “I was checking up to make sure you were okay, not because I don’t trust you.”

  “I didn’t talk to anyone really, but Taylor was nice.”

  “I’m not sure the men know how to be around you. You should probably come to the lounge tonight. Break the ice.”

  “If you think so.” I wasn’t looking forward to it. The lights, the music, it was all so loud. And it also meant facing a whole lot of men, including one I really didn’t want to see.

  “You are allowed to have your own opinions.” He cupped my cheek.

  “I’m nervous, that’s all.”

  “It’s Greer, isn’t it?”

  I nodded. “Yes.”

  “He won’t get near you. Between Jarrett and me you’ll never be left alone.”

  I thought about what Addison said. “Jarrett is very nice.”

  “He is. He likes you, thinks you’re spirited.”

  “Spirited? Is that a good thing?”

  “Yes.” He picked me up and set me down on the edge of the pool. I shivered from the cold.

  “You look dangerous in that thing.” He put a finger underneath one of the string ties of my swimsuit.

  “It’s very revealing.”

  “It’s a pretty color on you.”

  “You’re swimming in your underwear.”

  He looked down. “I am. I had to act fast when I found you in here.”

  “Found me? I bet you already knew. You have spies all over don’t you?”

  “I told you I have to know everything that happens in my club, but you and Addison moved quickly.”