Impure

by Kenna Bardot

  "Get lost, trash," she spat at Svane, whose eyes spun towards me.

  I stepped forward, angry over the treatment of one of the few people in Godsvail who'd been nice to me. "What the fuck do you think you're doing?" I demanded, placing my hands on my hips and pushing at the girl.

  Several of her friends stepped forward - another girl, who'd also been there with Galina along with two guys I'd seen around but had never spoken too. The girl was a kitchen attendant determined by the white uniform she wore. She raised an eyebrow at me, but I was quite surprised when I saw none of the animosity that had been there back during that ugly scene.

  "Well, darling, we're just reminding the trash where her place is." She snarled at Svane. "Get lost."

  Svane threw me a sad look, gave an almost imperceptible shake of the head before scrambling up and scurrying away. I looked after her helplessly. "What makes you think you may speak to someone like that, whoever you may be."

  "I'm Layla, darling.” She fingered the green sash she wore across her body. “I'm a Leven attendant. Keep up." She crossed her arms over her chest and looked me up and down pointedly.

  "Well, Layla attendant to a Leven Descendant, I don't appreciate what you did to my friend." I mirrored her crossed arms and glared at her.

  The guy with them, stocky with sandy brown hair and grey vest over the black uniform, let out a cruel laugh. "Friend? It's best you figure out, fresh meat, that you don't make friends with the trash. Especially the spawn of over-aged Collecteds."

  "Ryder.” Layla held out a hand to stop the guy and walked forward until she was in my space, almost nose to nose with me. "Mireyah Bolstad, attendant to a Svadeni... like it or not, deserved or not, you are in our League now and it's best for you to remember that. And remember that you have to stick with your own kind."

  I scoffed and dismissed her words although it tempted me to hit her square on the face. Only the fear of getting punished and sent away to rot - rot and not die was enough to stop me. "Align myself with the same people who just a week ago were perfectly content to treat me like the same trash that they belittle and persecute? Thanks, but no thanks."

  The girl in the immaculate white kitchen attendant uniform walked forward. "Be careful that you don't make enemies you cannot fight against, Mireyah."

  "I'd spit on the floor, but I wouldn't want the trash to clean it. I have too much respect." I stopped and smirked at her. "For them."

  The girl lunged at me and Ryder and the other guy who'd been mostly silent grabbed her arms. He spoke up, "Maude, it isn't worth it. Let her dig her own grave. She'll learn soon enough that she can't survive here with no proper friends."

  Layla shot me a mocking smile before walking off and bumping into my shoulder as she did so. The basket I carried crashed to the floor, and she stared down at it, letting out a derisive laugh as she did so. "Bye, darling. Let's go, everyone. Let's leave the lady to herself."

  As they walked off, trampling on what I'd picked for good measure, I let out an angry huff of breath.

  I'd rather eat the plants they'd stepped on rather than be friends with them.

  That I was sure of.

  Very sure.

  Chapter 8

  Mireyah

  I wanted to strangle him.

  With my bare hands.

  "You missed a spot." Hollis chuckled, and I turned to look over my shoulder and glare at him. The violet-eyed Shephard, Charolais, and Ryle sat with him, and they were shooting the shit and relaxing without a care in the world. Textbooks covered the table, as if they ever did any actual studying. From what I could tell, they put on a good front but spent most of their time flirting with women and harassing me.

  Turning forward to avoid the intensity of their gaze, I stretched out my arms to try to wash the spot on the window where there was a smudge. They seemed to find it the best entertainment to watch me struggle, given that I was much shorter than them, and they could easily just wipe the damn window clean if they weren't so intent on tormenting me. It probably didn't hurt that my ass was in danger of popping out the bottom of my dress.

  I dropped my arms in defeat, turning and stomping my way over to the chair where Ryle sat since he was closest. He might have been the biggest, the most intimidating in terms of size, but he was also the most straightforward. Hollis made my body stab me in the back like a two-faced little slut. Charolais could make me feel true agony but didn’t. Shephard was just terrifying, and I never knew what to expect from his stony intensity.

  So, the muscle head was the least scary option. At least he messed with my head less. "Can I use the chair, please?"

  Deceptively delicate lips with a strong bow turned up into a grin. "Was that so hard, winter girl?" I resisted the urge to snarl at him, hating the new nickname he seemed particularly fond of.

  "No," I said with a fake sweet smile as I batted my lashes at him. If I'd expected any of the others to bat an eye or care that I might dare to flirt with one of them, I was dead wrong. I really didn't matter in the slightest, just another body to torment.

  "Good," Ryle grunted, standing from the chair. When I went to sit in it, his arms caught me around the waist and lifted me into the air.

  I squealed, clinging to his shoulders until I realized that even as the bastard walked us closer and closer to the window that needed washing, his gaze was focused on my boobs.

  The ones that looked like they might suffocate him.

  I wished.

  "Well, better scrub the window then," he tormented, pressing his back against the glass even though he knew it meant I would need to scrub the smudges his stupid, muscular ass left against it.

  That was what my life had come to.

  Scrubbing ass prints.

  Taking one hand off his shoulder, I stretched it up and polished the window efficiently. "Done."

  No sooner had the word left my mouth than he dropped me to the ground without a care. Unprepared, I rolled my ankle and went down on my hip. I sucked in a ragged gasp as I forced myself to stand on it, finishing the window. Refusing to make eye contact with Ryle, I turned to Hollis as soon as I was done. "Anything else, Sir Hollis?" I asked mockingly.

  He shook his head, barely sparing a glance for me as he pretended to read. He hadn't turned the page for at least twenty minutes. "That's all for now. You can go."

  I nodded, limping my way out the door gratefully.

  I needed ice; the ankle was already swelling up as I forced myself to walk on it. Fortunately, I could get ice on that floor easily enough.

  The walk normally didn't take long, but I tried to put as little weight on my ankle as possible. It wasn't like I could take a day off for the injury to heal. Humans didn't get sick days.

  "Mireyah, are you all right?" a familiar gravelly voice asked, an odd note of inflection as footsteps approached me from the end of the hall. My head darted up, so panicked that Ryle had chased me, but the silver-eyed Descendant stared back at me instead. The hair and eyes were different, and he was less bulky, but that face was such a direct copy of what must have been his twin that it struck me every time I saw it.

  Unlike Ryle, who typically maintained his features in a stoic mask, Tate's was openly concerned as he approached me. Hands touched my face briefly, running over my arms as his gaze fell on my swollen ankle when I shifted my weight. I knew suspicion must have been apparent on my face, but he dutifully ignored it as he bent down to kneel at my feet and ran delicate fingers over the bruising flesh. "What happened?" he asked.

  "I, uh," I paused. "Sir Ryle, your brother? Dropped me. I landed wrong. I'll be fine." I stepped back out of his space, feeling cooler once his hand dropped from my ankle.

  "You need to ice it and put it up for a bit." He stood in front of me, reaching out a hand and touching mine. He ran fingers over my knuckles, still raw from adjusting to all the scalding water involved in my cleaning duties before becoming Hollis' attendant and then continuing after. Two male attendants walked past, eyeing my hand in Tate's with bug eye
s, and I snatched it back hastily.

  "I'm sorry." I winced. "You're being very nice. I just, I have to go," I sighed out, limping toward the storeroom and leaving him behind me.

  "Let me help you get to your room," he said, following me with quick steps.

  "That's all right. I'd like to do it on my own, thank you." He nodded, smiling with a flash of white teeth and running his hand over the shaved bottom half of the left side of his head. The rest of his hair flipped over to the other side, hanging in a straight mass of silver layers to just below his shoulder.

  "If you're sure."

  "I am," I agreed, turning and striding forward. There was no way he could be innocent, given his involvement in the way Hollis and the others had tormented me days before. But his behavior when he was away from them was appealing, regardless.

  ✽✽✽

  I couldn't decide what was worse. Being the subject of Hollis' tormenting fixation or waiting around on him like a dog tied to a fence when an owner goes into the store. Every time he went into class and ordered me to wait, I wanted to throat punch him and see how pretty he looked when he turned blue and couldn't breathe.

  My non-violent behavior was disappearing rapidly, it would seem. Even though it was annoying, I would just normally pace the hallway. It was a sure-fire way to drive me even crazier.

  But given my ankle, you'd better believe I plopped down onto my ass and leaned against the wall.

  "Does your master know what a lazy human he's claimed?" a harsh voice grunted at me from the end of the hall. I tilted my head to face whoever had harassed me that day, finding a group of six Descendants staring back at me.

  A black-eyed Tovenaar tilted his head at me thoughtfully, looking like he wished I were dead so he could toy with me like a puppet. I jolted to my feet as quickly as I could manage, the injury from the day before throbbing in pain as I did so.

  "He instructed me to wait." I grimaced as I put pressure on the ankle, and I hit it at a bad angle.

  "And that means you lounge about? You should stand and wait for your master like a proper little slave," another Descendant said, tossing her orange streaked hair behind her shoulder.

  "What difference does it make to you? If my master has a problem with me sitting, I'm sure he'll inform me himself." I shrugged, resisting the urge to roll my eyes. The female's orange eyes narrowed in rage, and I bit the inside of my cheek in dismay.

  There was seriously something broken in my head.

  The Tovenaar stepped forward, black eyes gleaming dangerously until he reached me. A hand wrapped around my arm, bruising in intensity as he shoved me into the wall. The back of my head bounced off the stone, and I winced from the sound of the thud. Shaking the blurred vision and dizziness away, I'd barely fixated my vision on his hateful face when his hand came up and clenched around my throat. He squeezed until my breathing restricted painfully, my throat pressing in under the force of that palm.

  "Enough," a cool, familiar voice instructed. "Hollis will deal with her. Now release the girl." My blurred vision met Tate's silver stare, wincing at the way he seemed so uninterested in my suffering.

  Matter of fact.

  Like I didn't matter again.

  But I saw the clenching of his fists and the way his jaw tightened when the other Descendant took too long to release me. I collapsed, falling to a puddle on the floor when he did finally let go and sucking in deep gasps for air. "Your master wants you in the library," he said, a twitch in his cheek.

  I almost looked at him in confusion. Almost didn't catch the hint. But knowing that Hollis was inside the classroom directly behind me, meeting him in the library could be nothing but a kind deception to get me away from the murderous Descendants. Especially since I'd been expressly forbidden to actually go into the library. I nodded, scrambling to my feet and hurrying down the hallway as fast as my ankle would allow.

  "Do you have a problem with me putting hands on the human, Tate?" the Tovenaar asked, but I didn't pause. "Do you want to fuck her? Is that it? Why not just ask Hollis, it's not like he's ever declined to share before." A hard laugh.

  I winced as I walked. I'd known that the Descendants shared all the humans, really. Though some became possessive of their personal toys and only shared with close friends, the norm was that if a Descendant asked to borrow an attendant, the request would be granted.

  I tried to focus on the positive. Tate had saved me from punishment. Maybe they weren't all bad. He gave a vague, cryptic answer to the Tovenaar, a smile in his voice.

  I disappeared around the corner, feeling hopeful for once in the miserable life I'd found.

  ✽✽✽

  Annalee quickly became my refuge. She was blunt, straight to the point, and sugarcoated nothing for me, but she was just about the only person who tolerated my presence.

  And I liked her, despite the way she so openly worshipped the Descendants and the Gods. The way she would do anything for Charolais, even if he asked her to throw herself onto a sword. So, whenever we fulfilled our duties for Charolais and Hollis together, we did. She'd been going to the kitchens to gather snacks to have ready when they returned to their rooms to cram for a study session. I found myself in one of the rare situations where I'd finished all the work Hollis gave me for the day when he hadn't required me to stalk him to his classes.

  Reaching the end of the hall to find the group of Descendants from the day before didn't fill me with a warm, fuzzy feeling. Seeing Hollis, Ryle, Shephard, and Charolais with them definitely gave me an outright sense of foreboding. I glanced at Annalee, but already knew that whatever situation I'd just walked into, she would not help me.

  "Don't you have something to do, Annalee?" Charolais asked, staring her down. She swallowed, nodding in agreement and darted off. I moved to follow her, thwarted by the Tovenaar stepping into my path.

  "We never finished our conversation yesterday, human," he spat, shoving at my shoulder until I stumbled on my injured ankle. I didn't look at Hollis, refused to give him the satisfaction. I knew well enough to know he was the one with all the power. I was his attendant, and he could order them not to hurt me.

  He didn't.

  And it didn't escape my notice that they ambushed me when Tate was suspiciously absent. There would be no hero to save me the second time around. The female with the orange hair stretched out a hand, sharp nails scratching across my face so hard I felt blood well in the path they left.

  Hollis stepped up, grasping my chin and tilting my face up to look at him. "No bleeding her pretty face. Can't have her all scarred up, can we?" He smirked, patting the skin of my cheek harshly and his hand came away stained red with my blood. He backed up, and I winced when one other stepped in, grasping the fabric of my dress at the back and ripping it down the middle.

  "When a human forgets her place," the Tovenaar stepped in, slapping me across the face hard enough that I knew my lip would swell. The only thing that kept me standing was the hand he placed at my throat. His fingers dug into the perfect bruises he'd left the day before, lifting until my feet scrambled for purchase against the stone floor. I clawed at his hand, desperate for the breath he'd stolen from me once again. "It is up to all of us to remind her who she is. Do you understand?"

  I nodded the little I could, feeling the haze around me growing even as my struggle weakened. He dropped me, and other arms wrapped around me to support my weight. I was grateful that I didn't fall to the floor until the hands of another male stripped the fabric of my dress off my shoulders and tugged my arms free while I tried to catch my breath.

  Warm air kissed my skin as my bra came into sight. The restrictive fabric of the dress made it catch at my hips, and thankfully the Descendant made no move to shove it off further. Hollis stepped into my face, staring down at me. "Fix your attitude, pet. Maybe next time I'll let them fuck you. But you might like that, wouldn't you?"

  I stared at him, horrified to find tears rolling down my cheeks. My entire body ached, and I knew that even though he hadn'
t been the one to deliver the beating, there was no one I would blame more. I shook my head, resisting the urge to beg but only barely. "I don't want to let them. Do you know that? You respond so well for me; love the way my hands feel on you." One of those traitorous hands trailed over my swell of my breast as I shook in the other Descendant's arms. "Be good for me, and I can be good for you." The Descendant at my back released me finally, and I tumbled to my hands and knees. "Now run, little human. Before I change my mind." I scrambled to my feet, prepared to race for my room and blocked by the crowd that had formed to watch my abuse.

  In the middle of that crowd, my eyes caught on the familiar silver gaze watching me.

  Cold. Harsh. Unfeeling.

  The Tate I'd thought to hope for was gone.

  ✽✽✽

  I attempted to pull my dress up but there was barely any proper way for me to gather any of the tattered fabric. Silver eyes haunted me, laughed at me, and I had to attempt to stop myself from crying. Realizing it was futile, I let go and just attempted to wrap my arms around myself to keep most of what had been revealed by their cruelty hidden from their laughing eyes.

  The crowd of Descendants let me pass. I knew it wasn't out of mercy but more that they enjoyed seeing me slink away in pain, in complete and utter humiliation. I could barely walk - my ankle that had been bothering me even more painful now after what they'd done to me. My body was riddled with aches and pains that I could not understand nor count.

  Spying the escape, I walked through the part, head bowed, shoulders hunched - fuck pride. I needed a big aspirin and a soft bed. Or as soft as I had, anyway.

  I rounded the corner away from them and towards my quarters with limping steps and stopped to prop myself against the wall when I knew I was a much safer distance away. The sound of the heels on the cobbled hallway hit me, and I stiffened. There could be nothing worse than to be caught in my state by anyone - human or Descendant.