by Stasia Black
Charlie’s jaw tightened and all he wanted to do was grab Shay and Audrey, steal one of the trucks he’d seen outside, and get the hell out of here.
“But we’ve cracked down on the vetting process since then,” the Commander broke in. “It’s more rigorous than ever. Any man raises a hand against a woman, he loses the hand and then is exiled.”
“Oh yeah? Did that happen to whoever abused that woman?”
The Commander’s gaze stayed rock steady. “Yes, it did. To four of the husbands. Unfortunately, the crowd got to the fifth before we could. Jacob’s Well does not tolerate mistreatment of women.”
“No, you just treat them like objects to raffle off with no say in the matter. They’re human beings,” Charlie said incredulously. He couldn’t believe he was having to explain this fucking concept. “They have the right to choose how they live their lives. Who they live their lives with. You can’t just—”
“You think you can solve all the world’s problems?” the Commander cut him off, obviously out of patience. “You want to restore law and order in the midst of anarchy?” He held out a hand. “Go right ahead. Be my guest. This is the best we can do in imperfect circumstances. But your own sister has found happiness here. And so have a lot of other people.”
“This is what I want,” Shay said, stepping forward again. “But I’ve seen enough in my life not to just take some stranger’s word for it, okay? So let’s wait a little bit before we pass judgement. Take a look around. Meet everyone.”
Charlie nodded. Good. So she’d call a stop to this nonsense as soon as she saw for herself how insane—
“I want protection I trust. Which is why I’ll only agree to a lottery if it’s for four husbands,” her eyes flicked his way, “with Charlie as the fifth.”
Wait.
WHAT?
Chapter 3
SHAY
Shay clocked the exits as she followed Sophia, the Commander’s eighteen-year-old daughter, to the room where Shay was supposed to sleep for the night. In the Commander’s own house.
“Oh my gosh, I’m just so excited you’re here,” Sophia said, clapping in excitement. “We haven’t had a new girl in ages. Well,” she rolled her eyes. “There was Drea, but she barely counts.”
Drea. The name was familiar. Oh right, she was the woman they’d overheard arguing with the Commander when they’d been first brought into the courthouse.
“I don’t think that woman would understand the concept of fun if it walked up and bit her in the—” Sophia broke off, eyes going wide like she’d just realized what she was saying. “Oh, um. Anyway.” She laughed and held out a hand, gesturing at the room. “Ta da.”
Shay glanced around. Wow. That was a lot of… pink. Sort of like a bottle of Pepto-Bismol had thrown up all over it.
They were on the second story. A quick glance showed the window wasn’t barred. After Sophia left, Shay would check if there was a trellis or drain pipe she could climb down if need be. If the last eight years had taught her anything, it was to always have an escape route ready. “Nice place.”
Sophia laughed. “It’s atrocious. You don’t have to pretend. The style of my eight-year-old princess-loving self is going to haunt me forever, seems like. But it’s a waste of resources to repaint and redecorate when so many other homes need actual repair so…” she held out her arms, eyebrows scrunched, “welcome to my pink palace…?”
Shay pulled her lips up at the side in what she hoped passed for a smile. That looked natural, right? She hadn’t been around… well, people… in a long time.
And this girl was a little too bubbly and friendly. In Travisville, they had girls like her to greet any new female arrivals who were brought in. Welcome, welcome. You’re finally safe. Travisville is a wonderful place to make your new home!
Then—after the girls were fed and back in good health—came the bait and switch. They were sold off to the highest bidder, often after six months of ‘training’ at the processing center.
Jacob’s Well wasn’t supposed to be that kind of place.
Then again, neither was Travisville. Officially, at least. Slavery was illegal in the new Republic of Texas, but that had never stopped anyone in Travisville. Especially Colonel Travis himself, who had a reputation as the best flesh trader in Texas. Among certain circles at least.
Then again, it was from the higher ups in Travisville that she’d overheard the rumors about Jacob’s Well. And since the monsters there didn’t like the Commander here—and that was putting it mildly—that only said good things for him. Colonel Travis himself and the Commander were enemies. Apparently it was personal, too, though she’d never heard the whole story.
But Colonel Travis’s temper was legendary and he didn’t make a secret of his animosity for Jacob’s Well’s Commander.
And the enemy of my enemy is my friend, right?
She wasn’t the naïve girl she’d once been, though. She didn’t trust anyone in this township farther than she could throw them.
Which, considering how large the border guards and that huge scarred man, Nix, had been, wasn’t very far at all.
So how come all she wanted right now was to run downstairs and throw herself in Charlie’s arms?
You don’t know that he’s any better than anyone else in Travisville was. Not really. Bringing him a few meals here and there didn’t mean she knew him.
Yeah, they’d been helping each other… but escaping had been in his own interest. It wasn’t about her at all. They’d used each other. Plain and simple.
Still, even as she thought it, it felt wrong.
She’d decided a long time ago that the only thing she could ever trust from another person was that they’d always be looking out for their own self-interest.
But Charlie… if he was just looking out for himself, then why did he object so much to the marriage thing? It was the perfect opportunity if he wanted to fuck her.
Then again, he had been trying to get her to leave Jacob’s Well almost as soon as they’d gotten there. Maybe he wanted her all to himself and didn’t like the idea of sharing?
Again, the thought felt wrong though.
Maybe it was the way he’d followed her directions so unquestioningly as they’d snuck off the old college campus where he’d been kept prisoner in Travisville. She was so used to Jason grabbing her elbow and jerking her back if she took even a step ahead of him on the rare occasions when they walked anywhere together.
Stay at my back, bitch. Who do you think you are? Bitches walk at their master’s heels.
But Charlie had just waited patiently for each whispered direction as she led him down to the river. It had been a new moon last night, so there’d barely been any ambient light. Just the little bit from the few buildings powered by solar panels whose batteries had been charging all day.
When Charlie took her arm, Shay had almost jumped out of her skin. But his touch had been gentle. He was reaching for her so she could lead him.
She couldn’t remember the last time someone had touched her without it being—
A knock came at the door and then Audrey peeked her head in. “Hey guys.”
“Hey hon.” Sophia’s face brightened, which Shay would have said was impossible just a minute before. Shay’d never met anyone so damn… smiley. And she had been in a sorority back in college before The Fall, so that was saying something.
“You and Charlie been reconnecting?” Sophia asked.
Audrey nodded with a wobbly grin and a sheen of tears coating her eyes. “I just can’t believe he’s really here. That he didn’t— That he’s—”
“Oh honey.” Sophia jumped up from where she’d been perched on the edge of the bed and hurried over to her friend, wrapping her up in a hug.
Shay felt awkward and out of place watching the affection between the two friends. Everything since breaking Charlie out of his cell had felt a little like a movie—like she was outside her body watching all these things happen without really being part of any of it
.
If she closed her eyes, she’d wake up in the little broom closet where she slept. It would be another day of arduous and never-ending routine.
Cooking. Cleaning. And waiting—always waiting in case he felt in the mood to call for her. Jason liked her to be at his beck and call, any time of day or night. Sometimes for himself, sometimes to entertain friends…
But God, she was being such a fucking princess about the whole thing. She’d had it so much easier than most women in Travisville. She’d never seen the inside of the Women’s Processing Center. She hadn’t been sold off to some stranger as a sex slave.
Back in the beginning, when she was just a stupid, stupid girl, she’d even given herself to Jason willingly. He’d been handsome, charismatic…
So who could she blame except herself for everything that followed?
She was too old to have been that naïve—nineteen when the bombs were dropped. That was old enough to have recognized Jason for the psychopath he was.
The strong will always take advantage of the weak.
It was one of the most basic facts of life. But she’d been stubbornly walking around like a romantic little fool. She might as well have painted a target on her back announcing: Stupid and Desperate: Please Take Advantage Of.
Love will conquer all, she had told herself in the beginning. And later, she thought, my love can change him. It was far too late when she realized that he’d never change and finally understood that fighting back was futile.
But she’d helped Charlie escape. She was here, in Jacob’s Well, wasn’t she? She’d really done it. Those weren’t things a weak person did.
Maybe, just maybe, she could wrestle back some control over her own life. One way or another, this was a new chapter. It all depended on what she made of the opportunity.
“And you,” Audrey said. Shay looked up to see Charlie’s sister coming toward her, arms outstretched. “Oh my God, I can never thank you enough.”
Before Shay could really register what was happening, Audrey had her wrapped in a hug so tight Shay had a hard time breathing. “Charlie told me how brave you were. How you risked everything to get him out of there.” She squeezed even tighter for a moment before pulling back and looking Shay in the eye. Tears spilled down Audrey’s cheeks, but her smile was so wide and full of gratitude, Shay immediately wanted to jerk away.
These people didn’t know her. If they did, they wouldn’t like what they saw. She wasn’t a good person.
But that was fine, she’d made her peace with the fact a long time ago. She did what she needed to do in order to get by and to take care of what needed taking care of. Freeing Charlie had just been a means to an end, not something she’d done out of the kindness of her heart.
“It was nothing,” she mumbled, pulling back.
But Audrey just scoffed. “You gave my brother back to me from the dead! That’s not nothing.”
“Yeah, well.” Shay tried for a smile and lifted a hand to the back of her neck, grabbing her hair and twisting it into a loose bun before securing it with a hair band Sophia lent her. “No big deal.”
“She’s modest, Audrey, leave her be,” Sophia said. “Besides, the real question is who’s gonna be chosen in her lottery. I saw Daddy leaving about twenty minutes ago. They could be drawing the names right this moment.” She clapped excitedly. “Who do you think would be a good match for her?” she asked Audrey. “You’ve been here long enough to get a feel for the town.”
But Audrey just laughed and held her hands up in surrender. “I leave that to the town gamblers and the romantics. All right, I’ve got to head out. Nix gets grumpy when he doesn’t have a warm body to snuggle up to at night.”
“Swoon,” Sophia said with a longing little sigh, holding her hands to her chest. “I want a Nix.”
Audrey laughed. “Hands off. He’s all mine.”
Sophia rolled her eyes. “I don’t want your Nix. I want a Nix. Someone strong and manly and capable like him.” She made a little squee noise and hopped up and down. “Just four months away from my nineteenth birthday now. I can barely sleep some nights I’m so excited!”
Audrey just shook her head good naturedly and dropped a kiss to Sophia’s forehead. “Take care, sweetie.” She looked to Shay, her gaze warm. “So good to meet you. I’m sure we’ll see a lot of each other.” Her smile broadened. “A little birdie told me we’re about to be sisters-in-law, after all.”
Shay nodded, again attempting what she hoped came off as a natural smile. She’d just gotten away from one controlling man. And here she was, marrying five more.
But it was all part of the plan.
And it wouldn’t be the same. Not at all. She wasn’t the naïve girl she’d been eight years ago when Jason first walked into town. She’d learned the lessons that had been beaten into her and she’d learned them well.
She’d be the strong one now.
And she could give them her body, that was nothing. She’d given it a hundred times before. The difference was, this time it was her doing the giving, not Jason. And that was everything.
Plus, in return she’d gain everything she’d ever wanted. Family. It was the only thing worth fighting for in this shitastic world. She was done with being alone. Nobody could survive alone, not for long.
“So,” Sophia said after Audrey left, pulling out a big binder and a purple glitter pen. “Let’s make a list of potentials and then we can put down pros and cons for each of them.”
When Shay just kept standing there, Sophia waved her forward again as she settled in on the bed, back against the plush pink headboard. “Come on, silly.”
Sophia’s forehead scrunched in concentration. “All right. There’s Sebastian, he’s the town’s chief engineer.” She glanced up at Shay and smiled, one eyebrow lifting. “He’s handsome. And smart. That’s two in the pros column already for him. And, let me think. Oh! Ryder. He’s the blacksmith, and just between you and me,” she leaned in, “I’ve daydreamed about those huge muscles of his more than once.”
Shay shook her head and laughed. See, she could pull off being a normal girl. No problem.
“Oh my God,” Sophia said, pulling back. “I can’t believe I forgot about Diego! He supervises all Central Texas South’s construction crews. He’s tall, has the most gorgeous black hair, and—”
As Sophia went on, scribbling names and attributes about man after man, Shay could only think about one. Charlie. If Audrey and her husband, Nix, had finally left, did that mean Charlie was downstairs all alone?
Was he thinking about her? Or was he just happy to be reunited with his sister? She knew she’d taken him by surprise demanding that he be one of her husbands.
That had not been in the plan.
You don’t really know him, she reminded herself for the umpteenth time. He’s no more trustworthy than any other man.
But he’d seemed so concerned about her, staying close the whole time they snuck from the college down to the river. He’d helped her down the river bank and gestured her to get in the river first, holding out a thick branch to make sure she didn’t get swept away too quickly. Even as they floated the few miles down river, he’d make sure to always stay within a few feet of her. And when they reached the small damn that marked the border of Travisville? Without a word, he’d been the one to sneak onto the river bank and take out the guard there, securing them the four-wheeler they’d ridden all the way to Central Texas South’s border, right at Jacob’s Well.
He hadn’t minded the fact that she’d climbed on and taken the controls.
She’d been relying on a map she’d overseen, along with her memories of the area from long ago. Shay had lived in Travisville for almost a decade, and she knew it like the back of her hand. Back before The Fall, she used to drive all over the hill country in the area because she loved the views.
But Charlie hadn’t known that. He’d just climbed on the four-wheeler behind her and wrapped his strong, steady arms around her waist in complete trust.
She shook her head and looked toward the window. It was still dark out. What time was it? Ten or eleven at night?
“I think I’m going to try to get some sleep,” she said, cutting Sophia off mid-sentence as she listed another guy.
“Oh of course, I’m sorry. You must be exhausted and here I am rattling on.” Sophia immediately hopped off the bed. “I just get so carried away. Like I said, we don’t get a new girl very often.” She paused, tilted her head to the side, and grinned at Shay. “I’m just so happy you’re here.”
Shay shrank a little under Sophia’s intense consideration. “Yeah. Um. Me too…”
Sophia grinned even wider and Shay’s face hurt just looking at her but then Sophia was bouncing over and throwing her arms around her. Shay went immediately stiff but Sophia just kept on squeezing.
Finally Sophia pulled back, laughing. “Sorry, I’m a hugger. Dad’s always trying to remind me of a little thing called personal space but I usually only remember after I’ve violated it.”
“No, it’s fine,” Shay said, voice as stiff as her spine.
“Oh good,” Sophia said. “Because you know how sometimes you just have so much happiness and excitement pent up in you and it just has to come out somehow?”
Shay could only stare at the girl and blink. “Um…”
But Sophia just laughed again and pulled her into another hug. It was much quicker, though. Thankfully.
“Sleep tight,” Sophia said as she pulled back. “Don’t let the bedbugs bite. And just think, tomorrow you’ll get to meet your new husbands. So exciting!”
And on that ecstatic utterance, Sophia flounced out of the room.
Leaving Shay feeling a little shell-shocked. While she’d prepared herself for a lot of different scenarios on this little adventure, she could genuinely say that Sophia Wolford was something she’d never expected.