Battlefield (2 page)

The next day, the sun shone down on the International Genealogy Laboratory from its place high in the sky.  The sky itself was a fresh light blue backdrop, with big, fluffy white clouds offering as much shade as they could from their current positions.  It was just after lunch when Unit 121 walked outside.  It was Day 1 of training.  Women had to go especially easy when it came to training incase their breeding partners succeeded in getting them pregnant, but it was also crucial for them to practice their physical combat, especially if they wanted to survive.

Devyn’s partner and close friend was Rachel, who was the polar opposite of Devyn when it came to physical looks.  She was tall, standing at five foot ten, with curly, dark brown hair.  Her slim, willowy frame was deceitful, because when she wanted to, Rachel could pack a serious punch.  Her eyes were almond-shape, and a dark chestnut color that resembled liquid dark chocolate.  Her skin was an ivory color, and her smile was always big.  Rarely did Rachel fake smiles, so when she smiled, it always reached her eyes.  Rachel was a happy person, and one of the main reasons Devyn found that she could stay sane in this place.  As long as she had Rachel, she had no trouble when it came to surviving.  Rachel was the type of girl who could walk into a crowded room, and within seconds, was making everyone laugh with one of her stories.  Devyn knew she was lucky to have her as a friend.

“So?” Rachel asked, arching a brow as she skillfully blocked Devyn’s quick kick to her side.  A mischievous grin touched her lips, pushing the bangs away from her face with her forearm.  Her attempt, however, was in vain seeing as how the strands of dark hair simply fell back into place; they always did.  “How was your breeding partner?”

Devyn immediately frowned at the question, not because it was in bad taste – she was used to Rachel’s minx-like qualities – but because just the thought of that man – what was his name?  Gerard, or something like that? – caused her whole body to tense.  The one redeeming quality in him was that he had covered for her.  Besides that, he was the biggest asshole on the face of the planet.

“Don’t even get me started,” Devyn warned, but apparently, she couldn’t take her own advice because she started to go off.  “The first thing he does when he gets in is give me the once-over and then says, ‘Let’s get this over with, shall we?’  So of course I start telling him that I’m not some animal – I’m a human, and I’m not going to have sex with him just because everyone says we should and blah, blah, blah.  Then he starts lecturing me about how we’re not humans.  Can you believe it?  He starts lecturing me, Rachel. 
Me
.  God, just the thought of him…”  She curled her hands into fists before throwing a decidedly fast punch at Rachel’s face.  Rachel managed to dodge it just in time.  “I can’t stand him.  I cannot stand him, and am not looking forward to when we have to meet up again.”

“Ooh,” Rachel said, her eyes sparkling.  “Angry sex.  That’s hot.”

Devyn rolled her eyes and slouched her shoulders, as though Rachel’s innuendo calmed her down a bit – and it had.  However, though she tried to keep a straight face, she couldn’t stop the corners of her lips from quirking up.  “Let me remind you that we didn’t have sex,” she said, her voice slipping back to its normal octave.

“Really?”  Rachel furrowed her brow and all amusement ceased to exist on her face as she regarded her friend.  “What happened with that, sweetie?  You didn’t get in trouble, did you?”

“Actually, he covered for me,” Devyn replied, crossing her arms over her chest as she turned her body slightly in order to regard her breeding partner, a few yards away.

“I still have no idea how you were able to resist him,” Rachel said, walking over to her friend and looking at Gerard from beside Devyn.  “He is definitely delicious looking.  I would have no problem if he started my fire.”

They watched in silence as Gerard engaged in physical combat with his training partner, a man named Hugh, completely oblivious to Devyn and Rachel’s scrutinization.  He had no shirt on, his body shiny due to how hard he was working and how his sweat was starting to accumulate on his rippling muscles.  His pale green eyes were darkened in focus, his jaw clenched, his muscles tense.  He was gorgeous.  Devyn couldn’t contain her blush if she had tried.  Okay, so maybe she lucked out when it came to her breeding partner, but it really didn’t matter how sexually and physically appealing he was because she wasn’t all that interested in sex.

“He’s a complete asshole,” she pointed out, though her voice wasn’t as firm as she had hoped for.  Devyn forced herself to tear her eyes away from the man they were talking about and fixated them on her friend’s profile.

Rachel tilted her head so she could lock eyes with her friend, a secret smirk on her face.  Devyn felt her body tense, waiting for some sexual innuendo she knew was coming; she knew that look quite well.  “Yeah, but sweetie, assholes are always the best lovers,” Rachel pointed out, her brow raised.  “Trust me, I would know…”

“Speaking of which,” Devyn said, now her voice teasing as a coy smile tugged at her lips, “how was
your
breeding partner?”    

“Oh, you mean Ass-Like Cement, also known as Hugh?” Rachel asked, pointing blatantly at the man who was fighting with Gerard.  “He was absolutely
divine
, if you know what I mean.”

As they had with Gerard, both Rachel and Devyn studied Hugh as he fought with his training partner.  He was barely an inch taller than Gerard, but his body was leaner.  However, despite the fact that he lacked the muscles, it didn’t necessarily mean he wasn’t strong.  The important fact about Hugh was that he was fast, which meant he could tire everybody else out before he, too, experienced such tiredness.  He had baby blue eyes that were clear and captivating, pale skin, and short, curly dark hair.  His lips were thin and when he smiled, there was an adorable crookedness embedded in it.  Oddly enough, Rachel preferred her men like Gerard while Devyn preferred her men like Hugh, but that smile on her friend’s face showed Devyn that she seemed to be fully satisfied with Hugh.

“Trust me, Rachel,” Devyn murmured as she turned so that she was now facing her friend.  “No matter how hard I try not to, I always know what you mean.”

Rachel chuckled, crossing her arms over her chest.  “That’s why you love me,” she pointed out, shrugging her shoulders nonchalantly.

Devyn laughed out loud at her friend as she started to shake her head.  “Oh Rachel,” she said.  “What am I going to do with you?”

“Anything you want,” she teased before throwing her eyes back over to Hugh and Gerard.  Her excitement fell from her face as she watched them again, and Devyn, seeing her friend’s look, went to stand beside her to observe the two men as well.  “Are you worried?” Rachel asked quietly, though her eyes wouldn’t look over at Devyn.

“Of what?” Devyn asked, tilting her head to the side and glancing up at Rachel from the corner of her eye.

“Of this,” she said, gesturing at her environment.  “Of what we’re supposed to do, the reason why we were born.”  She pressed her lips together and finally turned her head so she could look Devyn in the eyes.  “I know they keep telling us we shouldn’t be afraid to die.  I know we’re not part of humanity – we weren’t conceived naturally – which could lead to a big issue about human rights and philosophical debate about whether or not we have souls.”  She stopped herself, and her dark eyes pooled into Devyn’s.  “But just because I’m not technically a human doesn’t mean I don’t feel like one.  I’m scared, Devyn.  I’m scared for my life.”

Devyn reached out and took Rachel’s hand in hers.  “I know Rachel,” she murmured, giving her friend what she hoped was a reassuring squeeze.  “I am too.  But no matter what, I have your back and I know you have mine.  We won’t let anything happen to each other.”

“I just don’t understand,” Rachel said as she shook her head, and though the statement sounded as though it was filled with frustration, it was actually filled with disappointment.  “How could people allow the IGL to use us like this?  To place living, breathing creatures in a secluded environment and then have them fight it out until one unit is left standing?  It just doesn’t make sense to me.”

Devyn looked at Rachel, and no matter how badly she wanted to reassure her friend in some way, she couldn’t.  Devyn didn’t understand it either.  “We’re not human,” she said after a moment.  “I guess it doesn’t matter if we’re not human.”  

While Devyn and Rachel were scrutinizing their given breeding partners, Gerard and Hugh were practicing their hand-to-hand combat.  Though their bodies were focused on the task at hand, their minds were on the women they were – and were supposed to be – with them during breeding time.  Gerard was trying to focus, but Devyn’s face seemed to be tattooed to his mind.  Of course he found her attractive, there was no doubt about that.  But there was something else that was bothering him, the way she honestly believed she was a human.  It was frustrating.  Back in Glasgow, the biggest lesson him and his fellow Scots were taught was that they didn’t belong, that they were created, not born.

And he happened to be tied to a beauty who had her head up in the clouds.

“What’s wrong, mate?” Hugh asked him, his breath slightly lost.  He furrowed his brow and tilted his head to the side as he looked at his training partner.  “What’s in that mind of yours?”

Hugh was English and had a very prominent accent, nearly as prominent as Gerard’s.  He came from a Genealogy Laboratory located in Surrey, England, and was in his mid-twenties.  Though he seemed congenial, he was also thoughtful as well.  Gerard and Devyn were both at opposite ends of the spectrum when it came to the meaning of humanity, while Hugh was in the middle, deciding that both sides had valid points.  He might have been a fighter by nature, but he was a philosopher at heart.

“Oh nothing,” Gerard said, throwing one last punch before relaxing his body and running his fingers through his short hair.  “Did you know that some woman named Devyn really and truly believes that we are humans and that we have the same rights as all humans?  I mean, can you believe that?”  He shook his head as though even such a thought was ridiculous.

“Devyn?” Hugh said, tilting his head.  “Oh, you mean Rachel’s friend?”  He cocked his head and his blue eyes sought out his own breeding partner.  The two women had resumed training, so Hugh and Gerard weren’t confronted for checking them out because they were too distracted to do so anyways.  “Well, Devyn’s always been that way, I think.  At least that’s what Rachel says.”

“Says?” Gerard asked, perking his brow before nudging his friend with his elbow.  “Please tell me that you didn’t just sit around talking during your breeding time.  Rachel looks like a girl who would definitely be some sort of tiger in bed.”

“She is,” Hugh said with a raunchy grin.  “And she knows it.  I lucked out, truly.  She really is an amazing woman.”

“Sounds like you’re going soft on me,” Gerard teased, a glint in his pale green eyes.

“If you’re asking me if I like her, then yeah, I do,” Hugh said.  “What more can I say?  She’s amazing.”

“You’re a romantic, you know that?” Gerard murmured, rolling his eyes, though a smile still touched his face.  “And I don’t mean that in a good way.”

“When do you ever mean anything in a good way?” Hugh asked, throwing his friend a look.  Before Gerard could say anything more, Hugh continued, deciding to turn the table on him.  “What about you, mate?  I’m sure the sex between you and Devyn was amazing.  Word around the barricades is that that woman is definitely good in that respect.”  Hugh patted Gerard’s stomach.  “Oh, you always luck out, don’t you mate?  Women, fighting.  Always the best for you, ay?”

”Wait,” Gerard said, turning his head so he looked at Hugh.  “What did you say?”

“About what?” Hugh asked, now genuinely confused, especially with that look currently on Gerard’s face.  

“About Devyn,” Gerard replied.  “You said something along the lines of her being good in bed, and that you know this due to the fact that rumors have been going around in the Unit?”

“That’s just,” Hugh began, trying to seem nonchalant but knowing it wasn’t exactly working.  “That’s just what I heard.  Obviously I couldn’t – and don’t want to – tell you from personal experience or anything like that.”

Without another word, Gerard started walking over to the two women he and Hugh had been talking about, his jaw clenched with rigid determination.  He only stopped when he was right behind Devyn, and then quickly walked around her before she could throw a punch on Rachel.  He looked down at her, staring at her with what he thought was an intimidating stare.  Hugh finally reached the group and stood next to Rachel, both sharing a confused look.

“Is it true then?” he asked her, his low voice gruff as he held his eyes within his own.  “You’ve been with other men?  You’ve been fucking around with other guys?”

Devyn perked her brow, surprised at the notion as her mouth dropped open.  She was speechless for a moment – couldn’t speak at the blunt accusation Gerard was throwing at her.

Rachel had a similar look on her face and proceeded to stand next to Devyn in hopes of giving her friend support.  “Uh, excuse me?” she asked, speaking for Devyn, who couldn’t exactly formulate words at the moment.

Gerard completely ignored Rachel’s presence.  All he could see was Devyn, standing there, staring at him.  Just because the two didn’t like each other didn’t mean they could just sleep around.  And even if this was before Devyn was assigned to Gerard, she should have stayed pure.  “Well?” he prodded, clenching his fingers into fists in order to help maintain his anger.

“My sex life is none of your business,” Devyn said after a long moment.  Her arms were crossed over her chest and her eyes were all but burning into Gerard’s.  She couldn’t believe that he was asking her such personal questions.  It was none of his business and that was that.  God, she hated men like him who thought that they could just waltz in and start controlling every factor of a relationship they didn’t have.  Just because they were assigned to have sex together didn’t mean she had to disclose her personal information.

“Well, girlie, actually it is,” Gerard said, his voice loose and dry, filled with sarcasm as he looked down at her.  “Given the fact that you belong to me.”

No one was prepared for what happened next, least of all Devyn, but before she could stop herself, her hand reached out and she slapped him hard across the face.  Though pain seared through his skin, Gerard refused to reach up and clutch it, not wanting to show any kind of vulnerability, especially in front of her.  His pride wouldn’t allow it.  Though a very, very small part of him could admit that he was slightly amused by her action, and if he was thinking logically, he could probably admit that he deserved it.

“I don’t belong to anybody, you prick,” Devyn said, her face bright red with anger, and her eyes flashing emerald.  Her tone was tight, controlled, as though she was attempting everything she had in her in order to control her temper.  It was quite hard, however.  She had never met a man like Gerard before, so she didn’t quite know what to expect when it came to him.  “Get that through your thick skull.”

Devyn threw a look over at Rachel, who immediately deciphered it and gave her friend a very subtle nod.  With that, the two women proceeded to walk away from Gerard and Hugh, leaving the two men alone.

“You know,” Rachel murmured, dropping her voice so the two men couldn’t overhear her.  “The guy might be an asshole, but it’s definitely hot that he’s gone all caveman over you.”

“You are so weird sometimes Rachel,” Devyn said, allowing a small smile onto her face.  Rachel always knew exactly what to say to make her smile.

Gerard and Hugh watched them go, and it was only when the women had turned their backs that Gerard finally reached up and clutched his cheek.  Not because it was still hurting, but because he was still shocked that Devyn had actually done something like that to him.

Hugh looked over at Gerard, his face contorted into a wince before he clapped Gerard heartily on the back.  “Yeah,” he began.  “I probably should have told you that I heard that not only was she a hellcat in the sack, but she was also one when fighting.”  His blue eyes dropped to look at Gerard’s hand on his cheek.  “How’s the face, mate?  Is it still hurting?”

“Of course it’s not still hurting,” Gerard said, rolling his eyes as his eyes continued to follow the departing women.  “I’m just surprised that a woman like her could produce such a slap.  I wonder what she would be like in an actual fight.”

“I’m sure you could take her,” Hugh pointed out.

“Obviously I could take her,” Gerard said dryly, rolling his eyes. 

“I’m just glad she’s on our team, in our Unit,” Hugh said.  “Rachel too, but then I’m being biased.”

Gerard was glad Devyn was in their Unit as well, though he would never admit such a fact out loud.