Blood Bonds (25 page)

“Anything else?”

“Bring me something to eat. Chocolate if you can get it, maybe some cheese?” There was a snack machine in the break room. Normally it stayed stocked with a variety of Keebler goodness.

“I’m on it.” Haley hung up and headed upstairs. She made it to her office, raided her change jar, then took the booty to the break room and fed the snack machine like it was starving. She hit the buttons and waited for the machine to start dropping the food in the dispenser. With a quick flip of her phone and punch of numbers she called Ken and asked him to meet her in the showers.

Silence. Haley explained she wanted to meet him in the men’s shower. When that didn’t work, she just told him Farley had something computer related for him to tinker with.

“I’ll be down in fifteen. I’ve got to get this mail server back up before the entire PD drags me out into the parking lot for a beat down.”

Haley hung up and watched as the last of the cupcakes wound its way down the silver guide wire and fell in the opening below.

Two more snack crackers hit the bottom and she was out of quarters. Haley scanned the counter, then opened a cabinet, looking for something, anything to help get the load down stairs. She found a box with five packs of sugar left in it.

Footsteps came in behind her and the female chatter stopped. A familiar candy scent drifted to Haley’s nose. Claire’s friends wandered over to the coffee machine with their heads together and whispered.

“Don’t forget, ladies, even in Human form my hearing is better than yours. And trust me, you don’t want to know the details of my sex life.” Their mouths hung open as they threw her a quick over-the-shoulder glance.

Haley piled the food stuffs into the box. It wasn’t going to be big enough, but she had room in her pockets. At least her blazer had pockets. For some reason, fashion designers seemed to find it humorous to make ladies clothing with pocket flaps but no holes to put anything in. Haley had hers tailored so there were real pockets in every one.

Claire stepped closer and Haley said, “Is there something you need?”

“I want to know what happened with Farley.” Claire’s voice was barely a whisper, and she kept her head turned away from her friends, like they might read her lips. “Garrett wouldn’t tell me anything. He just kept saying I misunderstood.”

Haley did nothing to lower her voice. “He’s fine. Stayed at my place last night. We watched movies, lots of movies.”And she said movies in a way that suggested other things. When she looked at Claire, her eyes were blazing. Haley smiled, knowing it looked down right mean. “Seriously, Claire. I overreacted about that phone call. You know Farley, he’s always playing jokes. Got me good that time. Don’t worry&” She paused and stuffed the last packet of crackers in her pocket. “He made up for it later.”

One of the women coughed, spewing coffee out her nose. Her friend gave her a weak pat on the back.

“Something was wrong!” Claire put her hand over her mouth, and inched a little closer. Her voice dropped back down to a whisper. “Something was wrong, I heard you. He’s my boyfriend, I deserve to know.” When Claire was angry like this her scent left a spicy flavor on the back of Haley’s tongue.

Haley tucked the box under her arm. “I think now’s a good time to just put the whole dating Farley thing on the backburner. He’s fine. Everything’s fine. You didn’t hear what you thought you heard and that’s that.” She pushed past the woman and headed out the door.

“Wait a minute.” Claire’s princess shoes slapped the carpet as she ran to catch up. She never wore heels. In her two inchers Haley could look her in the eye, which was one of the reasons she liked her three inchers more.

Claire grabbed her arm. Haley froze. Her instinct told her to bite. Females were not touched without consent. Especially by other Females. But Claire was Human and she was just doing what Humans do.

Haley blinked to clear her vision, then looked at the woman. “Claire, I don’t have time for this right now. I have to go take care of something.”

Claire’s eyes went to the box of food. “He’s here, isn’t he?” she whispered. “Farley’s here and he needs food because something’s happened.” She shot a quick glance around the hall as if to make sure her companions weren’t close enough to hear. No, they were still in the break room, but their heads kept peeking around the corner to catch a glimpse of the show.

A growl ticked out of Haley’s throat. She turned and walked. Claire ran to catch up. “Stay out of this, Claire.”

“I won’t. You can’t make me.”

“Claire&” Anything she said was just going to make it worse. Haley punched the handle to the stairwell and started down the stairs. Claire paused at the top. Good, maybe she wouldn’t follow.

She did. “Why are we going to the locker-room?”

“Figure it out.”

Claire paused again when Haley headed into the men’s side. “Wait, you can’t go in there!” Sometimes Humans and their fear of naked did come in handy.

Haley headed through the locker room, passed two half-dressed cops, and walked into the shower area. The clicking of her heels brought heads out of the shower to catch a quick look. Someone whistled. Haley ignored it. Farley was in front of the only full length mirror, craning his neck around to look at his back. Dried ichor covered most of his top half.

“What happened?” Haley put the box on the counter.

Farley’s eyes locked on the food and he confiscated the box. “You are a life saver.” He ripped open packages and stuffed crackers in his mouth. Haley gave him a once over. There were nasty black bruises around his
ulysiss
point. He wasn’t food deprived enough to not heal, so that meant the cuts had been deep. Really deep. As in touch your own kidneys.

“Who did this to you?”

“Darco.” Farley stuffed a cupcake in his mouth. “Bastard. I hate him.”

So did Haley. More than that, she hated the things he did to Farley. But he was his Brother, and those were the rules of the Dens. It still made her Human-instilled ethics spark like they were going to short out.

“Who’s Darco?”

Haley winced. She was really hoping Claire wouldn’t follow her in here. Haley glanced at Farley and said “sorry” with her eyes. Farley just kept eating.

“Did you hear me, who’s & OH, MY GOD! What happened to you? Is that
your
blood?” Claire started towards Farley. Haley blocked her.

“Not right now, Claire. Seriously, you need to go.”

“But, he’s hurt.” Her bottom lip trembled. When Haley looked back at Farley, he shrugged. “Don’t try and tell me he’s fine. I can see for myself that he isn’t.”

“I’m fine,” Farley dipped his head in the sink and took a drink of water. “I promise you, I’m okay.”

“Are you going to press charges? You are, aren’t you? You work for the CFKR, they’ll arrest this Darco for doing this&”

“He’s my Brother. It’s no big deal.”

“I don’t care if he’s your
brother
. You need to & your back. Oh, my God!” Tears burst out of Claire’s eyes and her nose glowed. Farley scrubbed his face with his hand and ate another cracker.

A naked officer walked by and tossed a look to both Haley and Claire. Claire covered her eyes; Haley didn’t. Some Humans weren’t as shy as society would like them to be.

Farley sighed and said, “Claire, I’m fine. Just a little rough sex is all.”

Claire looked like she’d been slapped. Her blue eyes blinked way too fast. Haley groaned and put her face in her hand. Leave it to Farley. He just didn’t have a clue when it came to Human taboos.

“I really need to get out of these clothes.” Farley ate another cracker and looked down at himself. “I didn’t want the ledger to get wet though, or the hard drive.”

Haley said, “Hard drive? What happened to the rest of the computer?”

“Darco happened.” Farley went back to examining his back. “Damn him. I really hate it”

Claire’s voice cut over him. “You had sex with your brother?” Haley tossed the woman a look. Her face was pale, her eyes too big. The tears had stopped. Somehow she didn’t think that was a good thing.

Farley sighed. “I lost your Godsmack shirt.”

“I’ll get another one.” Haley kept her eyes on Claire.

“Farley!” Claire’s voice cracked. “You had sex with your Brother?”

He looked at her. “Well, actually I
fed
him, he did some dry humping, then shoved his hands down his”

Claire screamed. It was an ugly brutal sound. “You sick, sick, bastard. Is there anyone you won’t fuck! It’s bad enough you’re doing her.” She pointed at Haley. “But your brother? Your brother!” Claire threw herself at the sink basin and puked.

Farley raised an eyebrow.

Haley inched toward Claire, started to touch her back, hesitated, then tossed all caution to the wind. Her narrow bony shoulders racked under Haley’s palm as she made small circles. “It’s okay, Claire.”

“No, it isn’t.” She heaved again.

“Claire&”

“Don’t talk to me.”

“Claire, you’re being unfair.”

“I could&” She gagged. “I could handle you, I could. I really could. I could even handle the idea of things happening with other & other&” The gag stole her words. After a long moment of dry heaving she turned on the water and splashed her face. “His brother?”

This was one of those taboos that made Humans go all funny. “Claire, the title Brother is reserved for Males who survive the hatching grounds together. It’s a title and it doesn’t have anything to do with being a sibling.”

Claire shook her head, grabbed a few paper towels out of the dispenser, and blotted the water off her face. “I think I need to go sit down.”

“No, you need to hear this.” Haley stepped in her way. “This is what I have been trying to explain to you.”

Claire started to yell. “You never” She caught herself and looked around. Her small trembling hand went to her mouth again. “You never said anything about incest.”

Haley looked up at Farley sitting on the counter eating the last package of cupcakes. “Tell her, please.”

“He’s my Dominant.” Farley wiped his mouth on the back of his hand. “And because he’s my clutch mate, I have to submit unless I
roll
him.” With that kind of tone, he might as well be telling her the weather forecast. Claire stared at him, like she didn’t know who he was.

“I don’t understand.” A new trail of tears cut down her cheeks. Farley looked away. Haley knew it bothered him to see her cry.

“Look.” Farley slid off the counter. “If it helps, I don’t like him. Never did. But I did what I had to do to survive. If I didn’t let him Dominate me, he would have eaten me like the rest of my Brothers. He leaves me alone most of the time.” Haley wasn’t sure if it was his matter-of-fact attitude or what he said, but Claire shoved past her and ran back out of the shower room.

Farley shook his head.

Haley pushed a lock of hair from her eyes and said, “You really need to start thinking before you talk.”

He untied his boots. “It’s her problem.”

“You sure you’re okay?”

“Yeah, I’ll live.” He stopped and leaned against the wall. The last showerhead kicked off and the remaining Human occupant walked by wearing a towel. Water drips echoed in the silence. After a moment Farley dropped his head. “Some days I hate coming in here.”

“You don’t mean that.” Haley stepped closer to him and put a hand on his neck.

“Yeah, I do. If I thought I could get a job somewhere else, I would.” Haley shushed him and he caught her hand and brought it to his lips. “I mean it. The whole Human thing&” His tongue stroked her palm. “You just don’t see it.”

“I know it’s hard for Kin to adapt, but we don’t have a choice.”

Farley flipped his eyes up at her; gold flecks swam in the brown. “It wasn’t always this way.”

“No, and Humans didn’t always have jet fighters that could chase your ass down and blow you in half either. The sooner our people learn to accept that Humans aren’t food anymore, the better off we will be. If anything they’re our equals, and in some ways, our Dominant.”

A distant hello echoed from the locker room.

“We’re in here, Ken,” Haley said.

“Hey, sorry, I got held up.” Ken came around the corner. His hands flipped up and down as talked. “There was a problem with the POP server responding and” His tennis shoes squeaked to a halt on the wet tile. “Did I interrupt something?” He jabbed a thumb over his shoulder. “Because if you need a minute, I can wait out there.”

“We’re good,” Farley said. He unzipped a pocket in the side of his pants and fished out the hard drive. “Here, see if you can do something with this.” While Ken stared at the drive, Farley kicked off his boot and pulled out the ledger. He handed it to Haley. The second boot joined the first by the wall.

“This is a Toshiba. This came out of a Vaio? What happened to the rest of it?” Ken asked.

“My Brother.” Farley unbuttoned his pants.

“Oh.” Ken’s eyes went wide. “Oooh!” He nodded at the door. “Is that why Claire was throwing up in the hall?” His eyes went back and forth. Haley looked at Farley, who cut a grin. “What’s so funny?” Ken asked.

Farley shook his head. “Just remembering why I like you so much.”

“Well, you can like me, but that doesn’t mean I’ll
feed
you or & you know. I don’t go that way, even for Kin.” He adjusted his glasses and examined the hard drive. Farley laughed. “Did I say something funny?” Ken gave Haley serious eyes.

“Yeah, you did in fact.”

Ken shrugged. “I should be able to have this up and running. Provided of course there isn’t any physical damage. What exactly happened to the rest of it?”

Farley peeled his pants off and tossed them with his boots. Then dropped his boxers. There were more black and blue marks below his waist. “Darco stepped on it, stomped on it, kicked it around, and proceeded to do his impersonation of Tigger.” Ken winced. “I’m getting in the shower, either of you want to join me?” Farley held up his hand. “Just kidding, that was a joke.”

Ken smiled, gave two har-hars, then shook the hard drive at him. “How fast do you want the data on this thing?”

“As soon as you can.” Farley stepped into the first stall and steam billowed up as he cranked on the water. “Can one of you get me some clothes? I don’t think the office help will be as accommodating.”