The Superiors (18 page)

Draven looked at her. She seemed so inquisitive. And not at all stupid, at least intellectually. She didn’t seem too intelligent about taking risks. And she was insubordinate. But something about her reminded him of his human self, an association that unsettled him, yet drew him in at the same time.

“Yes,” he said. “Have you found family here?”

Cali stilled again and didn’t speak. The sky had grown lighter and Draven had to squint a bit now. “Yes,” she said slowly after a few moments. “I’m going to live in one of their places when they can make room for me.”

“And where is this place? I would like to be able to…visit you.” He surprised himself with the statement and its truth. He enjoyed not only taking sap from her, but also talking with her. More than he would like to admit, and much more than he should. After all, he could talk to one of his own people any time he wanted.

But talking to Cali felt different. He learned new things about sapiens, things he had known and forgotten long ago. And he liked her company. She was fresh, interesting, and she didn’t cower from him. He thought her flippant and reckless, but that made her manner refreshing. She didn’t act complacent and dull, or cowed and hopeless, or sullen and hateful, like other saps. She was bright and lively, and he liked seeing that life in her. She wasn’t like anyone he knew, human or Superior. She fascinated him.

Chapter Twenty-Two

Cali had so much to do. When the Man with Soft Hair left, other people started coming out to the gardens. She was still settling in to the new routine, the joys of being productive and giving back to someone in a way other than having her veins sucked on. She didn’t know the schedule yet, but she was learning it. And she sometimes had entire nights of peaceful, if cramped, sleep in her bunk. Sometimes not a single Superior chose her. But that didn’t happen often. Besides the Man with Soft Hair, another of her regulars had followed her.

She almost felt sorry for the Man with Soft Hair. He seemed sad to her, lonely. Although she’d seen firsthand that he wasn’t lonely physically. But something about him, an air of discontent and restlessness, seemed almost human. And if he had to hang around talking to humans, he must not have many friends. If it weren’t for his insistence on sucking her blood every time he saw her, she might have had a little more sympathy.

He wasn’t too bad, though. The bites didn’t hurt that much. No more than her nightly donation, and not as much as when she’d gone to the blood bank. She pushed that memory away like she always did when it popped up.

A few other people had joined her in tending the garden before the sun came into the sky. Best to get started early, while the morning coolness still hung in the air. In a few weeks they’d start harvesting, putting in a few new crops, putting food up for later, stocking the shelves in the warehouse to last until next year, for all these people. It seemed impossible, but of course it could be done. They did it every year, and every year most of them survived.

Now that she’d come back after so long, she only wanted to find whatever splintered parts of her family she could, avoid getting bit, and make it through the wet season. Some people wanted to be bought and thought it would bring them instant happiness. Cali didn’t believe that. She’d had more experience with Superiors in the restaurants than anyone had in the Confinement. Just like humans, Superiors came in all different sorts.

Some seemed relatively harmless but snarky and patronizing, like the Man with Soft Hair. Some were indifferent to human suffering, like the Man Who Hurried. Unfortunately he had followed her, too. She rubbed the inside of her thigh where he’d bitten the night before. The dull ache stabbed with a sharper pain when she put pressure on it. He seemed to like her so much, even more than the Man with Soft Hair, but he didn’t seem to care too much if she got an infection. Maybe he didn’t know she could die from it, if his bite got infected.

He came every night, the Man Who Hurried. At least he only fed once a night, and he didn’t take too much and leave her weak, and he only took from one spot each time. But she’d feel better if he started only showing up three or four times a month like the Man with Soft Hair had since she’d left Estrella’s.

She remembered all the regulars from her years in the restaurants. She’d had worse than the Man Who Hurried. Sure, he didn’t mind if she suffered a little. He didn’t seem to notice. He came, sucked her arm for a minute, jumped up and left. He was all business.

She had disliked the Man Who Bites a Lot much more. One of her first regulars, he’d come in during her first month at the restaurant, and he’d kept coming back for a whole year. She’d dreaded his return for months after the last time he’d fed on her. Even her little happiness at his departure had been darkened by her fear he’d come back. He had liked to bite four or five times when he took a ration. He’d said he couldn’t find a good vein. Either he tried to be mean on purpose or he was just an awfully stupid bloodsucker.

Chapter Twenty-Three

Byron had already stood to leave for the night when his desk screen began blinking. He wanted to get home to Marisol, but he stopped when he saw that the phone call he’d been waiting for had come through. It had been slow in coming—several weeks had passed since he’d checked up on Draven’s activities regarding the missing sap.

“It’s nice to hear back from you,” he said to the face that appeared in his desk screen. “I was beginning to think you hadn’t done as I asked.”

“Yes, sir, we did. Very sorry it took so long to get back to you, sir. We have so many sapiens coming through here that my report must have gotten pushed aside. Sorry for not calling sooner, Enforcer, sir.”

“Not ideal, sir, but she was in much better shape than the rest of the saps from that batch, the ones brought in from that restaurant. Her blood tests came back clean, but she was depleted. She had a slight infection in a bite on one leg, but we gave her a batch of antibiotics and it’s all cleared up now. Otherwise, just what you’d expect. Underfed and overdrawn.”

“Is there a way to know if she’d been fed in the two days prior to being brought in?”

“Yes, sir. She was. Her fluids had been replenished, too, so she wasn’t as bad off as the others. Too bad your friend didn’t take all of them. One of them died.”

“There’s no way to tell on a human who she mated with, Superior or otherwise. But lucky for us, this one was easy to tell. She hasn’t mated yet. Sealed up tight as a drum.”

“That’s true, doctor. Certainly true. In my opinion, repeat offenders should face the death penalty. It’s not just a perversion, it’s plain wrong and despicable to even think that way. People with people, animals with animals. We stick with our own kind.”

“That’s what I always say, Enforcer. People who look at the animals that way, it’s a sickness for sure. If you ever run for office, you have my vote.”

“Thanks, doctor. You’ve put my mind at ease.”

“You know, it’s nice to have a sap come in and the test come back negative. Most of the ones who are suspected victims turn out to be just that. I’m glad once in a while I get to be the bearer of good news.”

Byron shut off the desk screen in a considerably better mood than he’d been before the call. Now when he had drinks and billiards with Draven, he could relax and trust his friend again. He still thought it odd that Draven hadn’t brought the sapien to the Confinement the first night, but at least he knew the motive for keeping her hadn’t been a revolting one.

Byron smiled as he left the office. Draven held much promise for a Third. He didn’t have the strictest interpretation of the law, and he didn’t seem to think things through too well, but at least he had some kind of ambition. He might not know it, but Byron could see it in Draven’s discontent. He wanted things he could never have, bigger things. Byron had no doubt that if another war broke out, Draven would rise through the ranks quickly. He acted with bravery, without thought to his own safety, which came in handy during a war.

And he had come closest to catching Ander that night. Byron would talk to Draven about that soon.

Chapter Twenty-Four

“It smells like sapien in here,” Hyoki said, wrinkling her nose.

Draven took his shoes off near the door and slid the door closed. He turned to Hyoki. “I had to bring an injured sap here recently. I can’t get her smell out.” He didn’t mention the part where he didn’t want to get the smell out. In fact, he didn’t want to let Hyoki into his bed because Cali’s smell would be tainted.

“Can I open your window?”

“Of course,” Draven said, moving to open the window himself. “So, mysterious Hyoki, what is in your bag?”

She had been carrying a black bag all night, oddly shaped and large. She’d left it in the car when they went to the movie, but when they got to his apartment she’d wanted to bring it up. Now she smiled. “Don’t worry, I will show you,” she said, her accent clipping all the words short.

“When will you show me?”

“When you get me a drink of water.”

“I can do that,” Draven said, smiling as he brought it to her. He folded himself down onto the carpet next to Hyoki, who had chosen the floor instead of the sofa.

“You sit over there,” Hyoki said, motioning for Draven to move away from her. He did so, following her movements with his eyes. She unzipped the case and pulled out a small guitar. Draven laughed in surprise.

Hyoki began to play and Draven watched. He liked music. Everyone liked music, at least all sane people. It had been too long since he’d gone to a club or a concert. And no one had ever given him a private concert.

Hyoki played with great concentration, and when she’d gotten into her rhythm, she looked up and smiled with those impossibly long teeth, and began to sing. Another wonderful surprise. Her speaking voice was high and almost childish, but her singing voice came out much richer. When she had finished, she put her instrument aside and turned back to Draven.

“Now can I say it’s delightful?” he asked.

“Thank you. I am glad you think so.” She moved like a cat, her slanted eyes also giving her a feline aspect as she crawled across the floor to him. He leaned forward to meet her, resting on his knuckles and smiling at her advance. When their teeth met, he felt the hum into their roots. He enjoyed the dangerous feeling of her long teeth scraping his lip.

He had never been bitten, not since he’d evolved. He wondered for a moment what it would be like. A knock at the door interrupted his thoughts. The pair ignored it, smiling and teasing with their kisses, until the insistence of the knock made it impossible to block out.

“
Merde,
” Draven swore, and rose to his feet. He slid the door open to find Lira standing outside, hand raised to knock again.