The Change: Episode one, page 20
He grinned at me happily, and I spun away before I could kiss him. I wasn’t overly concerned with Baker’s feelings, but I also didn’t want to see him hurt. Behind me, I sensed a new conversation waiting, and waved Angelica toward them while I went to inspect the boat.
D
“What’s she waiting for?”
I hated myself for asking, but Baker knew. He’d lain with her… loved her. No one else had ever gotten as close, I was sure. Did he see me as a weakling because I didn’t know any of these survival things? Was I a threat for my good looks and a joke for my clumsiness? Was he as confused about me as I was about him? I thought that was likely. Candice seemed to have that effect on people.
Baker raised his goggles, and I studied the hard lines of his face, those wild, shined eyes. This had been my substitute, and in many ways, still was. How would I get him out of her mind?
“When I met her, she was determined to do one thing – get something that had been stolen from her.” Baker’s eyes flashed bitterly. “I didn’t know it was you. Until she signed up for the Games, I thought we might… come to love each other.”
“Candice? In love?”
I knew better, but Baker shook his head like I’d said something stupid.
“She’s always been taken... I just didn’t know it.” He sighed, “She won’t force it on you. Until she knows you’re sure, she’ll stay back.”
I forced it out through the hope… the fear. “And after?”
His eyes glinted again, this time in with sad hatred I instantly pitied him for. “You’ll never be sold, never be alone. She’ll love you so completely your past will vanish into those happy dreams the Den Mothers tried to sell you on.”
Angelica stepped into the area, and I stored that huge discovery for the next one. “And what about you? She cares. You can’t deny it.”
To my surprise, he laughed. “You really are a rookie. She used me, kid, to learn enough to save your ass.”
He slid his goggles back into place. “And I always knew it wasn’t for me, so save your pity. I enjoyed every second of servicing her needs.”
Jealousy seared me. I could see him using those heathen arms to pleasure her, and I spun back toward the water feeling angry instead of sorry for him.
Angelica’s voice made me listen against my will. “So you’re not in love with her?”
Baker chuckled. “Why? You wanna rent me next? I make my living that way, you know.”
I tried to ignore their flirting, understanding Baker really did have feelings he was covering. I didn’t understand that type of reaction. Why lie? His male pride would get in the way of any relationship he tried to have… I realized it was intentional and felt the rest of my anger fade. Baker was trying to keep from appearing hurt or even interested any longer. That was a tempting tactic, except it was off limits to me. I’d already revealed my feelings to her. Hadn’t I? Unsure, I followed her from the land and onto the water.
Our driver was tall and wiry, wearing camouflage clothes and black paint over her hands and face. With her small boat painted the same way, she appeared almost exactly like the images I had seen of the old world army. She even had a weapon on the front that I assumed to be some sort of a machine gun. Those neatly rolled coils of ammunition gave me a flash of our kamikaze captain polishing and reloading while eating from a can.
I looked over the edges to see what could have been the dried husk of a bean and turned my head away to hide the smile. I didn’t see any signs of a male around, but once we got underway, I understood the crazy woman had a death wish that only these debris fields could satisfy.
The ride on the flat bottom boat was one I’ll never forget. It was scary and wild, and I loved every second of it. Candice sat just behind me, with a rope attaching me to her belt in case I flew out during our driver’s frantic plunge down the debris-filled river. Despite the river being so clear and pretty, there were entire buildings in our path that had to be avoided. Instead of a slow, careful pace, our driver flew in and out of these death traps as if it were a race. We were soaked and rattled by the time she stopped.
My reaction was one I couldn’t control. “Again!”
I laughed, leaning back against Candice. “Can we do it again?”
She flashed me that Network grin and shifted for a sharp kiss that made me clutch at her arms for support. In that moment, it was only me and my owner, and there wasn’t anywhere else I’d have rather been.
We moved back slowly, eyes locked, and I drew up the nerve to touch her cheek. My fingers slid along that sensual jawline, and I felt her tremble.
The need was raging in her pink eyes, but she moved out of my reach and stood up. I followed her back onto the land with a small smile on my lips that I couldn’t have hidden if I wanted to.
“How much farther?” Candice asked.
Baker’s tone was unreadable. “We’ll be met right here in about five… four… three…”
The jungle around us had narrowed to a thin path behind the small, wooden dock our crazy driver was tying up to. After that, there was only a single path into a thin canopy that formed an archway that made me think of old legends… and ghosts.
The deepest shadows of this archway moved as we waited, resolving into the forms of three people all dressed in green. It blended them into everything they walked by and had me staring in appreciation. As they got closer, I could see their green clothes were actually streaks and swirls of black and green, giving the shadow illusion that allowed them to blend so perfectly.
Baker stepped forward and the stiff posture of the three shadows relaxed instantly.
“Baker!”
“Welcome home!”
To my shock, each of the males bowed at his feet.
C
“It would seem we haven’t been told the full story.”
Angelica’s comment pulled no response from me, and she frowned, realizing I’d already known.
“Oh, get up!”
Baker’s tone was embarrassed, and I understood he was trying to replace their male instincts and not having much luck. I flashed my Games grin and watched all of his males flinch back. Didn’t he know it took a woman to bring out the drives of a man? My eyes flickered pink… testing.
“What the hell?”
“Are they Changelings?”
Baker motioned the trio away from us to explain, and I turned to my own followers. “Stay close.”
Angelica and Daniel were clearly hoping I would give them the careful words that Baker was delivering, but I didn’t run my ship that way, and really, they knew it.
Angelica gave me a nasty look and then grunted. “Thanks.”
I nodded. “You’re dealing with enough. I know.”
“You ready?”
Baker’s call sent us back to the path, and I studied his two guards. The only marking I saw that set them apart from their surroundings was a tattoo that I instantly recognized. It matched Baker’s and finished selling it for me. He hadn’t lied about his importance, either. I already knew he was a hero to these weak men. How could he not be? Compared to them, Baker was a legend for surviving on his own, and for taking Network lives to do so.
The two males wore their tattooed ribbons lower on their arms and I smothered a grin at the sight of their bare skin under the camouflage. They were wearing tank tops and jeans, but the coloring had fooled my fast eyes a second time. Ingenious.
I pinned the smaller one with a hard look. “Are you the artist?”
D
“I’m security. Eric makes things pretty.”
His wide brown eyes went to the beautiful male on Baker’s right and I understood that these were more than just rebels, but I wasn’t sure what that meant yet.
“I like pretty things.”
Eric’s voice was sweet to her, I could tell, and I moved a step closer. This one wasn’t shy, wouldn’t jump at her touch or fear her embrace. This prissy playboy was a former bachelor and likely a renter too, from the way he was eyeing my Candy.
They stayed on each side of Baker while the third man, a huge, hulking shadow with hands the size of my head, kept watch over the path we had come down. Each of them had a thinly supplied tool belt and a small kit on their backs, but of weapons, all I spotted was a knife. If someone came, what did they plan to do? Talk their way out?
C
We followed them deeper into the jungle than I had ever been, and I felt that sense of being watched begin to fade. It allowed me to place a gentle hand on Daniel’s arm and give him the comfort of a casual walk before we hit all the tension again.
I was very aware of how hard he was trying to fit in with us, but I had already decided he would stay with the other mates for the next run. I just spent too much time worrying with him here. Problem was though, I knew I’d worry no matter where he was. Daniel had a way of getting into trouble without even trying.
I’d no sooner had the thought than he tripped and fell down the incline.
“Damn it!” I dove after him, seeing his head go under the vines, and I snagged the edge of his boot.
“Something’s got him!”
It came from one of the rebel males, and Angelica’s boots stomped over to us.
“It’s the vines. They’re not exactly dead, you know!”
She began swiping at the greenery with her blade, and we were all a bit shocked to the vines retreat a foot. She had been studying on her own again.
Daniel was huddled in a ball under the retreating plants, and I jerked him over to me. “Can’t you be more careful?”
I gave him a slight shake, needing the shock of the vines to fade from his mind. He already feared me. That was enough.
Daniel snapped his head up, voice tight. “I was!”
The anger in his voice immediately sent my mouth to his.
“Help him!”
“She’s gonna hurt him!”
Baker’s growl was full of laughter. “She’s the one who better watch out. Come on. They’ll catch up.”
Around us, the sound of footsteps and then silence, but it wouldn’t have mattered. When these moments came, it was as if only we existed.
I drew back with flames licking my insides, the sight of his swollen lips making them leap higher. I ran my thumb across his bottom lip, tilting his head back before I pressed my mouth to his neck.
He tensed, hands tightening on my hips, and then we were falling down into the sweet smelling Kudzu in an embrace that could have melted icebergs.
I wasn’t looking to shore up my control before we went in, but when he slid a hand toward my heat, I considered allowing it…
Just as quickly, I chose not to and gently drew him to his feet. The next time we got that close, I wasn’t sure I would stop, and our first time wouldn’t be in the middle of a jungle with skeletons buried under the leaves we were lying on.
Chapter Nineteen
The Rebel Base
C
As soon as he saw the cave entrance and realized we were actually going inside the mountain, Daniel turned to me with panicked eyes.
“I can’t.”
His endless worries and fears were usually something I handled with tolerance, but the Network might know where we were even now, and I wanted to be under full cover. I swung him up over my shoulder and strode forward. He only struggled lightly, and we entered the rebel base with him upside down and me grinning.
Made of smooth stones for the seats and rough for the floors, the circular room was a spacious area with four main exits. The 5’ x 2’ stone seats were terraced from the very top of the round room’s high walls, ending in the center to leave a “10 x 10” ring. It reminded me of the posters in the Network Complex of the ancient Roman death games. The architecture was remarkably similar.
Lines for power and other amenities ran along the stone walls, chiseled in to disappear and reemerge like the roots of a mighty tree growing through the quartz. The tunnels weren’t very wide, but they were long and the floors were soft, tan sand that seemed very out of place among the grey walls. Natural torches lined the rooms. Made of jungle plants woven into a cone-shaped handle, they burned with a light smoke and heavy aroma of flowers that floated to the top of the rooms and was drawn out through the cracks in the gray stone.
I looked around, senses triggered. The shadows were deceiving, telling me we were alone when I knew we weren’t, and I was impressed that Baker had been able to teach them that much.
We were met by a group of rebels who looked like they were still teenagers, and I rolled my eyes at their shaky attempts to stop me with old guns that I doubted would even work. “Baker told you we were coming. Clear a hole!”
They flinched back at my order, and the shout brought Angelica and Baker into the tunnel. I shook my head at the timid response to a possible intruder. “This doesn’t look good.”
Baker eyed my now frozen prize, Daniel still over my shoulder. “That won’t to them either.”
I heeded his warning and swung Daniel to his feet as Angelica moved to take the flank. I steadied him and locked our eyes. “You can do this, and you will.”
He nodded quickly, glad to be upright, and I moved into Stone Mountain with my own timid male following. It would seem both Baker and I had a lot of work to do.
We only traveled in the quartz tunnel for a minute before reaching the heavy metal door, and Baker’s now five guards helped him to open it.
“We don’t have electricity for the doors,” he explained, swiping at cobwebs. “And we usually take the long way in.”
That would be directly through the heart of the jungle. I hoped that perhaps we wouldn’t see too much more of it before we left. When we boarded the boat next time, it would take us all the way out of Georgia.
The door opened to reveal an enormous stone room and more male faces than even I had expected. Behind me, Angelica growled.
D
The sound of her Changeling fury sent the rebel males into halls and corners, darting for cover before she had even moved, and I did what I wasn’t supposed to. I stepped forward and tried to calm them down. “They’re not like the others.”
Candice grabbed my arm and shoved me back, turning my words into a lie. The males panicked, grabbing weapons from the walls.
Baker stepped forward. “Stand your ground!”
I noticed he wasn’t limping anymore, and realized the convict was a fast healer, too, like Candice.
“It’s Baker!”
“They’re with the Boss!”
“Baker’s home!”
The males flooded into the room at the calls, and I understood they loved him by the way they flocked to his side, touching him. Their reaction was very much like that with the Den Mothers at the Network complex and I started to relax a little. These males were my own kind.
Baker was busy explaining things, and I took the time to watch Candice and Angelica. Being around so many males usually sent Changelings into a frenzy, but I was expecting better from my new family and wasn’t disappointed.
Despite her first reaction, Angelica stayed behind us, watching the rear like she was supposed to and Candice only listened to their hurried conversation with a slightly bored expression. I straightened my shoulders and tried to look like I belonged with them.
Baker moved our way with his five guards, and I did a quick count of all the faces behind them. Roughly four dozen. How many more were behind the doors that I could see leading from this room? Baker had an army here. What the bachelors back at the Network complex wouldn’t give to know about this! I’d hoped for an owner, but some of the males I’d been bullied by had dreamed of a place like this.
And I was welcome to join. I could feel their automatic assumption that I needed help, and it warmed me. I’d never been around my own kind except under Network control and it was a whole different life in those halls.
“Do you want to talk to them first or eat?” Baker sounded different, more… powerful somehow.
I watched Candice shrug.
“Either is fine.”
The convict motioned toward the largest tunnel to our right. “How about a short tour and then we’ll talk?”
“Agreed.”
Candice followed him and I stayed on her heels, looking around in surprise as we went through the first door.
C
I noticed the noise as soon as we moved inside and assumed the humming was a power source. It wasn’t until Angelica turned to Baker that I realized it was… and it wasn’t.
“What do you use for power that makes so much noise?”
Baker laughed. “That’s the sound of a rookie getting inked.”
That had Angelica’s eyes running over the rebel tattoo on his arm, and then the one on Baker’s neck that I’d put there myself, years ago to declare him protected. Very few knew about our code.
Angelica’s hands went into her pockets, and she moved away from his slight smirk. Baker knew what effect he had on women, always had.
“We use the river.”
They had a natural source of power, and it made no noise to draw attention. Baker was smarter than I’d ever given him credit for. I accepted it with shame it deserved.
“We have nine areas. Three are cooking, washing, and laundry. Two are dorms for sleeping. The others are like this one.”
I didn’t stop my harsh grin as I looked over his training setup. There were rope bridges and rock wall faces with blue grips that gleamed in the natural light. The ceiling of this room had a huge hole in the center, a jagged result of a tremor that had cracked this part of the mountain. It kept nature flowing through, and I could see they had wisely left the vines to curl inside. Why try to deny the plant what it would eventually have anyway? The effort was better spent on other, more realistic goals.
On the uneven floor, there were obstacle courses and workout mats with crates of equipment marking off each individual spot. There were knotted ropes hanging from the craggy edges, and wooden steps that went up for thirty feet to curve around one entire wall before coming back down at an incredibly steep incline. My need flared into a thousand tiny pricks of heat. All over these training tools were men, working up a sweat.
