Dad would never hurt me. I was his tomboy, his one and only troublemaker. Even when he’d grounded me, he seemed proud I rebelled. But I’d misread Dad.
“Good morning, Jane,” I said to the House.
“Good morning, Dewlyn of the Alpha’s Second.”
“Coffee, please.”
The first drop of glorious brown brew dripped into a white cup on the kitchen counter.
“Make that two, Jane,” Vice said. “Are you hungry?” he asked me.
Sunlight drifted around us and onto the small table in front of the couch. I didn’t turn away from him to look out the window, but I wanted to. Out in the driveway, his bike called my name, and I’d need fast transport if I were to get out of here. Probably should leave Beast City when I did get out of here. But where would I go? And what of my shelter?
Helping a mated woman escape her beast mate was punishable by death. I didn’t care about the beast laws, because buying women, then leaving them in the communities for the training should warrant a death penalty too.
At first, I’d found the women by stalking dumpsites. Then I figured out another way. If I could get to the women inside the communities right after they were picked, I could offer them an alternative, a house where they’d be protected. The problem? I didn’t have a system that would tell me who the women were or when they were paired. So I followed Vice when he went into the communities.
The irony of the pairing was in protection. Everyone wanted to protect the paired women, the mates. But none of them ever asked the pairs what they wanted. The community leaders protected the sold girls because the money bought food. The beasts wanted their mates, would die for their mates.
And yet when I told mine what I wanted, he left me.
I never told him why we failed, because, as far as he saw it, he’d done the right thing when he bought me and left me there for an entire month, a time that Dad and the leaders before him had requested for mate preparation.
Back in the day, when I was young and stupid, I couldn’t wait for a beast man on an iron horse who would pick me up and whisk me away from poverty. Now, only a short half year later, still only nineteen but no longer stupid, I wished Vice had never come.
I wished I’d never crossed his path.
I wished I’d listened to my dad when he’d said adventures were only for boys. I’d have stayed at home like a good girl, done what girls did. But hey, every family had one stray sheep, didn’t they?
As a small smile spread over his lips, Vice tapped his finger over a giant wet stain on his shirt. “Sleep well?”
Horror. I’d slept on top of him and drooled on his shirt. He wiggled his eyebrows. I ignored him, wondering why he still wore clothes. As if the sight of his body would make a difference. I narrowed my eyes. Vice strategized his moves, and I’d need a solid plan. Better keep him busy with small talk while I plotted my escape. During taming, the House would follow only Vice’s commands. I could use it for tasks that kept me indoors. Like brewing coffee. Still, I tried. “Jane, I’m going out.”
“Ah fuck,” Vice said.
“Lockdown initiated.” Multiple clicks sounded around the house, metal slid over the doors and windows, and alarms blared all around us. Vice covered his sensitive ears, and I winced when his phone rang in addition to all the noise. He tapped his phone, didn’t answer, and yelled, “Silence!”
The noise died, and he breathed out in relief. “Jane has been reprogrammed. I added the alarms so Jamie hears, just in case someone knocks me out.”
“Great,” I said.
He cracked his neck to the left, then to the right, and grunted. “Let’s shower.” He looked at his watch.
I scooted away and sat up on the armrest.
“How’s your head?” he added. “Are you dizzy from the ride?” He traced a claw over the rope around my wrists, back and forth. Sometimes a light touch brushed my skin. I shivered. “Your clothes are in our bedroom. Headache powder is on the counter. I know you have a headache. Your eyes are puffy. Let’s hit the shower, then eat something.”
“I’m not hungry.”
His head snapped up, red eyes curious. “When was the last time you ate?”
Besides the protein bar, I ate the day before yesterday, when I’d scouted the building and counted the security guards. The painters were still working on the interior while their lunches waited in the kitchen. I raided the fridge, gorged on everything. “And I’m clean, so…” I shrugged. No food, no shower, no headache powder for me.
Vice glared.
I glared back.
One hand flew to the back of my neck, and he brought our faces inches apart. His red eyes were hard, but so were mine as I tried to tug away. He held firm. “You just lost your shower privileges. I will shower with you, and you will tend to me the way mates tend to each other.”