“What are you doing out here?” she asked.
No answer.
“Did you follow me?”
Nothing.
Confidence building and anger swelling, she moved off the path, stepping over twigs and rocks toward him. She stopped, leaving about eight feet of space between them.
Though the Hyboreans had shaved him a week ago, his hair had already grown out a half-inch and was completely drenched. Rain dripped down his face and off his ears and nose. He didn’t seem to notice or care. From his drowned rat appearance, he must have been sitting there a good long time. Sodden clothes clung to his gaunt body. His left pant leg was cut off at the knee and a brown cast ran the length of his lower limb.
Anger and pity battled inside her. Oh hell, she refused to feel sorry for him.
“You raped me.” Her words sliced through the cool night air.
Max hung his head.
“Look at me when I’m yelling at you.”
“I meant to seduce you,” he whispered into his chest. She almost didn’t hear him over gentle rain splatters on the leaves.
“Not that time, you jerk. After they shocked me with the collar. I passed out and you raped me that first night.”
Life flashed in his eyes. “I didn’t do anything to you while you slept.”
“Then explain how the hell I got pregnant.”
His jaw set in anger. His green eyes blazed in the darkness. “No.”
“No? No? God, I want to kick your broken leg.”
“Go ahead.”
She took a step closer but couldn’t do it. That would be police brutality. Yet she wanted to punish him for violating her, an innocent woman. And anyway, she wasn’t a cop on this planet. She dropped the lightstick and pitched an apple at him. It smacked him in the chest and bounced off.
He didn’t flinch. “Is that all you got?” His tone, iced with derision sent molten blood through her veins. “Go ahead. Throw another one.”
She did. And then threw another. And another.
He never moved. Each time she hit him, he yelled for more. “Hell, woman, can’t you throw harder than that? Hit me. Hurt me!”
The physical exertion fueled her anger for him. And for the baby growing inside. And for her loss of freedom. Max was the target for all the raw emotion she’d been keeping under wraps since waking up on this planet. It didn’t matter that he wasn’t her abductor. It didn’t matter that he’d been forced to stud or risk punishment. The only thing that mattered was that he’d violated her and then lied about it to her face. And she couldn’t get over that, not with her belly swelling everyday as a reminder.
The apples ran out before her rage did. When her fingers scraped netted wood, she threw the empty basket at him. “I hate you,” she screamed. “I wish they killed you.”
Max’s eyes closed. “Hell, woman. So do I.”
* * *
He watched her stride away. Once she was out of view, he rubbed his aching chest. Damn, she threw hard. Her aim was spot-on, too. Not one damn apple missed him.
He supposed he deserved it for not telling her the truth, but he couldn’t relive his shame. He wasn’t strong enough. Besides, did it really matter how she got pregnant? Nothing could change that fact now.
What mattered was that she was a fighter. Unfortunately, this world chewed up fighters and spat them out. It might take longer for her to break, but when she did—eventually everyone did—her defeat would be all the more unbearable.
He would hate to see that happen.
She was so beautiful when fired up. So passionate. So like him when he was younger. Maybe that was why he couldn’t stop thinking about her. She reminded him of who he used to be.
Eventually, he’d lost all of his humanity. How long until she lost all of hers? How long could fire last in a world made of ice?
A
ddy?” Duncan called when she entered his house. “What the devil happened to ye, lass?” He retrieved his cloak from the opposite wall and wrapped her wet body. “Ye’re shivering. Have ye been out there all night?”
She nodded.
“Come.” He walked her to the sofa. “Sit ye down and I’ll get the furnace. Then ye can explain.”
He moved the eating table in front of her and placed the die-sized cube on it, and it began to glow red.
She wasn’t sure how long she stared at it, but it must have been a while, since three cups of tea now steamed on the table in front of her, and Tess stood at her side holding a towel and change of clothes. Duncan left to give Addy privacy and, in a daze, she dressed.
“Now then,” Duncan said when he returned. “Have ye no sense to come in from the rain?”
“Da. Can’t you see she’s been through something?” Tess took Addy’s hand in hers and stroked it tenderly. “Do you want to talk about what happened?” Her face wrinkled with concern. It was then she noticed Tess wore a bathrobe. Her hair was disheveled from sleep. Duncan must have woken her up.
Guilt churned in her gut. No one should lose sleep over her. She always took care of herself. Even as a little girl she’d learned to become independent hoping that would ease her mother’s burden so Mom wouldn’t be depressed all the time. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to worry everyone. I couldn’t sleep, so I went to the orchard to pick apples. Then I walked awhile.”
“Mmph. Perhaps next time, ye should leave a note when ye go wandering in the midst of a stormy night.” Duncan punctuated the last word with a head nod as if to say,
That’s that.
He moved around the room then came back. “Where are the apples?”
“Oh, uh, in the orchard. I sort of pegged them at Max.”
“Ye attacked a wounded gladiator with apples?”
To hear Duncan say it made her feel stupid. “You’re right, I should’ve beat him with a stick. He deserves much worse for what he did to me in the breeding box.”
Tess’s arms encircled her. She hadn’t expected the gesture, but took comfort in her friend’s embrace and the warmth of her body.
“Aye. I’m sorry he wasna gentle with ye lass. But are ye not aware of the breeding box’s purpose? Are ye going to attack every gladiator that yer paired with?”
“Really, Da. That’s how you choose to consol her?”
“What? It’s high time she stopped moping around here, and accept her new life.”
Tess glowered at Duncan sipping tea in his wingbacked chair. She returned her attention to Addy. “I’m sorry. I don’t know what’s gotten into him.”
“Don’t worry. I’m used to it. It actually sounded like something my mother would’ve said.” She turned her attention to Duncan. “Here’s the problem. I don’t accept this life. And I never will. I am not a broodmare. And I am not staying here.”
“What do ye mean?”
“I mean I’m getting out of here if it kills me.”
“Ye canna escape, lass.”
“The hell I can’t. Someone did. I just need you to tell me how.”
Tess’s eyes popped open and she jerked her attention to her father.
“I dinna know anything about it.” Duncan got out of his chair and paced back and forth across the tiny house. Tess kept her eyes on her father but didn’t move, not even to put her teacup down. Was she holding her breath?
“I know you know about it, Duncan. You always know everything.”
He moved to the kitchen and poured himself a whiskey.
“Don’t you think dawn’s a bit early for drinking?” Addy asked.
He left his glass untouched on the sideboard, returned to his chair, picked the lint from an armrest. Rain pitter-pattered on the observation wall.
“Whether you tell me or not, I promise you that I will escape.”
“But where would ye go?”
“She could go to the equator.”
“Tess!”
“It’s not like it’s a big secret. She’s going to find out sooner or later.”
Addy sat up on the edge of the couch. “What’s at the equator?”
His audible exhale sounded more dramatic than was necessary. Like it pained him greatly to tell her what he was about to say. “A clan. They live in a place uninhabited by Hyboreans.”
“How come the Hyboreans aren’t there?”
“I dinna ken. Perhaps it’s a wee bit too hot. Perhaps it’s a wildlife refuge. I’ve heard it called that.”
“A refuge? You mean the Hyboreans let them live in peace?”
“Aye, that’s my understanding, as long as ye’re within the borders. If ye’re not, ye’re fair game for the poachers. They hunt, capture, and sell humans on the black market, ye ken.”
“Sell them for what?”
“Sport.”
“You mean the survival race?”
“No. The survival race is legitimate. Poachers sell humans for illegal sport.”
“Illegal sport?”
“Aye. It’s no’ pretty and verra deadly, that’s all ye need know.”
Addy sipped her mint tea, swallowing it along with this new information. How much of the truth was Duncan telling? What else was he holding back? Time for a new tactic. Too bad she couldn’t do the whole “good cop/bad cop” routine.
“You know,” she said with a shrug and an aloof tone, “there really isn’t any difference between poachers and the Hyboreans who abduct people from Earth. They both steal us and force us to be pets, or worse. Maybe the equator
is
a better place. At least there’s a chance to live free.”
“Perhaps. If ye can make it. It’s a harsh life out there. Scrounging for food. Always watching yer back for poachers, not to mention wild creatures. Stay with Ferly Mor, lassie, ye’ll be well cared for here.”
“Hah! Abduction, slavery, and rape aren’t synonymous with well cared for. Ferly Mor stole my freedom, and I will
never
forgive him for that.”
Duncan visibly swallowed then turned to pick lint from the other armrest.
“Da. You best tell her.”
“Tell me what?” She looked from Duncan to Tess then back to Duncan.
No answer.
“Tell me what?” she repeated louder.
Tess touched her arm and in a soft voice said, “Addy, Ferly Mor didn’t take you.”
“He didn’t?”
Strands of red hair swayed around Tess’s face as she shook her head no.
“Then who abducted me?”
Duncan faced Addy and captured her gaze. “I did.”
Y
ou?” Addy jumped to her feet. “Who the hell do you think you are? What gives you the right to take me and enslave me in some alien world?”
Tess’s hand covered Addy’s fist. “Addy, please calm down.”
She jerked away. “I will not calm down. I trusted him. I trusted you. And you both lied. You made me believe Ferly Mor kidnapped me, when it was Duncan all along. Why? Why did you bring me here?” She turned to Tess. “Were you
that
desperate to be a mother?”
The slap stung Addy’s cheek. Her eyes watered.
Tess gasped and covered her mouth. Shock and terror whitened her pale face even more. “I’m sorry, Addy. I didn’t mean to hit you.”
Addy’s heart wrenched so hard a tight pain rippled through her chest and down her arm. It was as though a Hyborean had sat on her torso. Her legs trembled. She sat on the couch before she collapsed, waiting for the episode to pass.
“I’m the one who’s sorry,” she said. “I didn’t mean it. I’m just angry. And confused. Why me? Why here? Why all the secrets?”
“Do ye remember telling me ye reached for someone to pull ye from the rapids?”
“That was you?”
“Aye. Ferly Mor hovered his craft over the river and sublimated the door so I could grab ye.”
“That’s ridiculous. I didn’t see a spaceship.”
“Of course not. It was cloaked. All ye would have seen was the gasous door and my arm reaching for ye.”
“You saved my life?”
His lips puckered as if he just sucked on a lemon wedge. “No’ exactly. ’Tis true enough I pulled ye from the river, but it was only after ye hit yer head on a rock and drowned. Yer body was swept downstream. Ferly Mor maneuvered his craft downriver so I could catch yer body.
“Ye died, lass. No one on Earth could remedy that, save Ferly Mor.”
“You’re saying Ferly Mor brought me back to life?”
“Aye. Ye were reawakened.”
How could that be? She didn’t remember dying. Wasn’t there supposed to be a light at the end of a tunnel or something? She slumped into the soft pillows of the couch, closed her eyes, and recalled the horror of the raging inferno, rapids crashing around her, choking on white water and smoke. Addy shivered away the thought of death.
She moved to the sideboard where she filled a glass from the hanging water bottle. The liquid cooled her throat and washed away the charred remains of that hellish nightmare. Carefully setting the glass on the sideboard as though it would break at the slightest pressure, she turned to Duncan. “Why? People die all the time. Why bother saving me? What makes me so special that an alien creature would reawaken me?”
Duncan cleared his throat. “Ye best sit down, lass. Ye may not be ready for what I’m about to say.”
Like she had done as a child attempting to delay punishment in the timeout chair, Addy slowly walked back to her seat on the couch next to Tess. She wasn’t sure she wanted to hear any more, but she had to learn the truth. Tess took hold of her hand, gave it a light squeeze.
“Ye’ve always been special, lass. Ferly Mor has been tracking ye all yer life.”
She couldn’t open her mouth to shout her outrage. Her clenched jaw ached from the pressure. Even if she would have been able to speak, no words could articulate her anger. Her resentment. Her mortification. It was a thousand times worse than the humiliation she’d felt the summer before junior year when skinny-dipping at the watering hole. It was only after she’d gotten dressed that the three boys spying on her made their presence known.
Had Ferly Mor witnessed everything she’d done? Had he been taking notes? Had her mother known about the aliens? Maybe that was why she’d always resented Addy. Maybe Mom had been a broodmare raped by gladiators and then she escaped.
Stop it, Dawson. You’re getting carried away.
Mom had loved her biological father. The reason she resented Addy was because she was an
oops
. Correct that—she was a
how the hell did I get pregnant while on the pill?
And because of Addy, Mom’s lover never married her. As much as she wanted to blame the aliens for her dysfunctional family dynamics, it wasn’t their fault.