25. AURORA
The next day, the air in the corridors is sharper as Dot and I head off to lady-shower time.
Jensen must have followed through, because the usual sweltering weight of the Digger block has been replaced by a mild temp that almost makes me wish I had a sweater.
“Kinda miss the heat,” Dot grunts, her voice echoing off the damp concrete. “At least a good case of swamp-ass makes wiping your shit easier when we’re out of TP.”
Gross.
Dot eyes the groups of men grumbling in the cross-corridor as they get turned away from the showers. “I can smell your stink from here, Carson. Worse than your mom’s hairy pussy.” He gives her the middle and she just grins. “Talking of hairy pussy, what the fuck did you do to your hair?”
“You don’t like my new look?” I pat at my chin-length bob waiting for what I’m sure is going to be an astute opinion from Dot.
“Makes you look like a cock. Long skinny body and a shiny bell-end.”
Wow.
“So you’re saying I’m a dickhead?”
Her answering laugh is a bellow that echoes off the walls. She’s still chuckling as we enter the block, with only women inside.
“Can’t say I like Frank, but this is fucking amazing,” she grunts.
Nearly everyone calls Francois “Frank” now—at least behind his back. I love it.
Inside, the steam is thick and the unusual sound of relaxed chatter fills the room. All the Digger women are there, stripped and showering. But Sky is still wearing her coveralls. This is the first time she’s braved the shower block.
“Barbie!” Lay calls out. “Look at this. Not a dick in sight. I might actually get the soap out of my crack today.”
“I’m happy for you, Lay,” I reply as I start to shrug off my clothes, my eyes never leaving Sky. “Come on, babe. Let’s make the most of this estrogen-only time. No one is coming in here.”
She shuffles around awkwardly, biting her lip, but eventually she starts to strip down to her thin, gray underthings.
“I heard the Guild is requesting more blankets,” Keisha laughs, as she aggressively soaps her sister’s back for her. “They’re all pissed as fuck. Pussies.”
“That’s not really funny,” Jolene replies as she moves through some weird yoga stretch, her red hair plastered to her skull. “Low temperatures interfere with your solar plexus chakra, and that’s where rational decisions are made. I can sense trouble ahead.”
“Whatever, let them try.” Layla rolls her eyes.
Keisha cracks her knuckles. “Yeah, let them fucking try.”
Alanna rinses off and swaps to wash her twin’s back. “We’d be happy to play. Don’t get enough of it.”
Those two are scary, but ever since they helped me in the North Gym, I’ve been hoping that meant I’m on their good side. No one wants those girls as enemies.
The water tumbles down on my head, warm and blissful, but I note Sky is still standing on the edge of the spray. “Get to it, Sky.” I make a “come hither” gesture with my head. “The water feels so good.”
“Especially if you invite it to cleanse your crown chakra,” Jolene adds, leaning into a deep lunge.
Not surprisingly, that doesn’t get Sky moving either. I grab my towel and move toward her, putting my body between her and the entrance to the room. “It’s OK, Sky. Nothing bad will happen in here now. ”
Suddenly, there’s movement from behind me. I turn just as two Guild girls march in, their boots clicking sharply on the wet tile.
“You sure about that, trash whore?” the first one growls. “I’d say plenty of bad things are possible.”
I scowl but don’t retort. I don’t want to start anything, not with Sky standing there half-naked and trembling. Both women are wrapped up in heavy navy peacoats—Guild-issue, I guess. Their exposed skin is mottled and goose-fleshed.
“Aww, look at the little popsicles,” Dot jeers, splashing a palmful of water in their direction.
“Fuck off, peasant.”
Keisha and Alanna growl in low, animalistic unison and start stalking toward the Guild girls. Fuck my life. Can’t we just have a pleasant shower without someone getting shanked?
Layla puts an arm out, looking like a sculpted, bronze goddess as she bars the twins from moving further. “Enough. This is not happening right now.”
Thank the Gods.
The tall Guild girl, who I think is called Elizabeth, glares at us all. “The upper floors are a godsdamn meat locker. It wasn’t even fifty degrees in my room this morning.”
“Fifty degrees?” Dot laughs. “Must be because y’all are frigid.”
I don’t do a good job of hiding my amusement, and Elizabeth wheels around on me. “You think that’s funny, Drakeward? We know all about you. Odessa told us how your pussy is on lockdown for a geriatric. Have fun with that.”
What the fuck?
I fail to have a good retort but luckily Dot has my back. “Odessa? That bitch is just jealous because her saggy cunt is so worn out.”
The Guild girl’s jaw tightens. “Funny. Well, Dimitry isn’t laughing.” She steps closer, trying to look intimidating despite the blue lips. “He’ll stop this, then you scum are going to pay for every minute we’ve spent shivering.”
“Is that a threat?” Layla growls, lifting her chin.
Behind me, I hear Sky whimper. All I wanted was for the kid to have a nice shower, but now we have to deal with this.
“Dimitry can take it up with Francois,” I say, stepping up beside Layla. “In the meantime, take off the coats and wash, or get the hell out. You’re ruining the atmosphere.”
Elizabeth looks at me and sneers, but then takes note of Layla’s clenched fists, and the twins at her side.
She and her friend move off silently to the back corner of the room.
Layla points to her eyes and then the girls, doing the “I’m watching you” gesture.
Dot follows it up by spitting at the tile in their direction.
OK, now that’s sorted, what the fuck is going on with Sky?
I put my hand on Layla’s arm. “Can you help me with the kid?” I mutter. “Sky’s freaked.”
Layla shakes the aggression out of her fists, then bends down to Sky’s level. “What’s up? You can tell us.”
It seems she can’t. Her eyes grow wider and sadder.
Dot, Lay and I look at each other. What’s going on with her?
“Sky?”
After a few seconds, she turns around and lowers down her underwear a little. On her right butt cheek is a series of numbers, tattooed in dark red ink, on her pale skin. “I-I didn’t want you all to see…but I guess you will eventually.”
The numbers are blurred, like the tattoo was done a while ago, and not by a professional. Why does it register as familiar in my brain? I rub the scars on my wrists, confused.
Layla’s face turns instantly to thunder. “Did they do that to you? The men who took you?”
Sky nods.
Shit. I pull her into a slightly awkward, wet and naked hug.
“I try to forget about it, but it’s impossible. I’m like a cow. They brand numbers on cows, don’t they? I’m just a stupid cow.” She collapses out of my arms and onto the wet floor, her knees hitting the tile with a painful thud.
“Sky!” I throw myself down next to her, ignoring the spray hitting my face.
“After we went on the boat,” Sky whimpers, her voice shaking so hard it’s barely audible.
“They put me in a jeep. I was so scared, but then I thought it might not be bad. The big house was so pretty. It was painted blue like the sea, with big trees full of pink flowers all down the driveway. There was even a statue of a lovely woman out front. She had a long robe and an owl resting on her shoulder, all made out of stone. She made me feel braver because I pretended she was guarding me.”
Hmm. Sounds like the goddess Athena.
“But inside… inside it was ugly,” Sky sobs, pulling me back to the damp room. “They gave me to an old woman who scrubbed me down so hard it made my skin bleed.”
Layla and Dot form a wall, blocking the other women from seeing the kid break.
“It hurt so bad, but not as bad as what came after,” Sky sobs. She’s shaking violently now, her small body vibrating against mine. “That number means I belong to them. It means if they find me, they’ll take me back. I don’t want to go back, Rory. I don’t want to go back.”
The room has gone silent. Layla’s face is a mask of pure, murderous rage.
But I’m stuck on a memory. The sound of an engine. Orange fabric.
London.
He had the same kind of mark, the same color ink, on his chest. I saw it through the tear in his jumpsuit on the bus. Was he another of their victims?
Fuck.
There’s nothing I can do to help him, but I can help this poor kid. I look up at Layla and Dot, then tighten my hold. “We’ve got you, Sky,” I whisper, smoothing her wet hair. “No one is ever going to hurt you again. Not while I’m breathing.”
“It’s easy for you to say,” Sky whimpers. “They wouldn’t dare touch an Elite like you, Rory. But a no one like me? We can just… vanish, and nobody cares.”
Dot looks at the door, then back at us. “This is why we can’t let a guy like de Vaux run things. He’s one of them, Barbie. He’s the kind of man who would be a customer in that fucked-up world. We have to get rid of him.”
I think of Francois lounging in his chair, reading his book while people freeze and kids like Sky live in terror. He might have given us this safe hour, but he’s still the monster. I can’t ever forget that.
“There’s one more thing,” Sky whispers. “I’m not sixteen. I told the cops that, but I’m pretty sure I’m younger. Maybe fourteen or fifteen?”
“Oh, sweetheart.” I clutch her tighter.
Dot gives a snarl. “What are you looking at, cunts?”
The Guild girls are still watching.
“Fuck off,” Layla snaps. “Get the fuck out of here.” As they leave, she shakes her head. “Stupid bitches. The Guild are looking to fight. Tell Tally to get his ass in gear.”
Oh, shit.
I almost forgot to give Layla the message. “That reminds me. Tally is desperate to see that new Digger, Hector, for some reason. Can you organize that?”
She frowns, looking puzzled. “The Mexican kid, sure. Why does he want to see him?”
“Peruvian, not Mexican, and no idea.”
“OK, sure. Tell him I’m on it.” Layla turns her attention back to the shaking girl on the floor, her touch surprisingly gentle as she pulls her up. “Come on, Sky. Let’s get you dried off and dressed. Time’s nearly up.”
After getting sorted, Dot and I say our goodbyes to the group and head back toward the residential corridor we both live in. The air feels even colder now that our skin is damp.
“Bevan needs to get his fucking thumb out of his ass,” she grumbles, putting a heavy hand on my shoulder. “Promise him a blowy or something, Barbie. Anything to get that fucker back on his feet.”
I feel my cheeks heat up, and Dot chuckles. “Aw, bless. Don’t see many blushing virgins around here.”
“Fuck off.”
She’s so crass.
But as I walk back to my cell, I admit to myself that the flush on my face wasn’t just embarrassment. No, it was the uncomfortable thought that doing an intimate act like that, with Taliesin, isn’t…unappealing.
I flip the bird to her retreating back, but the damage is done.
The mental image of Tally and me—of me doing that to him—is stuck behind my eyelids.
Motherfucking Dot.