Chapter 2 #6
“Look, sorry, I’m not adjusting well.” I leaned back and repeated some of the tour to show I’d been paying attention.
“This is the Architect’s Castle…although it’s more akin to a little city.
There’s no, like, one castle. Just a collection of buildings surrounded by steep cliffs on every side except the entrance I came in.
It had the portcullis and three different archways and thick walls and stuff. ”
Brody nodded once.
“My placements will be in the buildings surrounding the Crown Square, the pretty area I didn’t see because the fog is too thick.
To the west are the dorms, which you haven’t shown me yet.
We get our water from a well somewhere near-ish to here.
And there are more buildings I’ve probably mixed up.
” I pursed my lips. “But that’s me, not you.
” He grinned, and I pressed on. “The library’s laid out in a series of tunnels and is entered through the original prison from BT.
” I hesitated. “I don’t know what BT means. ”
Brody’s jaw dropped.
“It means Before Tremors,” a rich male voice said from my left. “How dense are you?”
The stranger’s explanation told me nothing.
I rolled my eyes and turned to tell him exactly that, and words caught in my throat.
An underwear model stood at my side; his hair, in my favorite shade of forest green, was neatly combed back.
Dark features perfectly balanced his lean face and fit silhouette. Unabashed, I let my gaze slide down.
Instead of a uniform, he dressed in crisp slacks and a white button-down.
A colorful purple vest with golden suns embroidered on it set off his eyes.
He shifted his stance, and diamonds sparkled in the center of each blazing sphere.
He lifted a glass of slightly glowing liquid, gently clasped in his well-manicured fingers.
More rings and bracelets sparkled as he took a small sip.
The liquid slid down his throat, making his Adam's apple bob.
I swear my clit bobbed with it, and I gripped the table.
My rugged, uneven nails stared me in the face.
I curled them under, using my discomfort to pull me away from my hormonal rush.
My subconscious created this picture of hotness.
Fuck, I had a good imagination. Doctor Oz must have hit my hypothalamus.
Brody’s face drained of color, and he leaned away from the new arrival.
“Did you hear me?” the man demanded.
“Uh, in theory.” I mentally facepalmed at my stutter. “What were we talking about?”
A few people around me gasped. A group of men gave me a dark look, their gazes flicking toward the underwear model in front of me with both fear and curiosity. I struggled to gather my scattered brain.
The man shook his head. “Idiot.”
“Yes.” I nodded, still grasping for brain cells.
His eyes narrowed, and I grinned, holding my hood to my head so it wouldn’t fall back.
He finished his glowing drink. “Good luck, brother.”
“You too,” I said with the two brain cells I’d managed to find.
He stepped away from me, already heading back to the bar, and my hormones calmed.
“Stay away from him.” Brody kept his voice low. “All men. But him more than anyone else here. That’s Cayden Lawson. A son of incest, who sacrifices virgins to his monster Sun God.”
I eyed Brody skeptically before noticing the wake of fear and distrustful looks following the underwear model.
He ignored them and took a seat at a small table meant for one next to the bar.
Every man in the room waited for him to settle before they resumed their conversations.
And it was every man. I didn’t see a single woman.
Hope and the chancellor had told me to ‘blend in,’ and the gravity of that statement bent my shoulders.
I took a long breath in and out. My entire life, my only goal had been to be more like everyone else.
Dad told me to blend in over and over. Now, even Miss Q deemed it essential in this fucked up dream.
Was that really the point of life?
“You don’t know what the tremors are,” Brody said. “You don’t have any family with you or resources. You’re alone…” He trailed off.
I sucked down the last of my drink, not liking where this was headed. “Look, how about we finish the tour? You can show me my new living situation and get back to your friends.”
He leaned forward, his face serious. “You must consider me.”
I blinked. “Consider you for what?”
“A suitor,” Brody said, reaching for my wrist as I had his.
I snatched it back before he could touch my skin. “I just met you. I don’t know what that word means here.”
“It’s a contract between women and men promising safety, kids, a future together.
” Brody’s voice grew deadly serious. “It’s the start of a new family.
You’re powerful, Quinn.” He clasped his fist to his gangly teenage chest. “You can have as many suitors as you want, but I promise, I’m right for you.
I can feel it in my soul. I can help you. ”
The pit fighter's words echoed. Women were priceless and valued for their fertility. Brody barely knew me, and he was already talking about our kids.
“No,” I said flatly. “You’re a teenager and you don’t know me.”
Brody sat back, his desperation giving way to calm confidence. “Promise to at least consider me, and I’ll fill you in on the tremors, on everything…and I won’t tell everyone you’re a woman.”
I narrowed my eyes. “Tell everyone. They’ll find out anyway.”
“Do you think that pit fighter will be around if someone bigger than me grabs you next time?” Brody asked.
My blood turned to ice. My previous delusions laughed at me. Proving Brody’s point.
“I want to be your friend.” Brody leaned toward me. “I want to help. That’s it.”
I shook my head, dislodging memories of things that didn’t happen, dreams brought on by my surgery.
“I want a chance to be one of those friends,” Brody almost pleaded. He glanced over my head, and the color drained from his face. “We need to go, now.”
I followed his gaze to see a trio of men standing from their table with their gazes glued to me.
It didn’t take a scientist to know they were looking for someone new to pick on.
I could spot that look from a mile away.
Despite everything Brody had done, I let the kid pull me out of the Happy Rooster and back into the gray, fog-muddled world.