Chapter 6
Lola
Marcus washed our dishes as I tied my shoelaces. There was no way to know when I’d get some energy back, so back to real clothes it was…
“Where are we going if I’m not allowed in the Archives?”
I had my first full night of sleep in a whole week, and I had to admit that the bed was way more comfy than the Archive’s sofas.
Real food was also significantly improving my mood after eating snacks and chips for so long.
Aymeric was not around this morning, but he’d left me a whole plate of scrambled eggs and bacon in the fridge with a kind little note.
How adorable was that? He was like the father I always wished I had.
Even though Maggie had kept spawning coffee multiple times a day, her food offerings had turned more rare with each passing day. It should have tipped me off on the fact that she was getting annoyed at me for staying there.
I guess even moody spirits needed their space too.
“I have the day off before I’m switching to evening shifts,” Marcus said, drying his hands with a towel before throwing the wet fabric on the counter and picking his phone out of his back pocket.
“I’m showing you around town today. It’s a bit sad that you still haven’t seen everything even though you’ve almost been here for a month now. ”
I discreetly folded the towel and hung it where it was supposed to be; Aymeric would be upset if he came back tonight and found it still damp, and I couldn’t stand to see the disapproving glance another time.
He’d scolded me like a child for staying at the Archives and not coming here earlier. Not going through that again.
“Not sure if you know this, but the town is separated into three distinct areas.”
I shook my head. “I didn’t know.”
His shoes were on the next minute and we were out of the building in two. The sun shone bright in the sky, making me squint my eyes. At least, the temperatures had cooled down from a scorching 120°F to a much more manageable 90°F, making this Hell’s asshole a bit more breathable.
“As you must have seen when you arrived and the few times you snuck out—”
“I didn’t see anything when I arrived,” I reminded him. “I was too busy being beaten and trying not to choke with all the sand and dust getting under the pillowcase.”
The clearing of his throat was loud as he winced. “Right. Well, even from the inside, you must have watched the walls a few times, right?”
They were fifty feet high and circled the whole town, which made them pretty hard to miss.
“But what you can’t see from the inside, is that it’s actually three circles.” He pointed to a side of the town, south-east of the main entrance. “Over there is another, slightly smaller,” he said, before showing another side, “and a third one here. South-east is where our farms are.”
“Farms?” I asked, eyebrows lifting in surprise.
“You didn’t think we imported everything, did you? We raise animals and grow crops in hundreds of greenhouses.”
My mouth opened and shut a few times. I did think they were mostly importing everything we could find around here.
After all, this damn heat would make farming difficult…
It was already a nightmare for any sane Immortal; I didn’t imagine for one second that animals other than lizards or insects could survive it.
“And in that area over there is where our soldiers train and where the different schools are located,” Marcus said, pointing to the opposite side. “Today, I’ll give you a tour of those places.”
The whole day walking under the heat instead of cozying up in the Archives with books older than me? Great. I could definitely try to be an outdoorsy person. No big deal.
My smile was only slightly forced as I answered, “Sure, sounds fun.”
He chuckled next to me. “Please, hide your enthusiasm. It’ll be great, I swear.
You’ll get to meet people you’ve probably never seen before.
” The pointed look I gave him said it all.
“Oh come on,” he drawled. “Your pheromone’s level is perfectly fine, no one will try to fuck you in the street.
And if they do, I promise I’ll slit their throat and report them. ”
I reared back. “No need for such extreme measures.”
“Why not? It’s not like they’ll die from it.”
We stopped walking as he stared at me, confused. People kept walking by, ignoring us, the thrill of my arrival now old news.
“No need to punish someone so severely for something they have no control over.”
Oh no. Did I say something wrong? Anger pulled at his face, his hand flexing on the hilt of a dagger strapped to his hip.
“Why are you downplaying it?” he asked. “It doesn’t matter if they’re lured to you on a chemical level, any decent person would be able to refrain themselves from forcing you into having sex.”
My eyes widened as I frantically looked around us, searching for anyone who could hear us.
“What are you doing?” I hissed.
“What do you mean what am I doing?” His voice grew louder and I couldn’t help the embarrassment at the few curious glances we got from the people walking by.
“I’m setting things straight, that’s what.
I know people haven’t taken you seriously most of your life—me included when you first got here.
But what you’ve been through and forced to believe is not okay, Lola. ”
Here I was, scolded again but this time in the middle of the street. My blood started to boil in my veins as anger and embarrassment simmered.
“Arc told me what happened that time. And what he did was right. As we’ve established last night, you’re my friend, and I’ll do the same if I have to.”
“Ew!” I took a step back, eyes so wide that they could fall out of their sockets at any moment. “I’m not doing that with you!”
The mere thought of us tangled in a bed gave me the ick. Don’t get me wrong, Marcus was definitely an attractive man, but Hell no. I’ve seen the man cut his toenails on the couch and dipping pickles in a peanut butter jar, that ship had no way of turning back.
Marcus mumbled, rolling his eyes in disbelief. “I’m not talking about that part. I’m talking about bringing consequences to people thinking it’s okay to fucking rape you because you smell like a good time.”
That was it. People’s stares said it all, and I was going to be labeled as the Succubus who’s making a big deal about sex.
“It’s not okay,” he repeated a tad more softly. “And I’ll make sure it doesn’t happen anymore.”
Not gonna lie, when he said all that, I came to the conclusion that Marcus would be following me around for the rest of my damned life, and I didn’t like that idea very much.
But, after making me walk ages to show me around the huge farming part of the camp before leading me to the smaller one where the guards trained and people studied whatever they wanted to, it turned out he meant something even worse.
“What do you mean, everyday?” I asked, feeling my whole body go numb and tense at the same time.
He, on the other hand, looked like he was having a blast. “Well, not everyday, I’m not a monster. I’ll let you have one free morning a week.”
I glowered at him, but his amusement only grew. I was not going to do that. I enjoyed sleeping in, plus, I didn’t need it.
“I’m perfectly—”
“You rely on your powers too much,” he interrupted me with a crossed-arms shrug as guards walking nearby gave us curious glances. “You need to learn to defend yourself without transforming anything.”
Unbelievable. “How do you even know about that? Also, know that, unlike you, I’ve been living outside the walls after the war. I know how to look after myself.”
His chuckle reverberated around us, catching the attention of more people. Great, just what I needed.
“Arc told me exactly what happened in that alley the night you were attacked. And I’ve heard from Kai about how you tend to fight Carter off.
Yes, your transformation powers are a great asset, but that’s all they should be: a way to get the upper hand.
You need to learn how to properly fight and defend yourself without using them. ”
“For the record, I know how to fight,” I snapped. “It’s just hard to do without a weapon.”
“Or without energy.” I frowned at his jab as he got in my face.
“Look, I’m not the one to tell you how to deal with your…
sex energy level, or whatever, but you need to have another way to defend yourself or attack an opponent.
So I don’t care how late you like to sleep in the morning.
With the stone gone from your room, I’ll pull you out of bed myself if you refuse to comply.
Training starts tomorrow, and Carrie already prepared everything that you’ll need. ”
Why was it that I haven’t had an actual friend in ages and the first one that I made was even more stubborn than me?
We resumed our walk, silent at first, before his tone softened. “How is it out there?”
I turned to look at him, but his gaze was fixed on the floor ahead of his steps, face pulled taut with an emotion he rarely showed—anxiety.
I shrugged. “Well, you know. It hasn’t changed much since the war ended.”
Some entire states had been abandoned by humans—like here, in Arizona, where it seemed like only the military remained.
They mostly lived near coasts now, leaving the damage they did on the rest of the country behind.
Killing Immortals wasn’t easy and they had quickly turned to nuclear and chemical weapons in hope it would be enough.
It hadn’t.
The poisoned river had turned against them here, but scattered around the country, the whole world, some cities were nothing more than wastelands.
They had done this to their world. Destroyed it out of fear and hatred, not even realizing that the Princes of Hell were probably rubbing their hands with glee at the turn of events
Sure, the Princes had been mad enough at the Incubus for exposing us to the whole world on live television that they had removed most of the Succubi population to send them who knows where—maybe past Lucifer’s office and straight to the dreaded scorching level.
I wouldn’t know, I’d never been invited past the very human looking room where Lucifer held his meetings.
But by acting like this, they fueled the Prince’s powers.
Prince Wrath—or Satan for the ones who were foolish enough to call him by name—was probably stronger than Lucifer now. Although, humans’ pride never waivered…
“You never go outside the camp?” I asked him, confused.
“I did. I was a scout leader before I—well, before I moved to camp security,” he said, shaking himself like the memory stung. “But even scouts mostly stay in the perimeter. Sometimes we organize expeditions outside to get stuff we can’t do ourselves, but I—I don’t go.”
Expeditions? The closest town that still had enough life—both mortal and Immortal—to still sell things was Vegas. The last town I was stationed in, actually…
“I know they stay for a few days everytime,” he continued. “They take the trucks, travel to Vegas, and meet Kai’s contacts. That’s how we get a lot of necessities like soap and medical supplies, but also how we can get stuff like coffee, chocolate, chips—”
“Dino nuggets…” I added with a smile, bumping my shoulder against his.
He smiled, a little breathy laugh escaping him. “Looks like both of us couldn’t live without those runs, then.”
True. If we ran out of coffee, I might die. Well, not ‘die’ die, but on the inside.
“I just—I always wondered how society hasn’t crumbled after all this.”
“Humans are resilient,” I said. “They may be weak, but they’ll keep living and trying to maintain the comfort they need, even if the world is falling apart around them.”
“Like roaches,” Marcus grumbled.
I chuckled. “True. And yet, we are the ones hiding.”
He narrowed his eyes, glaring at me from the side as we kept walking. “We’re not hiding. We’re trying to live peacefully. If we had wanted to wipe them off the earth, we could have.”
No we couldn’t. After all, lots of Immortals depended on human life.
What were Vampires if they couldn’t feed off human blood?
Drinking from animals only worked for a while before they became sick and died.
What were tied demons if they couldn’t collect souls?
Regular Succubi if they couldn’t syphon human energy?
The sad truth was, even if we were strong enough to kill them all, it would only bring our downfall. And, even without knowing this, it gave the humans the upper hand.
“Do you want to know what I think?” he said after a moment.
“The prisons like the one Arc and Dimitri went to are used to make tests on us. To find a way to actually kill all of us without using the services of an unreliable hunter. And with Arc? If they somehow find something that works against him, it’ll probably work against the rest of the Immortals. ”
His theory made sense. And yet, I couldn’t forget what Dimitri had said. What he had seen. Immortals were there too. And if some of us had allied with them? Maybe they had become a bigger threat than we’d ever imagined.