CRAVE (14 page)

They made it halfway to her parents’ house, her legs working for no other reason than that Charming was half holding her up and forcing her to keep moving. When her body and brain resumed functioning in a connective way, she stopped in her tracks and began sobbing. Charming simply put his arms around her and held her tight. She cried into his chest until she couldn’t cry anymore.

Pulling back, she wondered when Crave’s little brother had gotten so tall that her face was at his chest height.

“He’s forgotten everything,” she said quietly.

“Damn Midnight. She’s always wanted to mate with a leader’s son. She went after Carnal, but he wasn’t having any. Tried me. I felt the same. Now she thinks Crave is available. Sorry you had to see that, Dandy.” He stepped to the side, but kept his arm around her shoulders. “Come on. Let’s get you home.”

Crave looked up to see what was going on when everything went so quiet in the Commons. The girl from the jail floor was being ushered out by that kid, Charming. Just as they reached the door he turned and gave Crave a look like he would love to put Crave’s nuts in a vice and turn the wheel very, very slowly.

Seeing where he was looking, Midnight had grabbed his face and pulled back so that he was looking at her again. “Don’t pay any attention to that. It has nothing to do with us,” she said as she resumed sucking on his bottom lip. But for some reason, the way Charming had looked at him took the fun out of being groped by Midnight.

She was certainly sexy enough to draw interest from a male. Her sleek black hair, pale green eyes, and small feminine fangs combined to make her stunning in a ferocious sort of way. He just wasn’t feeling it anymore.

He lifted her off his lap and stood.

“What’s wrong?” she said.

“Nothing. Not in the mood.”

“Why not? Is it that bartender? Crave. Don’t let that bother you. She never was good enough for you.”

He raised an eyebrow. “Never was?”

Midnight flushed. “Just forget about that.”

She stepped into his body, but he gently pushed her back and said, “Some other time maybe.”

She huffed, but he headed for the door. He stepped outside into the cool night air, but within seconds of closing the heavy Commons door he heard the sounds of someone crying. As if his feet had a mind of their own, he walked toward the sound. Within seconds he was close enough to see that it was that female and his brother. He watched from the shadows.

He didn’t know her and didn’t care anything about her, but at the same time, he didn’t like hearing her cry. He heard the kid say, “Sorry you had to see that, Dandy.”

He supposed it was a reference to something that happened at the Commons, but he didn’t know what it was. The kid urged her to continue walking and when they moved away, Crave went the opposite direction. He didn’t feel like going back to the room at the Bike Barn, but didn’t want to go back to the Commons either. So he decided to walk around the settlement.

There were a couple of campfires going with Exiled sitting around, telling stories, or reciting ballads. He drew just close enough to listen without being close enough to make his presence known. The little gatherings dispersed near midnight. Fires were doused and Exiled scattered to their respective homes.

Crave was left standing in the cold dark night, alone, and it struck him that there was no one to care where he was or what he was doing. When all the watch lights were out, he made his way back to his room with no heat, piled blankets onto the bed and crawled under the covers. For the first time since he’d awakened, he wished he could remember who he was.

Dandelion woke early, with swollen eyes and a heart that wasn’t just broken, but shattered. Sometime during the night, she’d made up her mind what she was going to do. She pulled a leather bag out of her closet and began stuffing it with clothes and things needed for an extended time away. Her parents were gone when she came downstairs. Like most of the Exiled, they’d gone to the city to help with either building or working on getting the power grid restored.

So she left a note. Told them not to worry and that she’d be in touch.

She put on her leathers, threw her bag over her shoulder, and headed to the Commons. She dropped her bag at the foot of the outside stairs that led to Scar’s apartment, climbed up, and pounded on his door.

She heard him yelling something unintelligible just before the door swung open revealing a shirtless Scar. He raised both eyebrows. “This had better be good.”

“It’s not,” she said. “I’m leaving.”

“Leaving?!?” He grabbed her by the bicep, pulled her inside, and shut the door. “What do you mean leaving?”

“I mean I can’t stay.”

“No. What you mean is that you can’t
go
. The Commons can’t be run without you.”

“Of course it can.”

His eyes narrowed. “Have you been crying?”

She ignored him. “That new kid? She’s going to be great. You should put her in charge and get down to the city. You’ve got a lot of work to do to get
Free Spirits
open when we move.”

He shook his head. “No idea what you’re talking about.”

“I guess I haven’t had a chance to tell you. There’s a place in the town center. Right on the park. It used to be a bar and it’s perfect. Got a kitchen and everything. You’re going to fall in love when you see it. Charming says it’s yours if you want it. The humans owe us or something like that. Go down to Farsuitwail and take a look. Then get busy.”

He blinked slowly, arms crossed in front of his chest. “All the more reason why I need you. Where are you going? Did something happen?”

She shook her head. “It doesn’t matter. What’s important is that I can’t stay.”

His features softened. “Crave.”

“I’m going to the Rautt camp. They need people to help with the young. The, um, orphans. At least I think they do.”

The monster, Scar, lifted her into a big bear hug. “It’s a shame things turned out this way for you, Dandelion. You deserve better.”

“Put me down. If you make me cry, I’ll never forgive you.”

He put her down. “Do you need anything?”

“Just a ride across the wasteland.”

“There’s always a job for you.”

“Yeah? Well, if I ever work for you again, you’re going to have to pay me.”

He grinned. “We’ll see.”

She picked up her bag at the foot of the stairs and headed for the Bike Barn with long purposeful strides. The big doors were standing open so she walked right in.

Yellow was standing over a bike watchfully as it was being worked on.

“Hey,” he said with a grin when he looked up and saw her. His eyes paused on her puffy face and shifted to the bag over her shoulder. “Goin’ somewhere?”

“Yeah. I need somebody to take me across the barrens.”

He cocked his head and lost his smile. “Why?”

“I’m going to help with the orphans.”

Yellow scowled. “You’re leaving. Let me guess. Crave. If Carnal was here, he’d kick his brother’s ass.”

She gave him a small smile. “Yeah. Probably.”

“Want me to do it?”

“I’ll get back to you on that. My first reaction is to say yes, but I’m pretty sure that would be the wrong choice. I’d regret it and hate you for doing it. Then I’d have to get somebody else to kick your ass.”

“Standing offer. I’ll take my chances that you won’t regret it.”

“Thanks, Yellow.”

He looked down at his bike. “He’s just finishing up. If you’re sure you want to go, I’ll take you, but you’re going to need to cover your head and face. Between the dust and the heat, it can get downright uncomfortable. At least it’s still early.”

“Appreciate this.”

“Nah. I’m up for a ride with a beautiful female hanging on to me.”

Dandy smiled and blushed a little. Since she’d been promised so early, she’d never had the experience of males casually flirting with her.

Fortunately for her own psychological equilibrium, before Crave woke up and emerged from the room at the back of the Bike Barn, she was holding onto Yellow, riding so fast across the wasteland it felt like flying.

When she reached the Rautt camp, Serene was waiting to see who was coming. Because of the telltale dust, there was no sneaking up on occupants of the western side of the barrens. Well, unless there was a once-in-a-lifetime rain.

Serene came forward, nodded at Yellow, and said, “Dandelion. This is a surprise.”

“A good one I hope? I want to work here.”

Serene glanced behind her impulsively. “Well,” she smiled, “we certainly can’t turn away help. There’s a lot to do. Yellow, would you like to stay the day? Ride back tonight when it’s cooler?”

“I can’t refuse an offer to get out of work.” He grinned. “So yeah.”

Serene chuckled. “I’m going to show Dandelion around. You’re welcome to come with us.”

“Lead the way,” he said.

While Yellow rolled his bike to the shed where the builders had parked theirs out of the wind, Serene leaned into Dandy and whispered, “What happened?”

Dandy deflected. The last thing she wanted was to tell Crave’s mother what happened. “I can’t stay at Newland. I remembered what you said about the work here and thought I might be useful.”

Serene patted her arm. “You certainly will be.”

“It looks a lot different from the last time I was here.”

Serene glanced around. “It’s been hard work, but we’re getting there.”

Indeed, where there had been nothing but tents and crude lean-tos before. Those were all gone. Several new buildings had been erected on the site and others were in progress.

“How many children are there?”

“A hundred and twelve. Some are just a few months old.” Serene began walking. “Trace!” she called out to a female Dandy’s age. They’d been in the same class in school. “Will you take Dandelion’s bag and leave it in my office?”

Trace jogged over just as Yellow was catching up and gave him a so-glad-to-see-you sort of smile. “Sure thing.” She smiled at Dandy and walked away with the bag.

They passed by an open area where children were playing on sand. Dandy and Yellow both silently compared the stark environment to the lush green grasses of Newland.

Serene showed them the new dorm and classroom building. With the exception of a few sullen faces, the children seemed to be happy and making an adjustment. The dorm was divided into rooms with about ten beds each. Serene explained that a group of children was assigned to an adult worker who slept with them and made sure they were clean and ready for school in the mornings. The idea of taking care of people who needed her appealed to Dandelion’s maternal instinct, which was related to the satisfaction she got from making sure people were made happy with food and drink at the Commons.

Last they came to the dining hall with its long rows of tables and bench seating.

“Let’s have a cup of tea,” Serene said.

She left Dandy and Yellow sitting and disappeared into the back.

“Well, what do you think?” Yellow asked.

“It’s nicer than I imagined.”

He shook his head. “Yeah, but I’m not sure I get the goal.”

“What do you mean?”

“They’re
Rautt
young.”

“They were. They’re Exiled young now.”

Yellow smiled. “I take that to mean you’re staying.”

“I’m staying.” She nodded.

“If you change your mind…”

“I won’t.”

“If you do, any of the builders will give you a ride back.”

She looked down at her lap. “I’m not coming back, Yellow.”

He sighed. “You going to be a teacher?”

She chuckled. “Probably not. Maybe I’ll just serve food. Like I always have at the Commons.”