The Dawn of Dae (Dae Portals Book 1) (25 page)

I had my doubts I’d be able to go any faster than a pained limp. Walking was bad enough; I didn’t want to imagine trying to sprint.

I wasn’t brave enough to check my feet to see how much damage I had done to myself walking across the city. That I had made it so far without collapsing astonished me. Until I found a safe haven, I didn’t dare stop.

I once again glared at the well-lit street. Retreating and trying to find an alleyway through the district would only take me so far; after a couple of blocks, there wouldn’t be any alleys at all. Instead, there would be groomed lawns, driveways, and suburban streets.

The change in the streets offered hope, though. Like Dundalk, Glen Bernie had been absorbed by Baltimore, but instead of decaying into the fringe, it had thrived, serving to house those who had dodged the poverty-ridden lower castes.

They weren’t elite, but they were the closest most Americans would ever come to it. They were the business men and women who had done well enough for themselves and earned the right to vote with their success. Their families were guaranteed primary school, and many went to secondary school as well.

They were also the ones most likely to call the police if they caught me on the streets. I sighed. It was too easy to get caught and a lot harder to escape once under the scrutiny of the police, who were far more enthusiastic about protecting their middle-caste wards.

Maybe it was late enough at night every sensible person was asleep—and if someone
did
spot me, I would be long gone before the police arrived. Standing around in an alley wouldn’t do me any good.

I needed to keep moving. I drew a deep breath to steady my nerves, picked the path most likely to hide me from watchful eyes, and took the first step out onto the main street.

A hand clapped over my mouth and pinched my nose closed, preventing me from screaming. An arm wrapped around my stomach, pinning my arms to my side and dragged me back into the alley’s dark shadows.

Chapter Sixteen

Unable to breathe around the hand clamped over my mouth and pinching my nose, I panicked. The way my captor held me kept my arms pinned and lifted me so I was forced to stand on my toes, which limited my struggles to ineffective kicking. When I scraped my feet against the rough asphalt, tears of pain blurred my eyes.

The hand across my mouth forced my head back, preventing me from repeating my mistake with Arthur. In a way, it was as much of a blessing as a curse. While I wouldn’t knock myself out again, I realized I had no hope of pulling free.

My lungs and chest burned with the need for air, and it didn’t take long for my abused body to go limp in spite of my frantic desire to lash out and fight back.

My pained tears made way for humiliation as the realization I was falling prey to someone yet again sank in. My traitorous body gave up, and when my legs could no longer support my weight, the hand eased away from my mouth and nose, allowing me to breathe. The autumn chill flooded my lungs, but I couldn’t find the strength to resist.

I had reached the end of my rope, and I knew it.

Something a little wet, a little squishy, and disgustingly cold slithered up my bare leg. I drew in a sharp breath to shriek, and my captor’s hand clapped over my mouth to keep me quiet.

“Shh,” someone I recognized but couldn’t place hissed in my ear. He wasn’t Arthur. The man’s tones was too deep. “Not right now.”

“Mommy?” Colby whined from somewhere near my feet, my leg, to be specific. Colby had survived, and it had somehow found me. Shock kept me silent, and as it wore off, the violence of my shaking rattled my teeth together.

“Both of you, be quiet!”

Rob. Rob had grabbed me, and he was hissing orders in my ears. I was torn between relief and fury that of all of the dae to find me, it had to be
him
.

“Mommy,” snapped Colby, and my roommate squished over my foot, clinging to my ankle.

How had they found me? Why had
they
found me? Colby I could understand. My roommate had witnessed everything that had happened. But what was Rob doing with Colby?

Rob eased his grip over my mouth, and I sucked in air. My heart beat too fast in my throat and drummed in my ears. Without his arm around my waist, still pinning my arms to my sides, I would have collapsed in a heap. He pulled me deeper into the alley, and Colby clung to my leg in its determination to stay with me.

I hurt from head to toe, and I couldn’t tell if either one of them was adding to my collection of rashes, blisters, cuts, and scrapes. I panted, struggling to get my feet beneath me so I could stand on my own.

“Some of the winged dae have taken to hiding on rooftops in ambush,” Rob informed me in a whisper. “Let’s not attract their attention, Miss Daegberht. I’ve already dealt with a few who were a little too interested in tailing my woman. I’d rather not have to deal with any other dae tonight.”

“Mommy,” Colby agreed.

In my exhaustion, it took me longer than I liked to realize Rob had, as usual, vocalized a claim on me. It pissed me off enough I managed to stomp on his foot.

He was wearing shoes, and the only thing that kept me from yowling in pain was him clamping his hand over my mouth again. “Will you stop that?”

I didn’t want to stop. I didn’t want to be property, not Arthur’s, not Rob’s, not anyone’s.
 
My anger and frustration kept the tears at bay, and I jerked my head in an effort to pull free of his grasp.

Rob loosened his hold on me. “I have a lot to say to you, Miss Daegberht, but it can wait for the moment.”

I wasn’t expecting him to release me, and I staggered several steps before colliding with the wall. I clutched the bricks to stay on my feet. The anger in his voice frightened me.

I knew firsthand what angry dae did, and my body still ached from Arthur slamming me into the street when I had fought against him. Turning to face Rob, I drew a breath to snarl at him, determined to establish I wasn’t anyone’s, let alone his.

Rob had his suit jacket off, and with a flick of his wrist, he settled it over my shoulders. What I meant to say died in my throat, and while my mouth opened, no sound emerged. I froze, and when I kept still and quiet, the dae pulled the heavy-weight material around me, buttoning it closed.

He wore it a lot better than I did, but it was so warm it almost burned my raw skin. It wasn’t until my arms and chest were covered I realized just how cold I was. I shivered, but I kept my teeth from chattering by clenching them together.

“It’s a little too chilly to be wandering around like that,” he informed me, shaking his head. “Really, Miss Daegberht. Couldn’t you have at least stolen a coat? Shoes, perhaps?”

“Fuck you,” I hissed.

The dae’s scowl relaxed into a faint smile. “Did I interrupt you a little too soon in your schemings? I can’t say I blame you for waiting. I wouldn’t want to steal anything from the fringe, either. That said, you have a lot of explaining to do, Miss Daegberht. You can begin with what happened to your clothes and why you’re wearing another man’s underwear.”

The arrogant scorn in Rob’s voice was too much. I stared at him, swallowing compulsively in my effort to keep from bursting into angry tears, but it only delayed the inevitable. I lifted my hand to smack him, and he caught my wrist in a firm but gentle grip. He pulled me to him, letting go of my wrist to stroke his hand down the length of my arm. I stiffened, uncertain of what he was doing until he worked his fingers into my hair and held me close, resting my forehead against his chest.

“I suppose you can tell me later,” he announced.

I longed to beat him for his smugness and superiority he displayed whenever he opened his mouth. I wanted to kick him until he pleaded for mercy and apologized for treating me like I was his property.

An unreasonable, unwanted part of me noticed he implied it was okay if I wore
his
underwear.

Instead of raging at him like I wanted, I slumped against him, mumbling curses at my weakness. I was too tired to fight him. I knew it, he knew it, and he, at least, had the basic decency to avoid rubbing it in my face. I’d pay him back for it later, when I wasn’t so cold and tired and he wasn’t quite so warm and doing a good job of keeping me from falling on my face.

I surrendered with a weary sigh.

When Rob realized I could barely stand on my own, he stooped, slid his arms beneath my knees and back, and picked me up. If my weight bothered him, he showed no sign of it. He didn’t even grunt when he shifted me in his arms to secure his hold on me. Colby bounced at Rob’s feet.

“Mommy!”

“You’re not injured, dying, or otherwise indisposed. Walk,” the dae replied.

“Mommy,” Colby whined.

“No, Colby. Go make certain there’s no one on the roof so I can get us to the car intact.”

Colby flattened itself to the asphalt before bouncing up the alley walls to the rooftop, leaving bright-colored smears on the bricks. I stared at one of the spots, blinking several times.

The stain glowed.

“Car?” I mumbled.

“It is a device that uses wheels to transport people and their things from one point to another,” Rob replied, his tone light with amusement. “It’s much easier to travel long distances in such a vehicle than it is to try crossing the entirety of Baltimore on foot. You really should have at least stolen some shoes, Miss Daegberht.”

“Mommy!” Colby announced from the nearest rooftop.

Consciousness chose that moment to be a fickle mistress, and when I next blinked, I was sprawled on a leather seat with Rob leaning over me. I drifted, not quite connected to my body. I recognized the sensation, but I couldn’t figure out when I had experienced it before. A bright light flashed in my eyes, and I realized I was in a car and its interior light was on.

Rob’s hand pressed to my throat.

The memory of Arthur’s touch suffocating me stole my breath, and I tensed from fear. Instead of the asphyxiating pain, Rob’s hand was soothingly warm. When he noticed me staring at him, he smiled. “Hey.”

“Hey,” I mumbled back.

“You’ve been ill-treated, Miss Daegberht. I cannot, for the life of me, figure out what you have done to your left wrist.” Rob had a first-aid kit on the dashboard and my left arm was in his other hand. I couldn’t feel where he was touching my arm. I stared at where his fingers pressed against me. Instead of the redness I expected, my bronzed tan was far paler than normal and had taken on an ashen hue.

I had done a hell of a number on my left wrist. I shuddered and averted my eyes so I wouldn’t have to look at the gouges. “Rusty nail.”

The dae’s eyes widened, and for a long moment, he stared at my arm. “You did this to yourself.”

What I had done to myself was safe territory. As long as he didn’t ask about Arthur, I could endure Rob’s criticism. “So what?”

I hadn’t seen any other choice, though I didn’t say so. It wasn’t any of his business.

“Couldn’t you have used something more sanitary than a rusty nail, Miss Daegberht?” Rob shook his head, sighed, and released me so he could pull a small white box out of the kit. “It is a good thing I came prepared, then. You can thank me later.”

“Who’d thank you?” I muttered.

He laughed, opening the box to reveal a collection of syringes. Each one had a label tied to its plunger. He sorted through them, selecting several before returning the box to the kit. “I hope you aren’t afraid of needles. Who knows what other unhealthy things you decided to roll in while you were gone. Better safe than sorry.”

After having kicked my habits, I resisted using basic painkillers, let alone the potent narcotics the elite could acquire from hospitals when needed. I blinked, realizing he had already dosed me with something.

I didn’t hurt. I wasn’t thinking too clearly, either.

“What’re those?” I demanded, and my tongue refused to cooperate with me. I sounded like I had consumed several bottles of hard liquor on an empty stomach.

“You’re currently on a heavy dose of antihistamines to counter the rashes, a half-dose of painkiller, and an antibiotic. These, Miss Daegberht, are vaccines. This one is to prevent tetanus,” he announced, holding up one of the syringes. “Once I have you in a better location, I will pump the rest of them into you. I won’t accept no for an answer, so you may as well get used to the idea.”