“But back to the matter at hand,” Luke says in his deep, melodic voice. It’s like dark chocolate got together with sweet honey. I could listen to him all day. It’s always a treat when he’s the one at the microphone, giving me instructions. Sometimes he starts talking about his life, about things he read, anything really to pass the time. He gets bored quickly, I think.
“We cannot send you back to Mr Bradley, not with what he threatened to do, and not after you hurt his crown jewels.”
Dan splutters into the teacup he’d just lifted to his mouth.
“This is serious, Dan,” Luke admonishes his brother. “He might ask for Dex to be punished. A hybrid attacking a human is a grave offence. The good thing is that he wasn’t hurt badly, but still, it’s his right to demand retribution.”
The warm feeling in my belly disappears instantly. The laws are clear; a hybrid committing a crime against a human can be punished severely. Switched off, even. Luckily, the hybrid’s owners have a say in what happens, but even so... I don’t want to die.
Nervously, I fumble with the straps holding my corset in place. They’ve become loose while I was running, but it’s still tight enough to stay on until I go to bed. From the beginning, my masters allowed me to wear human clothes. Some hybrids are forced to wear simple one-piece jumpsuits, but my masters bought me an entire wardrobe full of corsets, beautiful dresses, capes and even some breeches for errand days when a skirt would get in the way. If I didn’t have my metal modifications, I could almost pass as human in these clothes.
“He wanted to rape her,” James growls, pulling my mind back to the conversation. “He should be the one to be punished.”
“It doesn’t work that way,” Luke says sadly. “Hybrids don’t have rights and you know that. And by the time the petition in parliament is being discussed, it will be too late.”
“A petition?” I ask, not having heard of that before.
“Yes, we got together with a few other gentlemen and petitioned parliament to establish a basic charter of rights for hybrids.”
“Why didn’t you tell me?” I’m trying to keep my voice level but it’s quivering slightly from both excitement and hurt that I didn’t know about this.
Dan smiles. “It was supposed to be a surprise.”
The sound of the door knocker makes us all jump a little. It’s late; most people stay in their homes after darkness falls. It’s not safe out there, at least not for decent folk.
I automatically turn to go downstairs, but James stops me.
“Let me. It might be him.”
I shudder and let him pass, waiting with bated breath as he walks down the stairs and opens the door. He’s talking to several men, but I can’t hear what they’re saying.
I shriek as a hand touches my shoulder.
“Sorry,” Luke mutters, but he doesn’t remove his hand. He gently squeezes my shoulder and I freeze, the sensation being so new and strange. Hybrids don’t get touched like that. Not in that gentle, reassuring way. He’s touching me like he would a friend...
I force myself to relax and enjoy the feeling of his warm hand. If I focus on him, I can forget about the men downstairs, the men who might be here to take me away.
The door falls shut with a bang and a moment later, James is back in the living room, slightly out of breath from running up the stairs. None of them gets much exercise, being penned up in their house.
“Was it them?” Luke asks, pulling me a little closer.
James nods grimly. “I managed to persuade them to give us until tomorrow to hand her over.” When he sees my expression, he adds quickly, “Not that we’ll do that, of course.”
I shake my head and step away from Luke’s touch. “You have to. You can’t lose your business with Mr Bradley because of me. He’s your most profitable client, I’m not worth it.”
Suddenly, James is in front of me, holding me by my arms and forcing me to look into his dark blue eyes. “Don’t you ever say that again. You’re worth a thousand Mr Bradleys. We’re not giving you to him, never.”
“Let me look something up... I’ll be in the library,” Dan mutters and leaves the room without further explanation. I’m left with Luke and James, both of them closer to me than I’m used to. I think I like it.
“Did they say what they wanted with me?” I ask quietly and James’s grip on me tightens.
“They cited a clause in our buyers’ contract,” he says reluctantly. “Because you were made by Bradley Enterprises, attacking Mr Bradley has more serious consequences than if he was another human. They want to decommission you.”
“No way!” Luke shouts, putting his hand back on my shoulder, squeezing hard, almost possessively.
I’m beginning to feel really afraid. My masters are good men, but they aren’t powerful like Mr Bradley. They have no way to resist him. They don’t have enough money to bribe him, they don’t have political influence, and the friends they have in high society will likely not understand the problem. Most of them have hybrids, but from what I’ve heard, I’m the only one who gets treated like a human.
I’m amazed they found enough people to start a petition. But as they said, by the time Parliament debates it, it’ll be too late for me. I’ll be an empty shell, my mind ripped from my body.
“I’ll run,” I whisper. “They can’t punish you for that.”
“No way,” James says firmly. “Lone hybrids are captured and returned to their maker. You’d end up with Bradley Enterprises, same as if we gave you to them now.”
I feel like apologising to them again, but I can’t. Mr Bradley had no right to do what he did. Well, he had every right, because us hybrids don’t have rights. But it’s wrong, morally wrong, and I can’t stand for that. I’m not going to sell my body that way. Not even for my masters.
Being a hybrid means that I’m both human and machine. I have feelings; I can feel pain. And Mr Bradley would have given me a lot of pain, no doubt about that. He’s that kind of person.
“Sit down, I’ll make us some tea,” Luke says gently and pushes me towards one of the armchairs. I’m too confused to enjoy the experience of being in one of their comfy chairs.
I need to run. I can’t get my masters involved in this. They’re too kind, too nice. They’ve given me a good life so far, and I’m probably one of the happiest hybrids in the city. At least I was, until today.
But James is right, hybrids walking around without their masters’ identification get captured. Not all are returned to their maker as he said, some get traded on the black market or dismantled for parts. I shudder and James mistakes that as me being cold, pushing my armchair closer to the fire.
Luke presses a mug of hot tea into my hands and they both take a seat on the other two chairs. Did it really take Mr Bradley to bring us all together like this?
Before I can even take the first sip of tea, Dan runs into the room, waving a book in his hand.
“I’ve found a way!”
CHAPTER THREE
“No way,” I protest. “It’s not right.”
“Why not? It’ll only be on paper, we don’t expect anything from you.”
“I couldn’t do that to you.”
James sighs in exasperation. “Have you ever seen any women visiting us?”
I shake my head. Strangely enough, no.
“That’s because we’re not interested in any of those giggly girls flaunting around the city’s ballrooms. We like real women.”
I laugh bitterly. “I’m neither real nor a woman.”
“But you are!” James goes on his knees in front of me. “You are the most beautiful woman I know,” he says softly.
“And the bravest,” Luke adds.
“And the brightest,” Dan chimes in.
My cheeks heat with embarrassment, but I refuse to listen to their flattery.
“No, I forbid you to throw your lives away like that.”
Dan laughs heartily. “And that’s exactly why we want to marry you.”
I
cringe at the word. It’s their brilliant idea, so they think. Dan found a reference to a slave owner marrying his slave, freeing her in the process and making her an equal member of society. They believe that they can use the same law to make me one of them. Human, at least on paper. Britain doesn’t have a constitution and relies on case law. As there are no law cases about hybrids, maybe those mentioning slaves will apply. That’s the theory.
“You keep saying ‘we’,” I protest. “Last time I checked, polygamy was illegal in Britain.”
James chuckles. “We’d have to decide on one of us to be on the marriage certificate. But you know us, we like to share. We do everything together, so I can’t imagine us having three different wives.”
Luke shudders in mock horror. “I’m sure I couldn’t stand them.”
“Let’s draw lots,” Dan suggests. “Or we could do paper, scissors, stone.”
“Wait, I still haven’t agreed yet!” I tell them with a stern glance. As flattering as it is for them to want to marry me, this is wrong on so many levels. And that’s exactly what I tell them.
“First, that law was for slavery, not hybrids.”
“What are hybrids if not slaves?” Luke mutters but I ignore him.
“Second, you are three dashing young men who will no doubt find one or more perfect wives at some point. You don’t want to waste that opportunity.”
“I don’t want another wife,” James complains.
“Third, you don’t want to start a fight with Mr Bradley. He’s powerful, he won’t just let this go.”
“He won’t be able to touch you once you’re married to us, and we’ll find a new buyer. This country is addicted to opium, we’ve only scratched the surface,” Dan argues.
“Fourth, who would marry us at this time of night? It would have to be in the next few hours before Mr Bradley’s men come again tomorrow morning.”
Dan grins cheekily. “That’s easy. There are certain advantages of having a priest as your godfather.”
I sigh in frustration. Why do they need to have an answer for everything?
“Fifth, we’re not in love.”
That shuts them all up.
Until James says, “Neither were our parents, but they fell in love shortly after they got married. They never had the chance for romance before. Sometimes that needs time. And even if not, as we said, we don’t expect any... marriage duties from you. Everything can be as it is now, except that we won’t expect you to run errands for us. We’ll get a new servant, a human this time, not a hybrid. And the four of us will live here together, happily ever after.”
“But what will your family say?” I ask weakly, hating and loving them for finding a solution to all my arguments. “What about your friends?”
“They’ll have to accept it,” Luke says coolly. “If they don’t, then they’re not worth being part of our lives anyway.”
I get up and take a stand in front of them, putting my hands on my hips and looking at them sternly. I’m trying to do a matron impression but I’m not sure if it’s working.
“Now listen to me. You’re not going to throw your lives away like this. There’s three of you and only one of me. So simply on mathematic grounds, you’re the priority. Now let me pack my stuff so I can disappear before they come for me tomorrow.”
The men look at each other and smile.
“See, that’s why we want you to stay,” James says, his eyes turning soft. “Please, stay. For us.”
"I can't." I shake my head. "As much as I would love to be human, I'm not. And I won't become one overnight by marrying one of you. Maybe on paper, yes, but look at me! Look at the metal on my body, look at the camera in my skull. I'm not human and I'll never be. I'm a hybrid and that won't change just because you three want it to."
All of them look sad, just like I feel. I've always wanted to be human, but I've also been rational enough from the start to know that it's impossible. My mind tells me that it's a waste of time to hunger for something that will never be, but my heart ignores it. My heart, my human heart. It's not metal, no, it's flesh and blood. And I bet it could fall in love, if I let it.
But I won't. Not even with these three men, my masters, who are willing to give up so much for me. No.
It would be so easy, my silly little heart whispers. Just let go of your fears and stay.
But I can't. One day they'll meet a real woman they'll like and I'll be in their way. I couldn't do that to them. They've been kind to me all my life, they've even paid me a wage which is unheard of for hybrids, so I cannot let them destroy their own lives.
Marrying would be a mistake. Logic clearly says that.
"I'm leaving," I mumble, my voice not quite functioning the way I want it to. Even my vocal cords are now against me. So is my whole body. I can't get myself to move away from the men in front of me.
"Don't," Dan says softly. "Please, don't."
"But..."
"Can I prove it to you?" he asks and gets up, stopping close in front of me until I can feel his warm breath on my face.
"Prove what?"
"That marrying us will be worth it."
I frown, unsure of what he's talking about.
"Yes?"
Instead of an answer, he cups my face and pulls me closer. His lips touch mine, so soft, so gentle, and I instinctively open my mouth. I've never been kissed before; who would want to kiss a hybrid?!
But Dan is doing just that. His lips move on mine and I'm not quite sure what to do, so I copy what he does. Something touches my lower lip, his tongue. More warmth, more softness. He seems to wait for my reaction, but when I don't protest, he enters my mouth with that very same tongue, doing things to my heart that nobody else has ever done. He's all I can think of, all I can focus on, his touch, his lips, his breath. How am I supposed to think like that? How am I supposed to resist?
I suck in a deep breath and he ends the kiss, looking at me in worry.
"I'm sorry, I..." he says apologetically.
I curse myself for making him think that I didn't like it.
"I think you were close to proving it," I whisper with a smile. I have no idea where I take the confidence from. "But you may have to do some more proving."
CHAPTER FOUR
I can't believe I'm doing this. It's crazy.
I'm wearing a long white skirt that's ruffled up at the back, a dark red corset with a white blouse underneath, and a white fur cape that Dan put over my shoulders because he thought I was cold. No, I'm not cold. I'm excited and scared and worried and out of my mind.
Hybrids don't get married. We don't have partners. We don't do things like that.
This is like a dream but I'm not quite sure yet if it's a good one. I want it to be, so much. I want this to be the best day of my life, like they say in the books. But I can't get the thought out of my head that I'm destroying my masters' lives.
I suppose I can't call them my masters anymore. My husbands. My men.
All three of them are waiting nervously, fumbling with their suits. James has a pocket watch that he keeps flipping open before closing it again. We're waiting for the priest who will wed us.
I've never been so tense in all my life.
Finally, the sound of the heavy door knocker signals that it's time. The priest has arrived. Oh my, what am I doing?!
While Dan goes downstairs to welcome Father Murray, Luke wanders around the room, checking everything is in place. They've lit candles and got some flowers from the kitchen where I'd put them in a large vase just yesterday. Now they're dotted all around the living room, adding some colour to the dark walls. The chandelier is brightly lit and so is the fireplace. It's a cosy atmosphere, not too serious.
I don't think I could cope with a proper ceremony right now. My head is telling me to run away still, while my heart is too excited to beat properly.
James approaches me from behind.
"Close your eyes," he whispers softly and I do so without thinking.
Something cold
touches my throat, something metal. Automatically, I lift a hand to feel what's happening, and meet with James's warm fingers. Hot and cold at the same time. Something like excitement is bubbling up in me. It's the same feeling I had earlier when Dan kissed me. It's new and strange but very pleasant.
"This belonged to our mother," he says and I can hear that he's smiling. He fumbles with the necklace clasp before stepping back, gently turning me around. His dark eyes are fixed on my throat before wandering up to take in my face.
"Beautiful. It suits you."
I explore the necklace with my fingers. It's a thin chain with a large, heavy pendant. The metal is quickly taking on my skin's temperature and I almost miss the coolness of it. I remember the mirror above the fireplace and go to see what James just gave me.
It's stunning. The pendant is made up of a large amber in the centre, surrounded by dozens of tiny copper and iron cogs.
"Our father brought home the cogs from the factory he worked in," James explains. "He wasn't allowed to, of course, but mother had always loved that kind of things. He never told us where he got the jewel from. Anyway, she told us to pass it on to the first wife one of the three of us would marry. I think she would have laughed if she knew that all three of us are marrying you, in a way."
I'm having trouble fighting back the tears. He's so convinced that this is the right decision. He really wants to marry me. Does resisting make me a bad person?
"We don't have a ring, so this will need to do as the promise that we'll get you one as soon as possible," Luke explains, joining James in looking at me in admiration.
"It suits you," Dan says and only now do I notice that he's come back upstairs, Father Murray in tow. He's an older gentleman with a flurry of grey hair escaping from beneath his black top hat. His long coat has seen better days, but that's nothing special here in the city. He's smiling at me, which is the most important thing.
Their Hybrid Page 2
