Twisted Metal Heart (The Deviant Future Book 3)

by Eve Langlais

  “That is not a plan,” she grumbled as she straddled the machine behind him.

  “Got anything better?”

  “Nope. Just making an observation.” She slipped her arms around his waist. He didn’t mind that at all. “Wake me if you need me to fight. I need a nap.”

  “No naps for you, concussion princess.”

  “I’m fine. Just tired. It’s my way of healing.”

  With that said, she leaned against his back, showing way too much trust in someone who still struggled with how to classify her. Enemy, lover, mother of his child…

  Okay maybe not the first. But he could replace enemy with Bait. She might provide the key to achieving his goal of vengeance. Problem being he wasn’t sure he could put her in danger.

  With Alfred leading and scouting the way ahead, guiding him around problem spots, Titan motored the rest of that night. There were splashes and sounds of things on either side of the road, but nothing bothered them. Might have been lucky. Perhaps Alfred, during his jaunts ahead, was practicing his body-punching defense system. Whatever the reason, they survived the night, and the only trouble he had was with some kind of strange insect that thought to use him as its lunch when he stopped to refill the tank with water. By the time Riella stirred, a forest of some kind was up ahead.

  She woke, squirming against his back. When she stretched, he slowed and barked, “Hold on. Don’t you dare fall off.”

  Leaning forward, she spoke against his ear. “Or what?”

  “Don’t test me, woman.”

  “Afraid you’ll fail?” Her laughter teased him.

  “We’re out of the marshes.”

  “Could you be more obvious?”

  He gunned the machine, and her joyous exclamation was carried away behind them. He didn’t slow until they were parked under the boughs of the tall trees, hidden from sight should someone have eyes in the sky. After all, if Alfred could see, so could everyone else.

  He took a glance around and noted the strange mix of trees. Some had skinny trunks slick and smooth, others were ridged and led to wide green fronds, and others had frothy mauve fluff. More concerning were the balls of brown, bigger than his head, hanging in clusters. Every so often one would fall and explode, the milk inside splattering. He noted the inner soft flesh of the previously fallen fruit untouched. A fair indication it couldn’t be consumed.

  “Don’t eat those,” Riella confirmed a moment later, stretching on the back of the bike. “Unless you’re really starving or in need of losing weight.”

  “What happens?”

  “It takes the term laxative effect to a new level. Consume enough in one sitting, and by the time you’re done, only an empty suit of skin will be left behind.”

  He grimaced. “Nasty. Anything else I should know?”

  “I don’t recall. You should ask Alfred. I’ve only heard of the cocobutts. Usually found close to the ocean areas, along with crabs and clams. Which are edible.”

  “Any good?”

  “What makes you think I would know?” She swung off the vehicle and groaned. “That thing needs a better cushion.”

  He grinned. “Need your ass massaged?” The teasing words surprised him as much as her.

  “My ass is okay thanks.” Spoken most wryly. “Alfred, can you project what you’ve seen from above for us?”

  The bird swooped and hovered. “Of course.” A beam of light shot out from him, coalescing into an aerial image.

  “That’s us,” Titan remarked, pointing to a moving fleck breaking trail in the tall grass that separated marsh from forest.

  “I went back and screwed with the lines after you passed,” Alfred noted. “Hopefully it will be enough to muddle if anyone sees.”

  She pointed. “This forest isn’t very thick. Where it ends is rocky bluffs then a sheer drop to the sea.”

  “Really?” He couldn’t help the lilt. He’d never seen an ocean before. Surely it didn’t stretch farther than the eye could see. Being out here was a reminder he’d never gone farther than the Emerald boundaries. Meanwhile there was a whole world to discover.

  “It’s pretty to look at, but I wouldn’t advise going for a swim. It can be toxic to the system, and the denizens of the waters are always hungry.”

  “You keep speaking as if you’re familiar with this area.”

  “I’ve been around. Not this far up the coast, at least in recent years. I was taking a chance every time I left home that the queen would find out. Faking a death only works if the person you’re fooling keeps thinking you’re dead.”

  The frank admission had him claiming, “You’re scared of her.”

  “Terrified and, at the same time, angry. I hate her.” She glanced at him, a tired woman with dull eyes and voice. “She used me over and over as a child while, at the same time, denigrating my existence. She wanted to rid herself of me. My father stopped her. When she had him killed, I ran, and I vowed to never go back.”

  “Why didn’t you ever tell me?”

  She snorted. “It never came up. And it’s not something I talk about anyhow. Keep in mind, when I found you, I’d been gone a decade. The queen was my past, and I wanted to keep it that way.”

  “Is it my fault she found you?” It hadn’t even occurred to him before.

  “No. Alfred’s actually to blame for that one.”

  “Me?” The startled exclamation led to the aerial image disappearing. “I was the one covering your tracks.”

  “And leaving subtle irritating nudges to mess with her apparently. She noticed.”

  “I can’t help it. I hate the woman.”

  “I programmed you not to care.”

  “I should go scout some more,” Alfred mumbled and fled.

  “Will he betray you again?”

  “I wouldn’t call it betraying, more a lack of judgement which isn’t entirely his fault. He is after all just a machine.”

  “Just?” he scoffed.

  “Doesn’t matter anymore. She won’t stop until she finds me.”

  “Then she can’t find you. You need to disappear again,” he remarked.

  “I know,” she said with a sigh. “But I really would rather stop. I hate the idea of spending my life always looking over my shoulder. Of hiding my child.” She raised her gaze to his. “I have a problem with our child never being able to live freely.”

  “Then maybe we should do something.”

  “Like what? The only way she’ll stop is if she’s dead.”

  “We’ll find a way.” He would keep Riella safe. He drew her to him, and while she initially resisted, she melted into his arms. Where she belonged.

  Fifteen

  Being in his arms eased the tension coursing through her.

  “This is nice,” she sighed against him. “We should pretend more often we don’t hate each other.”

  “I don’t hate you.”

  She didn’t hate him, either. “Obviously. That was either courageous or stupid the way you attacked the pond monster last night.”

  “I wasn’t about to let it hurt you.”

  “But you didn’t give a thought to yourself.” She tilted her head back and glanced at his face, the strong line of his jaw showing a bristling shadow.

  “Guess I figured you were more important.”

  “I am,” she said with a grin. “But that’s not the point. You don’t have to do heroic things. I’d rather you stay alive.”

  “Me too. But I can’t always stop myself.” He winked.

  That brought a curve to her lips. She moved out of his arms. “Thanks for driving last night. I was a little out of it.” Which bothered her. She knew better than to show vulnerability.

  “I didn’t do it just for you. I did technically escape. We both needed to make some tracks between us and the city.”

  “Have a plan yet? Where are we going?”

  “After we see the ocean, who knows.” He shrugged.

  She eyed the tall trees, just past them, the bluffs. Two choices then, nor
th or south. North was the unresponsive Diamond Demesne with its deadly fog, which, without proper equipment, was a suicidal choice. Meaning only one place to go, south, following the edge to Sapphire City. She’d seen it once before. Someone like her with something to trade could somewhat move between the cities if she dared to use the hidden roads and didn’t mind being in danger. She preferred the smaller towns, not quite as big as a city, the prices of their goods less inflated.

  “I could help return you to your friends.” Last time they were together, he’d spoken often of going back home.

  He shook his head. “I doubt they’ll still be in the same place by the time I get there. According to Gunner, who was in prison with me, they took over an Incubaii Dome.”

  She stared. “Another one was lost?”

  He frowned. “What do you mean another one?”

  “The Enclave’s grip in the Emerald Kingdom is slipping. The revolts are getting larger.”

  “Because a revolution is coming.”

  She shook her head. “More like a massacre. The queen won’t let them keep the dome they caught. If she can’t oust them, she’ll burn it to the ground.”

  “You can’t be sure of that.”

  “She’s done it before.”

  “She needs to be stopped.”

  “I know,” she said softly.

  Titan shoved her out of the way a moment before the cocobutt hit the ground where she’d previously stood. The smell of it was actually pleasant, but that wasn’t why she smiled.

  “You saved me.” She was so used to taking care of herself that she was a little surprised by the way she enjoyed his protectiveness with her. He wasn’t programmed to protect her. He wanted to do it.

  Kind of baffling, but only if she ignored the fact she had the same feeling about him. If he were in danger, she’d act.

  Ugh.

  She’d allowed herself to like him.

  “I’m not just a pretty face.”

  The remark drew her laughter. “No, you’re not. You’re not half bad, although I don’t know if I’d say your only skill is as a killer.”

  He grimaced. “Don’t be so sure. Back at Haven, I sucked at cooking and fixing shit. I’m what you call grunt labor. Digger of trenches, carrier of big heavy boxes, and first line of defense if shit goes wrong.”

  “I shall be sure to call for you when I need furniture moved.”

  “Here we are talking about me, making me realize that, other than the fact you’re a princess, I don’t know much about you.”

  “What you see is what you get.”

  “I see a beautiful woman.”

  The compliment shouldn’t have flustered, and yet her cheeks heated, and she almost ducked her head. “I am more than a pretty face or a brood mare. I’m Aunimaa, master of metal psionics.”

  “Which sounds pretentious. You should go for radioactive sorceress.”

  “Isn’t that a witch?”

  “Much more awesome, though,” he said with a smile.

  “I guess you would know, Tin Man.”

  He grimaced. “Not my choice.”

  “I guess it could have been worse. They could have gone with Grumpy.”

  “I am not grumpy.” He shifted, his tone annoyed.

  “Says the man frowning right now,” she teased. And waited to see what he’d do. A person should be able to handle a little teasing. She’d known too many who lost their temper at simple jests. Her own mother being a prime example.

  “You know, there’s a way you can turn my frown upside down.” He winked and was utterly brazen.

  She stared at him. A pulsing began between her legs. “Is that supposed to be sexy?” Because the words weren’t, but the tone and the look on his face…

  “It’s called flirting. Ancient art lost to the citizens. You really should try it.”

  “Why would I want to flirt?”

  “Because it’s fun and often ends up naked.” The grin melted her.

  “If you want me naked, you just need to point me in the direction of a bath.”

  “Did I hear the word bath?” Alfred zoomed into sight. “There’s a stream to your left. Appears to be fresh water, not even knee high. The current isn’t too severe either.”

  Titan took his attention away from her and addressed the robot. “Sounds perfect. Lead the way. We’ll follow.”

  They walked the bike in order to better listen. But it was also probably a good idea to let the bike cool down after a night of hard use. The alternator feeding the energy creating a circular usage could melt down if run for too long. The fact it hadn’t seized might explain her fatigue. Even asleep, her psionic ability reached out and coaxed the metal around them. In this case, got them a few more hours of run time.

  The stream gurgled as it flowed past the polished rocks. Kneeling by the side of it, she cupped the clear fluid, sniffed it, and then drank.

  “You should have boiled it first,” Titan remarked, crouching beside her.

  “It’s clean.” She could taste it. It revived her, and she greedily sucked some more in before her hands went to her clothes.

  “What are you doing?”

  “Washing. You should, too. It might be a few days before you get the chance again.”

  “But our clothes—”

  She took hers and dumped them in the water, scrubbing them and watching the filth run away, taken by the current. “They’ll dry in the sun once we get out of the forest.”

  He clomped into the water, fully dressed. He scooped the fluid over himself, and she leaned back, shaking her head.

  “Get naked.”

  “No.”

  “I’ve seen every inch of you. Your penis was inside me. Don’t tell me you’re shy?”

  “I am not shy,” he bit off. “Fine.” He stripped his shirt and showed a body even leaner than before, not an ounce of fat on it. Just pure muscle.

  That pulse between her legs started again. Standing with her wet shirt, she wrung it out and noticed how his gaze was drawn to the dripping water then lower.

  Could he tell by looking at her that the sight of him aroused her? Turning, she draped her shirt on a tree trunk as best she could then finished rinsing her pants. By the time she hung them, she realized he stared at her.

  “Something wrong?”

  “No.” The hands holding his shirt dropped, but not before she saw the bulge.

  He still wanted her. What would he do if she got close and touched him? Make her gasp with pleasure, or would he push her away?

  She whirled rather than find out. “We shouldn’t waste too much time here. I don’t know if the king will have sent soldiers after us.”

  “You mean Roark? Possible. More likely, though, we’ll run into people who’ve heard of the bounty instead.”

  “Only if you tell them who I am.”

  “How common are redheads? Because I’m gonna tell you right now, you’re the first I’ve met.”

  “I have nothing to dye it another color.” She grimaced. “Do you have a knife? We could hack it off.”

  “No.” He practically barked the word. “We’ll just keep you out of sight.”

  “We can’t avoid people if we go to Sapphire City.”

  “Why are we traveling to the city? Isn’t that Enclave controlled making it the worst place to go?”

  “Not entirely,” she hedged. “What do you know about the Sapphire Kingdom?”

  “It’s on the ocean.”

  “It used to be that the Sapphire Kingdom stretched from the mountains, past the marshes and ran for several hundred miles along the coast. However, the villages closest to the northern border were abandoned. As to the southern ones, a few of them rebelled.”

  “Kind of like the Marshes.”

  “Not entirely, because all the habitants in the Marsh banded together, whereas the outpost towns just stopped being citizens.”

  “What did the Enclave do?”

  She shrugged. “Not much to those they still wanted to trade with. See, the S
apphire king is rich. Very rich. The city he rules also serves as a giant port. It’s where the Enclave kingdoms receive the majority of their trade goods from other continents.”

  He tensed. “Hold on, there are other continents?”

  “Yes.”

  “And their people travel here?”

  Riella nodded. “While not exactly a popular destination, Sapphire does get its fair share of traffic.”

  “Meaning people who surely funnel into the kingdoms. Odd I’ve never heard of it.”

  “Because no one wants to stay here. The Wastelands and the five kingdoms aren’t considered desirable. Too much of it is uninhabitable.”

  “Then why bother stopping at all?”

  “Because there are some items out here that they’re willing to trade for.”

  “And what would those be?”

  “People for one.”

  “Slavery.” He grimaced.

  “Exotic animals for another. There is a market for big game animals that can be released in other places and then hunted by paying clients.”

  “Why not come here and hunt them in person?”

  “Because these businesses want to keep their paying clients.”

  He shook his head. “This is too much.”

  “Is your head going to explode?”

  “No, but I am realizing my education was sorely lacking.” He wrung out his shirt and slung it over his shoulder while she put on hers but carried her pants. The hem of her top went down almost mid-thigh.

  “That’s because you’ve never left Emerald. It’s a pretty self-contained ecosystem. The queen has done a good job keeping it isolated from outside contact.”

  “The propaganda machine also did its job making us believe there was nothing else.” He shook his head as he sloughed out of the water, his wet pants sticking to his body, delineating it.

  She wondered if he ever thought of that one time there were intimate together. “The Enclave is all about the lies. Although only Emerald and Ruby still really have a solid hold on their citizens. The other kingdoms have slacked off on their rules.”

  “If that’s the case, then why didn’t you move to one of them?”

  “I don’t need people around me.”

  “I’d say it’s more a fact you were afraid of drawing your mother down on anyone who sheltered you.”