by Rena Marks
“Don’t wear it,” Jezebel hisses, then smiles demurely when Byndi goes by with Jacobi climbing her hip. As soon as she’s out of earshot, Jezzy continues. “Keep undercover.”
“Gotcha, 007,” I say. Whatever. If I didn’t have cool sunglasses from the Stargazers, I’d be painting the black grease around my eyes so I didn’t have to squint in the sunlight. It’s the biggest clue that you’re heading out into the jungle, so to speak.
Inside the main cave, reverent mother and some of the elders have gathered, probably discussing the discovery of our new Blaedonian cousins. We become suddenly quiet and somber as we look down toward the floor that leads to the back caves.
A couple of elders acknowledge us with a slight nod.
Safely in the back caves, we disperse for our own areas. “Meet one by one out at the pool,” Jezebel hisses.
The pool is an ice rink in winter. I salute her, and head to my cave. My pack is in our closet, which is a dug-out hole. My cloak is in there, too. I stuff it inside, and then reach for my small bone knife, adding that in. I grab some salve for emergencies, my night vision goggles that double as sunglasses, a tie for my hair. There’s a skin of water I mixed with herbs to keep the bugs away, and I bring it along. We can slather it on ourselves later. Atareek takes our larger waterskin when he hunts, so I grab the small one. I toss in a change of clothes, just in case.
Then I go to the kitchen to grab snacks. Jezebel’s already in there stuffing her backpack, and looks guilty when she sees me.
“Pool, huh?” I ask, grabbing some fresh fruit and jerky.
She’s got a trail mix she’s wrapping.
“Huh,” she grunts.
“Ladies, are you going somewhere?” Adretta asks.
“No!” Jezzy barks, her voice overly loud. “We’re not going anywhere important. Just gonna sit outside under a tree. All day, so I need snacks. I get hungry.”
I wince.
“Just wondered,” Adretta says mildly. “All the humans are grabbing trail mix today.”
“Sneaky bitches,” Jezebel mutters, and ties up her pack. “Let’s go before some other nosy wonders.”
We slink out the back of the cave this time, since we know the elders are in the main cave. The back door is tiny compared to the opening of the front, and around the pool we see everyone else gathered.
“Took you long enough,” Jeroc says.
“I was waiting on Jezebel and her snacks,” I say.
“Adretta was being a busybody. I could hardly explain this was a secret mission,” Jezebel says.
We move toward the front gates. Because nothing screams secret mission like a bunch of people with sunglasses and backpacks on.
Most of the men are outside, working on the repairs. They’re marking the weakened spots, and plotting where areas will be dug out for a glow rock to be implanted. They barely notice as we slip out, two by two.
Jeroc is the best guard to have. He’s laid back and barely rolls his eyes, especially when Jezebel “sneaks” by. The thumping of her ungraceful feet attract the attention of more than one set of eyes from the men fixing the fence. They stop, and stare.
“Good thing they’re not like Earth construction workers,” I whisper to Jillian. “Remember that hell? When they’d hoot and holler and chase you with their eyes when you’d walk by a site?”
She grunts. “Losers. Like any woman ever picked up a construction worker who gave her that kind of attention.”
“Yeah, it was weird.”
“Whew, that was close,” Jezebel mutters as we pause by the edge of trees, retrieving our cloaks from our bags.
“It was?” Lucie asks.
“Didn’t you see their eyes wondering about us?”
“Um, no.”
“That’s because you’re not a detail person. Me, it was my job, back on Earth. I’m very detail oriented.”
It doesn’t explain why she typically forgets to add salt or spice to food when she’s on kitchen duty, but the rest of us are too wise to open that can of worms. Instead, we pass salt to each other under the table.
We’re far enough from the compound now that we can gather together to walk in a single-file line behind Jeroc and Tessa as they lead us down the trail. He’s got his eyes glued to her curvy butt. I have to admit, she’s a sex goddess, but still. It’s not like he doesn’t have that every day.
“I’m not sure how much of a guard he is,” I say, my eyes squinting ahead.
“Eh, he gives us a lot of freedom,” Lucie says.
I guess for those of us who don’t have a lot of independence, it’s a wondrous change of pace. Atareek’s a laid back guy, so I don’t miss that. So ahead we continue to march.
Beyond the veil of the trees, the trail grows even more narrow.
“Hey, how long ‘til lunch?” Jezebel calls out. “I don’t think Maca will appreciate me wasting away to practically nothing.”
“He’ll love you no matter what form you take,” Jeroc answers, and it’s a wise response. There’s nothing Jezebel can respond with.
“So where are we going?” I call out.
“Surprise, remember?” Tessa yells back. “But you’ll love it. I promise.”
“What about the rest of us?” Jezebel mutters. “I’m starved,” she whispers to me.
I miss Miranda. If she wasn’t pregnant, I’d be paired up with her.
Finally, there’s a grassy meadow up ahead, and Jeroc gathers us to sit there.
“Don’t touch anything,” he instructs. “Sit together in a ring and rest while I grab lunch.”
“We’d like Kentucky Fried Chicken, please,” Jezebel says.
“Ugh, we eat that day in and day out,” Jillian complains.
“Seriously?” Jezebel’s eyes are wide. “I brought Blaedonian Colonel Sander’s secret spices and everything.” She pulls a bag out of her pack, and tosses it in the air.
“Well, in that case,” Jillian suddenly sounds agreeable.
My mouth waters.
“Ladies,” Tessa reprimands. “This isn’t a drive through. Jeroc will do his best, but if there are no spider rabbits around, we’re eating something else.”
“No eel, please,” Cammie says.
“Girl, please. There’s no water around here,” Jezebel says.
“Are you sure?” Her eyebrows are raised as she asks. The rest of us shut up, because you never know what’s around the next corner.
Jeroc laughs. “I will do my best to bring back the Kenfucken chicken.”
Tessa winces. “Atareek told him that was slang. That he could merge Kentucky and Fried and chicken.”
All the human eyes turn toward me. “Geez, so accusing,” I mutter. My poor slang-slaughtering boyfriend.
Then Jeroc disappears and the rest of us lay back, gazing up at the racing clouds. They’re pretty…and pink. But so is the sky. It took us a while to get used to a non-blue sky.
“Isn’t it weird how we don’t have to worry about rain?” Jillian says.
“Works great for me,” Jezebel says. “My hair frizzes.”
I sit up to drink from my water bottle, and then lay back. “It’s warm. A swim would be good today.”
Tessa giggles, which is kind of weird.
“So life is pretty different now,” Lucie comments. “Can you imagine Niki has a baby? Miranda’s going to have one…by what? Winter?”
“I still don’t have the seasons timed right,” Jillian grumbles.
“It is strange,” I say, holding my hand up to the sky. Lucie brings her hand up alongside mine. Our hands have stained fingernails now, compliments of Jezebel’s dyes. Before, they had been polished. Now we have homemade polish. They’re not as soft, either, as we had lotion and dishwashers before. Now, we scrub laundry and dishes.
“But I wouldn’t trade it for the world,” I say.
Lucie clasps my hand, and we sink them back down to the ground, holding hands. “Me neither. Rayhaan is my life.”
“Anyone else planning on having babie
s?” Jezebel asks.
“Kind of hard to plan or not to plan,” Jillian grumbles. “It’s not like they have Planned Parenthood around the next bend.”
“Huh? Reverent mother doesn’t make you a tea that keeps you from ovulating?” Jezebel says.
“What?” the rest of us shriek in unison, sitting up.
“Just kidding.” Her eyes are huge, and we all mutter as we lay back down.
“It’s like Russian roulette,” Cammie says. “I try to tell Naag to pull out, but he doesn’t understand the concept.”
“So any one of us could be back at the caves, banned from travelling like those other two poor souls,” Jillian says. “Pretending we want to be house-bound.”
“That’s what we have to work on. Maybe we’ll ask Eretar if they have anything to keep the child-bearing at bay.” It sounds like a great idea when it leaves my lips.
“She’s Blaedonian,” Cammie says. “I can just see her big blue eyes grow round and shocked that we’d dare to not want to be breeding females.”
“That’s a good point,” I acknowledge. It’s not that I’m against children. But I want to enjoy my life before I risk my life.
“I’m back,” Jeroc calls out, and we all sit up suddenly.
“I thought you were all dead,” he says.
“We’re relaxing like you told us. Not moving,” Tessa says, brushing off her skirt. “Want me to start a fire?”
He grunts, which I take as affirmative, though his eyes haven’t left her shapely legs long enough to remember speech. If I’m not mistaken, she flashed him when she rearranged enough to stand up.
He seems a bit dazed while he prepares the chicken, and a couple of us get the fire roaring. He’s gathered long sticks, so another three work on sharpening the ends to spear through the meat, while still others wet the sticks to keep them from burning. Jezebel douses the meat with her secret spices. And soon, we’re sitting around, laughing and eating fried chicken. The animal’s got a thick skin that is a bit greasy, so it is kind of like frying. The spices are just the kick that makes it perfect.
“Well?” Jezebel demands.
“God, you were so right,” Monica moans.
Gigi’s smacking her lips, and licking her fingers.
“You are all hungry today,” Jeroc comments.
“We might all be pregnant,” I say, and the rest of us giggle.
For a moment he looks confused, but then he lets it go. He’s wise, and much more casual than Tijar would be. Tijar would make us explain. Jeroc chalks it up to silly women.
“So where to after this?” I ask, licking my fingers.
“Still a surprise,” Tessa answers.
“Are we close? Because we need to go back soon.” Last thing I need is to get caught outside overnight while my guy is home without me.
“We’re close,” she says mildly.
“We can take the long route, or the more dangerous path which will get us there quicker,” Jeroc says.
“Always been into danger,” I say cheerfully.
Jezebel groans. “Maca’s not gonna like it if you get me killed.”
“You’re fed and healthy,” Jeroc says. “Let’s get moving.”
We gather up our chicken bones, and pile them on dry land, where they’re sucked into the ground with a slurp. Automatic disposal.
“That would have been so convenient for dog walkers back home,” Cammie says.
“There are inconveniences here, too,” Lucie points out. “Like the diaper washing laundry day.”
“Oh, yeah.”
We head back out, following Jeroc and Tessa. After a while, we start to climb up a little hill. The trail grows to single file as the path climbing steeper. Finally, at the top, the two are waiting. I’m toward the back of the line, as I’m right behind Jezebel, and she’s slowing the rest of us down.
“Here we are,” Tessa says, a bright smile on her face.
I try to look cheery, I do, but Jezebel’s huffing and puffing in my ear, and we’re standing in…another meadow. Much like the one we left, only it’s much closer to the sky. We’re obviously a lot higher up in altitude. The trail was steeper than I thought.
“Nice,” I mumble, and try not to look disappointed. Hell, we wasted so much time to see this place, when we could have gone back home after the lunch. But then, a few of the girls who have moved to stand beyond Tessa and Jeroc gasp. They’re looking over the edge, and I hurry closer to see what the hoopla is about.
We’re at the edge of a cliff. Down below us is a pool of water.
“Well, that’s kinda cool,” Jezebel says.
“It’s beautiful,” Lucie gushes.
“Doncha think you should’ve brought us to the bottom though? So we could’ve swam?” Jezebel says.
“We are going to swim.” Tessa laughs. “This, my dears, is the only water on the planet where you can float without swimming. And…” she leans in, “you can breathe the water.”
“What?”
“No way!”
“Are you kidding?”
“No. Take another look.”
A group of hunters have moved into view, down at the bottom, and are waving at us.
“Is that Maca? Is Maca down there?” Jezebel asks. “How we getting down?”
“He is. All the hunters on the first shift were told we were going to be here. And we jump. This is Atareek’s surprise for Valencia.”
“I don’t know about jumping,” Cammie says.
Tessa rolls her eyes. “Did I mention you float? And you can breathe? Trust me. Jump.”
I look down, and sure enough I see Atareek stripping, and wading into the water. We’ve taught them how to dive, but after a couple bad belly flop incidents, they tend to wade in still. I wave at him, and narrow my eyes.
“Jezzy, I see Maca,” I say.
“You do? Where?” She squints, peering down.
“Right there. Go say hi.” With one push in the middle of her back, she tumbles over the edge, and howls all the way down.
She immediately breaks through the surface of the water, and barks back a hoot of laughter.
“Looks like she made it,” I say, and toss my backpack behind me. Then I leap to Atareek.
It’s a long drop down, and I hit the water cleanly. To say I’m surprised is an understatement. Millions of tiny air bubbles burst around me, and I’m brought directly up to the surface. I’m flapping my arms and legs, when Atareek hauls me to him for a hug. I realize he’s still…but floating. It’s weird.
“You’re lucky I like you,” Jezebel hollers, as the other girls begin to hurl themselves through the air. “That was a dirty trick.”
“I had to make sure it was safe!” I yell back.
“I ought to pound you!”
“Don’t forget I’ll be the one staring into your vagina if Maca knocks you up!”
That silences her, and turns Maca on. He grabs her to him, even as the other girls begin plopping into the water.
Atareek turns my attention to him with a strong finger at my chin. “Surprise,” he says. “I thought you’d enjoy a mini-vacation just for you. The rest are all heading home. But you and I, my love, will find a small cave for tonight.”
“I’d like that,” I say, wrapping my arms around his neck.
Next to us, I hear Lucie whispering to Rayhaan, “It’s going to be a nightmare if Jezzy gets pregnant. Nine months of hell.”
“Or twelve,” Atareek calls out cheerfully. Then his mouth covers mine.
Chapter Thirteen
ERETAR’S STORY:
I wave goodbye to the lovely surface people, and walk away with two strong, beautiful men surrounding me. It’s odd not to refer to them as striped. Sometimes I feel like I stare, but all that plain, beautiful blue skin? Luscious.
It’s a pleasure and a chore to find out these two are escorting me. A pleasure because they quicken my heartbeat and deepen my breathing. A chore because of the same.
We’re from two completely different tribes
. I live underground, they live above. So whatever happens on this trip, it ends upon our arrival at the forest of darkness, where they’ll take me home. I’m an integral part of my tribe, my people need me. I can never leave, and I sincerely doubt these two would leave their homes.
“So let me understand this,” I say.
Diont turns his head slightly toward me. He is seriously handsome, with his full lips and tiny dimple in his square chin. His eyes are blue, and he wears his hair swept into a single plait.
“You hunt separately? Like you would go left, and Atan would go right, and I would go straight?”
“Normally, yes,” he says, his voice deep. “But because we are both interested in you, I doubt that either of us would leave you.”
Hearing that drops my mouth, and my eyes cut quickly to Atan. He flips his own long hair over his shoulder, and black eyes cut through me. “Agreed,” he says.
Well. All right then.
There’s silence for a while, and then Atan moves to the underbrush, spearing a fat creature with several legs scurrying by. He lifts his spear and says, “Kentucky Fried Chicken.”
Diont grins, but the phrase means nothing to me. It is a ridiculous name for a fat little animal. We roast it over an open flame, and it is a delicious lunch with two delicious men. They enjoy taking turns feeding me, and we laugh and talk. I love this, no jealousy between us. This could never happen in my tribe. Of course, in my tribe women are scratching each other’s eyes out for any available males.
When we finish the meal, we head to a stream to wash our hands.
I do more than that.
Very slowly, I pull off my knives. There is silence as I do so. I remove my moccasins next, and then my halter.
Diont licks his lips. I’d noticed him staring there earlier, as if he could test the weight and shape of my breasts through my garment.
Atan is utterly still as I shimmy from my skirt. My tail flounces as I head toward the water.
“Are you coming?” I ask.
They’re frozen silent.
Then the two men glance at each other, and race to strip their clothes.
Chasing Violet
Rena Marks & C.L. Scholey
Violet Knight is tired of men hooking up with her for her money.
