Colden's jaw clenched at my use of the word Foragers, but I was only telling Dunningham what he wanted to hear. I didn't want him to change his mind about my friends being allowed to come over.
Dunningham nodded. “I agree. I shall summon your friends tomorrow for a visit. Would you like that?”
“Yes. Very much. Thank you, sir.” I sensed Selima and Twila shooting eye-daggers at me, probably wondering why I was being allowed visitors and they weren't.
“Ladies, you are dismissed,” Dunningham said.
Finally, we were allowed to eat a tiny portion of the leftovers, but I was grateful for whatever little there was.
That night, I took a nice long shower. Hesper banged on the door, telling me I had gone over my time but I ignored her. The warm water felt so nice, and it seemed like so long since I'd had a real shower. The last one was in Gattica and that one had been ice cold.
When I got out, all the other maids were already in bed. Only Hesper sat up in hers. Not one word was uttered. I went to my bed to pull back the sheets.
Hesper briskly walked over to me and slapped me across my face. “I don't know who you think you are, but you are not special,” she said as if she hated me, then went back to her bed.
I held my stinging cheek, feeling degraded. No one had ever slapped me like that before.
The next morning, I helped Selima and Twila make a large breakfast of scrambled eggs, toast, bacon, sausage, and fruit. Breakfast was easy for me. Only Dunningham and Colden were eating. Doyle was gone.
Once again we served them and then stood off to the side. Dunningham left the table to take a call, and Selima told me to clear the table. As I reached for Colden's plate, he grabbed my arm, pulling me close to him.
“You work in the kitchen,” he whispered. “I need you to grab a knife for you and a knife for me. I would do it myself, but they're watching me like a hawk. We need to get out of here.”
Before I could ask him why, Selima came back and yelled at me for taking too long. Colden left the dining room and retreated to the guest room.
* * *
That afternoon as we washed the lunch dishes, Hesper stuck her head in the kitchen. “You have guests,” she said bitterly, and we all knew she was talking to me.
I didn't care how she felt. I was still angry about her slapping me. I set the plate I held in the dishwasher and hurried out to the sitting room. Keira and Chase sat on the couch, speaking to Dunningham. Their eyes lit up when they saw me, and I realized how much I loved them.
“Ahh, there she is. I was just talking to your friends about this predicament with the Foragers,” Dunningham said.
I nodded, just wishing he'd leave. Why was he so happy about my friends coming? He had even sent a car for them. An awkward silence hung in the air.
“Well, I'll leave you young Grims alone to talk. You may go out back if you wish.” Dunningham gestured to the French doors.
We did that. I didn't want Dunningham or anybody else in that house to hear what I had to say.
“Are you okay?” Keira asked once we were outside. I shook my head, and she hugged me. “I'm sorry, Nay. I know this sucks.”
Chase looked down at the ground. “I know this is hard for you. But I'd rather you be here than dead. I don't think I could live with that.”
I was on the verge of crying, but I willed myself not to. “Let's sit over there,” I said, pointing to a bench in the garden. The bench was concrete with a mosaic-tile design on the seat. “I'm worried. I think something really, really bad is going to happen in Nowhere.”
“What?” Chase asked.
I looked around to make double-sure we were alone. “I don't think he's going to give Colden those lifestones. If he was, he would have done it yesterday, sent Colden on his way, and then the doctors would be here already.”
Keira sighed. “That's true. That's really messed up. People are in pain, waiting for that medical care. Evon, who lives next door to us, has an arrow sticking out of his chest. He's just lying in bed in pain. Dunningham needs to do whatever he has to do to get help for our people.”
The fact that he was stalling showed just how little he actually cared for his Grims.
“Also, earlier this morning, Colden told me to get knives for us from the kitchen. I didn't get a chance to ask him why, but what would make him say something like that?” I asked.
The patio door opened, and Hesper stepped out. “Ms. Keira. Mr. Dunningham would like to see you.”
Keira frowned. “Why does he want to see me?”
Hesper shrugged. “I have no idea.”
Keira rose slowly and turned toward the house. “I'll be back, I guess.”
Chase looked out at Dunningham's gigantic backyard. “So, what's the deal with you and Colden?”
“There is no deal. He explained a lot of things to me in the Outskirts and walked me back and forth between there and the wall, but that's it. We really don't get along at all.”
“Huh,” Chase said as if he didn't believe me. “So, I guess this is the part where you secretly fall in love with the moody stranger who you've been at odds with.”
I looked at him from the corner of my eye. “I don't secretly love him. I don't love him at all. I can't stand him. What's your problem?”
“What was the deal with that Hunter guy?” Chase demanded.
I tossed my hair over my shoulder and focused on a strange-looking plant I'd never seen before. “There was no deal with him, either. He was a nice guy, but he lives there, and I live here. We can't be.”
Chase cracked his knuckles. I hated when people did that and it was a bad habit of his.
I grabbed his hand. “Chase, really it was nothing.” That wasn't exactly true. I felt as if, had I gotten to be with Hunter, I wouldn't have had to learn to love him like other Grims had to learn to love their spouses. I would just love him because that was what my heart wanted. “Chase, listen. What I said before about you and Keira, I meant it. You should get married. You'd be better off with her, anyway.”
Chase tilted his head to the side and narrowed his eyes at me. “What does that mean?”
“You know. Keira's so beautiful.”
He rolled his eyes. “Yeah, she is. And what are you? Chopped liver?”
“I don't know, it's just . . .” People had always told me I was pretty, but Keira was gorgeous. Gorgeous won every time.
“Why do you have to compare yourself to someone else? Just know you're beautiful, and that's that.”
I looked down at my badly chipped nail polish. “You're right, Chase.”
“So, tell me the truth. What was it really like being a part of that world?”
I realized we hadn't really gotten a good chance to talk since I had been back. “It wasn't bad. I liked it actually. It was just . . . different.”
“Different? How?”
“I didn't have to worry about being dispatched for assignments. I did more than just study. I got to really hang out with some kids. High school was pretty fun. I got to go to a basketball game. A movie. A place that had all sorts of games. When I wasn’t worried about collecting lives, I had a nice time.”
Chase gave me a lackluster smile. “What was your favorite part?”
I thought for a moment. My favorite part would probably piss him off. “Chase, if we lived there, we could date. We wouldn't have to wait until we turned eighteen.”
“Is that what you would want? For us to date?”
Before I could answer, Keira came barreling out of the door.
“Chase, let's go!” she shouted.
We both stood. “Keir, what's wrong?” Chase asked.
Keira glanced back at the house. “Nothing, I just want to leave. Please let's go.”
Chase looked at me and sighed. “I guess I'll see you later. Hang in there.”
“Okay.” I followed him inside.
Keira was already at the front door. She stormed out without even saying good-bye.
Chase gave me a small smile. “
Bye, Nay.”
“Bye.”
The butler closed the door behind them.
Selima stuck her head out of the kitchen door and yelled for me to get back there to help.
I heard a “Psssst,” coming from the top of the staircase. I looked up. Colden leaned over the banister, waving me up. I told Selima I was going to the bathroom and then I'd be right there.
I darted up the steps, taking two at a time, totally breaking the rules. The help was supposed to stay in their assigned stations, not wander around the house without permission. By the time I made it to the top, Colden was walking down the hall to his guest room. I passed a girl carrying a stack of towels. She gave me a strange look that I ignored.
Colden pulled me into the room and shut the door. “We have a problem, a really big problem.”
I wondered when he and I had become a “we”. “Yeah? What's that?”
“Dunningham's not going to give me those lifestones. He's planning something. I know it.”
“But he has to. Grims are injured. He's not going to let them stay in pain.”
Colden grabbed my arm much too tight. “He doesn't care about them. This is a trap. He wants to lure his brother and the doctors here to kill them. There's something about Dunningham—he can't come to the Outskirts, not even for a little bit like other Grims. I don't know why, but I'm glad. Naomi, we can be killed. He can kill any one of us at any second, and he knows it. Maybe he thinks that if he keeps me here long enough, they'll send somebody looking for me. We have to leave.”
I pulled my arm from his grasp. “Well, there are guards all over this place. How are we going to get out?”
“Something's going to happen tonight. He'll be distracted. He and his guards will have to leave here, and the rest of the help can't do anything to us. They're all mortal.”
“What's going to happen?”
Colden shook his head. “It's going to be bad, Naomi. That's all I can tell you. Listen, I really need you to get some knives from the kitchen tonight. We have to have something to protect ourselves.”
“I don't know if I can do that. Someone's always watching me.”
Colden frowned. “Just do it! And be ready. Don't fall asleep. Have your shoes on. I can't have you slowing me down.”
I rolled my eyes at him. “Why do you want to take me if you're so worried about that?”
“Because I've been given strict orders not to come back without you. Trust me, if I had a choice, I'd leave you right here.”
I would never, ever, ever like this guy. “Whatever. I have to get back to the kitchen.”
Chapter 43
That night we made rack of lamb and steamed vegetables. Well, I guess I shouldn't say we. All I did was cut the vegetables again. That was fine, because it provided me with the opportunity to slide a few knives into the pocket of my smock when Selima and Twila weren't looking. The knives formed a bulge in the pocket I hoped no one would notice. Knives in my smock would be hard to explain.
“Thank you for letting my friends come over,” I said to Dunningham as I refilled his water glass.
“They may not come back,” he snapped.
“Oh. Did something happen?” I asked.
“Selima, the lamb is delectable. Tender, just how I like it,” he said, ignoring my question.
What had Keira so upset, and why was he blowing off my question? I placed the pitcher of water on the table and stepped back in my place. Selima shot me a disapproving glance. I wasn't supposed to speak to Dunningham at all unless he spoke to me first.
Thankfully, the knives in my smock went undetected throughout cleanup. Back in our quarters, I waited patiently for my turn to shower. Since I had been the last maid added to the staff, I was last in line for the shower. I took a quick one because I didn't feel like being slapped again. By the time I came out, wearing the saggy pajamas I had been given, the lights were out and everyone was in bed. I slid the knives from the pocket of my smock underneath my pillow, pulled my boots on, and waited.
* * *
I had almost become resigned to the fact that what Colden said was going to happen, wasn't going to happen. I fought sleep with all my might. The even breathing of the other girls in the room didn't help.
Then, just as I was about to give into sleep, the warning sirens that always told us of Foragers blared. Someone flicked on a lamp, and everyone sat up in their beds. A worried murmur spread across the room.
“It's okay, ladies,” Hesper said calmly. “This doesn't concern us. We're safe where we are. Whatever's happening will be taken care of.”
Everyone quieted, but no one lay back down.
“Mindy, turn that light off,” Hesper ordered.
Just as Mindy reached for the lamp beside her bed, the door to our quarters burst opened.
Colden stood at the top of the stairs. “Naomi, come on!”
Everyone watched me, but there was no time for hesitation. I grabbed the knives from underneath my pillow and sped up the stairs.
Hesper yelled for me to come back—she even tried to run up the stairs after me—but Colden and I were much faster.
The butler, whose name I had never caught, dashed down the stairs, wrapping himself in a robe. He yelled to us, asking where we were going, but we ignored him. I followed Colden down the long narrow hallway and out the front door.
“Come,” Colden said once we had gotten outside. He led me to the line of Dunningham's expensive cars. “I got the keys . . . I just need to see which one fits.” He tried the key in several of the cars until the doors of one unlocked. “Get in!”
“Do you know how to drive?” I asked as I climbed in on the passenger side.
“Nope, but I've seen it done before, in the Human world.” He turned on the ignition, and we were off to a bumpy start. It reminded me of Bram's driving during our assignment.
I fell back against the seat as we rounded Dunningham's circular driveway. The gates opened for us, and Colden practically gave me whiplash as we made a sharp turn onto the road.
“Where are you taking me?” I asked as we sped past mansions that only looked like blurs. Lights were on in almost all the houses. Grims of the Upper Estates didn't respond during the sirens unless it was an absolute emergency and we needed the backup. So far, that had never happened. The lower-class Grims did all the dirty work.
“We're going right back to the Outskirts. I can't risk anything happening to you.” Colden made another sharp turn, and I reached for my seat belt. I had to remember that it was possible for me to die now.
Once we reached the Farrington city limits, Colden slammed on the brakes. He didn't have a choice. The streets were filled with men, mostly Foragers, prisoners from Gattica and the workers in the Mill. Many of them carried large sticks. They busted out windows and kicked in doors. Two of them took a trash can and threw it through the window of a dress shop. They ran inside and began to wreck the place.
Nowhere was in the middle of a full-out riot.
A fire had started in another building. I hoped they weren't ransacking the houses, too. Shots rang out. Some of the rioters ducked for cover, and some of them didn't care. They continued on with their destruction. A man with a Mohawk punched our car's driver side window. Colden put his hands up. The Forager looked at him and then backed off as if he recognized him.
“How am I supposed to get through this?” Colden asked.
I placed my hand on the door handle.
Colden looked at me and frowned, probably because he knew what I was thinking. “Don't!”
“I'm sorry. I have to know that they're okay.”
He made a grab for me, but I yanked away. He cursed as I took off.
I stayed close to the buildings, hoping not to get hit by any stray bullets. I slammed into a huge man with tattoos all over him and tumbled to the ground. He sneered at me. I scrambled to my feet before he could do anything to me and continued to run. I raced past Brickman's, where a group was inside tearing the place to shreds. I hoped Sulliv
an was okay.
When I reached my street, a knot formed in my chest. I couldn't breathe. Grims whose homes had been invaded were scrambling in the street, looking for a safe place. Mothers clung to their small children as they ran, but there was nowhere to go. Doors were being kicked in, windows busted. Shots came from one house.
Kerrin, a friend of my mother's, stepped onto her porch with a gun. “Who else? Who else?” Kerrin seemed to be doing a good job protecting her home. Her wide eyes fixed on me. “Naomi, what are you doing out there? Get inside.”
I shook my head and kept running. I was four houses away from my own. From where I stood, it looked untouched. Someone grabbed me from behind. I looked up to see a man holding me. He had the look of a Gattica prisoner—well built and muscular. He smelled like rotting meat.
“Please,” I pleaded. “I'm one of you. I'm a hybrid.” Those words seemed so wrong coming from my mouth, but they were true. I showed him my scar from where Dunstan had cut me. “See? Look?”
The man stared at the scar for a few seconds and then reluctantly let me go.
I darted through the yard and to the back door. It was locked, and I didn't have my key. I banged on the door, knowing my family wouldn't answer unless they knew it was me. “Please, it's me, Naomi. Open up!”
“Yeah, open up!” said a deep voice from behind me. I turned to see a strange man. He pushed me off the stoop, and I landed on my side on the ground. The man banged on the door. This had been a mistake. Now I'd drawn attention to our home. When no one answered, he slammed all his weight against the door. With his size, it wouldn't take him long to break it down. I remembered the knife I had hidden in my boot. I reached down for it, bracing myself. I had never hurt anyone before and there was a chance anything I did to him would be fatal.
I got back up on my feet. The man stopped throwing himself against the door. He had noticed the knife in my hand. Now, I had less than a second to make a decision. I thrust the knife into his abdomen with all my strength. Even though he'd seen it coming, he looked surprised. Blood trickled quickly from the wound. I twisted the knife, pulled it out of him, and turned to flee.
I slammed into Colden. He looked as if he was in a trance. He shook his head. “Come on, let's go.”
Naomi Grim: The Final Breath Chronicles Book One Page 26
