Branded Possession (The Machinery of Desire Book 3)

by Cari Silverwood

  They’d be watching for a humanoid mechling and for her, a gold-haired human. Both of them were distinctive. Maybe he should involve Badh after all. Not the Followers, but Badh. A little distraction at the exit from the ship would be a huge help.

  “I have to go talk to Badh but offscreen.” He didn’t quite trust the screen links anymore either. “I’ll be back as soon as I can. Get showered and dressed for bed.”

  Gio nodded and he gathered his coat and the Thelk pistol then headed for the door.

  Chapter 36

  Gio had felt the disturbance in Aunt M for days but had thought little of it, what with the strange mechling massacre she figured he had some sort of resonance with that. Did mechlings worry?

  But now it was making her teeth ache. So as soon as Ryke left, she called him to her.

  Face to face, or face to whatever Aunt M’s head was, she could read it better. “What have you done, Aunt M. Someone gave you a secret order?”

  The one advantage of being human was this weird rapport humans had with mechlings. She could tease almost anything out of them, make them do things, although it felt like an obscenity with Aunt M. She was so close to being sentient.

  “What is it?”

  “I... I have several secret orders. Which would you like to hear? The one from the king’s advisor or the one from Ryke?”

  Fuck. “Uhhh, both? Start with the king’s advisor, and however did he manage to do that? I thought Ryke had hidden down here.”

  “I contacted the king’s advisor. It was my duty once I understood Ryke was not truly representing the king.”

  Made sense, no matter how disturbing it was. “I see. Go on.”

  “He told me to inform him of any plans Ryke made and to make sure I met with him tomorrow.”

  “Gyle wants you?”

  “Yes. And you, I believe. I told him of your portal magic powers, as the Mekkers term the pretty green light you made when asleep. It was so big.” He indicated a six-inch circle with his forelimbs. “Gyle also told me not to tell Ryke if you did this again while I watched.”

  “What the fuck?” Holy...yeah a lot of what the fucks. She scrambled to make sense of this. “And did I?”

  “Yes. Twice when you fell asleep.”

  Curses swam through her brain. She had a form of portal magic and Ryke hadn’t mentioned it? She turned and went to a chair, sat then rubbed her hands over her face, thinking. They knew! She was in deep shit.

  Panic tried to run though her screaming but she managed it, told herself over and over that tomorrow she would get loose from here and run.

  She’d been too complacent for too long.

  “Did Ryke tell Gyle about this magic I do?”

  “No.”

  And why hadn’t he? This was getting way too complicated.

  “Okay...okay. Tell me Ryke’s secrets.”

  The list of preparations – the packs, the dye for her hair, the food – it stunned her until she figured out he was aiming to leave the swathe and go out onto the land. Maybe to be this prophet they thought he was. Leaving was exactly what she wished for, though minus Ryke. She still wasn’t sure if him not telling her about the portal magic was a betrayal. Now that she knew it, she could figure out how to train herself.

  If this was truly that. She stared at her hands, turned them over. Why? Why her?

  Drette had somehow communicated it to her? She shook her head. Later. Figure this out later. Now was not the time. Leave the swathe first. Verifying her ability and improving it would likely take weeks, or days, to unravel.

  “He plans to dye your hair tonight. The black gloves will cover your nails.”

  “I want you to show me the packs and the clothes...and find a good knife for me to put into my coat. Maybe a couple. Do not tell Ryke of this! Secret.”

  She wasn’t brilliant at knife fighting but could hit things at a small distance with a throw, providing the knife was well balanced. As Aunt M’s eyeball would attest to.

  She’d swear Aunt M groaned.

  “Another secret? Of course.”

  Being what she was, human, her command would surpass any the others had given, or she was fairly sure it would.

  “And...don’t tell the others I asked this of you. Okay? Can you do this?”

  “I can, Gio. Yes.”

  Hmmm. Give Aunt M any more secrets and the poor thing might explode from all the command loops going around in his brain. She still hadn’t decided if Aunt M was a she a he or an it. It seemed plain wrong. Though these robots didn’t have genders either. And she was worrying about a transgender robot at this fucking time?

  What the hell?

  “Good.” Then she left to shower.

  At some stage, she thought she heard a small ding that might’ve been a screen coming on and after she’d dressed, she went to find Aunt M to ask what it was. Except Aunt M was gone. She searched the entire residence and couldn’t find her.

  When Ryke returned she was waiting inside the door to speak to him. He let his coat slide from his shoulders and placed it on the hook on the wall, beside a table. He unholstered his gun and slung it up there too. Why was he carrying that in the Underdeck?

  “I have something to tell you.”

  He held up one finger. “Wait.” Then he picked her up, sat her on the table, and kissed her long and beautifully, leaving her breathless and stunned. His hands were on her shoulders as he looked at her.

  “Now say. What is it?”

  Brain restarting from scrambled sex-babe mode, she reassessed her potential words.

  She couldn’t tell him of the secrets, of Gyle. Or wouldn’t, but Aunt M disappearing seemed possibly bad, though not for her, for Aunt M.

  “Aunt M left the house, for no reason. At least, I can’t find her anywhere.”

  Consternation showed clearly in the wrinkling of his forehead – though maybe that was because she’d become far too familiar with Ryke’s body language.

  Chapter 37

  There was no logical reason for him to suspect something terrible had happened, yet as soon as Gio told him the mechling was gone, was nowhere within the residence, he turned and headed out.

  Why would it leave without orders? Gyle could give it orders.

  He sprinted to the crop’s edge, heard Gio follow him. Nothing. And he’d just come this way.

  “When would it have left?”

  “I had a shower then searched. Not long? Wait...wait. I think we should look over there.”

  And she pointed toward the nearest window to the outside.

  “Why there?”

  “Just a feeling. A bad one.”

  Gio and her visions. That had proven true before.

  Bad. He didn’t need more bad.

  With nothing else to go on, he went in that direction, this time following her lead, her pert ass in a pair of tight, black pants. He didn’t see any movement, or any Aunt M, and so she must have already crossed to the first building shaft?

  Once there Gyle, as a king’s advisor, could easily clear the way for the mechling to go up in one of the elevators used for food carriage. It was those big lifts he and the other deckers would be using tomorrow to get to the Gathering.

  Or maybe he...it was doing something he had asked it too? Something within the realm of organizing the household...and yet it knew they were leaving in a day.

  Why would it choose to go outside?

  It had to be Gyle. The man must’ve somehow reached the mechling and ordered it to go above. In which case, he had to wonder if Gyle planned to do something sooner than the Gathering. What if he thought it best to simply eliminate him and take Gio early? If he raided the Underdeck tonight, it might succeed. But was that what this was?

  As he neared where the crop ended at the hull wall, the crop became flattened in places, as if something had trampled it. Or something large had been dragged through it. And there was a flurried pattern to this, a broad drag zone for sure.

  Ryke halted because Gio had stopped. He’d
been following in her footsteps, checking the floor of the cropland. Hurrying as they’d been, he’d nearly flattened her. He stepped around her to see why she’d gasped but already he glimpsed it.

  Before them was a thing of multiple unmatched metal limbs and a bulbous irregular body – mechling shells joined as scabs and layers. It crunched and snacked on the body of Aunt M. Pieces of her lay detached at the edge of the dirt where it became riveted floor. Beyond was the darkening circular window.

  Night soon, outside. Just the right time for this creature to be out.

  The overhead crop lights were shutting down.

  “Fuck.” Gio almost whimpered and her hands stood stark, like stars, with her fingers tautly splayed. “What do we do?” she whispered.

  “Shhh. We take care.” He shouldn’t have left the Thelk in the hall.

  “How the fuck do we kill that?” Gio whispered. “Without hurting Aunt M?”

  “I don’t know.” And what was this thing?

  A second later was too late. Still clutching the partly crushed and torn body and head of Aunt M, the thing leaped to the hull wall, and scuttled up, vanishing into the gloom.

  “No. You can’t be?” Gio whispered.

  “What?” He had to tell Badh, and fast. That creature seemed likely the spawn of a sun-mad mechling.

  “It said...” She gulped. “She said. I’ll be fine. Aunt M did.”

  The emotions were upsetting her, confusing her. He’d heard nothing. “I want you back in the residence while I tell Badh about this. Now!”

  What a time for this to happen. If Gyle found out...

  Though he was still wondering why the mechling had come out here. If it was on Gyle’s instruction then the man might query where his mechling was. Shit was piling up, higher. And he couldn’t use the screen. He’d find a Follower in Building Shaft One, get them to run a message to Badh. Best he could do.

  A long message. He would ask Badh for a ton of help tomorrow, to distract Ormrad and Gyle.

  The Gathering was being held near a river that was currently running high with water for the first time in years. It meant that their course after leaving the Gathering would require them to stick close to that one source of water. It made them vulnerable to being tracked, found. He wanted to be found only by those he trusted.

  He might be leading himself to his death but Gio could survive, providing she was well away from him if the Aerthe still tried to eliminate him. What would he do if he succeeded and Ormrad was king? Sneak back in, meet up, awaken the deckers, first.

  This would likely require a rebellion if Ormrad was king.

  He’d never been a man for impulses and relying on instinct but what he was about to put in motion felt right.

  He had to do more than his mother achieved. Had to.

  If Ormrad did become king, or if he used the full force of his judicial authority, there might be a Ramm or a few snikers zooming after them. In which case they’d be beest food or prisoners. Minced beest.

  Do all he could, that was it. The best would have to do.

  Chapter 38

  The lift shuddered as it rose, though surely it must have been used to transport far heavier loads than the hundred or so deckers surrounding her and Ryke? She shrugged it off. Worse worries were ahead. And behind her. She pulled her dark coat close to her. Though of thin material it served to disguise what Ryke had given her to wear. Thin black leggings, a dark shirt with black carved clasps. Nothing that would show if a light swept over her. He planned to make them as invisible as possible, for when they left the well-lit area of the Gathering. Good.

  She wore black gloves also. Her hair was dyed black and she had the hood up to be sure, in case stray hairs showed gold. Evening was coming, so even for a desert her clothes would be apt. The temperature would drop further as night fell.

  The knife Aunt M had chosen sat, sheathed, deep in an inner pocket.

  It was pointless weeping over a mechling. She must ignore that final wailing voice in her mind that’d said I’ll be fine, even as the creature clattered away with Aunt M’s body up the wall, her broken limbs scraping and squealing on steel.

  Ugh. Gio shuddered. Aunt M was not fine.

  She wore a pack since the mechling couldn’t be used to smuggle them out. Ryke wore one that bulged with the extra gear he’d stuffed in. Not conspicuous, at all.

  Please let them be unnoticed by his enemies. Please let her slip away. She assumed slaves were well monitored at the Gathering but she had a big advantage – no collar, nothing advertising her as a slave, and a master who had other problems.

  The lift halted and they poured out, joining the stream of deckers heading for the several landing bays.

  This place would drive anyone insane, let alone mechlings, and that creature last night had been some sort of cobbled-together mechling. It fed on other mechlings! What the fuck was with that? What did it gain by doing that?

  Waik energy, her logical center chipped in. The mechlings recharged whatever power cells they had inside them, in daylight, outside. If the creature had no access to the sun, or to power outlets, this was why it dismantled others.

  Well, then, that made its vampirism of mechlings all fine and dandy... Not.

  She needed to stop her sniveling. They were on their way up. This was it. The day she would leave the Mekkers in the dust, or die. Ryke could do his I’m a fucking prophet dance by himself.

  When they reached a ramp that led down from a huge landing bay, she paused, rocked by those passing her, with Ryke plucking her sleeve. Then he waited, looking at her. Ignore him. Ohmigod.

  The light, the massive number of people swarming here. The light and the pink-tinged sky. There truly was another world out here.

  Her chest hurt, as did her eyes. She wanted to cry as people elbowed her, and Ryke finally grew exasperated and dragged her downward. Landships corralled the area outside. They circled like wagons from the old west, except these vehicles were the height of skyscrapers.

  Awe, she was in awe. Having lived inside the royal landship for so long, she’d forgotten what it truly was – a feat of mechanical engineering on a scale no Earth country had ever attained.

  The ground the people walked on was mostly dirt dotted with scrubby vegetation, but already stalls had sprouted in rows and a stage had been erected in the distance.

  “Security detail there,” Ryke said in her ear. “Be ready to run.”

  She nodded, having, for once, been told the plan. She looked about, registered the small things nearby again.

  “Outside! It’s The Gathering!” someone yelled. Screams erupted and the entire crowd of deckers began to run. Within seconds, the uniformed guards checking people at the end of the ramp had been swamped.

  Taking Ryke’s lead, and he still had a death grip on her hand, she jogged past the fallen guards and went onward.

  “This way!” he bellowed in her ear, over the continued bedlam of deckers acting like kids at a party. “There’s a gap for people to go through and see the raw outside land at the bow.”

  “Sure.” Tourism for Mekkers. Huh. Cute, if they weren’t the assholes of this universe.

  He released her hand once the crowd slowed, and she shook it to get sensation back and blood flowing.

  “You okay?” He walked beside her now, never ceasing to survey the people around them, eyes going flick, flick, flick, from potential target to target.

  Many weren’t familiar, and lacked the blue of deckers. Ryke had already pulled up his hood to hide his marks. They might be from the above for all most knew.

  And...she was no longer a slave in the eyes of anyone except Ryke.

  After five minutes of walking, they slid past an arguing family, through a gap in the crowd, and found themselves beyond the bow of the ship. The land-eating jaws lay partly buried in the ground, their teeth stilled and silent. Unseen, on the other side of the bow, but a few hundred feet back, was where the DRAC missile had hit.

  “Come. We get past this and we
slip into the night. You don’t stray far from me. Understood?”

  “Yes.” But oh, how she lied.

  Walk and act normal. People were rubbernecking, picking up soil and sand in their hands, marveling. Pouring some of it into bags, even. You could make a killing selling special rocks in this place. Gio grinned, feeling lightheaded. Freedom, soon. Fucking freedom!

  Be calm, look happy but calm.

  Ahead was the aisle between the ships and stalls to either side, but at the end of the aisle bits of sky showed. With each step, it widened. High above her, the hulls of the landships to either side shrank the sky to a captured rectangle, but in front of her was real.

  She couldn’t shut her eyes, enraptured by the sight of a sky she might soon live beneath.

  Almost there. Almost.

  She’d get out with Ryke, even if she had to sneak away from him afterward. He’d try to stop her, of course. She gnawed the inside of her cheek. That was what the knife was for, right?

  Strangely, Ryke had drawn ahead of her, and he waved his hand at her behind his back as if to say stay there.

  Damn. She froze and let people come between her and Ryke. There was the reason for his caution.

  More guards. On their heads was a symbol she knew from the day he’d showed her in public in the kol hide suit with the mask on, the day he’d offered her up as a fuck toy. She slinked sideways to hide in the darkest shadows between two stalls. Rough blue canvas on one side. Khaki colored on the other.

  These guards had their heads shaved at the sides and an O tattooed or painted on them, with a red R in the middle. These were Judge Ormrad’s men. Already they trained their pistols on Ryke. From his stance, Ryke had slipped his hand under his coat to draw his own weapon but he’d halted in mid-action. No wonder. Ten men at least were out there, surrounding him. She slinked further, deeper. Shadows were her friend.

  “Evening, Ryke. I wouldn’t do that. Bring it out with your fingertips and drop it to the ground.” A man with neat, brown hair strolled between the guards, wearing nondescript pale gray-and-brown clothes. He might’ve been anyone. No shaved symbols on this one. Who was he?