by Sean Platt
“Deal,” Hunter and Otis said in unison, while their buddy maniacally laughed.
Elijah, Hunter, and Jack backed away from the mat as Charlotte and Otis assumed opposite sides.
“On the count of three, go,” Hunter said. “One, two, three!”
They approached one another tepidly, each of them feeling their opponent out, trying to determine the rhythms to come.
Otis swung first, a scare tactic disguised as a jab.
Charlotte easily dodged and countered with a jab of her own.
But she also missed.
Otis stared at her intensely before swinging the staff hard into her hip.
She flinched, the pain obvious, but didn’t make a sound.
“Not so hard!” Elijah yelled. “You’re playing taps, not fighting!”
Otis didn’t respond.
Hunter shouted triumphantly, “Otis one, merchant girl zero.”
She looked unsettled, limping as they circled one another. Was Charlotte so proud that she’d get into a match with someone over her skill level and risk getting hurt?
Hunter swung again, but this time she anticipated it and moved swiftly to the side, showing that her limp was fake.
Her staff slammed into his hip and a smile spread across her lips.
Hunter, less enthusiastically, said, “Tied, one all.”
They kept at it, exchanging points and blows. Each time Otis landed a strike, at her hip again, on her ass, and once at her chest, Charlotte hit him in the exact same spot, but harder.
By the time they were tied at four all, they were both hurting and neither wanted to show it.
“Next score wins,” Hunter said.
“Come on, Otis!” Jack cheered.
“I don’t know why you’re cheering, I’m not kissing you.”
Elijah laughed.
Jack glared at him, red-faced.
Hunter also laughed. “That was a good one.”
Oh, don’t act like you’re nice now, jerk.
“One second,” Otis said. “I need to piss.”
He ran to the bathroom.
As they waited for his return, Elijah looked at Charlotte, trying to determine how much pain she was in, trying to see if she wanted him to stop the match. But she showed no emotion, and kept smiling through the pain.
Otis returned, coming in a jot, bending to grab his staff, and immediately assuming position opposite Charlotte.
Hunter said, “Alright, ladies, on the count of three: one, two, three, go!”
Otis found a sudden burst of speed. If Elijah didn’t know better, he’d swear the kid could be an Alt.
He poked right, but just as she was trying to counter, Otis dropped to the ground and slid across it, popping up behind Charlotte and swinging the staff, cracking her hard across the back.
She fell to the ground crying out.
Elijah ran to her side and dropped to his knees. “Are you okay?”
Charlotte was gasping for air, the wind knocked out of her.
“What the hell?” Elijah shouted, glaring at Otis, who was wiping blood from his nose.
Elijah remembered seeing someone doing Entiome once outside the bar. Their nose had been bleeding, too.
Elijah helped her to stand. “Are you okay?”
“Yeah,” she said, pushing Elijah off of her, looking down at the ground.
Elijah raced up to Otis and barked an order. “Empty your pockets!”
“What?” He threw his hands in the air, defensively.
Elijah reached toward his pants pocket.
Otis slugged him in the jaw and knocked him to the ground.
The pain was explosive, but he got right back to his feet and repeated the order. “Empty your pockets, Otis.”
“What are you accusing me of?”
“You did some drug.”
Hunter and Jack began laughing. “You’re insane, man. Stop trying to get your girlfriend out of the bet.”
“She isn’t kissing any of you.”
“A bet is a bet!” Otis yelled. “And she owes us both.”
“It’s okay.” Charlotte pushed her way past Elijah.
“No …”
Hunter lined up for his kiss. “With tongue.”
“I never said I would do that.”
“Fine, whatever,” he said, moving in.
Elijah felt kicked in the stomach. He had to stop this, but how?
He hated Hunter, Otis, and Jack more than he’d ever hated anyone in his whole entire life. He wanted to gouge out their eyes for the way they looked at Charlotte like meat.
She kissed Hunter quickly on the lips, then pulled away.
Otis smiled as he approached. “My turn.”
She stood on her tippy toes to kiss him.
He grabbed her ass with both hands and yanked her against him.
Charlotte yelped and tried to push him away from her. But Otis didn’t let go.
Elijah yelled as he raced to intervene.
But Hunter and Jack grabbed both his arms and held him back.
He felt that same raw panic he felt the last time he exploded, and knew deep inside him that it was going to happen again.
Elijah didn’t care. He could kill all three of these boys and every one of them would deserve it.
Otis screamed and tried to back away. But stuck to Charlotte like he was, the kid couldn’t escape.
Elijah was confused until Otis finally fell away from her, clutching at his bloody mouth.
She spit something onto the floor. It took a moment for Elijah to recognize the tip of Otis’s tongue.
Charlotte screamed, a loud wail that sounded like all the world’s pain, finally leaving the bottle.
“Fucking bitch,” said one of the boys.
Elijah wasn’t sure which, and they were all running toward the doors.
He stood there, stunned and staring.
Charlotte slowly turned toward him, surprising him with a smile.
But her eyes were something else he’d never seen. Something that made him fear that Charlotte had lost her mind. Then the smile disappeared and her eyes and voice went numb.
“I’d like to go home now, Elijah. Will you walk me?”
“Of course,” he said.
Charlotte started walking, not even picking up her staff.
He grabbed it and quickly followed.
Elijah wanted to wrap an arm around Charlotte and console her, or something, but she flinched as he idled beside her, so he gave her space on their way home.
Thirty-Nine
Richmond Freeman
Richmond left the council meeting without a word to his wife.
She followed him out, asking him to wait, and talk. But that was the last thing he wanted to do. There was nothing to discuss. Olivia had betrayed him with her vote and that was that.
He turned to her and opened his mouth, but then others started to exit the meeting, so he shut his mouth, turned, and left. Better to say nothing than the thoughts on his mind.
He went to the stables, got a horse, and rode without a destination, knowing that Olivia would give him shit for leaving without security, something he’d given her plenty of crap about when she went jogging around town all alone.
But right now he didn’t care about any of that.
He needed to get out of town. The walls of Hope Springs were closing in on him. A cool wind picked up and thunder rumbled in the distance.
He might get rained on, but Richmond didn’t care.
He kept riding, thinking about the Large Council meeting, knowing the other mayors were too desperate to deny Stratum’s offer. The thought of kowtowing to that city sickened him. His father would be so disappointed.
Stratum turned their backs on the Coalition Cities after The Event. Killed hundreds of people seeking refuge from The Ruins. Now that Hope Springs had something they wanted, they came wanting to make amends, hat in one hand and surely a knife in the other.
Richmond found himself entering The Slums without pla
nning to go there. He shouldn’t be surprised. Whenever he and Olivia were divided, he felt himself drawn to Sebastian.
He stabled his horse and went to The Baxter, asking if Slum Lord was in.
A few minutes later Sebastian let him into his office, closed the door, and kissed him like the lover he was.
Richmond pulled away. “Aren’t you worried about Sasha interrupting?”
“She’s gone down to John’s Township for spices.”
Sebastian pushed Richmond against the wall, kissed him harder, biting his lip.
Richmond liked it when Sebastian got rough.
He had wanted to talk, to clear the air, to apologize about their last meeting, but there was no time in this moment.
Sebastian knocked everything off of his desk, threw Richmond on top of it, and took him.
They were sitting on the couch in their sweaty afterglow, blissing on Pillar when Richmond said something he’d not meant to say. Something he’d been holding onto for so long that he never thought it would slip out, especially not so casually.
“I love you.”
Sebastian turned to him, eyebrows arched. “Oh?”
“I’m sorry. I—”
“It’s okay. I … feel the same.”
Richmond was surprised. He knew that they had chemistry, but didn’t believe it went any deeper than that. “Why?”
“Why do I love you?”
“Yes.” Richmond nodded.
“Why do you love me? You said it first.”
Richmond laughed, giddy from the drugs. “I like how you care about things and people here. The citizens both fear and respect you. For most men, that would be enough. But still you want more. You crave a legacy. You want to lift The Slums out of poverty. You want better for everybody. That’s admirable. My father would have liked you.”
“Are you trying to tell me you have daddy issues?”
“Not at all. You’re both strong, driven, and principled men, but you actually talk about things with me. You actually care what I think.”
“Ouch. So you do have daddy issues.”
“I loved my father, and saw his flaws. I didn’t want his attention, or want to be him. And I definitely don’t want to be with someone like him. Your turn. Why do you like me?”
“You’re cute.”
“Really? That’s it?”
Sebastian laughed. “You’re the only person that doesn’t ask things of me. You’re the only person I can truly be myself around.”
“Are you not you with Sasha?”
“I love her, but … she can be too much. Sasha also has daddy issues.”
“Does she know you’re also into men?”
“She doesn’t care. Though she would mind if she knew I was in love with someone else. But at least with a man she wouldn’t see it as competition so much.”
“Do you want to leave her?”
“Do you want to leave your wife?”
Richmond laughed. “After today, perhaps.”
“What happened?” Sebastian stood and got dressed, then grabbed another handful of Pillar.
Richmond dressed as he told the story, watching as Sebastian’s expression slowly changed. “What is it?”
“They went to you first?”
“What?”
“Stratum. They came here and made the same offer.”
Richmond couldn’t believe it. Sebastian told him about the offer and, more disturbingly, about Mr. Kind selling The Six on becoming the new power and how they were looking to make a change in the Coalition Cities.
Richmond wondered if this had always been the plan or if it had been his fault for pushing Stratum into that position with his rather vocal rejection. If the latter, then he really fucked up. If the prior, then perhaps he was right to have mistrusted them.
“What are you going to do? I know you want legitimacy for The Slums.”
“I do, but I also don’t trust them. They came to you first, after all. Did they offer The Slums to Hope Springs?”
A lie could easily move Sebastian, and perhaps sway The Six to reject their offer as well. That’s what Olivia would do in this situation. But Sebastian wouldn’t lie to manipulate the man he loved. “No.”
Sebastian sighed as he lay back on the couch next to Richmond. “I just want to go away and forget all of this. There’s too much happening right now.”
“What’s wrong?”
Sebastian told him about some young gangster named Yugo who was selling drugs on their turf and that Jackie wanted him dead. But there was more to the story; Yugo just wanted his girlfriend’s little sister back.
So now Sebastian had to find the girl and risk putting himself on the chopping block with Jackie and Hobarth, the two eldest members of The Six. “They want me to kill him. He’s maybe twelve, thirteen tops.”
“Then don’t do it.”
“They might kill me if I don’t. Then they’ll come at my people. Sasha, Axl, Kiril, and a few others. Is one life worth all those?”
“It’s not one life, though, is it? There’s the girl. That’s two at least.”
“Even so, two strangers versus people I care about, the only family I’ve known in a long time? Would you risk your son and wife for strangers?”
Richmond shook his head. “Never. But I’m also not as brave as you.” He kissed Sebastian softly on the head and held his hand. “I’m sorry I don’t have better advice.”
“It’s okay. I’ve got someone else helping.”
“Who?” Richmond asked.
Sebastian stopped before the response left his lips. “It doesn’t matter. It’s someone I don’t want to endanger.”
“Okay.”
He grew quiet and Richmond wondered who this other person was, and why their identity was a secret.
After a while, Sebastian looked at the clock on the wall. “You should probably go. I’m sure your wife will be wondering why you’re so late.”
“Let her wonder,” Richmond said, kissing Sebastian again.
“And Sasha will be back soon.”
“Got it.” Richmond stood and went toward the door. “Someday maybe we won’t need to sneak around like this. Wouldn’t that be nice?”
“I think we both know that day is far off,” Sebastian said with a sad little smile. “You wouldn’t leave your son at this age, would you?”
“No. But the years do fly by.”
“That they do,” Sebastian agreed.
Then Richmond was gone.
Forty
Slum Lord
Slum Lord stood atop the old bank, a twenty-six-story building in the north part of town, with a view that highlighted the red light district.
Kiril stood behind him with binoculars, gaze fixed to one of Hobarth’s illicit enterprises.
“That’s your guy?” Slum Lord directed his attention to a redheaded dwarf leaving one of the brothels.
“Yes. Xavier is one of their biggest customers and he pays well. If she’s in any of them he’ll find her.”
The dwarf looked up at him, shaking his head.
“So, how many brothels do we have left?” Slum Lord asked.
“On the books or off?”
“All of them.”
“Eight more places. But he hit all of Hobarth’s first.”
“Maybe Hobarth sold her to someone else. Or maybe he’s got some places you don’t know about.”
“Highly unlikely,” Kiril said, almost offended.
“Well, we need to find her.”
“Or you can take care of Yugo like Jackie said.”
“Hobarth started this war, not Yugo.”
“His power is growing, boss. You can’t ignore it. He’s been flooding this place with cheaper drugs.”
Slum Lord shook his head. “He only did that to get our attention. He’ll be content to stay in the shanty, once Hobarth stops nicking girls.”
Kiril sighed.
“What?” Sebastian asked.
“Nothing, sir.”
“I pay you
for your honest opinion. Please, speak freely.”
“I fear that you see what you want to see in Yugo. Maybe he reminds you of yourself, but I believe that if you allow him to continue building power, you will regret it. We all will. Yugo’s ruthless.”
“He’s a kid.”
“So were you. Any idea what he does with his enemies?” Slum Lord said nothing so Kiril continued. “If you’re a man, he cuts off your dick and shoves it down your throat. That sound like a child to you?”
“It sounds like someone who knows how to deliver a message.”
“And what message do you send by letting this problem go? It makes you look weak. It makes The Six look weak. How long do you think they’ll tolerate—?”
“You’ve heard more rumors?”
“Nothing new. But I worry for you, sir.”
“I hung up those damned kids who firebombed our place. Does that look weak?”
“No. But you killed the messengers, not the sender.”
“You’re starting to sound like Jackie.”
“Are you doubting my loyalty, sir?”
Slum Lord looked him in the eye, slowly sizing him up, feeling the man’s fear swelling. “No, of course not. Honestly, what would you do if you were me?”
“I’d kill Yugo, no question.”
“And what about Hobarth? What should I do about him?”
“Sir, I’m afraid I don’t understand.”
“You say that I can’t allow a threat to go unanswered, and yet I see Hobarth as a threat to me, to our family, and to our entire city. Do you not see that?”
“I do.”
“So, then what should I do about Hobarth?”
In Kiril’s silence, Slum Lord had his answer. The man was loyal, but no longer to him.
“Are you asking if you should kill him?”
“No. Of course not. That would violate our rules. But how should I handle a threat within The Six?”
“I’ll need to think on that,” Kiril said. “You don’t plan to move on it anytime soon, do you?”
“Of course not. But I’m also not moving on Yugo until I find that child.”
“Yes, sir,” Kiril said, then left Sebastian alone on the rooftop.
