Dela's Hunters (The Harem House Book 1)

by Charissa Dufour

  “It’s okay, it’s okay. You’re free.”

  “What?” The woman glanced around the large room, spotting the trampled bodies and broken furniture.

  “We took Angel down. You’re free.”

  “What will I do now?” wailed the woman. “Who will take care of me?”

  Dela frowned, slowly realizing that the transition was frightening to the women. Many of them hadn’t been free in so long the prospect was overwhelming.

  “It’ll be okay. We have people who will help you.”

  The woman calmed a little.

  “Now, can you help me? I need to free the other women. Can you help them calm down?”

  “You have people?”

  “We have people. We have homes. We have men who might want to marry you.”

  The woman’s face began to crumple again, and Dela raised her hand in an attempt to stop her. “Not use you like these men. Marry you. With a home of your own. And you’d raise your own children. Nothing like this.”

  Again, her words calmed the other woman.

  “Now, will you help me with the women?”

  The girl nodded. Each hut took a little less time as there were more and more calm women, almost as if they spread their calm through the masses. They each took a little while to adjust, but by the time they opened the last hut, some of them even appeared excited about the prospect.

  When they emerged from the building, Dela found a sort of organized chaos filling the street. Most of the men were carrying bodies toward the fires, burning the corpses. The air smelled of burning fat, acid, and something she didn’t recognize. It was a smell that would stay with her forever.

  Down the block, Dela found a first aid station set up. She began to lead the women toward it, unsure what to do with them. Glancing back, she found them a few paces away, all of them shielding their eyes from the hot sun. Dela wondered how long it had been for them since last seeing the sun or feeling the breeze on their faces. It was a poor introduction back into the world.

  Once their eyes had adjusted, they scanned the scene, their eyes resting on Dela. She waved for them to follow. They shuffled forward, still examining their new surroundings.

  “Dela?” called a familiar voice.

  She turned with a grimace.

  “What the hell are you doing here?” demanded Mason. He glanced at the pale women. “See that woman over there. The one in the blue skirt? Go join her, okay?”

  The women nodded and happily left them alone.

  “We told you under no uncertain terms, you were to stay put.”

  Dela gnawed on her bottom lip, unwilling to tell them the truth. She couldn’t tell him the real reason she had followed them. “You were taking all the risks. It wasn’t fair.”

  Mason glared down at her. She had never seen the suave man look so angry. His features were usually masked in some seductive smile.

  “You’re a fool.”

  “I usually am.”

  “This isn’t a game,” he said, grabbing her other arm. “You could have been killed.”

  “And so could you,” she blurted out.

  Mason stared at her a moment. She couldn’t tell what he was thinking, and for once she desperately wanted to know. Finally, Mason’s features settled on a glare.

  “You see those two over there? The ones keeping the fire going?”

  “Yes?” Dela didn’t mean to make it sound like a question.

  “You go help them.”

  “I was helping the women and children.”

  “And now you’re gonna help them. Maybe then you’ll learn to obey orders.”

  Dela felt her shoulders slump. This wasn’t something the men were going to get over with any ease or speed. She nodded and shuffled over toward the fire, the smell of burning flesh increasing with each step.

  “Hi,” she said to the two older boys who were working the fire; by their dress, she knew they were part of the families who had joined the fight. “I was sent to help.”

  “What the hell did you do to earn this crap job?” the oldest asked.

  “Followed you guys.”

  “Hey, you’re the catch Gareth got that started this whole thing.”

  Dela rolled her eyes. “Yeah. That’s me. What did you do to earn it?”

  Both boys shrugged before the older one answered. “Didn’t follow orders.”

  Two men approached, tossing another body onto the far end of the wall of fire. “Get back to work.”

  “C’mon,” the oldest said. “We’ll go search out firewood. Dylan will stay with the fire. Then we’ll rotate who gets stuck with the fire.”

  Dela walked off with the older boy. “What’s your name? I’m Dela.”

  “Jon.”

  “Original.”

  “My folks are old-school.”

  “You gonna get a bride?”

  Jon shrugged, leading her down a narrow crack between two buildings. Dela couldn't exactly call it an alleyway. She squeezed through after him. Beyond it, they found more of their group coming back with children who had bolted.

  “Dela?”

  Dela winced, knowing what was coming. She turned to look at Lath.

  “What the hell are you doing here?” he snapped, drawing the attention of everyone around them.

  She let out a long-suffering sigh. “I followed you guys.”

  “You what! You were in the battle?”

  “Yes.”

  “Are you nuts? We told you to stay with Josie. Josie’s got to be going out of her mind with worry.”

  Dela grimaced. She hadn’t thought about Josie since she escaped. It had never dawned on her that Josie would be left to worry and wonder.

  “Seriously, Dela, what were you thinking? I don’t even know how you made it here without dying.”

  She shrugged. “Luck.”

  “Understatement of the century! You should have died a thousand times over. Did you fight?”

  “Yes, Lath,” she growled, wondering what had happened to the happy-go-lucky guy she had known.

  Jon jumped in. “Hey, dude, leave her alone.”

  Lath grabbed the front of Jon’s shirt, dragging him up to his face. “You better walk away before I break that smart mouth of yours.”

  Jon’s eyes grew wide and he stumbled backward before taking off into the city to look for wood.

  Dela pushed against Lath. “Geeze, dude. What is your problem?”

  Lath grabbed her, keeping her from escaping him. “You want to know what my problem is?” he asked. “My problem is you putting yourself at risk, unnecessarily.”

  “Oh, but you can put yourself at risk? Is that how it works?”

  “I did this 'cause you wanted to save those women!”

  “Exactly, you did this for me… but I can’t come for you?”

  Lath just stared at her for a long moment, much like Mason had done. Finally, he grabbed her, yanking her head up to his level. His lips slammed against hers in a painful kiss, and just as quickly as it started, his lips were gone. Lath released her and turned away, saying, “Get back to work.”

  Dela turned toward the street where Jon had disappeared. She would much rather make out with Lath than hunt for firewood to burn corpses. Trailing after Jon, she found he hadn’t gone far.

  “Your boyfriend sure is a fighter,” Jon said with a joke.

  “He ain’t my boyfriend. He’s a Hunter.”

  “Ahhh. Mad his catch endangered herself.”

  Dela frowned. A little piece of her had hoped their anger had more to do with feelings than profit. Evidently, she had been wrong. In that moment, all her exhaustion, dehydration, and bruises made themselves known, reminding her that she hadn’t slept in days. She trailed behind Jon, still lost in thought, paying no-never-mind to where they were going. Finally, Jon stopped, and Dela took notice of their surroundings.

  “I don’t think we’re gonna find much wood around here,” she said as she eyed the crumbling brick and cinderblock of the dead-end.


  Jon turned to her, his eyes straying down her body. Dela didn’t know what to think of him or his behavior. She hadn’t been around men enough to know what it meant or how to respond. There were times the Hunters looked at her body, and she enjoyed it. But this was different. She couldn’t say why, but she felt the difference in her core.

  “I thought before we go back we could… you know…” He winked at her.

  “Uh…” Dela didn’t know for sure what he meant, but she had a sneaking suspicion. “No thanks.”

  Jon gave a little coughing laugh. “Oh, c’mon. I’ve never really been with a woman. Not really.” He held up his hand. “This has had to do it for me for a long time.”

  Dela grimaced, disgusted by his blatant talk. As he took a step toward her, she stepped back. With his next step, Dela felt her stomach plunge into her feet. Fear gripped her body, making it difficult to move or think. As fear tightened her muscles, she became all too aware of the deficiencies in her body. She still hadn’t found something to drink, and she needed a week to catch up on the sleep she had missed. She was in no condition to defend herself. She stepped back again, bumping into a wall. Shit.

  “That’s your problem, not mine. Besides, aren’t you gonna get a wife from all this?”

  “Not me. I’m too young. The older guys will get dibs on them first. Besides, I hear tell you’re a virgin.”

  Dela glared at him, her anger building and with it the dark red of a blush. “The state of my vagina is none of your business.”

  He gave her a grin and stepped into her space. “I’ll take that as a yes.”

  Jon grabbed her shoulder, pressing his body into hers. Dela tried to get her hands up in time to push him away, but he was too fast. She kicked up with her knee—the age-old move her mother had taught her—but he was prepared for it. She hit him in the thigh. Anger filled his features and he shoved her to the ground.

  Dela’s head thumped against the brick wall. Stars danced before her eyes and she struggled to think clearly. As her mind cleared, she tried to roll away, but Jon was already on top of her. His hands seemed to be everywhere as she flailed, slapping her hands against him in a nearly-useless effort to defend herself. He grabbed her vest and jerked it open, tearing some of the clips from the fabric. One hand grabbed her left breast and squeezed through her chemise while he shimmied down her body. Dela’s vision finally came into focus and she spotted a line of drool dangling from Jon’s mouth.

  He chuckled, almost to himself, as he adjusted his seat to her thighs. Dela tried to sit up as she swung at his face, but he easily dodged her slow attack and her fist went into the brick wall. She cried out, suddenly remember her voice. With the reminder, she screamed at the top of her lungs for as long as she could until Jon got his hand over her mouth.

  While Dela jerked her head back and forth, trying to free her mouth, Jon’s other hand groped around the clasp of her trousers, working to release it while she moved. Finally fed up with her antics, Jon released her mouth, only slam his fist into her healing face. Dela screamed again, determined to get help, but Jon quickly had his hand over it again.

  He finally got the clasp of her trousers undone and began pulling on them, finally tearing the thin fabric. With her pelvis revealed, he began to work his own trousers, quickly pulling his shaft free. Dela felt her eyes grow wide.

  Sure, she had caught glimpses of her father’s and Quiq’s penises. There wasn't a lot of privacy when you lived on the run. But she had never had such an upfront encounter with one.

  With a hand around her throat, he began to shift his body, working his way between her clamped legs. Dela’s hope began to fade, and with it tears began to flow, dripping down her temple toward the ground. She continued to fight, but even she knew there was only so much she could do. On top of everything else, she was beginning to grow faint from lack of oxygen as Jon’s hand around her neck only allowed her the occasional gasp.

  Just as Jon finally parted her legs, a thought flashed through her mind: What will they think of me now?

  Dela closed her eyes and prepared for the moment when it would all change, the pain that would accompany it, and the shame she couldn’t help but feel, but a second later, the weight on her body disappeared. She gasped, filling her lungs with air. Dela’s eyes flashed open to find Jon pressed against the wall, with Gareth’s fist slamming into his gut, repeatedly.

  More men appeared in the alleyway, racing toward Gareth and pulling him off of Jon’s limp figure. Gareth fought them for a second before his sanity returned. He spun on his heels, his eyes searching. Finally, they landed on Dela. She felt more tears escape her eyes and a sob broke free. She quickly grabbed the remains of her vest to cover her chest as her right hand went to cover the space between her legs.

  Gareth dropped to his knees as he quickly began working his own shirt off his shoulders. Before Dela could scramble away, he had his shirt wrapped around her. His arms quickly followed. Dela tensed for a second before collapsing against his chest and letting the sobs come.

  “What the hell is going on here?” demanded Leroy as he skidded to a halt.

  Chapter Twenty

  “You’re son. That’s what happened here,” snapped Gareth, barely able to stay on the ground with Dela; he wanted to jump to his feet and give the boy another good licking, but that wouldn’t help his girl.

  Leroy looked at Jon, who hung limply between two men. From there, his eyes ran to Dela wrapped in Gareth’s shirt. In an instant, his face turned red and his hands began to shake. He turned on his son, grabbing the boy by the jaw and ignoring the boy’s wince.

  “Did you rape that girl?” Leroy growled.

  Jon didn’t answer.

  Leroy gave his chin a rough shake, and Jon let out a cry of pain. “Did you rape her?”

  “Tried,” Jon groaned, the word coming out garbled as various parts of his face began to swell.

  Leroy looked down at Dela. Gareth tightened his grip on her, and she freed an arm to wrap it around his neck. Gareth scooped her up off the rough ground and placed her on his knees. Finally, Leroy went back to glaring at his son. Gareth knew Leroy well enough to know what was coming. The older man gripped his son’s face, forcing it upward.

  “Look at me.”

  Jon tilted his head up, looking at his father with his one good eye—the other too swollen to open.

  “What is the first thing you learned in my house?”

  “Ho’ to ‘alk.”

  Leroy slapped him across the face. “You know what I mean. We respect women in my house. They are more precious than anything else on this planet. They are not to be tormented, abused, used… that’s the whole reason we came on this adventure.”

  With his hand gripping Jon’s chin, Leroy yanked him from the supporting hands and pushed him to the ground in front of Dela. With Jon on his knees, Leroy grabbed the boy’s hair and placed his blade against the boy’s neck.

  “Now apologize,” Leroy ordered.

  “I’m so’y,” Jon muttered.

  “Dela?” Leroy asked, adjusting his blade.

  The girl was still crying against Gareth’s shoulder, and he wondered how much she had grasped from the drama playing out before them. She kept her face hidden, though the sobs eased.

  “Dela,” Leroy repeated. “Would you like me to end him?”

  Even Gareth could hear the catch in Leroy’s voice. He didn’t want to slit the neck of his son—or at least the son of his wife. Jon was part of Leroy’s family and valued, even after doing something as repulsive as rape. Dela slowly turned her head to look at Jon and gave a mighty sniffle.

  “No. I will not be the one to end his suffering. But make sure he is punished.”

  Gareth squeezed her even tighter. He had never been so proud of another human being.

  Leroy released Jon into the hands of the other men. “You have my word. He will pay for this day for as long as I am in control of his life.”

  Dela nodded before ducking back into Gareth’s shoulder.
Gareth waited a few minutes for the others to leave the little dead end before adjusting his grip on Dela. From his awkward position, he spotted blood dripping down her face. He wondered if there were more injuries he couldn’t see.

  “Dela,” he whispered against her hair. “Do you want me to get a woman to come examine you?”

  She shook her head against his shoulder. “I’m fine.”

  “Don’t lie to me.”

  She didn’t reply.

  “I know you’re strong, Dela. No one can argue that, but it is okay to be hurt and scared right now.”

  She began to shift in his arms, pulling away to look at him. As much as Gareth admired her beautiful features, she looked awful. Her eyes were swollen and bloodshot, her old bruises were a sickly shade of green, and her hair hung in matted clumps. She needed cleaning up and a good, long rest.

  “I don’t mind getting one of the women.”

  “Really. He didn’t… he didn’t.” Her voice broke.

  Gareth held her tight as she regained her calm.

  “Maybe I could get some fresh clothes,” she finally said.

  “Sounds like a good plan. You want me to go get some and come back?”

  She shook her head again. “Don’t leave me alone.”

  Gareth tried not to smile. It was a horrible time to enjoy being needed. Gareth climbed to his feet, cradling her body in his arms. It felt as though she had lost weight since coming into their care. They would have to do something about it. She needed to be plump before going into the Harem House.

  “What happened?” demanded Mason as Gareth entered their little make-shift camp.

  Gareth didn’t have the heart to say. He nodded toward Leroy, who was working to bind Jon’s hands behind his back. It didn’t take long for Mason to put two and two together.

  “Would you go ask one of the women to get some clothing for Dela?”

  Mason gave a nod and ran off.

  Dela sat huddled next to Adrian, staring into the flames of their campfire. Gareth had been called away to help facilitate the strange transition, and Adrian had taken his place. She was garbed in a borrowed homespun dress. It itched.