Then his thoughts turned and he looked at his own life—over a hundred years of Superior existence, and he had done nothing. Even his evolution held nothing extraordinary—every Third had roughly the same experience. Byron had done so much more. His life had been hard and brutal in those first hundred years, before Draven had lived. Now his life was full of travel and solving cases and catching bad men like Ander. Yes, he’d had to kill at times. He’d killed many times. But his life contained excitement, danger, love, travel, adventure. Perhaps Draven should have felt lucky that he hadn’t had to do the things his mentor had, but only heard tales from the higher Order. He did feel lucky. But mostly he felt envy.
47
Though Draven searched for sleep, for a long while he could not find it, even in the darkness inside his black tent. He couldn’t stop thinking about the thing he had done, with or without a choice. But even if he’d had no choice, even if he couldn’t have done anything different… The steps that led him to the murder were all choices. If he hadn’t wanted to buy a sapien, he wouldn’t have needed money, and he wouldn’t have come on the journey. But he had come.
He had decided he would own livestock, and he’d done a terrible thing to fulfill his ambition. He had accepted the mission so he could buy Cali and take her to his place and keep her safe, keep her from unhealed wounds and persistent human suitors. He had killed a man so he could live—live to have her. He had done the thing for himself, and he had done it for Cali.
He thought of these things many times on the walk back through the desert. Although less circuitous, the route he and Byron traveled to get back proved just as time consuming. Draven remained weak from blood loss and hadn’t proper nutrition for full recovery. He didn’t know what Ander had eaten in the desert, but the man had stayed much stronger than Draven. Draven had weakened even before the fight, and now he grew much weaker. He had lost much blood to Ander and had only dried sap to fuel him. When he ran out of that, Byron provided more. At first Draven protested taking food from his friend, since he thought Byron had started out with the same amount he had. But it became apparent that Byron was much stronger—in fact, he’d grown stronger even than at the start of the journey.
Byron only ate one or a half packet a night, and Draven worried for his friend. But without food, he only slowed Byron, and although Byron never criticized, Draven noticed him checking his pod almost as frequently as when they’d tracked Ander.
“What concerns you?” Draven asked one night when he saw Byron slip the sleek black pod back into his pocket.
“I’m not worried. I’m just keeping track of the days.”
“How many days has it been?”
“Forty-five.”
“Do you need to be somewhere soon?”
“I have received communication setting the date for my departure. I will be going north of here, into the mountains.”
“Yes, I remember. When are you leaving?”
“Soon. When we get back, I may have a few days, or I might have to leave right away.”
“I am sorry that I slow you,” Draven said. “Would you rather go ahead? I am content to be alone, if you will send back a car to get me when I arrive at the road.”
“Nonsense, my friend. We came on this mission together, and if you aren’t as strong as me it is only because you refused to take back what Ander took from you. I respect a man who holds to his principles. I do the same myself.”
“I have noticed this,” Draven said, thinking of Byron’s hatred for sapien-Superior relations. “I respect that in you, as well.”
After a few days, Draven stopped protesting when his friend handed him his powdered sap. He accepted it, put it in his mouth, and waited for it to turn to a paste and finally dissolve. They drank from cactus plants, and when it rained they put out their bottles and hydrated themselves for a few days. Draven fed off animals two times, finding the task nauseating but energizing.
When at last they reached the road, the car awaited their arrival. Draven’s eyes tethered to the trailer behind the car. The thick trailer walls could contain a man like Ander, but for a moment Draven thought of throwing himself at it to get to what he knew waited inside. But he didn’t have to. Nothing kept him from his next meal.
He went straight to the trailer and waited for the driver to unlock it from inside the car. Draven entered the trailer and knelt beside the sleeping sap—the brunette from Estrella’s. He lifted her arm, trembling with hunger and longing. He could hardly keep himself from sinking his teeth into her anywhere, just to draw blood. But he forced himself to wait until the vein rose up in her arm before he began his long-awaited reward.
Draven expected that after all the powdered sap—and worse—he’d eaten in the desert, the sapien would taste like the best thing he’d ever eaten. She tasted good. But as he drew from her, he only thought that he’d had better. All that time wandering in the desert, through a silence too empty and endless, he had thought of returning home. He hadn’t thought about the two-night car ride to get there. As he’d wandered, he had thought of the reward that waited for him; he’d thought that after all that hunger, he’d get to have Cali again. This sap was not Cali.
When he’d drawn a bit too much, Draven withdrew, still not satisfied. His hunger dissipated for the moment, but he knew he’d feel something amiss until he’d drawn from Cali. Only a few more days, and he could draw from her whenever he wanted. But those days seemed to stretch out in front of him longer than the two months he’d been gone.
Byron drank a cup of sap when he got back in the car. He’d had his sap drain it herself. Before turning to Draven, Byron told the driver to continue.
“I have to go on my next assignment quite soon,” Byron said. “This one will be much longer, as I mentioned.”
“I will be sorry to lose such a friend and mentor as you’ve been to me.”
“And I’ll be sorry to miss the next ten years of your promising young life. You will be a great fighter, if war breaks out again.”
“I hope it doesn’t.”
“As do I. But even in times of peace, you have a bright future, Draven Castle.” Byron held up his cup in a toast and Draven raised his bottle of water. “To the future. May it be profitable for us both,” Byron said.
Draven murmured assent, and both men drank. Water tasted almost as good as sap to Draven’s parched mouth. “I am only sorry we cannot work together again,” he said. “It has already been profitable for me. Knowing you, and through your association, I am able to do now what I couldn’t have afforded for years to come. I am in your debt.”
“Consider your debt paid, my friend. You saved my life. That’s worth much more than I’m able to express in my report. You’ll be paid the full amount as signed in your contract. One thousand anyas.”
“Thank you, sir.”
“I worked on my report some while we traveled. When we arrive back in the city, I’ll file the report and you’ll be able to collect your payment in a few days. I’ll be gone, but I’ll make sure to complete all the formwork before I go so that you may be rewarded for your service as quickly as possible.”
“Thank you, sir. If ever I can repay your kindness, please let me know.”
“There is one small thing, inspector.”
“What’s that?” Draven asked, glancing up at Byron. He hadn’t expected his elder to want anything so soon.
“Make sure you keep your eyes pointed in the right direction. You’re a talented young man, but you lack the ambition to do as well as you might otherwise. Don’t let your mind entrap you with concerns that are beneath you. And don’t let your soft-hearted nature let anyone take advantage of you.”
“I’m not sure what to say, sir.”
“You don’t have to say anything. Just keep your eyes on where you want to be. I’ve seen how gentle you are with these saps, and even the deer in the desert. They’re just animals, soldier. We have evolved, and we must take the advantage we have. Don’t let your pity for them get in the way of
success.”
“No sir. I won’t,” Draven said. He thought of how many times he’d turned down the offer to retake the Catcher job. Bonnie would let him come back without a moment’s hesitation, but he hadn’t reapplied because he hated sending saps to the blood bank. Perhaps he’d been foolish not to rise above his menial bouncing job because of the animals. The sapiens would always find ways to escape, and they would always go to the blood bank. If he didn’t catch them, someone else would. The escapees ended up at the blood bank either way. And his current job left Draven hovering just above poverty level.
It made sense to put aside his personal issues and remain impartial in a job that he excelled at and that paid enough for the upkeep of livestock. And Catching jobs offered the opportunity for advancement for someone who wanted that. Draven decided he’d talk to Bonnie when he got back. He could do it when he went to retrieve Cali. He’d need a better job when he had livestock to feed.
Draven thought of Byron’s toast to their future, and he smiled. His looked promising. He hadn’t regained the health he’d had before the trip, but he was recovering. He didn’t love the job he’d have to take, but he knew the job well and required no further training, and the other Catchers liked and respected him. He was losing his friend, the man who had made all this possible, but he would see him again one day. And he would have Cali. That almost made up for losing a friend.
48
The ride home took two days and one and a half nights. Draven said his goodbyes to Byron, not feeling quite as optimistic as he had earlier. He had grown accustomed to their board games, their conversations, the wisdom and knowledge of his friend. He had grown to trust his friend’s opinions, to let Byron’s thoughts weigh in on his own decisions. And he had gotten a small taste of what life in the Second Order meant when he had visited Byron’s house and heard his stories.
When his friend departed, Draven’s mood darkened. In his apartment, he found everything just as it had always been for years without end. Nothing had changed in his absence. But he had changed. He had taken the life of another man. He had felt the fear of death tickling the corners of his mind. He had finally found a bit of adventure, a bit of excitement in his dull life. But it had ended. Byron had gone, and Draven had no advocate, no one to ask government agencies for his assistance. No one to speak on his behalf and convince the bureaucracy that he could do a competent job on a mission meant for a Second, or that he made a worthy companion.
Byron had left on a new, exciting adventure, and Draven had come back to his old life, his menial job, his stuffy apartment, his unsatisfying pairings with women. Even thinking about purchasing Cali, which usually lifted his spirits, seemed empty tonight. She was just a sap. Yes, he’d have access to food on a regular, convenient basis. He wouldn’t have to reset his ration card every evening. He could have the best food imaginable every single night. But she wouldn’t change his life all that much.
She didn’t make life more meaningful. She didn’t offer adventure, excitement, or friendship. She wasn’t a mentor, a lover, or an advocate. She was just dinner. And perhaps he’d grow tired of her once he didn’t consider her a rare indulgence, once he got used to her and took her for granted as people inevitably took anything they had for a long period.
In his dark mood, Draven found himself thinking about Byron’s story. Before the trip he had known very little about the Enforcer’s life. He knew of Byron’s family, his skill at chess, his dislike for humans and their exploitation. He had come to understand much more about his friend, about the reasons for his feelings on these things.
Before Byron, Draven hadn’t had someone to talk to every night for years. He considered whether he should form an attachment with Hyoki and live with her. Over the past year, he had grown accustomed to companionship, and now he wandered aimlessly in his apartment, wondering what he had done in his solitary time for so long. With no one to talk to, his mind kept returning to Ander. He didn’t like to think about that night.
Upon checking his messages, he found that Byron had let him know he’d submitted the report on the success of the mission. Draven tried to regain his excitement for Cali, but it had dulled under the gloom of his current mood. He knew things didn’t often go wrong in major ways. Sometimes things didn’t work out for him, but usually in the small, dull ways that, over the years, disappointed him into a state of discontented inertia. After living such a large experience as he had with Byron, he had to squeeze back into the small existence he’d always had and ignore the suspicion that it no longer fit.
He wanted to go to Cali, but he decided to wait. He had to have the money first, so that he could surprise her when he went to her. After a while, he found himself smiling again when he thought of her. Perhaps he would ask for her permission before taking her. She wasn’t likely to say yes, since she didn’t like him much. But perhaps he would ask anyhow.
Everyone knew happy sapiens proved more productive and easier to care for. They didn’t get sick as much, and they worked harder so their masters didn’t have to buy them as much food. He would keep his sap happy. Just because he took a job as Catcher didn’t mean he had to give up everything he believed. He would still treat his own sapien better than other Superiors did. And he’d close the site of insertion every single time, no matter his hurry.
By the time sleep claimed him that day, Draven had worked himself into a better mood again. He had a plan, and that anchored him and eased his disappointment at the end of his mission. He hoped Byron had left a strong enough recommendation that another Enforcer might take notice and call on him again.
When he awoke, he checked his messages and his account, hoping for a large deposit. No messages, no large sums in his account. He considered unpacking from his trip, but he lacked the patience. He needed to get out, so he went to work. When he left work, he checked his account again and found nothing. He began to grow anxious, but Byron had said it could take up to a week for the formwork to go through. A craving for Cali’s particular brand of sap began to stir within him. He forced it away with unusual ferocity, ate at Estrella’s, and accepted Hyoki’s invitation to stay at her place that day.
After they had satisfied each other, Hyoki stood and lit a cigarette. She lay on top of the sheet with nothing on but an ash that had fallen from the tip of her cigarette to her left breast. Like all Superior women, she’d had every hair below her head removed. That service alone made up half the beauty industry. No one wanted to look like a sap.
Draven looked at her petite frame, so small and boyish compared with the current fashion of women to have curves in every possible place. He rather liked that she hadn’t yielded to the pressures and gotten plastic surgery. Lots of women did—especially kept women.
He sighed and turned to Hyoki. He regretted what he had to do. But he’d never stop comparing himself to Mr. Vitrola and thinking of all he couldn’t give his girl. “I think this should be the last time we keep company,” he said.
She looked at him from narrowed eyes. “Why you think that? I thought you liked me.”
“I do like you. You’re lovely and natural and quite intriguing. But I have heard things in your past I do not approve of.”
“What things you hear?”
“About other men you’ve been intimate with.”
“You’ve never been with another woman?”
He smiled. “Of course. It’s who you were with that bothers me.”
“Which one? Which man you don’t like? Do I ask you which women you are with, and then judge you if I don’t like them?”
“I imagine you could.”
“So why you don’t tell me? Then I can pick the ones in your past I don’t like.”
“Oh, I don’t know,” he said, smiling a bit. “I’ve nothing to be ashamed of.”
She sat up and drew hard on her cigarette so the end glowed red in the dark bedroom. “You think I should be ashamed? Which man you don’t like?”
“The one who kept you.”
“Whi
ch one?”
Draven got up. He hadn’t expected a fight with this one. She had more class than Lira. “I might have forgiven you Mr. Vitrola,” he said, pulling on his undershorts while he spoke. “But I see you’ve been kept more than once.”
“There’s no law against it. I like nice things. I have expensive habits. I enjoy doing things besides work. This is wrong?”
“Not wrong. Just not right for me.”
“I see. You’re a snob.”
He laughed and pulled on his trousers. “No, but I don’t find that a woman who wants to be taken care of is the kind I want as a partner. I very much like you, Hyoki. But I disagree with your…principles.”
“Who would turn down a good, easy life? Maybe if you had met a Second who wanted you, you would be mistress, too.”
“I don’t believe in being kept by a rich woman and being her little concubine. I’m my own man. And I want a woman who believes the same. I don’t want to have to try to keep someone and take care of her. I want a partner, not a mistress.”
“Then it’s a good thing I don’t expect you to care for me,” she said. “I can take care of myself. I have job, same as you, right? I never ask you for money, for clothes or hairnets or jewelry. I never ask you for cigarettes. I know which men can keep me, and which ones want an equal.”
“Then it seems you’re only playing a part to be who I want you to be. You’re not your own woman. If you stopped pretending, who are you then, Hyoki? Perhaps you’re no one at all.”
“You’re a bad man.” She threw her lit cigarette at him. “Mr. Vitrola, the other Seconds who keep me, they take good care of me. And they value me, treat me better than you.”
Blood Moon: A New Adult Urban Fantasy Vampire Novel (The Superiors Book 1) Page 27
