Seer

by Raven Dark

  Doc went to his patient’s side. “Are we going to go through this again, Steel?”

  Steel flopped back on his pillow, his huge chest expanding on a sigh. “A man can’t live on broth, Doc. It’s just wrong.”

  I tried to stifle a giggle, but it slipped out.

  Steel lifted his head and glowered at me. “Are you laughing at me, Petal?”

  “Never, Master.” I tried not to grin.

  Petal. Maker, I’d missed him.

  “You won’t be getting solid food for a while yet, Steel,” Doc said, taking a pail of dirty water and dumping it outside. “You’d better get used to it for now, pal.”

  Steel screwed up his face at him. “Doc, you’re killing me here.”

  “You’ll live.” Doc’s eyes sparkled. “Setora, get him some more food, please.”

  “Yes, sir.” I went to the campfire, shrugging at the questioning looks the others gave me and returned with the broth, sitting myself once more on the crate at Steel’s side. He gave me the stink eye when I held up the fresh bowl, but he took the broth from me and ate it with only a grumble.

  “If he gives you more trouble, Setora, you call me.” Doc gave Steel a stern look, patted us both on the shoulders, and left.

  “Do you want something to drink, Master?” I asked, holding up a jug of water.

  “Come here and I’ll show you what I want.” He tugged on my leash.

  It was amazing how he could look so worn out and tired, yet his dark blue gaze flashed with so much hunger for me.

  “You heard what Doc said this morning. You’re not allowed to exert yourself. You have to behave, Master.”

  I grabbed a mug and poured him a drink. Our fingers brushed when I handed it to him, and electricity raced up my arm. He snagged my wrist.

  “Are you cutting me off, Petal? You can’t do that, you know. It’s not allowed.” But his lips quirked teasingly.

  “I’m not. Doc’s orders.”

  He rumbled irritably in his throat and took the water from me, drinking it down in two big swallows. “This is why I hate doctors. They take over a man’s life.”

  But I knew he loved Doc like a brother, just like he did the rest of the men in the Legion. I took the empty mug from him. “More water?”

  “I’m good. Maker’s tits, I feel like someone ran over me with one of those transports out there.” He lay back, clearly tired.

  I propped his head up with extra rolls of furs. His face was pale and drawn, his eyes weary, arms limp at his sides, but he did look better than he had yesterday. His skin was no longer yellow, and his eyes didn’t have that unfocused look they’d had when he’d woken up throughout the previous day.

  Guilt tugged at me, and I stroked his forehead, suddenly unable to look at him. “I’m so sorry, Master. I wished I could have stopped this from happening.”

  Steel rested his head against the pillow, his face to the side. “It wasn’t your fault.” He reached up and caressed my lips with his fingers. “I’ll never forget what you did for me, Setora.” His voice was uncommonly low and soft. “Giving yourself up to Saketh like that to save me.”

  I lowered my eyes. “I had to. I couldn’t let you get hurt.”

  “I know.” Now there was a hard edge to his voice. He jerked my chin up. “You’re lucky I wasn’t awake when the others disciplined you for it. I would have given you a walloping you’d never forget.”

  “Master, I didn’t have a choice.” I started to explain what I’d already told the others. “I had this horrible feeling you were going to—”

  “I know why you did it, Petal,” he cut in gruffly.

  “You…you do?”

  “Yes. Sheriff told me. Something about a feeling you had, that I was going to die.”

  “There was more to it, though—”

  “I already know. Hawk filled me in about the dream. I get it.” His fingers tightened on my jaw, and while his eyes were gentle, his voice wasn’t. “Listen to me, Petal, and listen good. I can take care of myself. I spent two years beating the stuffing out of guys a lot bigger and stronger than those men in Saketh’s fucking club. I never lost, even when I was as sick as a dog.”

  “I understand, Master. But no one is invincible. With that dream, what I saw—”

  His fingers touched my lips again, silencing me. “Enough. Listen to me.” When I sighed, he went on. “It’s not just about me. All right? The Dark Legion needs you. You are the glue that holds us together. You’ve become too important to lose. You get me? I won’t paddle your ass, that’s already been taken care of. But I won’t lose you, either. You can’t put yourself in danger like that ever again. I forbid it. You understand me?”

  Maker, I’d never heard him quite like this before. Ownership dripped from every word, but also something much deeper. Something that vibrated with emotions I could only associate with what I’d heard in his voice when he’d promised to marry me. He spoke as he had then, only with more vehemence. Part of me wanted to rebel against such irrevocable command, but my heart also tightened with the promise in his eyes, the promise of something that went deeper than any master’s bond. I should have felt caged by his words, but instead, I felt wanted. Special. Cherished.

  “I understand…my love.” It felt wrong to call him Master right then, when he was looking at me as so much more. Warmth spread all the way to my toes when he smiled at the words.

  “I need you, Setora. We all need you.”

  My cheeks flushed. I didn’t see how any woman could carry the kind of importance his words implied. I wasn’t sure why, but it scared me a little, even while it thrilled me.

  Unsure what to say, I just nodded and kissed him gently on the lips. Then I crawled onto the bed beside him and put my head on his chest.

  For a long time, we lay there in companionable silence. Steel wrapped his arms around me, holding me close.

  “I missed you, Master,” I whispered into his neck.

  “Did you now?” He nuzzled my forehead.

  “Everyone did.”

  “I meant what I said. I will make you my old lady one day. One day the world is going to change. It’ll be like it was before. When it does, I’ll make that happen.”

  My eyes stung at his words, with the longing for the change I dared not believe would ever come. My lips curled into a smile. I snuggled closer to him. “I love you, Master. More than words can say.”

  We both dropped slowly off to sleep, and as blissful nothingness found me, my mind spun with images of a different world. An older world where the ties of matrimony still existed and women knelt, not in the chains of slavery, but in the bonds of love.

  * * *

  A few hours later, close to dinner time, Doc woke us, and I took Steel around the camp on a slow walk. We returned to join the rest of the group around the campfire just as Crash announced that dinner was ready and started serving up bowls of rabbit stew for the Legion and the Rebels.

  “Welcome to the land of the living, Brother,” Pretty Boy said, clapping Steel on the shoulder.

  “Gee, thanks, PB.”

  They gave each other punches on the arm until Doc gave them a cross look for their roughhousing.

  “Cool it, you two,” Doc ordered. “Steel’s supposed to be taking it easy.”

  “Hurry it up, Setora,” Sheriff said as I helped Steel over to a log between Pretty Boy and Hawk. “The men are hungry.” He glowered at Crash, who hobbled over to Pretty Boy with a bowl for him. “Crash, get off that fucking leg. Setora is supposed to do that stuff. If I have to tell you again, I’ll break your other one, boy.”

  Seated across from Sheriff, Utar chuckled into his stew, and the other Rebels joined in.

  Crash’s teeth flashed. He let me take the bowl from him and hand it to Pretty Boy. “Yes, General.” He winked at me and seated himself slowly with a grunt, cane in one grip while he stretched his leg out.

  As I did with every meal now, I assumed the position Sheriff expected of me. Apparently, it wasn’t enough to have
me serve everyone. I had to crawl over to each one and then remain sitting at the foot one of my masters, all while the Rebels looked on.

  Once everyone was served—Crash giving Steel a bowl of strained broth—

  Steel gestured to the spot on the ground between his knees. “My turn, Petal. Right here.”

  Steel still had my leash, so I crawled over to him and gladly wiggled in between his huge legs, each the size of tree trunks.

  Usually, having to crawl to my masters annoyed me, but it was different with Steel. Perhaps his still being on the mend made it difficult to feel anything but adoration for him, even while the cool forest ground dug into my bare knees. Or perhaps it was just the teasing glint in his eyes while he watched me.

  Once I leaned against him, he wrapped his big arms around my shoulders.

  “Where’s my kiss?” he growled in my ear.

  I tilted my head up and let his mouth devour mine.

  “Better.” He ran his fingers through my hair.

  Someone in Utar’s group chuckled, and I looked around at the Lone Rebels. Usually they watched me serve the men as if they didn’t know what to make of us, but now, even Marna’s lips quirked on a smile. When Steel massaged my shoulders and I relaxed into him, her smile grew a little bigger. She glanced at the other women, who looked at us with the same fascination.

  What did they see?

  The group talked and laughed while they ate. When dinner was done, they passed around a jug of moonshine, sharing it with Utar’s people. Steel laid out a fur blanket and sprawled on it, his head on his hand. He pulled me against him so that I spooned with him, my back against his chest. Steel grumbled when Doc refused to allow him any moonshine, but soon cuddled with me and fell into a relaxed silence. It seemed having me close to him soothed the savage beast.

  “So, you guys are leaving tomorrow night, is that right, Sheriff?” Utar asked as he passed the moonshine to Marna beside him.

  “We were discussing that earlier, yeah.” Sheriff put another log on the dying fire. The wood crackled and popped. “We need to head out to where we’re going soon if we want to get there in good time.”

  Not for the first time, I saw curiosity flash in Utar’s eyes. An unspoken question that seemed to ask where it was the Legion was going. None of the Legion talked directly about Delta, or what would be discussed there, instead always talking in code when the Rebels were present. Once more, I reminded myself to ask about the summit. With all that had been going on, I kept forgetting about it.

  Utar nodded, his face once again neutral and didn’t ask further.

  “Respectfully, why do you ride in the dark?” Marna asked. “Wouldn’t it be safer to go in the morning?”

  “First of all, Steel needs to get as much rest as possible before we leave,” Sheriff said. “But we also need to get as far from here as we can when we do leave. Second, it’s safer traveling at night, when there are fewer Dregs and marauders on the road. You should do the same, Utar. Leave this place when we do. Don’t let your people stay here unprotected.”

  “Agreed,” Utar said. “Speaking of Steel, Doc. Did the concoction you made work? Will he fully recover?”

  Everyone looked at Steel. When I glanced at him, I saw why he hadn’t chimed in with some stubborn comment about being more than ready to be on the road. His head had dropped, and his arm had loosened around my waist. He was snoring softly, dead to the world. I smiled. He looked so peaceful for the first time since he’d awakened yesterday.

  “I’m confident he’ll be fine,” Doc said. Diamond and Emmy sat at his feet, his hands playing in their hair.

  Doc and both women. Who knew?

  “We’ll have to be careful with him,” Doc added, “but he’ll be…”

  I didn’t hear the rest of what Doc said, because Striker’s sister Brenna spoke up.

  “Setora.” She spoke low, and I turned out of Steel’s loose hold, sitting up. She sidled up beside me on the edge of the large blanket Steel and I shared, whispering, probably in an effort to avoid waking him. Her good eye, now all but healed and without a bandage, fixed on me. “What’s that about?” She nodded to Doc and the two Legion women.

  I shrugged awkwardly. I glanced over at Diamond and Emmy. I was about to tell her I wasn’t sure, when Emmy started to get up. She took half a step when Diamond pulled her in for a long kiss.

  How I kept my jaw from hitting the ground, I didn’t know, but as I watched their tongues mate in a slow dance, my face heated, and words failed me.

  “I…um…er…” I shook myself. Sexual relations between women were not uncommon in any group dynamic, and apparently not in MCs either. I’d heard about women being intimate before, but this was the first time I’d ever actually seen it. I cleared my throat, words still beyond me, and looked back at Brenna.

  Brenna was grinning from ear to ear.

  As if we’d called her, Emmy ambled over, swinging the bottle of moonshine.

  “You look like you’re having a good time,” I told her. When she sat down next to us, I bumped her shoulder with mine.

  Emmy passed me the moonshine. “It’ll be better when we turn in.” She looked back at Doc and Diamond, then winked at me.

  “I didn’t know that you three had become so…close,” I said. “When did that happen?”

  “Oh, Diamond and I have always been like that.” I cocked my head in surprise, and she lifted her shoulders. “We like to play. And Doc likes to play with us. But I think something more is happening between those too.” She jerked her thumb back at Doc and Diamond, then leaned toward me and Brenna. “If you ask me, I think he’s planning on asking Sheriff if he can make her his for real.”

  He was going to ask if he could make Diamond his personal slave. Or maybe more of an old lady than a slave. Warmth spread through me at the thought of Doc and Diamond having the same kind of bond that Sheriff and Steel both wanted with me. Or what Sheriff apparently wanted with me, according to Hawk.

  Silence descended between us while Steel’s soft snores continued and the men carried on their own conversations around us. Until Brenna spoke up again.

  “Setora, if you’re not going to drink that, let me have some.” She gestured to the moonshine.

  I looked down at the bottle in my hand. I’d been so distracted by Diamond and Emmy a moment ago, I realized I hadn’t even taken a drink. I handed the bottle over. I’d never really cared much for moonshine, anyway.

  Brenna took a swig and wiped her mouth before passing the bottle back to Emmy. “So, how did you guys end up here, anyway? How did you end up finding us?” She looked between me and Emmy.

  Emmy and I exchanged a glance.

  “Setora, you want to start?”

  I explained how we’d ended up in conflict with Saketh’s men. I started with us finding the dead men at the fueling station and the first Dreg attack, during which two of our men were killed. How Saketh had kidnapped Emmy, forcing us to follow them. I finished with T-Man finding the Dregs in their own camp, and our plan to rescue Emmy.

  Brenna’s eyes widened with every word.

  “You guys are lucky you weren’t killed,” Brenna finally said. “Your men are incredible, defeating the Dregs in that attack.”

  I nodded and looked at Emmy. “What happened after the Dregs took you, Emmy? You’ve never really talked about it much.” I realized my asking was rude and grabbed her hand. “I’m sorry, you don’t have to talk about it if you don’t want.”

  “Nah. I’m fine. I don’t remember most of it, to be honest.” Emmy rubbed the back of her head and winced. “I remember Saketh pulling me onto his bike. I remember being scared out of my fucking mind. And riding. Lots of riding on those bikes. Saketh clubbed me on the head at some point. Next thing I knew, I woke up in that cage with you and the Rebels around me.” She nodded to Brenna indicating her words were meant for her.

  “It’s lucky Saketh and his Hellhounds were going to that auction. That’s probably the only reason he ordered his men not to touch m
e. They meant to sell me. Otherwise, who knows what they would have done if Setora hadn’t found me when she did.” Gratitude filled Emmy’s eyes, already unfocused from the moonshine.

  Oh no. Hero status again, and probably elevated by her increased inebriation. It seemed Emmy always got emotional when she drank.

  The three of us fell silent again. I looked around. My eyes found Pretty Boy, who gave me one of his perfect, not so angelic smiles. Thank the Light he wasn’t drinking again.

  I leaned back against Steel and turned back to the conversation that had resumed between Emmy and Brenna. Except, they weren’t talking. Emmy was singing in the same mournful, soft voice she’d used the last time she’d drank like this.

  The day will come, freedom will come.

  Now fly for a while. Little girl, little girl.”

  Emmy’s voice wrapped around me, reaching deep into my soul. This was the same song she’s sung that night, too. The same song my mother used to sing to me as a child. An illegal song about slaves and freedom.

  Brenna listened, her chin in her hands, her eyes dazed with wonder. Had she heard the song before?

  Emmy sang the same verse again. As she came to the last line, Pretty Boy got up and was about to take the bottle from her. What made me do it, I didn’t know, but I found myself singing along with her. Pretty Boy came closer and I raised my voice, singing a little louder without thinking. Pretty Boy stopped and sat slowly back down as if the words mesmerized him.

  Soon the fight will end, and soon your will’s gonna bend.

  I lost myself in the song. My eyes must have closed, because suddenly everyone had fallen silent, making me open them again.

  I looked around at the group. No one said a word, and all of them, the Legion and the Rebels both, were staring at me.

  Self-consciousness flooded in, making my ears burn. I grabbed the moonshine from Emmy and took a long drink; anything to drown out the awkwardness of having the whole camp look at me like I had two heads. The moonshine seared my throat, but also gave that warm feeling in my belly I didn’t totally hate.

  Several throats cleared. I caught Sheriff’s eye. The General sat across from me on the other side of the fire, his eyes locked on mine. I swallowed. Was he angry at me for singing such a forbidden song in front of the Rebels?