Revenge of the Walker (The Walker Series Book 4) Read online

  “That won’t be a problem. I’ve been assured that she won’t be going to anyone’s room. Maverick or Cyler will claim her for the night.”

  Madam B spoke up, “Yes yes, that's right. From what I understand, Cavil’s been eager to keep them caged but happy. He doesn’t want people thinking he’s imprisoned the Dormas leaders, but he also won’t let them go. They’re allowed to claim Companions, it’s how Blythe has been able to get notes to Maverick.” Madam B’s tone was bored, and she sipped a drink of something so strong I could smell it from across the room.

  Blythe frowned and opened her mouth to speak but, after seeing Huxley’s serious scowl, decided against it.

  “Huxley is right. The plan is for Maverick or Cyler to claim Ashleigh for the night should she be called upon. Besides, Cavil will die long before anyone else has a chance to claim her,” Louis said in a matter of fact tone as he descended the stairs. He was absentmindedly typing away on his tablet.

  “And how do you plan on doing that?” Kemper asked.

  “Jade is going to stab him,” he said nonchalantly as if it were an easy solution.

  I looked to the blue-haired woman once more, this time truly assessing her. She didn’t look like someone capable of murdering. “Can you handle that?” I asked.

  “Better believe it. I’ve been buttering that man up for weeks. He’ll claim me for the night, no doubt about it. Then I’ll slice his throat. Or puncture his heart, I haven’t quite decided yet.” Something about her statement had me feeling envious again. I’d wondered what had happened to me to make me have so much bloodlust.

  “I’m sorry, but that seems like a stupid idea. Guards will be watching. There’s no way you’ll get away with that,” Huxley replied in disbelief. Would guards be in the room with them when...

  “Jade and the others have been training with Tallis. They’ll be prepared when the time comes.”

  “So why do you need me?”

  It was Jules that answered. She casually strolled into the sitting room and sat down, making sure to prop her feet up on the table. “My brothers can’t remove their fetters until the last possible moment. Because they’re in range, the moment they take the death pill—the medicine I gave you—it’ll alert Cavil. Your job is to get them in the transport, give them the medicine, and get them out of Cavil’s estate the moment their fetters pop off. They’ll be unconscious, or they would do it themselves.”

  I nodded in understanding while trying to piece together more of their plan. “And why can’t one of the other girls do that?” Huxley asked.

  “Because they each have dignitaries of their own to help escape. We’re having to be very strategic. Cavil hasn’t just been keeping your friends in his control. His tower in Galla is full of people forced to follow him.”

  “Except me,” Kaye said. I had almost forgotten she was there. She had drifted off into a corner of the room, quietly observing us. “I’ve been tasked with poisoning members of the guard. I’ve got a sister that works in the kitchens.”

  “Poison? Will that kill them?” I asked.

  “Yes,” Jade replied. “Is that going to be a problem?”

  I thought about her question for a moment. Could I handle knowing that I played a part in killing potentially innocent people? Certainly not all members of Cavil’s army were bad. “Don’t look so upset, dear,” Madam B said. She had abandoned her drink and leaned forward. “Every single one of them is a supporter of Cavil. They like his regime. They want him to succeed. We could kill Cavil, but another man would just slide up to take his place. In order to get past this toxic leadership, we have to kill them all. We aren’t like Cavil. We don’t kill needlessly. The idea is to save the human race.”

  I felt calmed by Madam B’s words, despite the gnawing sense of dread in my chest. I wanted revenge, but I couldn’t help but feel like the price of doing this would be on my conscience. “I can handle it,” I finally whispered as Jade gave me a side hug.

  Pacified, the guys leaned back as the Companions continued to fire questions at me. One by one, they gave me scenarios they'd experienced, asking what I would do.

  "What if your Elite makes a joke at the expense of the emperor? Do you pacify his ego and laugh, or do you keep quiet?" Blythe asked. I opened my mouth but stuttered. I wasn't sure what the correct answer was.

  "If in public, look at the ground and act like you don't have two brain cells to rub together. If in private, laugh. It's always better if you laugh at their jokes. Men like to have their big egos stroked."

  "Are you a virgin? Or have you done nothing but stare longingly across the room at a man?" Blythe asked again while lifting her dress. She propped her foot on the edge of the sofa next to Patrick then slowly shimmied the garter around her thigh off right in front of him. He avoided looking at her but his cheeks were pink. She was pretty, and although I felt angry at her blatant disrespect of boundaries, I couldn’t help but feel giddy at Patrick’s politeness.

  “I don’t see how this is any of your business,” Huxley growled. I appreciated the support, but I also didn’t want to feel like any more of an outsider than I already was.

  “It’s our business because if she can’t pull this off, then we’re all dead. Forgive me for wanting to make sure she’s got her shit together,” Blythe said while rolling her eyes.

  "I think it’s time for some rest. We’ve had a long day." He stood, jerking me up with him and waving at a nearly passed out Madam B.

  We all left the Companions and Madam B to rest. I needed a moment to process everything. Upstairs, Kemper, Huxley, and Patrick kissed me goodnight and went to their respective rooms. I wished we could all room together and discuss all the learnings of this place, but when I followed Jacob, he fumbled for his mindspeak.

  “As much as I want you to stay with me...stay under me. Fuck this fucking technology. You don’t have to. I know it’s been awhile. You’re probably repulsed by this fucking scar. Goddamn, I want to kiss you. I’m just giving you an out. ’Cause it’s okay if you’ve moved on. Please say you want me as much as I want you.”

  Jacob ripped the mindspeak from his ear as if to prevent any more ramblings from pouring out its monotone speaker. I made my way towards him. Part of me wanted to berate him for thinking such ridiculous things. Part of me wanted to shove him against the wall and show him just what I thought of his beautiful face and the scar that represented the sacrifices he was willing to make to be near me.

  “If you thought a scar and some time apart was going to change how I feel, then you don’t know me at all,” I whispered before softly placing my lips against his. Jacob was only able to choke out one word. One single syllable of lust and longing that had me shaking with need.

  “Fuck.”

  I grabbed his hand and led him inside his room, pausing only to lock the door behind us. Jacob was panting as he stripped me out of the dress Jules poured me into. The sheer lace became nothing but a pile on the floor, and he traced the white lace of my lingerie with tenderness.

  I reached into Jacob’s pocket, pulling out the mindspeak. I wanted to hear every unfiltered thought pouring from his mind. "Jacob," I whispered over his swollen lips, tenderly stroking the scar above his eye with my free hand. “I want to know all the things you think of me. All the things you want to do with me. You make me feel brave. Beautiful.”

  I placed the mindspeak in his ear. “Okay, but only for a minute. I don’t want to fucking hear ‘yes yes, oh yes’ in this fucking ridiculous monotone voice,” it said, and I immediately burst into a fit of giggles.

  Happy tears streamed down my face as I realized how ridiculous that would sound. “Oh my goodness, that's hysterical,” I said through more sputters of laughter.

  “Damn, that laugh does things to me I can't even explain,” the voice said.

  Wiping away tears, I turned to look at him with a smile. The intensity of the moment was disappearing, and a new sensation was taking over. Peace. Pure, unadulterated peace.

  “Yeah?�
� I asked.

  Jacob lifted his thumb to stroke my bottom lip before his mindspeak responded. “I missed you so much, Ash. So fucking much it hurts. You think I’ll ever stop thinking about you? Damn that was corny. I'm supposed to be smooth. I can say all the right things, wink and smile my life away. But with you, I’m a fumbling idiot.”

  I kissed him, and the mindspeak went wild. “Fuck yes, her lips are so soft. Oh God, that thing with your tongue, do it again.” I traced my fingers along his perfect physique, claiming each crease, each crevasse for myself. I wanted to pull away before I lost myself, but his thoughts were still encouraging me. "I love you so much, can you feel it?"

  “Yes, Ash,” his mindspeak said. “I love you too.”

  I drifted backward, keeping my eyes closed to savor the feel of Jacob on me. “Can I just hold you? I want to hear about everything. I want to know what you’ve been up to.”

  I held his hand and guided Jacob to the bed. We shuffled beneath the covers until my cheek was resting on his bare chest, and there was nothing between me and the sound of his heart.

  “I trained with a healer,” I whispered before diving into tales about Lilly and Aarav. I told him about fighting with Huxley, pushing Kemper and Patrick away. I told Jacob how I refused to believe that he was hurt or in danger. I told him how I sulked and about Payne.

  “I woke up here, you know. Tallis carried me out of Ethros on a transport. I just wanted to call out for you, but I couldn’t. It was like my brain could think the words, but my mouth couldn’t say it.”

  I nuzzled closer to Jacob’s chest, breathing in his soapy scent. “The mindspeak helps, but I miss having control over my own voice.”

  If I were being honest, I missed the sound of Jacob’s smooth voice too. Although I was thankful for whatever we could get, there was something about his warm tone that made me melt. But I’d rather miss his voice than miss him.

  “I’m getting better though. Every day, I can say more.”

  Jacob took the mindspeak from his ear and sat up taller. With a cough, he moved his lips before saying, “Lo-Love. Love you.” Hot tears of joy and sadness rolled down my cheeks.

  “I love you too,” I whispered. We fell asleep, and although it was comforting to be in his arms, I still felt the weight of all the things still left unsaid.

  Chapter Eleven

  Staying at the Brothel was a uniquely divine experience. It didn’t feel like we were in the poverty-stricken Zone. Lavish gifts and fine foods arrived almost hourly. The Walker Companions had many Elite admirers. I’d always had this image that the Walker Companions had the worst job you could get, but they made it look preferable to my life at Stonewell Manor, but still another form of prison. Where I was confined to the home I worked, they were trapped in the eyes of their clients. Their bodies were their cages.

  Each of the women approached their station in life differently. Blythe loved the attention, she reveled in it, squealing whenever the doorbell would ring. Jade would snort and gossip about the men sending her presents. She’d flip her blue hair over her shoulder and spill the secrets of the Elite to anyone that would listen.

  Lowe, the pint-sized Companion, fumed with anger over her gifts. She found something to complain about with every wrapped present on her doorstep. And Kaye? The deep frown lines around her chapped lips were more pronounced. It was as if she wanted to seem indifferent to the station she had in life, but couldn’t force herself to go numb.

  The guys all broke out into different areas after breakfast. Kemper worked with Louis on the database. Huxley and Patrick patrolled the grounds outside, and Jacob was headed to the tunnels to pick up a supply shipment of rejection cures. Tallis had managed to steal a crate for his tribe back in Dormas and snuck them there last month. My guys would be injected with the last of the stolen vials today. Part of me was glad that we would no longer live in fear that the rejection would one day creep up on them, but another part of me was scared they’d contract X. We had means of preventing infection: sanitation stations and seclusion. But it was still a significant risk.

  As I finished breakfast, Madam B dove into explaining the Companion system to me with bouncing pride. “Most girls become Companions when they hit puberty. There are some brothels in lesser known parts that deal young girls, those are unreputable places. The only people that do business with them are sick men and women with fetishes. I have purchased a few girls from them just to save the poor things. I then hire them on as handmaids here in the brothel.

  “Parents will bring their teenage daughters to the brothel auction, and madams like myself purchase their vaccine in exchange for ten to fifteen years of service. Some, like Kaye, were born here. They grow up in these halls.”

  She guided me towards the sitting room, and I tried to imagine what it would be like to live that sort of life. Growing up in a brothel would be a disillusioned and challenging life.

  “There are a few brothels here in the Zone, but only the best get used for Elite functions. I’m a regular. My girls know the rules. They’re top-notch, you see.”

  I picked up my tea and took a sip, absorbing this information and trying not to feel disgusted by it. I also couldn’t help but feel curious about how things had changed since the cure became obsolete. Before, people were bound to the cure and would sell themselves for it because there was no other way. Unless you were Elite and could afford it, you gave up the only priceless possession you had—yourself.

  “How is this system still holding up when there is no cure for the Elite to dangle over your heads?” I asked. For a moment, Madam B’s face went dark, but she slipped back into her proper mask. The quick shift in her appearance made me question her alliance. The Elite weren’t the only ones benefiting from this system. The brothel owners made lots of money selling their Companions.

  “I’ll admit, it’s put a damper on business. Sometimes I think I’m meant to feel bad about my job,” Madam B said while picking up a muffin and nibbling on it. Her pink lipstick smeared as she chomped down. “But then I think about all the lives I’m saving. Sex always sells, my dear. Doesn’t matter the infrastructure or the motivations. I provide a nice life for my girls. They might have started working here because they wanted the cure, but they stay because it’s their only chance at the parties, the clothes, and gifts. If they left here, they’d have to move into a one-bedroom shack in the Zone. They could marry a poor Walker, and they’d live happily ever after, swimming in their own filth. Or they can give me their bodies, and I’ll give them the world.”

  She sounded eerily like Cavil. But unlike him, she didn’t see the world through a prestigious lense of self-indulgent worth. She knew what made the world spin—and used it to her advantage. She didn’t feel sorry about her station in life because she’s honest with herself. There was strength in honesty.

  After a while, she dove into the proper etiquette of a Companion. All the rules were overwhelming, I almost couldn’t keep them straight. “When you enter the room, you must wait for your procurer for the night to sit. Always sit on his or her left. Some of the older Elite members will request that you wear lipstick. It’s tacky, but oblige them.”

  I briefly thought back to Dominique and frowned at my memory of her in Ethros. “I’m familiar with the red lipstick,” I whispered before taking a sip of tea. “Back in Ethros, Cavil’s Walker Companion, Dominique, forced me to wear it.”

  If I squeezed my eyes shut, I could almost feel Dominique's terse lips on mine, and I shivered in disgust. “Dominique? Strange, Jade hasn't mentioned a Dominique,” Madam B said while dipping her brow in confusion. “Not once have my girls seen him with anyone.”

  “She has been serving him for a few years as his head Walker,” I said, thinking of Payne as anxiety swirled around in my gut. I wondered how he was doing since we’d left. I also couldn’t help but think about the promise I’d made Payne. What if something had happened to Dominique?

  “I haven’t heard of a woman named Dominique. Perhaps she didn’t
come with him? It’s very possible. Men like Cavil don’t fix their attention on someone for too long.”

  I shook my head while trying to wade through what I knew about Dominique. She’d been with him for years.

  “Perhaps you’re right,” I mumbled. If what Madam B said were true, then it would be a lot harder to collect Dominique than I originally planned. I just hoped Payne could handle waiting a little longer. There was still an uneasy memory clinging to me. One that had stayed in the back of my mind since dying in the Deadlands. I knew it was close. An answer involving Dominique was just there, close enough for me to reach.

  “Well,” a voice said from behind me. I turned around to look at Jade and Blythe. They were wearing all white again. Their hair was pulled up in elegant styles, and red lipstick donned their plush lips.

  “We’re off to Cavil’s home,” Blythe said. “I’m looking forward to seeing Maverick again.” I didn’t miss the way her eyes cut to me as she spoke. Jealousy threaded through each of my ribs, tightening my breaths and making me want to claw out of my skin. Why couldn’t I see him yet?

  “Be sure to tell him I say hello,” I replied while forcing out a smile.

  Blythe rolled her eyes before turning to Madam B, who seemed unamused. “Don’t forget, there’s a meeting tonight,” she reminded the girls.

  Jade gave Madam B a salute. “You betcha. Can’t miss the Resistance meeting. We have to go from rich men telling us what to do, just to come home to poor men telling us what to do.” Sarcasm flowed smoothly from her words like poison.

  Overall, Madam B had seemed a mildly pleasant person, but at Jade’s snarky comment, I saw her eyes turn to fiery slits of anger.

  “You should be thankful. Don’t abuse the privilege of my kindness, Jade.”

  “Don’t forget that your entire little plan is on my shoulders, Madam,” she replied with malice.

  I sat up taller as the two girls ignored Madam B and sauntered past us to go out the front door. Madam B might think of herself as the girls’ savior, but there was still animosity between them. When the door shut, I reached out with shaky hands to take a drink of tea.