Davis: Blood Brotherhood (13 page)

Remy finished off his entire bowl and was eyeing the other one when Skylar sat on his lap. She turned his head to look at her, and he wanted to growl.

“Don’t be a pig.” He tried to pull from her grip, and she jerked his head back. “Seriously, you’ve eaten more than your share. It’s rude to take everyone else’s treats. You’re a grown man; act like it and not a little spoiled baby.”

“It’s very good. Have you tried it?” He reached into his bowl only to come up empty handed. “Let me get you some from the other—”

“Behave.” He realized then that he was being childish. But who knew that something as mundane as corn could be so amazingly delicious? Certainly not him. He wondered aloud how many other things he’d been missing and started to get up. “If you as much as look in the direction of the kitchen, I’m going to brain you. Ann would go with you and cook you something, and she’s exhausted.”

He looked at the woman sitting in the chair across from him. She did look tired. And he realized how much she was doing around here. Cooking for all of them, all the meals whenever they needed to eat, cleaning up after them and helping in the clinic when she could. Remy looked at Skylar.

“We need to get her some help. Fast.” She nodded. “But who and where? I mean, it’s not like we can just hire anyone off the streets to come into his house. We’re not exactly human here.”

“I’ve been thinking that too. I had hoped that the people that came from the other world would be able to help out, but I just don’t know who to trust. I mean, tonight we were nearly taken in by a kid.” He nodded and pulled her closer on his lap. “Who do we find to help us?”

“I can help.” They both looked at Hank. He looked bad, too bad to be sitting in a chair, but Remy had been told he’d insisted on being up and about. Ann said he was trustworthy and even Skylar said she could trust him. “I have…those others that I told you about. They’re needing to do something. Most of us are domestic help. All actually. But there are a few that can…we were pressed into domestic services as the ones that the richer people employed started to die or leave. I’m sure you can get as many of them as you want to come and work here.”

“How do we know who can be trusted so we’re not taken in again by a child?” Hector cleared his throat as he joined the conversation. “And so you know, little Sam is bunking with Reuben. I think they’re getting along very well.”

Remy had forgotten about Hank’s son. The little boy had been rescued right before he and Skylar had come home. He’d been beaten up a little, but not like his dad, and was more than likely as well as he was because he’d escaped on his own. It had taken Leo an hour or so to get him to come with him. Trust, it seemed, wasn’t just as issue with them.

“They won’t be able to get past the barriers.” Remy looked around the room at the group there. “We’ll be safe so long as they can get by the barriers. Those that don’t…we’ll deal with that when we get there. But I’d really like for Ann to have help as soon as possible. Please give us a list of names that can help and we’ll get started on that tomorrow.”

Hank said he would and asked for some paper. The sooner the better he said when told it could wait until tomorrow. Things were beginning to come together, and Remy was as much afraid of that as he was relieved.

Chapter 12

They began to arrive at sunrise. There were twenty at first. Most of them were nervous. Hell, so was she, but Vicki had said she’d help interview them, and that’s what she’d do. But now it was nearly noon and she was hungry and tired. The woman who had been hired as a second cook sat a large bowl of soup and a sandwich in front of her before walking away with a short nod. Vicki looked to see that Ann and her mom had one as well.

“You should eat before it gets cold.” Vicki nodded at the woman she’d been interviewing. “I know Lana. She can make the best soup you’ll ever eat. And her pies are to die for. She used to have her own little shop until someone with money decided that they wanted her to cook for them. She had to close it up. The rest of us were sorely disappointed.”

The soup was amazing. Not normally a vegetable soup fan to begin with, this made her want to have it every meal. And the sandwich tasted like the bread had been freshly made, and the meats were so juicy and tender that it nearly melted in her mouth. She finished it off before she thought about how she must have looked.

“I’m so sorry.” The woman laughed. “I never eat like this in front of someone. You know, like a starved animal on their first meal in ages. But you’re right, it was the best soup I’ve ever eaten.”

“It’s fine. She is that good. Lana can also make bread and cookies that will make you beg.” Nodding, she picked up her pen and looked at the list of things she was supposed to ask. Instead she looked at the woman.

“What is it you want to do? Not what you did before you were taken into household cleaning, but what do you want to do?” The woman looked shocked, then nodded. “You weren’t always kitchen help, were you? Tell me what you did before some asshole decided you needed to make his bed for him.”

“Thank you. I was…believe it or not, I was in charge of security. I could…I kept the higher-ups safe from all kinds of issues. Not just on the ground, but in the air as well. Our first attack all those years ago came from the sky. It was me who alerted them that we had incoming. Then about a month after they started making those things, I lost my job, my house, as well as my husband. He was pressed into becoming one of them.” She looked ready to cry. “I will do anything. I don’t care for being idle at all. And I know that humans for the most part do not hire women to be in charge of things like that, but as I said, I’ll do anything for a steady income. Most of us have nothing left, and it will be hard to start again, I know, but I’m willing and able.”

Vicki wrote on the sheet what she thought the woman was suited for and sent her to see Jake. The man was just as exhausted as the rest of the household was after all this. Perhaps the man could use the help or not, but she was betting he’d take her on. The next few people who sat in front of her she did the same thing, asking what they wanted rather than what they did in the other world. She was writing yard work on the top of this person’s personal sheet when Ann sat next to her.

“I have a request.” She nodded. There was little that she’d not do for this woman. “I need someone to be able to bake. Someone to do the shopping as well as put things away. A dishwasher would be nice too. One that will wash as I make the mess and not say a word about how many pans I use.” Vicki was making notes as someone sat in the chair. The person looked at the list and raised his hand. He took the sheet from her and began writing. Vicki looked at Ann, who shrugged, then at the man. When he finished, he handed the note to her.

“‘I cannot talk. It is a birth defect. I should very much like to keep the kitchen clean.’” She handed the note to Ann. Standing, she motioned for the man to follow her, and he turned and waved at her. That was easy, she thought with a laugh.

The rest of the day was just as easy. Of the hundred that had shown up, they had hired them all. And tomorrow looked to be just as promising. In addition to the ones that now worked at the house and the grounds, a lot of them were working at the clinic downtown, as well as the newly acquired apartment building that would house them all. Remy was looking into buying two more buildings when Davis told him to hold off.

“We need the room. There are any number of people living on the grounds now that have nothing more than a tent to live in.” Davis nodded and started to speak when Remy cut him off. “I know what you’re going to say. I’m jumping into this too fast, but winter is coming and I don’t want anyone to suffer.”

“Right. But that wasn’t it.” Vicki laughed, and they both glared at her. “I was going to say that I’d like for you to buy the entire block. There are five apartment buildings in that area. And since the humans are all…there is no one living in anything there any longer. They’re furnished and have power for now, but we’ll have to figure that out too. And there is a grocery store close by that needs some care. You know, take the bodies out that are cluttering things up. I was thinking that we could hire a few men and women to run that as well as…I’m thinking outside the box here.”

Remy nodded and suggested that they have a garden. A large one to help with the food costs. Davis sat down and started making a list of things that had to be taken care of in the future, like the garden and what they’d need get it started as well.

“Oh.” Vicki flushed when they both looked at her. “I forgot about…most of those people would have left things going on. I mean, food in the refrigerator. Alarms going off that no one is there to hear. They’re all gone. I know that I should have realized it before, but it just hit me, no one is there.”

Davis held her hand while she tried to regain control over her emotions. She knew it was because she was so tired, but with this help—and there was a lot of it—maybe they’d be able to rest better knowing they were getting it all done instead of doing only what needed to be done .

“We’ll need a clean-up crew for all the buildings.” Remy started to make notes too. “We should also find out if anyone can go to the power plant. There has to be someone there to see that we continue to have heat and light.”

“And the schools. There are a lot of kids here now.” Remy nodded at her suggestion. “Someone will need to take over those as well. I’m sure that there are a few that can lend a hand in that department, as well as a bigger clinic. Christ, this is like we’re starting over with everything, isn’t it?”

Vicki looked at Remy’s notes. She noticed that his handwriting was very floral, very beautiful script. Then it occurred to her just how old he was, and how much he’d seen and done in all his life. Nearly two thousand years of just living and killing. Her heart broke for him too. The man had lost a great deal, more than anyone else had.

“Remy?” He looked at her when she didn’t continue. “I wanted to say thank you. I would be dead by now had you not…had you not been what you are.”

“Thank you too, love.” He looked at her for several seconds before he bent his head to the task. His voice was filled with humor as he continued. “But you’re not getting out of some of this work. There is more here than I first thought. I know nothing of running any of these things.”

As so for the next several hours the five of them, Skylar and Leo included, went over things that they might need to do. Who knew that starting from scratch—and that was what they were doing—could be so much work?

~~~

Dolin sat in his chair, not moving. Something was going on here. Something scary. He watched everything within his vision. Someone was messing with them and he was terrified about it. The fucking stone was appearing in the most…he’d taken to having all his pockets sewn shut. Dolin had locked doors to his house, the inside of his house, to keep the intruder out. Nothing was working. The brisk knock at his door had him cry out in fear.

He got up to see who was at the door, careful nowadays to see that no one came in that had not been invited…which was most people. There was Ward and a woman who brought his food to him, but she wasn’t allowed beyond the garage. A garage that was empty of everything he had owned. Getting rid of it had seemed so important at the time. Now…well, now he had no clue why he’d given away his car, his lawn mower, as well as his lawn furniture. Not that he’d ever sit out in the yard again until he figured this out, but it was devoid of everything.

“I’ve been trying to reach you.” Dolin nodded and was tempted to pat his friend down. “I’ve been reaching out to your buddy, the one that was on earth, and there is no answer. So I went there. He’s dead. All of them are.”

“What do you mean, they’re all dead? That’s not even possible. They’re our creations, and no matter what we put at them, nothing killed them. Do you know how hard it was for me to figure out how to resurrect those things? And to make it so they’d grow much faster than they had before?” Then something he said occurred to him. “You went there? You went to earth? Why? How? When was this?”

“I didn’t actually go there, but visited. You should see the mess left behind. I have no idea what killed them, but there are body parts all over the place. And there wasn’t a single stone to be found anywhere.” Dolin staggered back from Ward. This was all just too much. They were being conspired against, and he had no idea why.

And there were so few people here now that even his list of names wasn’t all that helpful to him. There had to be an end to this soon. If not then they were set to lose it all. He moved to his chair, looking to where the stone was he’d put in the glass container an hour ago, and noticed that it was gone again. There were no pockets on his clothing…he’d taken them off the last time he’d found it on him. Dolin found it in his underwear this time while he was patting himself down. Jerking his clothing off, Dolin stood there naked with the thing in his hand, sobbing.

“I can’t get rid of it. I buried it the other day. Deep in a hole that took me hours to dig. When I got home, it was sitting on my table covered in dirt and waiting for me. I don’t know what to do.”

He sounded insane. Dolin knew it. And he was beginning to feel like it too. And from the look on Ward’s face, he was thinking he was too.

“You need to calm down. I don’t know what you’re talking about. And please, will you just stop crying like a child? You’re not making any sense right now. Take a deep breath and let it out—”

“Look. Do you have the stone on you? Your stone? Do you have it?” Ward nodded with a leery look on his face. “Is it turning up all over your house? I mean even on your person?”

“Yes. But I’m ignoring it. You seem…are you unwell?” He wanted to scream at him that he was just fine. It was the stone that was all wrong. “Give it to me. Once I have it in my possession, you won’t have to worry about it again. I’ll take it home and put it with mine. That way you can not worry about it again.”

“Yes.” He reached out to hand him the stone, and Ward just looked at him. It was then that Dolin realized he was naked, with a stone in his hand that he’d just taken from his under clothing. “I’ll just get dressed and wash this up as well.”

“Please do.” Dolin wanted to snarl at Ward that he was too fucking calm to suit him. But he only walked to his room and put the stone on the dresser. It would have sounded insane. And he wasn’t. Dolin was a brilliant man, and this was just…it was just too much.

As he dressed, never taking his eyes off the stone for more than a second or two, he felt reasonably better when it was still sitting where he’d put it to begin with. Taking it out to Ward after washing it and his hands, the man put it in his pocket. He did feel calmer now. The thing would be gone and he’d not have to worry about it.

“I’m sorry. You have no idea how this thing has been ruling my life. It’s like I can’t get rid of it. And it’s making me ill as well.” He showed Ward his legs and the bloodied streaks that had formed earlier today. “I’m not well when that thing is around, and the stress of having to keep up with it is making the illness worse. I know that in my head, but I just can’t deal with it.”

Ward took the stone out of his pocket and stared at it for several seconds. Then he asked for a plastic bag. After putting the stone in the bag then taking it to his car, they sat down in his living room. Dolin asked Ward what he’d been saying when he first came in.

“We sent down fifty-five. All of them we had, remember? I knew we should have kept one of them to study if needed.” Ward paced around the room twice before sitting down again. “There is something else. The ambush didn’t work, as I said, but they found out about the other…about Hank. They knew where he was, like someone told them just where he was. All those men? They’re dead as well. And they have the book, I’m assuming.”

“The ambush was supposed to rid us of all of them at one time. You assured me that they’d all go together to protect each other.” Ward nodded and looked so depressed that Dolin didn’t want to be mad, but damn it all to hell. “The kid, you said it would work too. They’d never guess it wasn’t a kid, you said to me over and over. Now look. We’ve lost an entire army of beings that I don’t know if I can make again. What happened to the kid-like being? I mean, are they so far gone that they’d kill a kid? I need answers, Ward. They’re not playing right. They’re just being mean now, don’t you think?”

“I don’t know; it does seem as if they’re just out for blood. I don’t understand it. We’re the superior race here, not them. They should have just given up months ago and let us have what we wanted. But they keep…they killed all our beings. As well as the ones that we had holding Hank. How the hell did they know about him? Who is giving them this information? We can’t find a single person to go into their house and kill them all. And until that brother is finished with his training and change-over, we’re without any other means to show them that we mean business. They have not just infiltrated our work, but have killed our best men.”