Sunset Rising (22 page)

“I don’t have anything to say to him
.” I opened my container and began to eat.

“Really?
After four years of being together you have nothing to say?”

“He hates me.
He’s not going to listen to me.” Absentmindedly, I looked around the room, and my heart almost leaped into my throat when I saw her walk in. “It’s Summer!”

She didn’t look like my happy Summer.
She looked tired and worn out. I noticed a bruise on her upper arm and wondered who gave it to her. Holt? I still couldn’t imagine my best friend in the clutches of that monster.

“Put your head down!” Jack barked at me.

“What?” I did as he asked because I heard the urgency in his voice.

“The man who walked in behind her is Desmond
—Leisel’s guard. He’s watching her.”

I snuck a pe
ek in the direction of the door and saw him. He wasn’t dressed in his Domer uniform, but he still looked out of place. He was too clean-cut and well-dressed. I remembered that Summer told me Leisel was having her followed.

“They’re looking for us,” I
said.

“I know.
I’m going to try to block his view.”

Jack casually got up and pulled his chair next to mine, which strategically put his back toward Desmond.
Desmond cast a glance our way, his attention caught by Jack’s movement, but quickly returned to watching Summer. Then Jack surprised me when he put his hand under my chin and tilted my face toward his and kissed me on the lips.

“What are you doing?”
I tried to ignore the thrill that went through me at the touch of his lips on mine.

“We’re just a young m
arried couple madly in love sharing breakfast, okay?” he whispered. “We can keep our heads close together and out of view of him.” He laced his fingers through mine, and I marvelled at how soft and warm his skin felt.

I looked into his blue eyes.
“This isn’t going to help calm Reyes down.” My voice had a low, husky quality I’d never heard before. I cleared my throat.

“Do you have a clear view of
Desmond behind me?” To anyone else in the room who cared to look our way, Jack probably looked like a lover showering his wife with compliments.

“He’s watchin
g Summer. He barely noticed us.” I was surprised by how breathless my voice sounded. My eyes wandered down to his lips, and I wanted him to kiss me again.

He looked down at my container.
“Don’t forget to eat.”

Eating was a good idea.
It gave me an excuse to unlace my fingers from his and get my emotions under control.

“I wish I
knew what Summer looks like,” Jack said, leaning forward to whisper the words in my ear. He kept his head nuzzled to the side of my neck for a moment. I was pretty sure he was scanning the room behind me. His warm breath was sending shivers down my spine. I needed him to stop, but wished he wouldn’t.

“She’s hard to miss.
She’s beautiful.”

“There’s a pretty girl who just sat down with an
older couple.”

Jack stopped nuzzling my neck
and concentrated on eating his breakfast. I was glad he put some space between us. The effect he was having on my senses was unnerving.

“Her parents are
sitting in the back corner. She probably sat with them.”

With our faces safely turned away from Desmond, we ate our breakfast.
I could still see him if I peeked over Jack’s shoulder. He remained by the door. The few people I could see in the room were nervous in his presence. They knew he didn’t belong. I emptied my container of stew and sipped my water.

“She’s leaving now,” Jack said.

Summer came into my view then and was looking our way. I made eye contact with her, and she looked a little startled when she recognized me. Her eyes widened for just an instant and then she put her head down and continued walking toward the door. But it was enough to make Desmond suspicious, because now he was looking in our direction. My face was in full view, and I needed to hide it. Without hesitation, I leaned forward and pressed my lips to Jack, wrapping my arms around his neck.

My kiss caug
ht him off guard at first, but soon his hands were travelling up my back pressing me closer to him. At his touch, I felt the fluttering of desire rising up threatening to cut off my breath. My breathing became a little laboured and my heart pounded. He must have known I wanted him. I blushed, pulling slightly away to put some distance between us. I needed to focus on the crisis at hand. Desmond.

“Is he looking this way?” Jack asked against my lips.

“Yes.”

I narrowed my eyes to
slits so I could observe Desmond inconspicuously. A bolt of panic went through me when I saw him looking right at us. He started walking in our direction. If he pulled Jack’s head back and saw his blue eyes, he would know for sure he had found his target. Somewhere behind me I heard a chair being scraped roughly across the floor. Then Reyes came into my line of vision as he stomped from the room, nearly knocking Desmond over.

“Hey
, Summer, wait up,” he called out.

Desmond did an about face and followed Reyes.
I watched them go until they left the room.

“That was close
,” I said.

“You can let go now
, Sunny,” Jack said, gently pulling at my hands. I became conscious of the fact that I was clutching his t-shirt.

I let go of his shirt.
“Sorry. That was a little intense.” The heat of my blush still radiated from my cheeks. Jack gazed at me thoughtfully, a smile playing around his mouth. He was making me feel even more self-conscious. Should I try to explain the kiss?

“I saw Reyes staring
at us. I’m surprised you don’t have two holes burned into the back of your head,” Jack said.

I hadn’t been thinking about
him when I kissed Jack. Now I wondered what it had cost Reyes. I felt ashamed.

“He looked upset when he left,” I
said.

“I’m sorry he had to see that
. Talk to him later. Try to explain you had to do it because of Desmond.”

My eyes flew to Jack’s face when he said t
hat. Was he being sarcastic? I decided to ignore his remark and my reaction to his kiss. Talking about feelings would only make things awkward between us.

“He’s not going to listen
, and I don’t blame him.” I really did feel like an awful person. After all Reyes and I had been to each other, I just hurt him. If I were him, I’d hate me too.

“Don’t be so hard on yourself.
You did what you had to do to stay alive.” Then he picked up my hand and kissed it. “And on the upside, I enjoyed it. Thank you.” He gave me a wicked smile.

I could feel a blus
h creeping across my face again and snatched my hand away from his. I had never deliberately kissed anyone like that before, and it had felt exhilarating.

As usual,
Crystal was waiting at the laundry room doors. As I came up beside her, I noticed the bruise on her upper arm again, and it made me think of the bruise on Summer’s arm. I wondered if Crystal was being used by a bourge, too.

“Good morning,” I said cheerfully.

“How is your
husband?”

Something in the way she said
“husband” made me question again if she recognized Jack. “He had a headache last night, but he’s fine today. Thanks for asking.”

“I didn’t see the two of you at breakfast this morning.
I thought maybe he was in trouble.”

“In trouble?” That was an odd word to use.

“With his head injury. When I didn’t see you at breakfast, I thought maybe it was serious.”

“Luckily it wasn’t
serious at all.”

“Six guards
. I wonder where he learned to fight like that.”

My in
ner alarm was starting to go off. I was almost positive she knew Jack’s identity, but before I could question her any more, Madi made her presence known.

“Well
, what do we have here?” Madi asked. “Are you two conspiring on how to run the laundry room again?”

“No
, ma’am,” Crystal and I said in unison.

I looked down at the floor and hoped Crystal did the same.
Madi unlocked the door and went through. We mutely followed, heading toward the scanner.

“I don’t want any crap from either one of you today.
You both hear me?” Madi yelled.

“Yes
, ma’am,” Crystal said. I echoed her.

Crystal and I went to our
respective stations. I took a cart full of laundry as I went and pulled it along to the table. I was halfway through sorting when Di came in.

“Good morning
, all!” Di said to Crystal and me. Crystal ignored her.

“Good morning
, Di,” I said.

“So you’re making a habit of coming in early like Crystal
. You’re going to make me look bad!”

I was trying to think of a witty response when my hand wrapped around something
cold, wet, and sticky. I smelled the vomit before I actually saw it. I felt my gag reflex working and tried not to get sick. Madi would be all over me for that. I pulled a man’s pair of pants out of the cart, and the vomit was the same color as the blackberry wine Leisel had fed me. The pants were probably ruined. I wondered if Madi was going to blame me.

“Oh dear,” Di said when she saw it.
“What a mess. I told you there are some pretty disgusting things lurking in those carts. Give it to Crystal.”

I remembered
that Di told me she took pleasure in giving Crystal the really soiled clothing because she thought Crystal was stuck up. But I think I knew Crystal better. She wasn’t stuck up. She kept to herself because she was humiliated by what the bourge were doing to her. She was misunderstood, and it wasn’t fair.

I picked up the pants
and walked toward Crystal’s workstation. She looked a little apprehensive when she saw me coming her way. I held up the soiled pants so she could see my visit was legitimate.

“Thanks,” she said sarcastically when she saw the vomit.
“You can wash your hands before you go.” She stepped away from the sink to give me access.

I turned on the tap and reached for the bar of soap.

“Are you kidding me?” Madi screamed at us. “Are you two going to act up again today?”

I saw Madi raise her hand to strike Crystal and with reflexes I didn’t even know I had, I stepped in front of Crystal and took the hit myself.

Madi’s eyes widened in surprise.
“What the hell?” she exclaimed.

“I’m sorry
, Supervisor Madi,” I said, holding up my hands to ward off any more blows. “We weren’t up to anything. I have laundry that needs to be cleaned by hand.” I reached over and picked up the vomit-soaked pants and held them up for her inspection. “I was just washing my hands so I didn’t get vomit on anything else in the laundry.”

Madi gagged and covered her mouth with her hand.
“That’s disgusting!” She turned and walked away.

“Thanks,” Crys
tal whispered.

“It was my fault
.” I quickly washed my hands and returned to my station.

I finished sorting the clothes
, knowing Madi was watching every move I made. A few times she came over to inspect my work and then went to inspect Crystal’s. Di had told me that Madi wasn’t right in the head, and I understood exactly what she meant then. Madi was cruising for a fight. She was looking for any excuse, and I knew it was only a matter of time before I did something that provoked her. I just wasn’t that experienced at laundry.

I managed to get through the morning without further incident, but when the lunch
bong bongs
rang out, Madi informed Crystal and me that we had to work through the break. The food I could go without, but I was so thirsty. The heat of the laundry room with the vest on was unbearable. Di tried to slip me her water ration, but I refused to take it. Madi would want to know who had given me the water if I got caught. I wouldn’t do that to Di.

I was feeling dizzy toward the end of the day, but I forced myself to focus on my work.
Madi gave Crystal a hard time when she accidently splashed water on the floor, but I didn’t think she hit her hard enough to leave a bruise. I was folding my second-to- last dryer full of clothes when I saw Kai coming toward me. The swelling in his lip had gone down, although he still had a scab where it had split.

“It’s almost the end of the day, Miss Autumn.
It’s best not to start another cart,” he said kindly.

“Thanks
, Kai. I’ll try to take my time with this one and see if I can draw it out.”

I cast a well-
concealed glance at Madi. She wasn’t looking at me for a change so I slowed my pace. All I could think about was getting water and taking the vest off. It was getting hard to breathe and stars exploded across my vision from time to time. When the
bong bongs
finally sounded, I was folding my last load and stacking them in the bin for Kai to take. I was relieved to see Crystal was finished, too. I didn’t want to scan out and leave her alone with our supervisor.

“Well
, look at that. The two conspirators arrive at the same time and leave at the same time,” Madi said.

Neither Crystal nor I said anything back to her.
We just scanned out and left, hoping Madi wasn’t going to follow us. I was relieved when she didn’t.

“Are you
all right, Autumn? You don’t look very good,” Crystal said.

“I just need water.
I’m so hot right now.” The stairwell looked dimmer than usual and the stars across my vision were coming more frequently. I needed to get the vest off, but I couldn’t tell Crystal that. “I’m sorry about everything. I should never have asked you to show me how to do the hand washing. Madi is never going to let it go.”

“You’re new in the laundry room.
You didn’t know what she’s like.”

We walked together in silence
until we came to my apartment and I said good night. As soon as the door was shut, I took my hat off, whipped my t-shirt over my head, and almost ripped the vest off my body. With the weight off my chest, I sucked in a huge breath and let it out before I ran to the faucet. I stuck my head under the stream and started gulping. I heard the apartment door open and knew Jack was home. Somewhere in the back of my mind I realized I had stripped down to my bra, but I didn’t care at that moment.

“Sunny?” Jack sa
id. Then he was right beside me. “What happened?” I couldn’t answer him. I was too dizzy. “My god, you’re burning up.”

He picked me up and sat
me in a chair, then returned to the kitchen and soaked a towel. After wringing out the excess water, he wrapped the wet towel around my shoulders. It immediately started bringing down my body temperature.

“Put your head down between your legs
.”

He w
ent back to the sink to get me a glass of water. I drank it all.

“Feeling better?”
He squatted down in front of me and brushed my hair away from my face. “Not again,” he said, touching the bruise under my eye. “You have to get out of there.”

I shook my head.
“I can’t. Madi isn’t the type of supervisor to let her workers walk away. Besides, I’m not exactly in the position to go looking for another job.”

“I’m afraid she’s going to kill you if
you stay. Maybe you need a few Liberty guards in the laundry room.”

I almost laughed.
“What’s that going to do?” Was Jack really that naive about the way things worked down here? “A guard would never interfere with a supervisor disciplining her workers. And if a guard ever did, Madi would have him transferred out of there.”

Jack raised my face and made a closer inspection of my bruise.
I could only imagine how awful I must look. I still had the bruise over my other eye from the day before.

“I don’t want you to work there anymore,” he said in a tight voice.
I could tell by the determined set to his jaw that he thought his statement brooked no argument.

“Maybe
it’s time for you to grow up, Jack. This is life in the Pit. You think this is the first time I’ve been beaten? Do you know what it did to my parents every time I came home with a new bruise or a cracked rib? Or how I felt when I saw them beaten and broken? We live with that threat every day.” Jack dropped his hand away from my face and stood up. I could tell he didn’t want to hear what I was saying. “At least I know what to expect from Madi. She gets mad and she hits. It could be worse. My last supervisor sent me upstairs to be a sex toy at your bachelor party. I’d rather take what Madi’s doling out.”

Jack blink
ed quickly a few times before he turned his back on me. He raked a hand through his hair before he picked up his hat and put it back on. “Are you okay now?” His voice was strained.

“Yes.”

Without another word, he left the apartment. I didn’t expect that reaction from him. Perhaps I had been too honest. He didn’t need to know that I had been beaten before. It wasn’t really something we talked about down here anyway. Being beaten was always a humiliating experience. Everyone walked around with bruises, but no one ever said anything about them.

I raised my head upright,
checking to see if I was still dizzy. Thankfully, the world stayed in balance. A canvas bag sitting just inside the door caught my attention, and tentatively I stood up. There was a slight rush to my head, but then it was gone. I retrieved the bag and sat back down. It was full of clean clothes, and a razor and a communicator. Bron had come through for Jack.

The sink was still filled with cool water
, and I decided not to waste it. I stripped naked and bathed right there in the kitchen. I was taking a huge risk—Jack could return any minute—but given how mad he was when he left, I figured it would take him a while to calm down. I dried off and rummaged through the canvas bag for a clean outfit. The clothes were a lot better quality than I was used to. In fact, they were a lot better quality than anyone in the Pit was used to. I hoped they wouldn’t make us stand out.

I hung up my wet towel and was about to drain the water when I thought better of it.
I could wash my hair tonight before bed. Maybe Jack’s habits were wearing off on me.

I was putting the soap away when I heard the door open.
I turned to see Jack looking at me from the doorway. He had a strange look on his face.

“I’m sorry about what I said earlier.
I didn’t mean to be cruel,” I said.

“Where did y
ou get those clothes?”

“Bron must have brought them.
She brought you a razor and a communicator, too,” I pointed to the bag. “There’s some water here if you want to wash.”

“They’re really…” h
e stammered. “They fit you a lot better than my clothes did.”

“These are my size.
Your clothes weren’t.”

“Are you going to be able to fit your ves
t under that t-shirt?”

I moaned.
“Oh, that stupid vest! I forgot to put it back on. Do you think anyone would really notice?” I wanted to stop wearing it. It was going to be the death of me in that laundry room.

“Yes, people will definitely notice.
Go put it on, and we’ll go for dinner. Bron came through on securing the common room too. It’s going to happen tonight.”

“Tonight for sure?” I asked, a little shocked.
He nodded as he took his dirty t-shirt off and walked to the sink. It struck me that we were getting pretty comfortable around each other. “I’ll give you some privacy.”

I went into the bedroom and closed th
e door, glad for the opportunity to lie down for a few minutes. The heat exhaustion I’d suffered that day had really made me tired. And I had forgotten about tonight. A nervous flutter began in the pit of my stomach. How were we going to broach the subject of a rebellion with everyone? Would they laugh at us? Run us out of the Pit?