The Arrivals (25 page)

Of course, his attempt to have the Arrivals treated like the Wastelanders treated each other only served to make him more desirable to the brothel girls. He tipped his head to them when they called out, “Jack!”

Kitty shot them a quelling look, but they only waved and smiled.

“If you’re looking for your new Arrival, she took off walking with Daniel,” one of the girls called out.

“Willingly?” Jack’s shoulders visibly tensed.

“Looked like it,” the girl said.

In Kitty’s mind, she heard Garuda confirm what the girl was saying. Quietly, she murmured to Jack, “Garuda says the girl is right.”

Jack didn’t reply, but a look of fury crossed his face. Whatever Chloe had said or done, she seemed to have caught his attention in a way no one else had—and right now Kitty wanted to kill her for it. Jack was the together one, the person who kept them all sane in this crazy world. He was the calm in a sea of chaos, and because of Chloe he was hurting. Kitty felt betrayed and more than a little unsettled.

“A lot of the Arrivals talk to Ajani,”
Garuda reminded her
. “Daniel is simply expediting the process.”

“Please don’t be reasonable right now,”
she implored.
“Find me the cure for Francis. I’ll handle Jack.”

As Garuda retreated, another of the women bent forward over the railing, offering a generous view of her bosom. “I could make you feel better, Jackson.”

“Not today.” Jack looked in the direction of Ajani’s local residence.

“Jack?” Kitty put a hand on her brother’s forearm. When he looked at her, she said, “Maybe Daniel didn’t take her to—”

“Katherine . . .” Jack started in that lecturing tone of his.

But Kitty wasn’t in the mood for his high-and-mighty act. She held up a hand. “If Daniel took her to Ajani—which admittedly, makes sense—she’ll make a choice. We don’t even know that she went there. Daniel might just find her . . .” Her words dwindled; there was no good way to say that the woman who’d been warming the sheets of her brother’s bed might find Daniel’s companionship enjoyable. Cautiously, she added, “Whatever she decides, it’s not
your
fault.”

The hurt in her brother’s eyes was far too similar to the way he’d looked when Mary hadn’t woken up, and Kitty decided right then that she’d be putting a bullet in Chloe next time their paths crossed if the woman
did
decide to work for Ajani. Hell, she might do it as well if Chloe opted to become Daniel’s lover. No woman worth anything would choose to work for Ajani or screw Daniel when Jackson wanted her. It seemed downright ridiculous that he’d gotten so smitten after only a few conversations and a bit of rough-and-tumble, but as Kitty looked at his face, it was pretty damn clear to her that he had.

“Francis needs us.” She felt a twinge of guilt for forcing her brother to focus on Francis, but she didn’t know what else to do.

Jack was silent.

“Please? If you go into Ajani’s house, he can come into ours,” she added. “He can come after me.”

Her brother looked at her. “I’d never do anything to endanger you.”

“Then come back with me now,” Kitty pleaded.

He nodded. Years ago Jack and Ajani had come to a gentleman’s agreement on the protocol for dealing with the Arrivals. It wasn’t quite the extreme etiquette that bloedzuigers followed, but it was awfully near to it. Unlike most of the Arrivals the past few years, Jack was from a time when a man’s word mattered. Ajani was . . . well, no one knew for sure what he was or where he was from, but whatever his history, he had abided by the agreement. Ajani might not be willing to share anything about his history, but he kept his word the way Jack did. If Chloe was in any of Ajani’s houses by choice, there was nothing Jack could do about it—just as the reverse was true.

After another moment in which he looked like he was struggling for self-control, Jack turned and headed back toward the Gulch House. “Tell Edgar we’re headed out to camp to get the Verrot. Tell Garuda we’ll see him in the desert.”

Chapter 29

J
ack steadfastly walked back to the Gulch House to gather his gear before heading out to meet Garuda. As he’d stood in the street with his sister, he’d considered throwing everything away—over a woman he’d only met a couple of days ago. It was completely illogical. There were rules, ones that had been in place for over two decades, ones that Jack couldn’t violate without throwing safety so far out of reach that there would be no return. Ajani wouldn’t meddle with the Arrivals if they sided with Jack, and if they went with Ajani, Jack wouldn’t interfere. He and Ajani had agreed not to use force or coercion. In truth, those rules aided Jack more than Ajani. If not for the gentleman’s agreement they’d made, Ajani could attempt to take Katherine by force. Even with the rules in place, Jack and Edgar still did everything they could to keep Katherine from being out and about on her own.

And Jack had just left her standing in the street when he’d turned back toward the Gulch House. He glanced over his shoulder and, with no small amount of relief, saw Katherine walking toward him.

“I’m fine,” he lied when she caught up with him.

She smiled, but she still looked worried. “I know. It’s just a lot to deal with lately. We’ll figure it out. Francis will be fine, and we can do the job with one less person anyhow.” When he didn’t respond, she added, “Chloe might not even choose Ajani, Jack. Let it go.”

“I know you trust Daniel, but he’s not our friend.” Jack didn’t quite understand how his sister managed to hold on to her tenderness for Daniel, but he wasn’t having a great deal of luck understanding his own emotions just then. It wasn’t that he loved Chloe; he didn’t even know her well enough to
like
her all that much. All he could say was that he felt a spark, and after so many years of thinking he wasn’t even capable of such a thing, he was eager to find out what could come of it.

“Daniel’s not evil,” Katherine said quietly. “I’m not saying he’s good, or even that he meant anything other than to take Chloe to Ajani. I’m just suggesting you be a little patient.”

“I know, but Chloe was out there alone because I fucked up. First the Verrot, then the . . . what we almost did when we were in the desert.” Jack didn’t want to meet his sister’s eyes, so he resumed walking. “And then after we were about to . . . finish what we started in the desert, I called her another woman’s name. What reason did she have to
stay
?”

“In the desert
and
here? I know you were upset over losing Mary, but . . .” Katherine’s words faded, and she shook her head at him.

They walked silently for a minute before Jack said, “I didn’t love Mary. I wanted to. Hell,
she
wanted me to, but I didn’t. Whatever Chloe is, she isn’t a replacement for Mary.”

“So tell her that when you see her even if she’s in
his
house
,
” Katherine suggested. “That’s not breaking the rules. Daniel does it; Ajani does it. They both tell me to join them all the damn time. You just have to be willing to swallow your pride and say your piece in front of whoever’s there.”

“They’d love that, wouldn’t they?” he said bitterly.

“It’s either that or accept that she’s in Ajani’s house now, and as long as she’s there, if she warms anyone’s bed, it can’t be yours.”

The thought of Chloe in Ajani’s or Daniel’s bed was enough to make Jack stop midstep. He didn’t turn back, but the thought of shooting Daniel was powerful enough that his hand dropped to where his gun typically would be—and he realized that he’d actually gone outside without a weapon. When he’d heard that Chloe was gone, he’d walked out unarmed.

Katherine, who fortunately
was
armed, stepped in front of him. “If she stays, she’s as dead as Mary to us right now.”

“Like Daniel?” Jack said, regretting the words the moment they were said.

“Exactly like Daniel.” Katherine looked pointedly at his empty hand. Even when he’d been falling-down drunk, he didn’t go outside without a gun. Worry over a woman had made him do so. “Either way, you can’t do anything about it tonight, and we don’t have time for you to be off your game. Not now. I’m going to get the Verrot and meet Garuda. Get your gear, or I’ll tell Edgar he’s going with me while you stay here and babysit Francis.”

Jack walked in silence the rest of the way to the tavern. She was right: they couldn’t violate every safety precaution they’d put in place over the years; there was no way he would endanger his sister like that—but no amount of logic quashed his furious urge to knock down Ajani’s door and carry Chloe out of that house. He’d lived half of his life focused on the mission, on the good of the team, on doing the right thing. Wanting something—wanting
someone
—for himself was new.

A little while later, when they were not quite halfway between Gallows and the camp, Jack and Katherine found Garuda standing calmly in the Gallows Desert. As was typical in meetings with the bloedzuiger, an escort was with him. In this case, only one of his pack stood waiting for the customary greeting. It was an odd tradition, but many years ago, Garuda had explained it as a ritual of respect. The conflict between one of his representatives and his guest established power dynamics, but Jack was well aware that Garuda adjusted the fights for his own reasons. The old bloedzuiger had been known to use the tradition to remove a troublesome newborn or to establish his authority over the guest, so Jack had expected to find a young newborn that could be quickly dispatched before they moved on to business.

When he realized that the accompanying bloedzuiger appeared to be one of Garuda’s older, more articulate ones, he looked around for another one to fight. There were no others in sight and no cover behind which they could hide.

“You want me to fight him?” Jack asked.

“No,” Garuda said.

Jack held his hands out to the sides in a questioning gesture. “I’m not in the mood for games today.”

“Traditions are not games, Jackson,” Garuda chastised softly, and then his gaze went to Katherine. “Katherine.”

She stepped past Jack. “I’m ready.”

Clarity hit him then: they’d been speaking when he couldn’t hear them, and his sister was apparently intending to fight one of the oldest bloedzuigers Jack had met.

“What in the hell are you two playing at?” Jack reached out to grab his sister’s arm, but she moved out of reach in a blurringly quick move.

“Stand aside, Jack,” Garuda all but hissed. “Katherine summoned me here, so she will attend to the pleasantries.”

“If you think I’m letting my sister—”

“Shut it, Jack,” Katherine interrupted. Slowly, looking like she was warming to the idea, she smiled at Garuda and then said, “And, you, don’t talk while I’m fighting.”

Garuda lifted his shoulder in a shrug, and then gestured to the bloedzuiger, which promptly launched itself at Katherine.

She dodged almost as quickly as it had sprung, and Jack gasped at the sight of his sister moving at such a speed. He’d thought that he was long done with being surprised by the things she could do, but as she kicked and punched the creature in front of her, he found himself amending his beliefs.

“She didn’t fight that way in Gallows,” he murmured to Garuda.

The bloedzuiger only nodded. His attention was fixed on the fight in front of them. Abruptly, he tossed a blade toward the fighters, and Katherine snatched it out of the air without even looking.

She frowned as she glanced at the knife and then snapped, “Are you trying to kill me?”

“No. It was a test,” Garuda said bluntly. “You can read him, Katherine. Through me, you can anticipate his movements.” He stepped closer to the fight and ordered the bloedzuiger, “Faster.”

“I’m not here for tests,” Katherine growled. At the same time, she’d stabbed the knife through one of its wrists, grabbed the other arm, pulled it over, and stabbed it too, pinning the bloedzuiger’s arms together.

It tried to strike her with its pinned hands, but Katherine caught them and forced them upward and then back, bending the bloedzuiger’s body into an arc. She continued propelling its arms until it was forced to fall onto its back, and then she slammed her boot-clad foot into the bloedzuiger’s jaw, forcing its head to the side and holding it to the ground.

“Call it,” she ordered.

“The needs of etiquette are met,” Garuda said softly.

Katherine took a step toward him, and for a moment Jack wondered if he’d need to intervene. His sister looked like she might turn her attention from the creature she’d just incapacitated to the bloedzuiger who controlled it.

“I’ve never known another creature capable of doing what you do.” Garuda’s tongue snaked out to lick his lips in what Jack hoped was an absentminded motion. If not, the bloedzuiger was trying to provoke Katherine.

“I’m human,” she objected.

“You’re more and more like one of my own,” Garuda added, seemingly goading her in word even as his tone stayed even.

Katherine narrowed her gaze at him. “Just because I react peculiarly to your blood doesn’t mean I’m a monster.”

Garuda sighed. “I am not a monster, Katherine.”

“In my world—”

“You aren’t in another world,” Garuda chided. “You’re in
this
world, and your body acts more and more like one of us. Your proximity to me when you’ve had Verrot, and your acceptance of our connection, make it even more so. You are one of only two in this world who can do such things.”

“Two?” Jack interjected. “Who is the other?”

Garuda met Jack’s gaze. “Ajani.”

Katherine’s eyes flashed.
“Ajani?”
She raised her hand and pointed at Garuda. “He reacts to Verrot like this, and you didn’t think to
tell
me before now? Or at least to tell Jack?”

As she reached out to shove her finger at Garuda’s chest, he caught her hand. “Being like my kind does make you kin to my pack, but it doesn’t mean I accept insults, Katherine.” Keeping her hand in his with no apparent effort, even as she struggled, Garuda added, “There is a protocol that must be observed. I could not tell you until such time as it was necessary.”