The General's Daughter (Snow and Ash #1) (13 page)

Talon is breathing heavier now. He lets go of my hair and covers me again. He braces himself with one hand, and the other comes around and pinches my nipple hard.

I’m close. I’m so close. I want— I want—

I reach down and rub my clit. I’ve never done this before, but I need it. Need it. Talon must have seen, because he groans harder and begins deep, long strokes that nearly lift me off the floor.

He’s hurting me, and I whimper.

“Baby,” he moans. “Take it. Take it all.”

I come right then and there.

He shudders and releases his seed, and my contractions milk him of everything he has until he’s dry.

He collapses against me, and we fall to the floor. I’m completely sated, and he must be too because he pulls me to him in our familiar cuddle and begins a soft, gentle snore.

It feels good, letting him be master. That’s what he is; he has all the power, and I have none. I love him, and I want with all my heart to please him.

Once again, I have no say in anything about my life.

But then, I never have.

I wake up to find him caressing my belly in tender, circular strokes. He kisses me right below my navel with such reverence that my throat chokes up. He closes his eyes and lays his head against it.

When we get to that place in the Smoky Mountains, he’ll leave me behind so fast I’ll think I imagined this.

That’s when it hits me. We actually might make it. We could get there without dying, and I might live to see twenty. Twenty-five.

I stiffen as horror fills me. I thought I was going to die. I was sure of it. Nothing I did mattered because, well, I was going to die. There was no such thing as the future.

I’ve acted like Talon was another guy from Bluefield, but he isn’t. He’s General Barry’s man, and he’s an officer.
 
Not
an enlisted man.

Back at home, most of the men in the lower ranks opt to get sterilized. The selection is based on IQ, their family medical histories, and the likelihood of their dying in battle and leaving behind a family to support. It’s encouraged for them but not mandatory. It also helps keep the population numbers from exploding beyond what our resources can support. The girls like it because they know they won’t get pregnant. The guys love it because they can screw around like crazy.
 
The isn’t true of the officers.
 
They’re considered smarter, more driven, and better genetic material.
   

Does General Barry offer that to his men? Do they even have the resources? Talon’s one of their up-and-coming. They respect him. It’s highly doubtful he’s been sterilized.
 

For days he’s filled me with his seed. I’m literally leaking it.

It’s far too cold for fish to rot. Before we left our haven, Talon caught a dozen or so and cooked them up. We left our uniforms behind. There are no allied armies out here, and we can’t afford to be caught wearing the wrong one. The only thing Talon kept was his boots. Like me, they’re the only thing he keeps from his old life.

We’ve been walking steadily southward for three days now. I should have asked him already if he’s sterile. Every time I open my mouth to speak to him, though, I can’t.

I tell myself he’s shown me time and again that he won’t let anything bad happen to me. I tell myself he would never sleep with me if there was any danger of pregnancy. I guess that makes me seven kinds of fool, because every night I open my arms and savor the comfort of his touch. It’s all I have.

He’s all I have.

“I don’t like it,” he says. “We’re too close to Bluefield Mountain.”

“Why are we going this way?” Shouldn’t we keep, like, at least a hundred miles away?

He flicks his gaze to the east. “That way is renegade country.”

“Oh.” I shiver and peek around, halfway expecting to find sharp teeth and hatchets behind the next bush.

“Don’t worry. We’ll build another snow shelter tonight. I’ll keep the fire small, and no one will see us.”

Immediately I picture the other time he built a shelter. The night he used me until I thought I’d cry, and I blush.

The wind picks up, and I’m glad for the hat he found me. It fits snugly over my ears, so unlike before, they don’t feel like they’re going to freeze off. Hats are good. Keeping your flesh is good.

Being pregnant is not. Damn. I can’t stop worrying about it. Women died all the time having babies in the old days. Dad has a couple of doctors and a couple more in training. Out here, I’m on my own. I cannot, cannot, have a baby like this. And what about Talon? What if I’m knocked up and he feels like he’s stuck with me? The thought thrills me, but only for a second. I’ve seen that trapped, dead look in my own mirror. I don’t want to see it on him.

I study him, but he seems completely unconcerned. Other than that one time, I never again caught him worshipping my belly. Still…

The wind picks up even more, sending my hair flying about. Talon pulls me closer. Since my fall, he hardly ever lets go of me. He’s so careful. I’m being ridiculous about the whole pregnancy thing, really. I’ll bet if I bring it up, he’ll laugh and tell me he’s had the vasectomy.

Or maybe he’ll pale and say he never thought about that.

Idiot. Of course he’s thought of it. Condoms don’t exist anymore. He has to have. And then another thought hits me, and I feel the blood drain from my limbs.

Did he plan this? When he said I owed him two lives, is this what he meant?

“Oh no,” he mutters, stopping suddenly. Did he read my mind?

But he’s not looking at me; he’s staring over his shoulder. A moment later I hear what he hears: an engine. My heart chugs to a stop.

Talon twists around, hastily scanning the area. “Over there, quick!”

He half drags me toward a low boulder that rests at the edge of a short drop-off. We crouch behind it, but I don’t feel safe. Not at all. I can see our footprints, deep and fresh, and they lead straight to us.

“Talon,” I choke.

He pulls my head to his chest and smooths my hair.

“Listen to me,” he says as the engines, plural, get closer. “They’re probably going to find us. Let me do the talking.”

Speechless, I nod. It could be my dad’s men, coming to finish us off. General Barry, too.

Or renegades.

I’ve never met a cannibal. The thought puts a beehive in my chest.

Three snowmobiles appear as small black dots, but grow steadily louder and more terrifying. They are following our footsteps.

“Are they—” My voice hitches. “Are they from Bluefield?”

“No.”

I clasp a hand to my mouth. I will him to tell me something good.

“Renegades,” he says finally, and the hopelessness in his voice sucks the wind out of me. I don’t think I could be any more frightened.

“Get down,” he urges. “Don’t move. Maybe I can convince them you kept running.”

Is he nuts? “No!”

He takes me by the shoulders and gives me a shake. “Shut up and listen to me. Stay down. Stay quiet.”

He’s using his mean voice on me, but nothing scares me more than the thought of what’s coming. Talon is a kitten compared to the threat of cannibals.

The snowmobiles pull up twenty feet from us, and three armed men dismount. One of them wears a necklace of teeth. Human teeth.

“Now, I know you’re out there,” one of them drawls. “No point in hiding.” He’s holding his gun ready as he pans the area. I know the exact moment he pinpoints our position.

Talon squeezes my hand and takes a breath.

“Thank God!” I call out. Adrenaline surges through me and sends me to my feet. Did I really just do that? I don my most grateful, charming smile, and I hold up my hand in greeting. “You have no idea how glad I am to see you. We thought you were General Barry’s men.”

The speaker narrows his eyes. “You did, huh?”

“We’ve been running from him for days.”

“What are you talking about?” the guy with the teeth demands.

“My cousin and I. Get up, Talon.” Talon is pale, and his face is a mask of grief. Slowly, he rises to his feet.

“He’s still not sure you’re not from Barry’s camp. But they wear uniforms. Gray and white.”

“General Barry, you say,” the first one says. “He’s where?”

I shake my head. “I’m not sure, now. They attacked us three days from here. Northwest, I’d say. Talon and I were the only ones who survived our entourage.”

The original speaker—the leader?—looks at his men and grins. “Entourage. That’s different.”

Oh my God. I’m so fucking this up. I look down at myself and grimace. “Please forgive my attire. I’m afraid we had to make due after the attack. I’m Ilsa Balenchuk. My father is General Balenchuk.”

The guys immediately tense. I can see they know who General Balenchuk is, but it’s better if I play dumb.

“You probably don’t know who he is, being this far east. He founded a colony across that ridge over there. Fifty miles maybe? I’m not sure; I’m kind of lost.” I smile widely. “He’s done a lot, though. Two years ago he built a fifteen-story building, and the whole thing is hydroponic gardens. Enough to feed the whole territory.”

I can practically hear Talon’s heart sink.

The one with the tooth necklace spits. “I hate vegetables.”

His friends chuckle.

I dimple. “You sound like Dad. He’s a meat-and-potatoes guy. Mostly beef, but he’ll eat chicken too, and even pork once in a while. I cannot get him to eat the fish. The turkey either.”

A spark of calculation passes between the renegades. “Attacked, you say?”

I groan. “General Barry thought if he could get me, he’d have my dad by the balls.”

Talon closes his eyes.

“No?” the leader asks, obviously humoring me.

“Well, maybe. He puts Bluefield first, of course. But you know how it is with family. Especially these days.”

They exchange glances, but I think they’re catching my drift.

“Listen,” I give him that deep,
beseeching him with my big eyes
look. “I know you probably have your own plans, but do you think you’d have time to give us a ride? To Bluefield?”

The guy chokes on his own laugh. “Why would I do that?”

“Because I’m Daddy’s little girl. Whatever baby wants, baby gets.” I smile as though I think I’m cute, like a bunny. “Seriously though, he needs me. The trophy wife died a while back, and now I’m that tool he uses to make himself look good. I’m like an expensive necktie or a Rolex. Not quite as good as a stealth bomber, but it’s effective. Plus he likes to dangle me in front of potential rivals. Kind of like I’m the princess of France, and if the right guy impresses him, he’ll give me to him. Let him inherit the throne, so to speak.”

Teeth Guy scratches his beard. “The fuck you say?”

I grimace like I truly do feel bad. “It’s all bullshit, of course, but it works. Talon is the heir.” I nudge him with my arm and beam fondly. His face is gray.

“I’ll make a deal with you guys. Dad’s always looking for good men. He can’t do what he does, control the amount of territory he has, without men who are prepared to do what needs to be done.”

I nod knowingly, and thankfully they nod like yeah, they get that.

“He’s got nothing we want,” the leader says.

I lose my smile. “Really? How was your last meal?”

He grits his teeth, and I jump in before he can.

“Look,” I say, taking another step forward. “It’s a good place to be. There’s practically nothing like it left—anywhere. He’s got enough food to feed and sustain thirty thousand people. We’ve got six doctors,” I improvise. “One used to be an oncologist—a cancer doctor. We’ve got a lab, and they’re working on bringing back antibiotics.” I shrug. “If you like where you are now, fine, I’ll just see that he feeds you. But this deal is huge. Take me—take us—home.”

I shake my head like he’d be an idiot to say no.

It’s warmed some. If I had to guess, I’d say we’re around twenty-five degrees. That’s practically tropical. You do get used to the cold. I once saw this show about Alaskans, and there was this guy who didn’t put on a coat until it was minus twenty. That’s a little hard to believe. But right now, twenty-five feels toasty.

The leader guy, Randall, has me ride behind him. Talon gets stuck with Teeth Guy. All three of them have extra fuel strapped to the backs of their machines. Where the heck did they get it? This is real gas. I can smell it.

Turns out Bluefield Mountain is a lot farther away than we thought. By skirting around Dad’s territory, we ventured too deep into renegade land. Obviously.

At dark-set we stop for the night. No one says sunset anymore; there is no sun.
 
It’s “light-time,” and it’s “dark-set” or “dark-fall” now. The renegades quickly get a fire started and spread around a bunch of animal skins. All Talon and I have is the bedding he found at that house, and it’s not waterproof.

“Get some sleep.” Talon folds his arms across his chest. “I’m going to keep watch.”

“Are you sure?” Just because I talked them into not killing us right away doesn’t mean they can’t have a change of heart.