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“For now, he’ll be held in one of the huts. Comfortable, while we meet with Freya.” Pain shoots up my thumb as the wretched woman bends it back, and I release the rope on a curse.
“To determine whether I’m worthy of what?” I glance back at where Titus is led toward one of the back-row cabins. Yes, he can take care of himself. Yes, he’s strong enough to take on a number of these women. Knowing that doesn’t eliminate my uneasiness.
“To stay.”
“I don’t want to stay here. I have no business here.”
Leather Vest shrugs and waves me off. “Then, you’re free to go.”
“And my … companion?”
“Companion? Is that what you call him?”
“I’m not leaving without him.”
“Well, you don’t have a choice. He belongs to us now.”
“I told you before, he belongs to no one.” I glance back at the sacrificial platform behind me. “What is it exactly that you plan to do with him?”
“For the next fourteen days, every young fertile woman in our camp will have sex with him, myself included.” The wink she shoots me makes me want to slap the smug grin right off her face. “After that, he’ll be offered as a sacrifice for fertility.”
No less ruthless than the Marauders we were taught to fear, these women seek out men to use and discard. “You’re hoping to be impregnated.”
“If the monster between his legs is anything to go by, at least half of us will be with child by the end of two weeks.”
“You have no idea what he is, do you?”
“He’s what every man in this world is.” The resentment in her tone is telling of a scorned woman.
“You’ve been hurt.”
“You haven’t?”
“Yes. But not by Titus.”
“Doesn’t matter. He’s a man. They’re all savages.”
There’s no reasoning with this one. Whatever happened to her has turned her too hard and inflexible. “I’ve changed my mind. I’d like to speak to this Freya, after all.”
* * *
Gathered inside the small cabin that appears to have been converted into some kind of plant sanctuary, with damn near a hundred different breeds crowded into the small room, I sit across from a pleasant-looking, old woman sporting silver hair and tan, weathered skin. A younger girl, maybe no more than ten, stands off to the side, fanning her with a woven mat attached to a long stick.
I feel as if I’ve stepped into another world, perhaps a whole other time, as I stare down at the herbal tea she’s offered. Behind me, another young girl braids my hair, an annoyance, given the circumstances, but I endure it out of a show of respect.
“I hear you have some information to pass along, regarding the male Lilith has brought back to us.” She gestures toward Leather Vest, who stands off to the side, arms crossed, as if to mediate the meeting.
Lilith. How fitting.
“Yes. He’s my companion. And I don’t intend to share him with a village.”
“I’m afraid we don’t follow that philosophy. Men are shared amongst all women. Their seed is spread for all to bear fruit.”
“Well, that’s just it. The fruit you stand to bear will end up killing you.”
“Some will die in childbirth, that’s true.”
“More like all will die.”
