The Change: Episode one (9 page)

Using the power of my thicker legs, I
slammed her into the corner. Her arm popped loudly as it broke, and
I pinned her with the weight of my Changeling body, driving blows
repeatedly into her chest and gut, claws digging into her skin with
every hit.

Her blade sliced into my leg in a desperate
attempt at survival, and my hands grabbed hers, twisted
viciously.

Snap!
"AAhhh!"

I spun, delivering alternating, repeated
punches. When she sagged against the bloody chains, I barely
noticed.

"Match to Pruett! She's won it all!”

6

"Bring out the bachelors! Bring out the
males!"

It was the chanting roar of
the crowd that made me pause; their lusty shouts for the prize to
be awarded that returned my fragile control.
Daniel!

My heart thumped as I stepped from the cage
and moved up the stone steps to The Block, blood dripping from my
Changeling fists. I’d earned my slot. I'd won him back. Who cared
that it had been too easy, or that I'd never felt less human?
Daniel was mine!

The dazed bachelors, who hadn't been
expecting to put in an appearance for another night, were herded
into the arena in only their underclothes. Pale and terrified, the
cowering slaves were slapped and pinched by the unruly crowd as
they were hustled up the steps by twitchy guards in a crew of twice
the normal size.

I spotted him right away, his horrified
stare as he saw who'd won. My face was as pale as his, I’d shared
my own food for years before my parents discovered my obsession,
but I appeared indifferent to his terror.

They lined the males up in front of me now,
even pushing them to kneel at my feet, and I struggled to complete
the plan. The Network couldn't ever know I'd come for just him.

I opened my mouth… "No black hair!"

At my call, the crowd screamed and brunettes
were led away through the caged walkway I’d come down to start the
match.

I waved a hand, fighting against the Change
as the mob shoved closer to us. "No green!"

Another group was cut from the herd, removed
among the laughter and drunken shouts. Blue eyes begged me for
mercy, pleaded to be left.

"That one!"

His face crumpled in terrified dismay as I
pointed, and the crowd bellowed its approval at my choice.
Flickering crimson and onyx, I gave them what they wanted one last
time.

I grinned.

The loudspeakers drowned out the mob.

"And that concludes this episode of the
Bachelor Battles! Tune in next week for another..."

7

Suddenly without the need for my departing
guards, I made my way into the hall as the guard tried to hold back
the crowd that was congratulating me and each other on gaining the
prize, winning the bet. My patience was only a threadbare blanket
around me. The Change was impossible to keep caged the way I'd been
doing, and I went to my new rooms with quick feet, sure he'd
already be there.

The private areas for winners were a
complete contrast to the deliberate, camera-ready décor of the
games halls. These walls were a blank gray slate that my Changeling
eyes wanted to splash blood across.

No carpets softened the steps of my boots,
and they drew instant notice from the guards at each intersection.
I didn’t need to flash my ID, they knew who I was, and I ignored
their hulking forms and lethal eyes. I had my own fire hidden
behind these identical doors and glassy floors. The farthest
apartment would be ours while the Network verified the win, and I
swung the door open as if in a dream.

He stood near the couch,
face pale, bruised. His clothes were filthy, his scent
overpowering, and yet, there was only
need
as I moved closer. The door
closed and locked automatically behind me, throwing us into
dimness.

Daniel had been on the edge of manhood when
sold, body finally starting to recover with the extra food I’d been
able to provide. His thin face had haunted my dreams, but that
image shattered now. The young boy I’d been so attached to was
gone, I realized, stunned for a moment by the differences.

I had gotten only a quick
glance into his cell, but there was no way to mistake it here. He
was still taller than me, though not by as much now, and the hands
he had clenched at his lean hips, were big.
Flames
, hot and hungry, crept through
my mind.

Rugged and wild, Daniel now had a pouty
mouth that with his lightly stubble-covered jaw, gave him a
secretive, sexy look… but it was the pain in those stunning blue
eyes that couldn’t be ignored. This wasn’t my twelve-year-old
playmate. This was a full-grown man… one I would play with, just
not in the same manner.

I grinned.

Daniel flinched back as if
I'd threatened him, and I understood in a blinding wave of agony
that smothered my rage. He didn't know who I was. He held no memory
of me!
Of us!

The pain came, sharp and fierce, and it sent
my eyes back to flat black, returned my control. I’d known he was
being hurt, but I’d been sure he had my promise to see him through.
It was crushing to find out otherwise. He’d been completely
alone.

I moved toward the washroom to keep from
scaring him further by the sight of my pain on my bloody face. It
shouldn't have come as such a surprise, his not remembering me. It
had been nearly ten years, and I in no way resembled the girl he’d
known. Still, our bond had been strong enough for me to spend the
last decade training so that I could rescue him, and I scrubbed
away the filth from my last match with an aching heart that I
soothed as best I could.

He was mine now, bought and
paid for in blood, and I had a lifetime to remind him of how close
we had been despite the poverty and callousness of his
family.
And mine would help him
adjust,
I thought, letting the hot water
beat away my pain. My parents had come together under similar
circumstances. My Mother’s photo was the one I'd admired in the
hall on my first day here, my Father, her prize. Pruetts had been
playing these games since before I was born, but I was determined
that
our
children
would not. It had to end somewhere.

Chapter Six

Daniel

I didn’t know what to expect when she turned
away. My previous… renters had attacked me the instant we were
alone, and her control was unexpected. Eyes tinted red, she was
clearly a Changeling. Why wasn’t she easing her pain at my expense,
like the others? I was braced to take it.

I stared in confusion, vaguely noticing her
hair was so dark that it shined blue in the flickering light. She
was dripping blood, covered with it in places, and had a limp that
made me hurt for her a little. She’d gone through hell to win her
choice of the bachelors. Why me?

She turned back, almost like she was
reassuring herself that I hadn’t run away, and I froze as a ghost
of old voices swept over me.

“
When we grow up, you’ll
be mine?”

“
Sure. I’ll love you and
the Change will go away.”

“
I’ll love you, too, not
just for the painkiller.”

“
I know. We’ll always be
together.”

“
Yes.”

I blinked, and the voices faded like they
always did. Why had this violent, tattooed woman triggered a flash
of the life I couldn’t remember? I’d dreamed of being chosen, of
finally having a loving owner and a true home, but deep down, I
hadn’t really thought I’d be picked.

Hoping she wasn’t one of those who liked to
punish, I ignored the throbbing of my new mark to make sure she
found things okay when she came out. I couldn’t do anything about
the way I smelled until she gave me permission, but I was allowed
to straighten and cook. I hesitated to touch her things though, the
few I saw strewn around the room, and in my filthy condition there
was no way I could get near food. I settled for remaking the linens
on the couch where I’d been lying. There was nothing to do after
that, and the scent of my fear began filling the room.

Candice

It appeared he hadn’t moved when I stepped
from the washroom, and I paused in the doorway as I studied his
emotional state. He was fragile. From those clenched, trembling
hands, to that deer caught-in-the-headlights glaze over his eyes.
He needed to be gently loved back into who he was… and I didn’t
have it in me. Knowing that would make it both easier and harder.
Not ready to start his retraining, I studied him, starting at the
top. I didn’t think I had the control to work my way up.

His hair wasn’t long, but it was obvious
that he’d never had a real cut. The shaggy, uneven locks fell over
his forehead and ears in a golden mane that fit him perfectly. It
was darker, not nearly the bright curls I’d been so fond of
watching move with the apocalypse winds. Now it was streaked with
dark brown, and I wondered if he’d had to dye it for one of his
renters.

I swallowed the revulsion, the absolute
fury. I would stay away from those doors or we’d spend our time in
pain, and I wasn’t wasting it now that I had my future back. I knew
I wasn’t the only one who’d suffered, though.

Daniel was also scarred, physically as well
as mentally. It was subtle and mostly hidden, but I picked out the
nail marks along the grooves of his hairline, the top of his
forearms. He’d been hurt so much. Would he ever be able to trust or
really accept what I had to give?

Only time would tell, and I went back to my
appraisal of the prize I’d killed so many to win.

He wore a network jumper, dirty and reeking,
and it clung to that wide chest in a way that outlined the swells
of thick muscles and accented the slight bulge waiting for my use.
Saliva flooded my mouth, and I swallowed the lump in my throat.

I saw the mark on his
forearm, the one proclaiming him now my property…
The Network had the ability to power this city,
keep food growing indoors, and to run the labs where scientists
were currently working on a cure for the Change. It wasn’t a city
of light, but it was way beyond the Wild West setting of the
Borderlands… and they’d branded him.

My hatred of the Network, which had already
been growing, took a sudden leap. If I ever came face-to-face with
the bitch who had marked him, I would kill her - just doing her job
or not.

His eyes filled with worry at my expression,
and I headed for the small kitchen area. “Join me.”

Daniel moved slowly, warily, and I kept my
distance as I prepared our first meal. After a minute, he perched
on the edge of the stool, watching my every gesture,
expression.

When I cracked the eggs, I saw his flinch
from the corner of my eye. They’d taken him, hurt him, and left me
with this trembling shell instead of my mate. What was I supposed
to do? I’d never considered that he might not remember me.

My grip on the wooden spoon was more than
I’d meant it to be, and it snapped in half with a loud crack that
sent him flying off the stool and across the room.

Controlling myself, I dropped the ruined
utensil into the garbage bin and got a new one, saying nothing. It
was good the apartments were equipped with double and sometimes
even triple of everything. It came in handy when anger was the most
common emotion in the population. As for Daniel, I would do the
best I could with what they had left me.

The eggs were done before he found the
courage to retake his seat. I set his plate and cup on the counter
and stood with my own, a few feet back. Seeing I wouldn’t be as
close as right over the narrow ledge, he sat down again, body
tensed for flight.

I ate and drank in silence, not appearing to
be aware of anything but my own food, and subtly watched him shovel
the scalding eggs into his mouth like he was starving… was he?

D

I couldn’t stop staring at her while I
enjoyed the treat. Without the blood to hide her beauty, I was
shoved into a situation I’d never experienced. I’d expected to
submit to my new owner like I’d been taught, but the sight of that
tattooed body had me a bit uneasy for reasons I understood all too
well after my training. I might…enjoy this one. I had spent years
in the programs before being pulled out, and never once had I been
attracted to any of the females I’d been forced to satisfy. I also
thought I might have seen her before. There was something about
that profile…

She met my stare, and I quickly dropped my
head, but not before seeing her reaction to my obedience. The
others hadn’t wanted me to make eye contact while they used my
body, it was a Network standard for males to be submissive at all
times, but this one was different. I could see that, but to what
extent? Did she want a real mate? Children and a family like I
did?