Unawakened (7 page)

I didn’t crash into anything, but I managed to stall Rob’s car several times before I got out of the city, which earned me a silent glare from both of the dae. Colby hunkered on Rob’s lap, muttering dark things in its newly expanded two-word vocabulary.

Each time his car spluttered and died, Rob sighed.

I tried not to let it bother me too much. Once I reached the outskirts of the city, I pulled over, unbuckled my seat belt, and lifted my chin. “I didn’t crash into a single thing.”

A faint smile smoothed Rob’s features, and he relaxed his grip on the handle. “So it seems.”

“You should reward me for not crashing into anything,” I declared, killing the engine so I could twist around in my seat to watch Rob.

“Many elite drive their cars each and every day without requiring a single reward for their performance.”

“I’m not an elite, so I deserve a reward.”

“Are there rules to this game we’re playing, Alexa? Games are so much more fun when both parties understand the rules.” Rob grinned at me, unbuckled his seatbelt, and dislodged Colby from his lap, who decided the dashboard was a wiser place to sit.

While the highway was maintained, the landscape surrounding Baltimore was wild, somehow untouched by the Dawn of Dae or the elite who ruled society. The gleam of eyes in the forests lining the roadway sent shivers racing up and down my spine.

“I’ll consider it if you treat me nicely,” I evaded, sliding out of the car to switch seats with Rob. We met halfway, and he slid his arms around me, tugging me to him so he could drop kisses on my lips. “That does count as treating me nicely,” I murmured.

“You’re insatiable.”

For him I was, and I liked it, not that I was going to admit it. Then again, he could probably sense my emotions. The idea he was feeding on my pleasure didn’t bother me as much as it had before.

I enjoyed Rob’s company, but the fact he was so reliant on my emotions for his survival bothered me. A lifetime of fighting for my freedom and working to escape the rigors of the lowest caste didn’t help me accept someone being truly unable to escape the constraints of their circumstances through hard work and effort.

Rob would always need someone to provide him what should have been a basic right.

“What’s bothering you?”

Sometimes, Rob’s powers were an inconvenient pain in my ass, too. I sighed, and because I knew the only one watching us was Colby, I leaned against him and took a deep breath. I’d never seen him apply cologne, but Rob had a faint scent. It reminded me of the brief but perfect period of time between the spring and summer, when the sky was clear of clouds, the air smelled of flowers, and the temperature was just right.

“I don’t like that you’re so dependent on me.” The words slipped out, and I gasped, heat washing over my face. Before I could pull away, horrified at my carelessness, Rob tightened his hold on me, holding me close.

“You’re so honest.”

Relaxing against him, I sighed and shook my head. “It isn’t fair. You shouldn’t have to rely so much on others just so you don’t starve.”

Rob sighed, let me go, and gave me a gentle push towards his car. “Then we shall talk about it while we go on our drive.”

My doubts and curiosity waged a brief but intense war, and I buckled in. Instead of hopping on my lap as I expected, Colby jumped to the back and nested on Rob’s overcoat.

I was grateful my macaroni and cheese roommate no longer left smears of neon-orange sludge and powder in its wake. The months with Rob had improved my perception of value to some degree. Replacing the coat wouldn’t hurt his bottom line in the slightest, but the thought of such a beautiful thing being ruined bothered me.

It was just a black leather coat, but when Rob wore it, it brought out the blue in his eyes and made me stop and stare at him. He rarely smiled when he wore it, which intrigued me almost as much as the fact he didn’t wear it often despite the early winter chill.

Rob drove with the confidence I lacked, obeying the speed limit as he always did whenever I was in the vehicle with him. While I worked up the courage to ask questions, Rob kept his gaze fixed on the road, waiting in silence.

“Doesn’t it bother you that you have to rely on people so you don’t die?”

“It doesn’t bother me at all. The company is stellar, the perks are downright sinful, and when I make you happy, I’m happy. Why would that bother me? It doesn’t, and it shouldn’t bother you, either. You require food to survive—food that also came from living things. Other people farm it or raise the animals. In a way, I’m better off than you; I eat, but I don’t hurt you—I actually benefit you. That said, I can eat the same foods you do, although I’d eventually starve.”

I frowned, and no matter how hard I thought about it, I couldn’t think of a single way to contest his point. I
did
require food—food from living things, and when I ate, I did kill them. “True.”

“Don’t worry. I fully support your carnivorous ways, as long as I don’t end up on the menu.”

“We’ll see.”

Chapter Five

I managed to find my way back to the elite’s estate through a mixture of luck and good memory. I was having some serious doubts about the adventure to the estate. If I had been smart, I would have taken some time to prepare before getting caught up in the moment and deciding it was a good idea to break into the vault again.

The heist had been my easiest job
after
I had defeated its alarm system. Years ago, I had come prepared with tools.

I really needed to start thinking things through a little better. All of my common sense dribbled out of my ears when it came to Rob.

I wanted to make him happy, and the newness and uncertainty of having someone I wanted to please had gotten the better of me yet again. Rob liked the knife I had given him a few weeks ago as a gift for putting up with me, but a laptop like mine would even the scales between us. For people like us, an unmonitored system was priceless.

Still, getting the dae a dagger he could hide up his sleeve gave me peace of mind. I had gotten my katana at the same time. Leaving it at home had been stupid, not that I expected any trouble so far out of the city and in a difficult-to-access vault.

Getting into the vault, unfortunately, would be the real problem. If I was lucky, it wouldn’t take me long to remember how to read braille. I had spent several weeks of hard effort learning the language enough to defeat the vault’s door, but I hadn’t used it since.

Relying on years-old memory was stupid and reckless at best. If I couldn’t remember enough braille, we’d both end up in a lot of trouble.

Before Rob had come around, I never would have done something so reckless.

The access road leading to the home was strewn with leaves and short brush, and Rob muttered curses under his breath. “If this turns out to be a bust, I’m going to be disappointed,” the dae admitted.

“Mommy,” Colby agreed.

I grinned at Rob. “You just want a laptop like mine. There’s going to be a small road to the right in a few minutes. Take it.”

Rob fell quiet until he found the turn, and then he sighed. “Damn straight I want one like yours. Freedom from surveillance is something every sane elite wants. I’d be able to do my work so much easier without anyone watching me or my data being copied and scrutinized. It explains why those murders occurred after the repetitious pornography, too. Even if the government reviewed the videos, they’d check the first bit of the film and never discover they are hiding murders.”

“You’ve been thinking about this a lot.”

“Yes, I have. The world’s a much better place without his filth polluting it.”

“Not going to argue with that.” I wrinkled my nose and stared out the window into the darkness, wondering what lurked in the trees. Had animals fallen prey to the dae, too? While tempted to ask, I kept quiet.

“So, should I just keep driving down this road?”

“The house is at the end of the driveway.”

“This is a driveway? This guy really liked his privacy, didn’t he?”

“Good way to keep unwanted people from making unexpected visits.”

It hadn’t stopped Kenneth Smith from sending me, dropping me off at the end of the road with strict instructions not to call him unless I had what he wanted. I could have returned to Baltimore sooner than I had, but the mansion had provided so much I hadn’t been able to resist the lure.

I had lied so many times to Kenneth on my return, explaining he had the place locked down worse than a government installation. My boss hadn’t seemed surprised and had been happy enough with what I had given him to not question me too much about it.

Even back then, the route to the home hadn’t been much better.

“It doesn’t look like anyone lives here any more.”

“It hasn’t changed all that much,” I assured him. The road had been mostly free of plant life a few years ago, but I wasn’t surprised by the decay. “It’s secluded. I don’t think the owner visited more than a few times a year. On the outside, it looks like every other summer home out there. What we want is actually beneath the house.”

“I don’t think anyone’s been around here for years.”

It was entirely possible the data Kenneth Smith had sent me to retrieve had resulted in the elite’s ruin. I had piled up so many regrets over the years it was hard for me to pick any one of them as my worst crime.

Kenneth Smith had always been in the business of ruining people, and I had done a good job helping him accomplish his goals.

Halfway down the driveway the plant life retreated, leaving a light covering of leaves on the asphalt. Rob made a thoughtful noise.

The house was as I remembered it, covered in thick blankets of ivy. The dark shapes of windows peeked through the foliage. Rob parked in front of the steps, whistling at the hulking structure. “Someone built a five floor monstrosity in the middle of the woods and left it to rot? That’s excessive.”

“I’m astonished you know the meaning of the word excessive,” I muttered, unbuckling my seatbelt. Everything about the dae was excessive, right down to his shiny shoes, but after the first few weeks, I had stopped worrying about his shoes and had focused on everything else about him.

I wasn’t supposed to like any of the elite, but I couldn’t help but think Rob was different. Maybe the owner of the house was different, too. It’d explain a lot, including the vault beneath the property.

“There’s really a treasure trove of old history in here?” Rob asked, his tone doubtful.

“There used to be. I have no idea if it’s still here,” I warned him.

“So you mentioned. Lead the way, Miss Daegberht.” The teasing tone of his voice warned me he was using the formal version of my name to get a rise out of me.

I scowled but kept quiet. Instead of heading inside the house, I circled the building, heading across the overgrown lawn towards the trees. Finding the right spot would be a challenge in the dark, but it wouldn’t open in the day.

The door only functioned in the total absence of light, and there were sensors scattered all over the lawn. There was some room for error, accounting for moonlit nights, but unless every single sensor was covered and the correct code was input, the vault would remain sealed.

“What are we looking for?” Rob hissed in my ear.

“The door,” I replied, kicking at the grass with every stride. The section of lawn I was looking for would be uneven since the door formed a depression in the ground. To activate the initial mechanism, I had to stand in just the right place. Finding the correct spot would be the biggest challenge.

Once I got to the door, I’d be able to crack into the vault. I didn’t know every reference the door gave, but I had a good memory, and I enjoyed literature. Most of the elite wouldn’t have a clue how to unlock the door, but my love for history and forbidden books gave me everything I needed to gain access to the wealth hidden beneath our feet.

“Anything I’m looking for in particular?”

“A dip in the ground. It’ll be subtle. If you find it, I’ll open the first access.”

“Just what sort of vault is this?” Rob demanded.

“As long as it hasn’t been destroyed, you’ll find out soon enough.”