Charming (Exiled Book 3) Page 7

  “Factory?” Raze asked.

  “Yes. A factory so that they can make more quicker.” She looked up suddenly. “Raze, you should talk to Crave about his ideas. Who would he rather have as his architect?”

  “I’m not qualified yet,” Raze said.

  “Yeah. The place would probably fall down,” Dread teased. Ember smacked him on the shoulder. “Ow.” He smiled. It didn’t hurt, but he adored his sister and saw no harm in giving her the satisfaction of thinking she’d landed a righteous slap.

  “So,” Dandy said. “You draw it up and then let somebody more experienced look at it and make sure it won’t fall down.”

  Raze couldn’t help but smile. “That would be…” He paused and they waited for him to supply the word that would finish that sentence and give it meaning. “Wonderful.”

  Dandelion beamed. “It’s decided then. Crave will be so proud.”

  “It doesn’t take much to make Crave proud.” Dread chuckled and Dandy punched him in the same spot Ember had attacked moments before.

  Only that time when he said, “Ow,” he meant it.

  When the food arrived, the first thing Ember did was to reach over and grab one of Dread’s onion rings.

  “Hey,” he said. “You had a chance to get your own. But no. You just wanted egg salad.”

  “Don’t be selfish,” she said.

  “Ember. it’s not selfish to want to eat what I ordered.”

  “Here,” she replied, holding out a forkful of egg salad. “Eat this and we’ll be even.”

  “First you take one of my onion rings and now you want to punish me with that?” He wrinkled his nose and gently pushed away the hand that held out the bite of egg salad. “No thanks.”

  “Okay,” she said as she turned the other way and took one of Raze’s onion rings.

  “Ember!” he said. “You always do that. Why don’t you just get what you really want to eat in the first place?” She pursed her lips. “Never mind. I’ll tell you why. Because for some perverse reason you think it’s more fun to steal our food.”

  While his two siblings were having the usual exchange about food theft, Dread looked across the pub and saw a female emerge from the kitchen and make her way to a stool next to Charming. Judging by the smile on her face, it looked like the Leader had a girlfriend. She was cute. Very cute and very human. An involuntary growl rumbled low in his throat.

  “What’s wrong?” Dandelion asked.

  He looked up to see that his family had stopped eating and were staring at him. “What?”

  “You growled. Why?” Raze said.

  “Oh,” he smiled. “Just warning Ember that the next time she reaches for my plate she’s going to pull back a hand that’s been nipped instead of an onion ring.”

  “Grief, Dread. It’s just food. Don’t take it so personal.”

  “Personally,” Dandy said.

  “Yeah. Personally,” Ember repeated.

  Dandy turned toward Dread. “What about you, sweetheart? How’s biology going?”

  He cleared his throat. “Uh, yeah. It was Biological Engineering, but I switched to Criminal Justice a while ago.”

  “Criminal Justice!” Dandy couldn’t have been more surprised if he’d said doilies. “But our people don’t ever commit crimes. Will the humans accept hybrid police? I would have thought they’d find that, ah, threatening.”

  Dread shrugged. “They didn’t say no when I applied.”

  Dandy nodded. “Well. Alright then. If that’s what you want. I know you’ll be marvelous at whatever you set out to do. I’m kind of surprised that happened a while ago and I didn’t know about it.”

  “It’s okay. You have your hands full. It’s not like I’m the only one.”

  “You may not be the only one,” she admonished, “but I…” the three kids joined in and finished the sentence in unison, “love you all just the same.”

  Laughter broke out at the precise manner in which the recitation was delivered. Dandy saw Ember eyeing Raze’s onion rings and handed over one from her own plate before it could become an issue. Again.

  “Speaking of police work, I’ve heard there’s been some trouble down here in the city.”

  Dread huffed. “Understatement. You can feel the change. I mean it was bad before, but…”

  Dandy’s gaze jerked to Dread and zeroed in like a laser. “What do you mean it was bad before?” The three kids looked between each other like Dread had let a shared secret out of the bag. “Don’t do that.”

  “Do what?” Dread asked.

  “That thing you do,” she pointed at the three of them, “when you’re engaging in a conspiracy to get away with something.”

  “We don’t do that.” Ember looked innocent and shook her beautiful head.

  “The hell you don’t! Who do you think you’re talking to?”

  Ember dropped the guileless act. “Okay. Here’s the truth. The human boys try to start fights, knowing that we can’t fight back. There’s no point in telling you about it,” she gave Dread a pointed look, “because you can’t do anything.”

  Dandy’s own temper shot off the charts. She looked around the table imagining her kids being tormented by humans and not being able to stand up for themselves.

  When the hybrids had first begun moving to Farsuitwail and integrating they quickly realized that they had to make themselves untenable. So the first and foremost law was that hybrids could not raise a hand against humans under any circumstances. It meant that humans couldn’t complain about hybrids using their superior size and strength against them. But it also meant that, over time, young humans figured out that they could taunt their hybrid counterparts with impunity.

  Recognizing that the young, especially males, often need to play sports to work off aggression sparked by hormones, the joint-authority agreed to integrate schools, but segregate sports programs. As time passed the hybrid leagues picked up more and more spectators while the only people who came to see the human kids play were parents.

  By the time the human boys were coming of age they were angry about the attention the hybrid boys got, not only from girls, but also in sports and coveted the recognition. If that wasn’t enough, they were also taking the best spots in higher education programs.

  The smile had disappeared from Dandelion’s face and voice when she asked, “What do they do?”

  Raze sat back in his chair and looked around the pub while Ember stared at her plate. Dread, on the other hand, took a bite from a stick of celery and said, “In a word, they jeer, mock, ridicule, deride, bait, and needle especially if there’s an audience. The bigger, the better. They know we have to just take it. So it’s sport to them. Meanness for the sake of meanness, at our expense.”

  Dandy put her spoon down with a clink. “How long has this been going on?”

  “Since the first day we moved down here,” said Ember, still staring at her plate.

  “We don’t care so much when they say things about us,” Dread continued. “It’s the usual inanities. Pussies. Whiny little bitches. The worst is when they say stuff about Ember. You know, sexual stuff. They get right in our faces with it, trying to get us to react.”

  When Dandy looked at Ember with a question in her eyes, Ember’s face flushed so red it looked painful. Dandelion stood up so fast the chair she was sitting in fell over.

  “What are you doing?” Raze asked. When Dandy looked at him, he could see that she was enraged, ready to count coup and get names later. And the look on her face alarmed him. “Mom.” He rarely called Dandelion ‘Mom’, but wanted to be sure he had her attention. “Take it easy and sit down. It’s not so bad. We’re dealing.”

  “You are not here to ‘deal’,” she hissed. “You’re here to live your life to its fullest potential and I’ll not have little human upstarts interfering with that.” She looked at Ember. “And you’re so wrong if you think I can’t do anything about it. It just so happens that my brother-in-law is a very important guy.”

  She th
rew the napkin down on her chair and stormed across the pub to where Charming sat having dinner at the bar, quietly talking to Ana.

  “Shit,” Raze said glancing at Ember who was still a bright red. He reached over and squeezed her shoulder before glaring at Dread who was calmly chewing on celery sticks.

  Dandelion came up on Charming’s side away from Ana and said, “I need to speak with you privately.”

  He looked at her. “Now?”

  Taking in her demeanor, he believed her when she repeated, “Now.”

  He told Ana he’d be back in a minute and asked Scar if they could use his office for a quick chat. Scar raised an eyebrow, but gave a quick jerk of a nod.

  After repeating what she’d been told, she said, “Did you know this was going on?”

  Charming took in a deep breath and sighed heavily. “Yeah. It’s not ideal, I grant you.”

  “Not ideal?” Her laugh was belligerent. “You’re going to have to do better than that, brother. You’re the highest ranking hybrid in the city. That means that, when I send my precious babies down here for your safekeeping, I’m making you responsible.”

  “I know,” he said. “But you have to understand what would happen to the peace between humans and hybrids if we started resolving our disagreements physically. Humans have to believe we’re tame as stuffed animals or they’ll start listening to the anti-hybrid hate groups.”

  “What’s going on between the kids isn’t a disagreement. It’s human boys taking advantage of the fact that our children’s hands have been tied so that they can’t defend themselves.”

  “They can defend themselves if they’re attacked physically.”

  Dandy pulled back and looked at Charming like he’d just lost her respect. “Words can be weapons. And I have to believe you know that.”

  Charming ran his hand through his hair. “How bad is it?”

  “Bad enough that they didn’t want me to know. Which means it’s really bad.”

  “Dandy. What do you suggest? We can’t tell our kids that they can fight with humans. You and I both know what would happen. That’s why there’s a zero tolerance rule in place.”

  “You’re so worried about what the humans are going to think of us, you’re forgetting to worry about what our young are going to think of humans. If we’re going to keep our kids under control, they need to do the same. It’s not my job to have all the answers, Charming. It’s yours! And you need to fix this. Now!”

  She grabbed the door to Scar’s office and stalked out slamming it back against the wall on her way.

  Charming let out a deep breath damning the fact that she was right. Absolutely right. Human young needed to be taught mutual respect. He knew just the way to do it and he was glad for Dandelion’s challenge. It should have been done a long time before.

  The three kids had watched Dandy stomp toward Charming. When he followed her and disappeared somewhere in the back, Dread said, “I’ll be back in a minute.”

  “Where are you going?” Raze asked.

  “I’m going to try the pale ale. You think you can manage without me for two minutes?”

  “Thought you said a minute.”

  “Talk to Ember. Study your navel. I don’t care. I’ll be back when I’m back.”

  Dread eased up to the bar next to Ana. When she turned her head to see who was there, he gave her his warmest smile. “Hello.”

  Ana could see that Dread was young, maybe in his late teens, but he was also gorgeous, especially wearing that sardonic smile. He also had a relaxed, confident way that said that women never turned him down.

  “Hi,” she said.

  Scar appeared in front of them. “What’ll it be?”

  “Pale ale. Please. I’m at the table in the corner with Dandelion.”

  “I know who you are,” Scar said and stepped away.

  Dread chuckled. “Friendly guy. I’m Dread.”

  “Ana. So you’re one of Dandelion’s ‘kids’?”

  He nodded slowly. “I was one of Dandelion’s kids. Now I live here in the city. At Town House. You here alone?” he asked, knowing full well she was with Charming.

  She chuckled and shook her head. “Far from it.”

  “Does that mean you’re in a relationship?”

  She narrowed her eyes. “Look. You’re really, really cute, but I’m not in the market or on the market.”

  “What an interesting way to put things. I’m going to say that all adds up to being in a relationship. And that’s a shame.”

  She didn’t want to ask the question because she thought it might encourage him, but it was on the tip of her tongue and just tumbled out somehow. “Is it?”

  He smiled like he’d won a little victory and didn’t stop even though he saw Dandelion reenter the bar out of the corner of his eye. He figured Charming wouldn’t be far behind. So when Scar set the ale down in front of Dread, he took hold of the tankard handle, leaned into Ana just slightly and said, “Till next time.”

  He was gone before Charming came back to the bar. “So where were we?” he said.

  The food arrived before Ana could answer that question.

  Charming looked down at his plate, impulsively picked up an onion ring and took a bite. “Damn. That’s good.”

  Ana grinned from ear to ear. “I made that.”

  He looked at her like he couldn’t believe it. “You did?!?” He returned her grin, making her feel like she’d won a medal. “Then you can say that your day was a hundred times more productive than mine because, damn, these are good.”

  “Well,” she wiggled her head around, “to be honest, I didn’t fry them or pull them out of the fryer, but I did dip them in the stuff.”

  “What stuff?” he said.

  “Well, first you have to dip them in a mixture of milk and eggs. Then you cover them in flour with just the right amount of salt in it. Then you do it again. There’s an art to it.”

  “No doubt. These are the best onion rings I’ve ever tasted.” He smiled as he took a bite of another one. “What else did you learn?”

  “Chopping. Filling pots with water. You know. That stuff. The real work starts tomorrow.”

  In her excitement she might have said more than she intended.

  “Oh yeah? What’s the real work?”

  She bit her bottom lip trying to decide how to answer. He was going to find out eventually anyway. Probably. So she reasoned she might as well tell the truth.

  “Cookies. Scar gave me the job on the condition that I learn to make the best cookies around. Because somebody told him that I suggested he offer cookies.” She pinned Charming with a pointed look because the best defense is always a great offense.

  “Damn,” he said.

  “Yeah. So I went over to the bakery on Persimmon and told them that, in the interest of human hybrid relations, the Council, and you in particular, would consider it a grand gesture if they would teach me how to make cookies.”

  Charming’s mouth was open. “You didn’t.”

  She nodded. “Yep. And he said yes. Be there at four o’clock tomorrow morning.”

  “Four o’clock,” he repeated drily.

  She ducked her head and offered a small smile. “For once I’ll be leaving the apartment before you do.”

  Charming wasn’t crazy about the name dropping, but she seemed so excited, and happy, he couldn’t bring himself to scold. Happiness coupled with a sense of accomplishment was a good look on Ana. A really good look. He compared Ana in her present state to the girl Rosie had dropped off and concluded that there had been a change, decidedly for the better.

  “It’s not likely that I’m going to let you walk to the bakery alone in the dark at four o’clock in the morning. Not with…” He paused, catching himself before he ruined the good mood with talk about the murders. “I need to go in early anyway.”

  “No, you don’t. I don’t need you to babysit me, Charming.”

  “I know, but give me a break on this. If anything did happen to you afte
r Rosie told me to protect you, well, I shudder to think what she might do. Turn me into a salamander or something.”

  Ana cocked her head. She’d been there long enough to pick up the habit from the hybrids she associated with. “She could do that?”

  He nodded. “Wouldn’t put it past her.” He mirrored Ana’s pose and cocked his head. “Hey. Who told you about the Human Hybrid Council?”

  “Um,” she looked around. “I can’t reveal my sources.”

  Charming pressed his lips together. “Somebody gave you the idea though. Didn’t they?”

  She picked up another onion ring and offered it to him. “Have another? What happened with your sister-in-law? She looked mad.”

  He lifted his chin and scratched his neck. “Human kids are giving her kids a hard time.”

  Ana’s initial surprise turned into laughter. “No. Really.”

  “It probably does sound absurd. We have a hard and fast rule about not touching humans. Seems the human boys are taking advantage of that. I guess the hybrid kids have shown so much self-control that the human kids don’t really get just how much fire they’re playing with. But they’re gonna find out.”

  “What does that mean?”

  “Dandy told me to fix this. So I’ve got an idea about how to shock the humans into exercising the same level of self-restraint.”

  “How?”

  “I’m going to go around to all the schools, pull a couple of hybrid kids out of the assembly at random, and have them show what hybrids can do. We’ll use store mannequins for the demonstration. I think when the human kids see just how fast and efficiently hybrids could destroy a mannequin, the baiting may stop.”

  She looked thoughtful as she finished chewing her bite of flank steak. She swallowed and said, “Wow. You are kind of smart, aren’t you? I guess I understand why you’re Leader.”

  Charming felt a flutter of pride. He liked being admired by Ana. Maybe too much. His eyes drifted down to her mouth when she took a bite of carrot stick and his mind instantly jumped to things he could imagine doing with that mouth. The fact that he hadn’t been laid in a while was putting extra pressure on the point so he resolved right then to do something about that before he began making overtures to his ward.