“The others signed up. Maybe she has, too.”

  “It’ll take a while to check the sheets for the last year.”

  “Don’t bother. Just sign her up for an episode and announce it. The Pruetts don’t turn down an open challenge,” The Head of the table ordered.

  “And if she wins?”

  “She won’t.”

  There was a thoughtful pause as they all considered what that meant. Rigging matches was standard practice, but the final battle was supposed to be an honest fight. Apparently, that was about to change.

  “What if she doesn’t take the bait?”

  “How long do we give her?”

  “If we haven’t heard anything in two weeks, we’ll use a backup plan to get her in. We’ll threaten those we’re holding hostage.”

  “About that…”

  “Yes, to have all of those in this very complex…”

  “Perhaps we should send them elsewhere?”

  “The bridge into the city seems to be weakening. Perhaps that train might fall as it crosses?”

  The leader sent a pleased wave down the table to the lowest-ranking member. “That very thing could happen. We’ve seen it before.”

  The bridge being down would also stop the influx of Changelings to New Network City. Strangers were arriving, thick-bodied women with harshly-tanned skin and glowing pink eyes. It made them extremely nervous to view it from their tower windows.

  “Also, raise the Dome to the highest security levels.”

  “That will interrupt the renting programs… the tests.”

  “Keep those open, double the protection. The programs are not to be stopped. We’re four weeks away from fifty years of planning coming to fruition. Let’s not screw it up now.”

  Chapter Twenty Two

  Day 26

  Angelica

  Letting Rankin lead him out of the bunker was the hardest thing I’d ever done.

  “We’ll be an hour behind.”

  Sam’s words were little consolation. Rankin could hurt him in much less time than that.

  “Have you considered that she loves him, too?”

  “I…”

  My throat closed up. I did and it was past time he knew it.

  “Jason.”

  He turned immediately, soothing my wounds a bit. I waited for him to look at me, ignoring Rankin’s smirk at my pain.

  “I love you.”

  I turned for the back tunnels without giving him a chance to respond, knowing it would be worse on him if he gave me what I needed.

  “I love you, too, Angel. I think I always have.”

  I spun around to see Rankin grab him by the throat.

  Jason shoved her back. “No more!”

  It was a powerful moment for her other pets, the ones seeing him be sacrificed, but Rankin’s face was cruel. When she motioned toward the exit, we knew he was in danger.

  I stepped forward, not sure what I meant to do. The fury was overwhelming…

  Jason pointed at me. “Stay.”

  Growling lowly, I bowed my head in obedience and Rankin’s harsh laughter stung us all.

  “The great Pruett family, brought to its knees by a bachelor.” She motioned toward the door. “Let’s go.”

  Sam held me back, her remaining Runners helping, and the Head Defender’s laughter swarmed through the tunnels like lava. In her wake, she left rage and a determination to see Jason out of her reach.

  “They’re gone.”

  At the call, Sam’s Runners let go of me, and I straightened up, falling into the plan. It was a good act we’d put on, but for me, it hurt. It was also my strength. Knowing Jason was at Rankin’s mercy put my own plans at the top of the list. I moved for the exit we’d agreed on with red orbs.

  Behind me, my family watched in concern. They were right to be worried. It wasn’t their heart being ripped out and maybe sacrificed for the rebel cause. Candice had said she wouldn’t do that to him, but I already knew better. Our family did whatever it took to get what they needed. And I was definitely a Pruett.

  I jumped the Mopar to life, not caring that it would echo through the tunnels like another blast. Where Jason went, I followed.

  Sam and Candice stood in the entrance way, just beyond reach of the dust cloud.

  “She’ll hate us if it goes wrong.”

  Candice nodded. “If it goes wrong, it won’t matter. We’re only going to get one chance at the Network and it starts here.”

  Jason

  As soon as I felt the horse slow down, I knew I was in trouble. My head swiveled, looking for my owner…

  Slap!

  I hit the ground with a heavy thud.

  When she followed, the blows starting, I didn’t move. This was the punishment I’d feared all these weeks.

  Rankin didn’t say a word as she beat me, drawing groans and grunts with her well-aimed punches. They kept coming, and the past descended over me in thick waves.

  I thought about Candy’s words before they’d brought Rankin down.

  “She’ll need to mark you.”

  And my own trembling response.

  “I should let her, right?”

  “Yes, as much as you can, but be careful. Changelings get carried away easily when there’s blood.”

  I felt warm liquid roll down my back from a swipe of Rankin’s nails. She could kill me now; complete the rampage she’d started all those years ago.

  “Who are we?”

  The voice was distant through my fear, but there was no refusing.

  “Pruetts.”

  Rankin screamed at my word, drawing back to strike again.

  “What do we stand for?”

  I sucked in air. “Freedom!” I swung my feet, hard.

  Not expecting it, Rankin tripped and went sprawling.

  I staggered to my feet, barely able to see her through the blood running over my face, but I could feel the menace, the Change. She’d flipped, and I was defenseless.

  “Who are we?”

  Except… I wasn’t. I’d seen enough training to learn a few things… I knew I was bigger. I was a man, naturally as strong as any Changeling. I struggled to think, to decide. Could I hit her back? Would my compassion, my terror, allow that?

  Rankin swung as she stood, catching me in the stomach and I struck out before the fear could stop me.

  Thud!

  Rankin staggered back, blood flying from her lip. She raised a hand to it, and then stared at me in shock.

  “You hit me!”

  I waited, regaining my breath, not sure what might happen. I knew I could slap her again, I’d enjoyed it enough, but it didn’t sit right with me.

  “Do it again!”

  I gaped, seeing the pink eyes. She liked it!

  Disgusted, I turned away, and Rankin delivered a painful blow to the back of my knee. I slammed into the ground, panting.

  “Be a man!” she screamed, clearly out of control now.

  I rolled over in time to miss her boot to the head, and grabbed her leg, pulling her down. We struggled, claws and fingers harsh, and I grunted as she aimed a knee for my groin.

  I shoved her away, rolling over. As she lunged eagerly to her feet, I realized there was no way I could win. She was a Head Defender. She’d been in more brawls than I’d ever dreamed of. How did I get her under control?

  Rankin kicked out at me, spraying dust and blood as she laughed. “More!”

  “This is why you killed him!” I exclaimed, finally understanding the missing piece. “He fought back, too, and you couldn’t stop.”

  The rage left her eyes in a sudden flare of agonized loss. My words brought her back to where we were, what she wanted from me. It wasn’t my death, and I breathed a sigh of relief when she stayed where she was.

  We glared at each other, with my gasps for air lingering between us.

  “I’m sorry I killed your family.”

  Fresh grief inside, but I only held her gaze. She’d tormented me most of my life. Forgiveness was out of reach.

  Realizing I wouldn’t give her what she was asking for, Rankin motioned toward the horse. “Get on and try to appear properly punished.”

  She waited for me to get up.

  “I don’t trust you or their deal, but I know my place with the Network.”

  I sneered, “Yeah, you don’t have one. They tried to kill you.”

  She began wiping the dust from her clothes. “If not for the Pruetts passing a bunker hole, I would have been. I lost half my crew.”

  I moved slowly toward the restless horse as the Defender cleaned herself up. I sensed she wanted me bruised and bloody, and left my own appearance untouched.

  “You won’t betray us…”

  She raked me from head to toe with a heat to rival Angelica’s. “Not as long as I’m getting what I was promised!”

  With those terrifying words, Rankin swung herself up onto the horse and held out a hand.

  My beating over, she was once again cool and calm, and I let her pull me up in front. When she held out the rope, I allowed her to bind my hands. Angelica had supplied me with a number of hidden weapons. I wouldn’t be bound for long unless I chose to remain so. My owner knew I’d have need of them.

  Rankin’s hands held mine for a moment, letting electricity flare along my skin like she used to do when she took me out of the complex. It usually bothered me to feel anything for her, but now, I’d accepted that we were bonded. I just had to figure out what would break it.

  Rankin hated my new calm. I could feel her jealousy flare up between us, and I narrowed in on my previous thoughts. If I could just teach her to not hurt me.

  Maybe suspecting I was about to try to reach her compassionate side - if she had one, I wasn’t sure - Rankin kneed the horse and the chance was lost. But, not forgotten.

  As we rode, I realized my injuries weren’t serious. Rankin had beaten me, marked me, but I wasn’t hurt. Properly punished so it would appear convincing to her guards and allow her to stick to the rebel plan? To mess with my head? From the tone she’d used, I was guessing it was all three.

  The problem was, I couldn’t see any reason for her to uphold her end of the deal. Once she had the leaders, she could order the rest killed and return to New Network City triumphant.

  “What do you know of the west coast council?”

  Rankin’s grip tightened, and I understood she wasn’t giving up information like that without something more in return. Whatever went on there, whoever went on there, she valued the secret of it more than she did that yearly month of owning me. I was instantly curious and began dreaming up various fantasies, all of them violent.

  I could see the area we were riding through, and I was glad we weren’t on foot. Driving the Mopar, I’d flown through here ahead of the dust storm, Angelica guiding me with those firm taps to my back.

  I was suddenly glad that I hadn’t been able to make out those huge, dark shapes. The boulders were nearly as high as the horse Rankin and I were on, and twice as wide. They covered the landscape like giant eggs, and I shuddered. One small mistake behind the wheel would have killed us.

  Network tents came slowly into view, and Rankin leaned close. “You follow my lead carefully, Jason. If they don’t believe it, they’ll challenge me.”

  Her nails sank into my shoulder. “If I have to kill them for you, I will, but my plans of waiting until we’re on the train will end. I’ll have you in their blood sprays.”

  I shivered at the image, not doubting. “What should I do?”

  The guards on watch were turning, spotting us. They reached for weapons, faces hard…they didn’t trust her! Rankin’s behavior had helped turn her own crew against her. Candice had been right.

  “Behave as if we’re in New Network City, and you’re any other bachelor to be returned to their custody.”

  I obediently lowered my head. I hadn’t tried to see things from Rankin’s side, but I began to understand how thin the line was as her small, battered crew moved toward us with weapons drawn. We needed something…

  As if conjured by my thought, Angelica rode into view. She was on the rise to the left, and I felt her red eyes take in the situation. She drew her gun, aiming at us…

  “What is she…” Rankin grunted, spurring the horse. “Clever bitch.”

  Rankin pointed at Angelica. “Kill her!”

  The guards spun to see Angelica taking aim.

  Angelica

  To be sure it looked real, and to let out a bit of the rage at his bruises and cuts, I picked off two easy targets. Seconds later, Rankin and Jason were surrounded with protection.

  I veered off as more guards fired, a few of their shots getting too close. I glanced back to see Rankin shove Jason from the horse, and couldn’t stop myself from firing again.

  The bullet trimmed Rankin’s hand, the one she’d shoved him with, and I grinned at her piercing scream of rage.

  More gunfire, this time from her crew.

  Pain flared in my hip, and I turned away from them reluctantly, but confident that Rankin’s guards would now believe whatever story she told.

  I crested the rise, out of range, and turned back one more time. Jason was looking at me. Much too far to make out his expression, I settled for a long, hard stare that I willed him to feel, to hold onto.

  I dropped out of sight, and immediately began searching for a place to hide the Mopar. Until Rankin headed out, I would do my observing on foot. Without the dust whirl from my bike, they wouldn’t know where I was - the way I liked it.

  Jason

  I watched Angelica drive away with a lump in my throat. What if she didn’t come back for me?

  She became small, clearly out of range of the guards, and Rankin pulled them back with a sharp whistle. Scattered among the large boulders, the silver and black Network tents flapped in the stiff wind, anchored by long spikes on one side and tall, tired horses on the other.

  “Fall in and set up a tighter perimeter.”

  There was no hesitation, no hostile, suspicious faces now. These dozen females were once again in awe. Rankin had been dragged away from a watch post, and escaped to return the next morning with her stolen bachelor in tow. It was impressive.

  “Get in the tent. Stay there.”

  I moved toward the dusty, center vinyl, head down, and eyes on the ground. I could feel the guards staring at my injuries, their approval of my punishment as I went. I hated them for it.

  “We head for the Depot at dawn. Get us set.”

  More activity at Rankin’s next order, and I let the flap close with a pounding heart. I was the Head Defender’s whore again.

  I turned when Rankin stepped in behind me, scared again but no longer in terror of her… Then, I saw the anger on her face, the true pain she couldn’t wait to cause me…

  I ducked too late.

  Her fist slammed into my forehead and I staggered back, dazed.

  “When you wake up, you belong to me!”

  She swung again, this time from the hip.

  Blinding pain and then darkness rushing up…

  Jason

  The train chugged over a rough area of track, and I woke abruptly to find it was night. The tiny light from the hatch window said it was cloudy, preventing the moon from peeking through, and I felt panic start to rise. I was alone, on the train, with Rankin… And I was bound by both wrists to the head rails.

  I had that realization an instant before the one telling me that my body was painfully hard. Soreness in my arm confirmed I’d been injected with something, and from that heavy, familiar throb in my groin, I could guess what it was. Rankin had gotten me ready to provide the service I’d promised.

  For a brief moment, I wondered if it might already be over. It would be hard to tell. Once the chemicals started working, they kept on for hours, even after pleasure was reached. The Network wanted to be sure those renting us were satisfied, and I took stock of myself. Had the Head Defender gotten her a pound of flesh before I woke?

  No. She liked the panic, the loss of my control. She would wait til she knew I was awake.

  Scratch…

  My head spun, searching the darkness.

  Scratch…

  Glowing red eyes appeared in the far corner.

  “Angel?”

  The answering growl of rage confirmed my fear, and I watched those angry red orbs move closer.

  “You’ve caused a lot of trouble.”

  Rankin’s cold hand slid along my leg, tugging the sheet down to bare me to her Changeling gaze and I shivered at the look in her eyes. I saw her recent scars and wounds - the nasty knife-line in her shoulder, the trimmed hand, broken nose, clawed face – all caused by the Pruetts, and tried not to panic.

  Much like the bachelors she had a fondness for, Rankin knew how to manipulate the human body, to make it turn against itself in quivering sessions of hot lust and painful denial. Her hands had been able to draw reactions and drug my brain with need like I’d never felt. Now, she had to work for it.

  I wasn’t being denied anymore and her frustration was clear as she growled, mouth on mine, hand between us. This was the position she liked to torment me with the most, but after the train ride with my Angel, this held no power over me.

  Without thinking, I opened my mouth. “I don’t feel you anymore.”

  Rankin snapped in a matter of seconds, snarling, foaming in rage as the Change took over.

  “I’ll make sure you feel me forever!”

  She sliced into my shoulder and I locked down on a reaction. This was how it always started.

  I felt her body swell, nails fully extending against my chest as she straddled me. When I began to struggle, her claws slid into my thigh, very near the groin. I hissed at the pain, feeling it blossom with warm heat, but managed to keep from twitching upward.

  I thought I had myself under control, though my physical condition was beyond that, but my pleasures, my secrets, were my own.

  Rankin knew them.

  She leaned close, soft braids falling over my naked skin. “You can have me tonight.”

  Those words! I’d begged for them for years and there was an instant of fury that had me stiffening.