Enclave

“Probably.”

He hesitated. “I never had a partner pay this much attention to me before.”

That made me feel I’d overstepped. He’d had two before me, so he knew better than I did what constituted normal behavior. Maybe I watched him too closely. It was unsuitable, and Silk would demote me to Breeder if she ever found out.

“I should get back,” I muttered.

“Not yet.” In an unspeakable liberty, he snatched the tie from my hair, so it spilled around my face.

“Why did you do that?” My breath caught when he brushed the strands around my face just so. Touching me. We were on shaky ground here. If someone saw us—

“I wanted to see what you’d look like.”

Back off, I told myself. Walk away now. Instead I froze, gazing up into his impossibly dark eyes.

He bent his head and brushed my lips with his. His hair spilled against my forehead, sleek and startling. Shock held me immobile, shock — and something else. Part of me wanted to lean into him. I shouldn’t want that. A Huntress wouldn’t. Shame, confusion, and longing warred for dominance. Against my better judgment, I let my brow graze his jaw, just a whisper of heat, wrapped around me like a pair of arms. And then I drew back.

“What are you doing?” I demanded.

“Apologizing. I missed you, Deuce. I’m sorry I doubted you.”

Maybe the kiss didn’t mean anything. Maybe it was just an apology, like he said. “Accepted. But if you ever misjudge me like that again—”

“Got it.” He smiled. “Now come on. We’re missing all the fun.”

To my surprise, he took my hand and led me back to the dancing. As a brat, this wasn’t something I’d ever done, but I learned the rhythm easily enough. They circled in a long progression, and the two of us joined at the end. Fade let go of me after the second circuit, carried away by well-wishers.

I danced until I had no breath left. A brat tapped me on the arm. When I turned, I recognized one of the younger ones. She’d joked with me in the kitchen a while back, and I’d shared dorm space with her until my naming day. Her small, dirty face reflected the same kind of admiration I’d felt. I remembered her number too.

Her eyes lit when I said, “What’s up, Twenty-six?”

“Do you think I could ever learn to fight like you?”

“If you work hard and don’t skip lessons, I think you could.”

She confided, “I don’t want to be a yucky old Breeder.”

“I don’t blame you. You can do it, if you want it enough.” Once, those words would’ve meant the world to me. The new bloods were busy trying to impress the older ones, and experienced Hunters had no time for brats.

After 26 ran off, I followed the other Hunters back to the section of the warren they’d appropriated as their own. Nobody else dared come in here. I’d never even been in here, as a matter of fact, although I could have. Torches lit the darkness and the Builders, understanding our importance, had filled the space with proper chairs and cushions. This was the nicest section of the enclave by far, even better than what I’d seen of the elders’ area — unless they had hidden comforts.

Making sure not to look at Fade, I sat down beside Crane, who flashed me a grin. “No hard feelings, new blood?”

“No,” I said, smiling back.

They dealt me into a game they were playing, and I basked in the simple pleasure of being one of them. Deuce. Huntress. This was the best day of my life.

Countless hours later, Silk tugged me aside, wearing a smile. “You’re welcome.”

“Thank you,” I said. I didn’t ask what I was thanking her for. It only mattered that I spoke the words.

“I run them.” She gestured all the assembled Hunters, who had surrounded Fade to congratulate him. “I told them the two of you are forgiven and part of the team again — that you’ve done your penance, and I don’t expect any more trouble out of you.” She paused. “I won’t get any, will I?”

Ah. I got it now. She wanted me to know Fade had been accepted, because she ordered it, and if I enjoyed the pleasure of being a Hunter, it was only because of her. Which meant I wasn’t to spout off about Nassau or the Freaks or the Burrowers, if I wanted to enjoy such simple things. My job wasn’t to think or to plan. I was a Huntress — and new blood at that. Leave the important stuff to the elders. The more I got to know Silk, outside of the hero worship that lasted through my brat-hood, the less I liked her. But maybe she had to be this way to keep everyone in line.

I shook my head. “We’ll follow orders, sir.”

Sacrifice

For several weeks, morale stayed high. Patrols passed with relative ease, we met the meat quota, and I enjoyed being a Huntress. Apart from the occasional clash with Freaks, things stayed quiet. I had the awful feeling that once they stopped gorging on Nassau, they would head for the next nearest enclave. Us. Still, I kept my misgivings to myself.

When I least expected it, disaster struck. But not in the way I thought.

Fade and I were among the last to return from patrol that day. We had to range wider than usual to fill our bags. Half the snares sat empty, worrisome enough, but we managed to take enough prey to justify calling ourselves Hunters. We also dropped a couple of Freaks, but I hardly called that a deed worth mentioning. These had been near death, nothing but skin and bone and bloody teeth.

When we clambered across the barricades, I knew instantly something was wrong. The guards stood facing away from their posts, for one thing. They barely glanced back at us to make sure we were human before returning to the common area just beyond.

I glanced at Fade, who hefted his bag in a shrug. We put the meat in a pile with the rest — Twist would tend to it later — and inched closer to hear what was going on. The Wordkeeper held court with Whitewall and Copper standing to either side. They had a big sandy-haired guy trapped at the center of the circle. Everyone had stopped work to watch events unfold. My movement drew the Wordkeeper’s eye and he smiled at me, as if we shared a secret.

“You stand accused of theft and hoarding,” Whitewall said, his voice hard.

“How do you plead?” Copper asked.

“I didn’t. I would never!”

Oh, no. Even before I cut around enough to recognize his face in profile, I knew Stone’s voice. He cradled a brat in one arm, his face drawn with terror.

“Silk found this hidden beneath your pallet.” The Wordkeeper held up one of the slim, colorful books I’d brought. “You were seen lurking around the archives. Can you offer any explanation before we sentence you?”

Tears streamed down my friend’s face. The brat in his arms caught his mood and started to cry in little gulping sniffs. “It’s not mine. I don’t know how it got there.”

Watching them, I knew. With a terrible growing sickness, I knew. Skittle probably hadn’t done anything, either. Every so often, they picked a citizen at random. They put artifacts in his private space and then they accused him of hoarding. They needed the consequences to be fresh in everyone else’s mind. This was how they kept us from questioning their decisions. I’d once believed the elders to be benevolent and wise.

But no more.

Stone had no chance Topside and he had a brat. He’d sired one; it could be the boy tucked into the curve of his arm. I couldn’t watch this happen. If the tunnel brat haunted me, there was no way I could live with watching my friend’s exile.

“That’s no defense against the evidence,” Whitewall said.

“It’s mine.” I spoke before I knew I meant to.

Unfriendly hands shoved me toward the center. I stumbled and then restored my balance, approaching with my heart thumping like mad. I didn’t want to do this; I couldn’t be doing this. I didn’t