I take a moment to observe my new prison. The walls are made of insulated metal to keep the air conditioning inside and survive the desert heat during the day. A traveling merchant once joked that a tornado had ripped the market to pieces a few years ago. In less than three days, it was back to its former glory. The entire market is built to be lightweight and ready to be disassembled on demand.
The room is small but practical. There are two couches, one chair, and cupboards reaching to the ceiling. Everything is bolted to the walls and floor.
If I wasn’t on the brink of death, I would explore the Traveling Market to understand how they make it work. How do they manage their waste? And how do they get enough water for all the traveling merchants and inhabitants of the market? Stellan and Perri look like they live here full-time.
I fall asleep before knowing it, and when I open my eyes again, Jude is nudging my face with a fork. The four points dig into my cheek.
I jolt, but the movement cost me. I grunt, as pain radiates through my chest.
“I’ve brought you food,” Jude says.
He has changed clothes since our arrival at the market. He’s no longer in the simple military attire we gave him in Bunkertown. He’s now wearing blue jeans and a black tank top. I think those are Perri’s clothes. They’re very snug.
“Why?” I croak, glaring at him.
“Because Perri and Stellan looked at theFireflyand told me that it will take a few days to hack it. Dumdumb might be stupid, but he’s hard to hack. I need you to stay alive a while longer, little monster.”
I hired a hacker two years ago. It took him a week to get into theFirefly’s core.
“I’ll show you who’s little…” I say, glaring.
I expect Jude to punch me, but he snorts with derision instead. “I would like to see that.”
I grind my teeth. I’ve not felt that powerless since my childhood in the lab.
He offers me a bite of what looks like meat. At first, I try to ignore his attempt at feeding me just to spite him. But he grabs for my throat and squeezes hard enough to cut my airflow. As soon as my vision darkens and my mouth goes a little slack, he pushes the fork between my lips.
Hateful bastard.
Unlike me, he seems like he’s enjoying it. It’s another kind of torture, to force me while I’m at my most vulnerable. He loves having power over me.
After a few bites, I know that I will just get sick all over the couch if he forces me to eat more, so I ask a question to distract him.
“Is Perri your lover?”
Jude smiles but shakes his head. “Nah. We hooked up once when I first came to the market years ago. We had fun, and I stayed around for a few days. But he’s not really my type. He’s too sweet. Too fragile. And either way, as soon as I realized Stellan was in the picture, I knew we should just be friends.”
“Why? Are they…?”
“Yes, and no. It’s complicated,” he explains. “They’re childhood friends and they fuck, but they’re not lovers. They’re beyond that, if you ask any of them. Soulmates. They can’t be apart from each other. They can’t live and be happy without each other, but they still expect to find lovers. They aren’t enough to satisfy one another. They’re weird, I know. I’ve learned to navigate around them. Sometimes, they even share partners. But none of their lovers ever stay. They come in a strange package. You can’t have one without the other, and you have to accept sharing them for life.”
I stare, eyebrows raised. Sharing was never my forte. I understand why no one stuck around.
Jude finishes the plate of food. My eyes fall on his beautiful lips as he licks a drop of sauce. He catches me in the act and snickers.
“In your dreams, little monster,” he says before disappearing into the next room.
Rage rises to the surface. He’s so full of himself. The only reason I would kiss his lips would be to rip them with my teeth. I want to ruin that pretty face of his.
The short exchange with Jude exhausted me, and I let my head drop back on the couch. For an hour, I contemplated how my life went to shit in less than three days. I was a king in my own right. I ruled over my underground city with a tight fist. And yet, here I am. A crusty mutant at the mercy of a little shit.
“What have you done to find yourself in this predicament?” asks someone from the door.
I turn my head and find Perri observing me.
“I was too powerful,” I say.
“That sounds like an oversimplification and a fancy way to say that you were an asshole.”
