Nobody Says Thank You anymore

Anika ran out of the room like a whirlwind of worthlessness. Bedonna watched Jak smash the heads together of the two customers and chase after her, his face bulging with fury. He’d kill her if he got a hold of her. At the very least, he looked done, ready to make Anika pay for all the disrespect and mouthing off she’d done, an excuse to finally get her on her back, legs in the air, drawing in customers.

Bredonna told that girl to keep her trap shut, but she didn’t listen. Anika would nod her head, shamefaced and sad, agreeing it was best. She’d agree that she liked to eat, and yes, Bree, she would do her share to keep a roof over their heads and food in their bellies. Hadn’t she always?

But behind Anika’s fake compliance, that horrible thing would flash in her eyes. The girl’s dark eyes bleeding to midnight, fury trapped in ice. It was only a manner of time before it escaped.

Something wasn’t right with the witch’s daughter, had never been right. Bredonna remembered it from when their parents were both alive. The two girls lived in a bug-stained shack of a house for years, stuck in three tiny rooms. Back then, bumping into each other and aware of every sneeze, no one could miss the obvious. Bredonna could feel Anika’s unnaturally early symptoms of energy when they stood too close, raising the hairs on the back of her neck.

Dah conned Anika’s pathetic mother, Noelle. But Anika responded to his smiling face and calculated greed with suspicion. An angry, nasty child, Anika trusted no one anyway. Something happened between Anika and Mikos once-Bredonna, didn’t have a clue what-but Mikos never tried again to be alone with Anika.

He was afraid of her. Somehow, not long after Dah became Noelle’s protector, Anika managed to hide her nature all away. Control it so that when the testers arrived in the Little Indio to test all the girls who’d started their cycles, they passed right over Anika, declaring her null born.

To keep the girl close, Bredonna got her the job with Jak, but the two of them were out to ruin Bredonna’s life. They didn’t waste any breath on gratitude.

It would be so good to be done with their childish stupidity. This town was draining away all Bredonna’s potential. One more offer to be a happy, safe, farm wife and her head would explode in a shower of shine the village would see for miles.

Unfortunately, she needed them both until she could escape. Leaving her customers with fresh ale, she went after Jak, entering the kitchen as he fixed the lock at the back door. His red face was white, chest heaving gusts of panicked breaths. “The bitch has done for me. Done it. The patrol will hear of this for sure”

“What did you do to Anika? Did you kill her?” Had he really gone so far?

If the village found out Jak harmed an unclaimed woman, there would be an outcry. No one would let it pass. Treated like valuable cattle, with not enough women to go around, every pussy had a price tag. Unification transferred most healthy women to the cities, leaving towns outside those places without. Murdering a woman got a man hanged.

Murder was offensive, but raping her-if she was proven of age-got a man a pat on the back for sneaking one in.

If Jak brought the patrol, and the Consortium’s squibbles discovered Anika’s mother had been a strong witch, everyone connected to the daughter would be held accountable for not turning her in. No Mercy. They wouldn’t care about any of the oddities associated with the pair of them-they probably wouldn’t believe a thing Bredonna said at her trial, instead, looking at the evidence.

Jak was making noises, a man worried for his life.

It was a tricky idea, trying to sell something to the Unifier Procurement Teams they already thought they should own. How could Bredonna find the right buyer if the stupid cow got herself killed by a bar keep with a temper?

“The boy brought something to my door that will bring the patrol to here.” Jak managed to explain.

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“What?”

“They have to be watchin’ that Bounty Hunter.”

“What are you talking about?”

“The Hunter. Fuck. Them dogs, them dogs drag a man to judgment, girl. They know. They know what I’ve done. They do and they gonna eat my guts for punishment. Call down the O’Mac to weigh my debts.”

“That’s a myth. The sentinel's don’t care anything about debts,” Bredonna said flatly.

“You know nothing, Bree. Nothing. The patrol come, they gonna cut me open for my secrets, bleed me dry, they will. I’m dead. I’m a dead man and don’t I deserve it.” Jak was babbling. Rubbing at his face, trapped in a hundred thoughts at once, clearly taxing his poor brain. He huffed and puffed at the door trying to get control.

“A dead man? Did you kill her or not? You make no sense. I don’t understand. That tussle with the farm boys? That’s no more than happens every night. What has you so shaken?” Bredonna lightened her tone, coaxing him. He’d always liked it when she got soft and witchy.

“Was there something about the boy you didn’t tell me?” Jak didn’t calm, instead, at her touch he went stiff and angry.

“What? You know Anika’s not a boy, you know she’s a virgin. You know I need to take her to a city and get her a decent protector.”

“Yes. You told me. And you told me. You go. She goes. I help but get nothing, do I? Why a city? It’s not a good place for women. If I’m gonna die, I should know why.”

“Die?” Breddona tried not to scoff and roll her eyes at the dramatics. Sky save her from fearful men.

Jak nodded.

“There’s only poor farmers here, or worse, men who have to hire on at farms and who will never have a half copper to their names. It’s not a good place for women here, either.” Bredonna answered. Why was he saying this now?

The bell signaling the front door chimed. Jak looked at the thing in the corner like it was a prophecy of death. They both heard Anika’s voice at the same time, complaining and cajoling at full volume from the other room, talking to someone.

“You just manhandle with all your big and tough on little o’me? I told you I didn’t do anything. Your hunting dogs didn’t do anything. Everything is fine. Fine. Fine. All fine and fit. You need to get your magicer scum hands off of me.” Anika’s voice went high whenever she was angry or afraid. Bredonna wanted to cover her ears from the stabbing pitch.

Leaving Jak for the doorway of the washroom, Bredonna gained full view of the bar and the main room of tables and booths, the stairs going up on one side of the big hearth, and doorway to the back room. Everyone was watching the two well outfitted strangers with Anika held between them.

One blond head swung toward Bredonna and a beaming, high-class smile above an oiled beard. One of the bounty hunter’s men, a city born null. Bredonna remembered Gage. “Private table. Upstairs?”

“Only my bed up there.” She reminded him.

“Back room, Addo. Let me light the lamps for you.” Jak said from behind Bredonna, using the Unifier term of respect. So stiff with fear his knees didn’t bend, he passed her to lead the way.

“You do that. And that honey pot there can get us Jak’s ale and steaks for men. None of that utto,” Gage said.

“And the spicy crunchies. Like those.” The man from the other side of Anika spoke up.

“You are an outsider. Don’t you know those will make you shit fire? I don’t recommend them. Let me get you some roast utto. It has crunch too. No? You sure? You aren’t the smart type, you do what you want. Let me go and I’ll get them.” Anika dropped her weight as if to wiggle away.

The girl never knew when to shut up. She was a little widow’s pet, snapping at ankles, any hand that came near. Noelle, her extra sweet, agreeable mother had been her opposite in every way.

The two men looked down at Anika in surprise, then at each other. The bald guy, Bredonna, thought his name was Max, said, “I can’t wait to search this one. It’s got huge balls.”

“Want to make comparisons?” Gage grinned.

“Yes, yes I do.” Max answered the grin.

Anika struggled, twisting in her clothing, kicking at shins. She’d get herself killed.

Jak directed the men to the back room used for storage and the occasional town meeting with the Mayor and his cronies. There weren’t any blicks around who could afford “private.” Watchers hooted encouragement and suggestions. Most of them thought Anika was a boy, a girlish one, maybe. But a boy who deserved whatever he got. They couldn’t grasp the idea that a woman would dare half of what Anika dared.

Geared up, in city quality leathers and wool, Gage and Max had purpose and capability. It made them dangerous. No one stood to interfere. These were outsiders, and not welcome, but clearly had a connection to the patrol.

That air drew Bredonna like a magnet. Opportunity always came with danger. Danger always came with a price. But she’d vowed she do anything to escape a death of poverty and boredom. She fingered her hair and loosened the laces on her top as soon as the men followed Jak in the room.

“You were told to get food and drink.”

The craggy mountain frost in the command stopped Bredonna in her tracks, skirts flaring. brushing the legs of the man who had crept up on her. “I thought I’d help with the lamps.”

“Not what you were told.” Head and shoulders taller than her, face shadowed by his hat and hood, this man reeked an unapproachable threat.

“Yes Addo.” His chill left no room for anything but obedience. Her first time this close to the Bounty Hunter, she wanted to be closer, but he was a building with all the windows snapped and latched. She knew when to hold her tongue and rushed to get the drinks, swinging her hips.

But damnit. She knew his eyes didn’t follow her.