James Axler – Bitter Fruit

“What about the boy?” Boldt asked.

“I don’t know what’s become of him,” Pepper admitted.

“He appeared to be going willingly with those people you confronted.”

Pepper dropped his head uncomfortably.

“If he’s working with them,” Boldt stated, “he could sing a song to get any number of New Londoners through the tanglers unharmed.”

“Yes, sire.”

“Do not assume we are safe here,” Boldt said. “We’ve got enemies within and without.”

“I understand.”

Boldt glanced at the screen and tried to puzzle it out. “Never before have the New Londoners gathered like this. Usually when they come in to steal the tanglers and attack us, they’re in smaller numbers. Much quieter.” He wished the picture on the monitor were clearer. “Now they’re here in force. Have you been able to find out why?”

“We haven’t been able to capture one yet,” Pepper said. “They’re staying too close together.”

“They’re afraid.”

“That’s the way it looks to me.”

“But not of us, given their past performances. What about the strangers? The ones you encountered who were with the black woman?”

“We’ve not seen them yet.”

Boldt looked at the seed herald. “Neither they nor Tarragon have shown up. Yet it seems half of New London is encamped on our lands, preparing to lay siege to our community. Don’t you find something wrong with that?”

Pepper rubbed the back of his neck uncomfortably. “There’s some talkwe haven’t been able to confirm it yet, at least, I haven’tthat Gehrig and his people are here following the strangers.”

The paranoia returned in full force, slamming into Boldt, twisting his stomach. “Ivory Ginnifer take you for not telling me this sooner! If Gehrig and his people have camped there, waiting, don’t you realize that means they’ve followed the strangers at least this far?”

Pepper didn’t have anything to say.

“Get out there,” Boldt ordered, “and find those people. Kill them when you do.”

“Yes, sire.”

Boldt struggled hard to contain the anger he felt. Breathing more rapidly, he studied the views afforded by the cameras set within the Wildroot region. They were out there somewhere. He knew it now. Gehrig wouldn’t be chancing a confrontation with the Celts without good reason.

“Red alert!” Merlin said. “Sensors attached to the fibrous roots systems are picking up an attack made on the outer hull.”

“Give me the inner-camera systems,” Boldt said, walking toward the monitors. “Bring on the defensive systems and show me where they are.”

Chapter Twenty-Four

Mildred knew she had the young guard’s attention as she continued working the buttons on her blouse.

Clove stared at her in rapt attention, his mouth hanging slightly open. His crotch tightened up immediately, visible through his patched homespun breeches.

She pitched her voice low, not going for sexy, just trying for elusive, teasing. “Like what you see, Clove?”

“You’re a right handsome woman,” the young man acknowledged in a strained voice.

Mildred didn’t pull her blouse open any more. Totally revealing herself would answer too many questions, take away too much of the mystery.

“Why are you doing this?” Clove asked, face against the bars now and his eyes nowhere near meeting hers.

Mildred steeled herself. She didn’t feel sexy, and she knew she was putting her ego on the line. But there was nothing else she had to use for bait. “Because I want you, Clove.”

“You want me?”

“Yes.”

Mildred stood, letting her blouse hang open to reveal the bra and the tops of her breasts. She showed him a mocking smile, full of challenge with just a hint of disdain. “Why do you want me?”

“Didn’t say that I did.”

As she approached the bars, Clove backed away. He tightened his grip on the bolt-action Enfield he carried. “I can tell by how tight your pants are getting,” Mildred said, “that you want me.”

Clove didn’t answer, stopping just out of arm’s reach.

“So I know you want me,” Mildred said. She licked her lips. “Do you know how to tell if a woman wants you, Clove? I’m talking about a real woman, not one of them used-up girls you’re used to.”

“I suppose they up and just tell you,” the boy said nervously.

“I’m telling you,” Mildred said, “and you don’t seem to believe me.”