Page 34 of Tempting Jupiter (Arena Dogs #2)

Chapter Twenty-Two

Feeona and Jupiter stood at the edge of the jumble of people surrounding the gate that led to the factory entrance.

It had been that way as long as Feeona had been coming back to the factory.

They clustered there hoping for day work.

Most of New Telford’s colonists worked in the finishing or packing plants.

Only the desperate would willingly seek employment at the giant factory, where so many never left.

But the crowd benefited her. It made it easy to approach and get the attention of a guard willing to carry in a note to Toolman. She had Bug busy circling the sky, keeping a watch on the ship where they’d left Seneca to wait for their return.

As they approached, Jupiter closed the distance between them.

He walked so close they brushed against each other with every step.

Feeona halted in the middle of the crowd and looked up into his hooded face.

The shadows of the garment he wore hid him from a distance, but up close it was easy to spot the less than human features that marked him as an Arena Dog.

Those features came together in a face that already meant the world to her.

A face she’d pressed kisses against, a face she’d memorized, a face she would likely see in her nightmares after today.

“Maybe you should stay here. We don’t want one of the guards to notice you.”

He scowled. “I didn’t let you leave the ship alone. I’m not going to cower in hiding now, when you also risk being recognized.”

She grimaced. “I suppose you’re right.” She gripped his forearm and met his eyes. “When we get to the fence, turn your back, okay?”

“I won’t give us away.” He wrapped his big hand around her jaw, tracing his thumb along her cheek.

With any other man, she wouldn’t have tolerated the proprietary gesture, but it felt right when it was Jupiter.

She suspected he’d be delighted if she reciprocated with a possessive move of her own.

He wasn’t like other men who wanted to control her.

He wanted to keep her safe, sure. But just as he respected Seneca’s abilities, he also respected hers.

He trusted her. How bittersweet to see the warmth and confidence in his eyes, when she could only dim that light.

The only thing she could do for him now was to keep Seneca safe.

If she’d had any doubts before, days of watching the two men together had left her certain that the connection between them was strong and mutual, even if they hadn’t quite figured it out for themselves.

Her throat had tightened beyond speaking without giving away her grief, so she nodded and led him to the primitive looking fence.

Three meters high, made of interlocking metal wires, it wouldn’t resist any serious intruder, but it effectively kept the hopeful and doomed at a comfortable distance from the actual entrance to the building.

Jupiter did as she’d asked, turning his back to the armed guards.

He kept her close, blocking her in against the fence as he surveyed the crowd.

Feet solidly planted and head above anyone else there, he looked like a paid bodyguard to her respectable merchant.

It was impossible for a man his size to go unnoticed, but the illusion was a believable one that neutralized curiosity and fit the persona she’d painstakingly built for Petro-5.

Feeona let her gaze settle on a nearby guard, motioning him over when he noticed her looking.

The guard took in Jupiter’s size with a frown, but quickly dismissed him. “You have business here trader?”

She extended her hand, offering a coin in the local currency. Offering too much would only arouse suspicion. “I have a message.”

“I’m listening.”

She waited until the man accepted the coin. “Tell Toolman, his promise-daughter is in town. I’ll be at the Crooked Path.”

Skepticism flashed in his face and then it was gone, and he nodded then moved away.

Toolman lived at the factory and had the rare privilege of being allowed to come and go as he wished, so it made sense that she would come looking for him here.

It was less likely that Toolman had ever had a close enough friend to be named a promise-father or that anyone would actually trust him with a child. Other than factory management.

Feeona brushed Jupiter’s sleeve and led him back through the crowd. When they were once again out of eavesdropping range, she slipped her hand in his and led him down the first side street.

“It will take some time for him to get the message and there’s something I need to show you.”

***

Jupiter took Feeona’s hand and let her lead.

Her hand felt small and cool. Today she looked as cool as she felt.

She’d worn one of her disguises. She’d painted her skin almost white and done something to make her hair even whiter.

She’d pulled it back loosely with a clasp at the base of her neck.

Her ivory clothes were plain but finely made.

As they moved down the side-road together the shops turned shabbier. They didn’t have to go far before they reached the end of the block. There were no stores beyond that. Fee led him through a maze of squalid houses. The people that came and went there looked as neglected as their shelters.

Jupiter’s nose burned. The smell of death and waste lingered in the air. The people who made their homes along the path were unwashed, but not filthy enough to account for the foul odor. Filthy was not dead.

Fiona pulled the scarf around her neck up till it covered her mouth and nose, protecting her from the rancid air.

She fished a similar scarf from her pocket and helped him arrange it around his face, then lifted the hood back onto his head.

He didn’t tell her there was really no use.

His senses were too sensitive and already flooded with the stench.

“Sorry, I should’ve warned you. I’m afraid it’s going to get worse.”

“It’s all right.” Jupiter squeezed her hand.

“No. Really. It’s about to get very bad.” Fiona frowned.

Jupiter just nodded. He wanted to lift her up and carry her away from whatever noxious thing lay ahead. He hated her being anywhere unsafe. Always, she was leading the way into danger.

For a moment, her footsteps slowed. Then she resumed her lead like a gladiator going into battle. Whatever she had to face, she wanted it done and over, but she wouldn’t avoid the fight.

Another fence made of interlocking chains stood many meters high.

Four strings of sharp-edged wire had been added at the top.

It glistened in the sunlight, a warning of the harm it could inflict.

Beyond the fencing, a clearing circled a large pit.

His stomach turned at the realization that the dots of color lining in the pit were people.

Children in tattered garments. They were the source of the death and decay overwhelming his nose and filling his lungs with every breath.

He’d seen many terrible things in the arena, but he’d never seen so big a massacre.

The children’s flesh was gray and loose on the thin, bony frames.

Some were recently dead. Others had been lying in the pit long enough to decay to rotten meat and bones.

At the edges, he could see signs of the bed of ash and charcoal below.

The fence made a circle around the open grave, stopping only where it attached to the back side of one of the factory’s buildings. Fee had led him to the other, not so public, side of the complex.

In the distance, a man dressed in black leather, face covered, stood with his hands tightly grasping the wire fence. When he looked up and saw them, the man lifted a hand in the air, like a friendly wave. His body language was anything but friendly. He was still and stiff.

Beside Jupiter, Feeona pulled her hand from his.

She jogged to the fence and wrapped her fingers around the links in the chain, mirroring the leather clad man.

She stared into the pile of bodies as if the strength of her gaze could bring the dead back to life.

What she could hope to find he couldn’t fathom.

And then her body went still and stony. Jupiter stepped up behind her, pressing his warmth against her back to let her know he was there for her.

He wanted to drag her away from the hurt that tightened her hands to a white knuckled grip on the fence.

Her gasp caught him by surprise. She looked to the man who’d waved at them. And lifted a hand just as he’d done. The man nodded then squatted down as if he intended to stay by the fence indefinitely.

She seemed to shrug away her pain. “It’s okay.” She patted his shoulder as if he’d been the one clinging to the links. “They’ll take care of him.”

“What?”

“The boy.” She pointed into the pit of death and Jupiter followed the line of her arm, searching the frail decaying bodies.

A tiny movement caught his attention. He listened, tilting his head to the side.

And then he heard it. Beyond the movement of scavengers, he heard whimpering. Someone was alive. A child.

“He’ll wait until dark.” Fiona spoke like she was talking to herself. Reassuring herself. “At nightfall he’ll climb the fence and take the boy to the riders.

“The riders?” Jupiter turned her to face him.

“Yes. They’re a group of survivors that live outside the city.

They run messages, parcels, anything they can carry on their thrust-bikes, to the nearest town.

People here don’t have the funds for planetary transports.

It’s dangerous to cross the chemi-desert, but the riders are fast and they get paid well for their services.

” She paused then her lips tipped in a half smile.

“They’re a little wild, a little rough around the edges, but they’re good people.

They’ll take care of him. Nurse him back to life. Then he’ll be a rider like them.”