Free The Renegades (The Superiors) by Lena Hillbrand Page A

the wind shrilling around them
and slapping strands of her hair and her warm breath into his face.
    “You’re
bleeding,” he said finally. He could hardly stand to be so near to her when he
could savor sap on her, yet not have her.
    She
pulled away. “Yeah. And now Master is going to get another breeder, three more
times, before he gives up on me having a baby.”
    “But
you have a baby.”
    She
began crushing a small clump of dirt with her toe. “It’s not mine.”
    “Whose
is it?”
    “One
of the other escapees. She died, and Master took the baby.”
    Draven
blinked, unable to comprehend. “But…that’s stealing. That’s illegal. The baby
is the property of the owners of the parents.”
    Cali
shrugged. She did not appear concerned. But Draven knew something about Byron,
something the Enforcer had done illegally. He had witnessed it. And Byron knew
that. He would not want a witness to his crime. If he had the chance, he would
ensure Draven’s silence by whatever means necessary.
    “I
see,” Draven said, not sure what else to say. “Do you not want offspring, even
now that you’re mated?”
    “No.
I mean, I love Leo, but Master’s just going to sell all the babies I have.” She
stepped closer to Draven again, dragging her chain across the concrete. “But he
said if I can’t have a baby, he’s going to sell Shelly anyway, and buy another
female who can produce babies to sell. So I either have to lose Shelly or let
those breeders…” She ceased speaking, and the wind took the place of her voice
for a few moments while a lull fell over them. “They’re really scary,” Cali
said, raising her eyes to Draven’s. Simply speaking of them made her heartbeat
quicken, and Draven could savor a trace of fear seeping from her.
    “Let
me take you,” he said, reaching through the bars to touch her face. “I’ll not
force you to breed or produce offspring, and I’ll not take your mate from you.”
    Her
eyes filled with uncertainty. Although she no longer protested, she had not
agreed, either. At last, she had begun considering his offer.
    “Where
do you live?” she asked, her voice barely above a whisper.
    “We’d
have to run at once. I’d have to steal you. Byron is an important man, an Enforcer
of the Law. He would have us tracked. We’d find a place far away and hide until
he was content with new saps, and then we’d gradually introduce ourselves to a
new place. I’ll not tell you it will be easy. Especially with a baby.”
    “But
I won’t have to have babies. Not ever? What if you change your mind?”
    “I
won’t. I’ve never cared for them.”
    “Let
me talk to Shelly,” she said, turning away.
    “Cali.”
He caught the corner of her towel. “I want you to come with me. I value you.
But if you don’t, I imagine you will do fine in childbirth. You are older than
many of the sapien mothers I’ve seen.”
    Cali
studied the hand grasping her towel. When she tugged, he released it, and she
pulled it around her shoulders and huddled against the wind before sliding the
door open and passing into the apartment. Draven waited for quite some time,
the iron bars chilling his hands. When Cali returned, she wouldn’t meet his
eyes.
    “I
can’t come,” she said.
    “Oh?”
    “Shelly
doesn’t want to. He’s afraid for the baby.”
    “Then
I will take you alone.”
    She
raised her eyes to Draven before dropping them again. “Last time…and I have
this chain…”
    “I’ve
told you, I’ll break it.”
    “How
can you break this huge chain?”
    “With
my hands.”
    “You
can break this chain with your bare hands?”
    Draven
smiled. “Yes. Why are you so astonished? Do you doubt me?”
    “I
don’t know,” Cali said, shaking her head. “I mean, I can’t leave my family.”
    “Then
stay. Perhaps you will change your mind after you’re bred. Perhaps you will
want something better for your own child.”
    “Do
you know all about them? The breeders, I mean…”
    “I
know of them. They