up, they probably assumed I was dead.”
The two men exchanged a look again, and it was cooler than underground air.
“Also, they didn’t take all the, er, wires and metals.” I held up one arm, the one with the broken holowatch. “They left this.”
Astor instantly stopped rubbing my back and grabbed my wrist. “What is this?”
“It’s my holowatch. We could fix it and contact my brother. He’ll come get me. Then you’ll be done with me.” I smiled. “Can you fix this?”
“I’ve never seen anything like this.”
A knock pounded on the door and they both stilled. Nox stepped forward. In a hushed voice, he said, “Are you expecting anyone?”
“I’m never expecting anyone.” Astor’s reply was equally as quiet. “Here. Take her to the back.”
Chapter Two
Nox grabbed my hand and pulled me with him toward the back of whatever this crazy place was. I looked around. It turned out to be a bedroom. In fact, the whole thing looked like some kind of bunker with the front serving as a living room, kitchen, and lab and the back as this tiny bedroom. This was how he lived?
Seeing me stare, Nox shrugged. “He’s Torrin’s brother. That gets him more space than the rest of us.”
This was more space than the rest of them got? This was the tiniest home I’d ever seen.
“It’s okay,” Astor shouted. “It’s Mattis. We’re safe.”
“And what”—a man appeared in the doorway a second later—“are you people doing that you are nervous about discovery? Ah…I see. You have a new female, Nox? How unusual for you. When was the last one? Five? Six years ago?” He sauntered toward me. “Pray tell, new female, what do you charge, and do you offer group rates?”
Astor grabbed him by the ear and pulled him back. “The female has a name, and she is not a whore.”
The new man—Mattis—had sun-bleached hair and bright green eyes, and he winced and shouted as Astor tugged him back into the main room. “Ow. Okay. Stop. Apologies. I just assumed. I’d never seen her before, so she can’t be high ranked. Where did she come from? Stop, damnit.”
Astor let go of his ear. “That is what we are trying to determine. Bianca, come back here and show me what is on your wrist again.”
Nox sighed. “Bianca, this is Mattis. He owns the bar in our City-State. I’m not sure what he is doing out of his bar on this fine day, considering he is never short of patrons.”
Rubbing his ear, Mattis sat on Astor’s couch. “Actually, I came to see if Astor had heard from you, Nox. I heard there was a huge Reamer presence and got worried you might have gotten yourself killed. I was going to see if Astor wanted to look for you with me.”
Nox motioned at the three of them. “These are my friends. The two of them. If it had been anyone else at the door, we’d have had more trouble. Bianca, would you mind showing Mattis your arm? That way, he can comprehend what we’re talking about. I do plan on taking her to Torrin, Mattis. I’m just… Well, you’ll see.”
I held out my arm for Mattis to see. What was the deal with these numbers? What was I supposed to have, and why did they matter?
The man who’d wanted to pay me, presumably for sex, widened his eyes. “Shit.”
Astor hit him. “Language. Bianca, please, your wrist device.”
He indicated my holowatch. It was broken, and any expectation I had that it might ever work plummeted. Wherever I’d crashed, it was like stepping into a past with no technology that I recognized and a population of men who made no sense at all. Even if they were all three ridiculously, ruggedly handsome in a slightly dirty, unkempt sort of a way. They all smelled clean. It was just the dust in the air that clearly got all over everything.
I unclasped my broken watch and handed it to Astor, and his face lit up in a smile. “Here. I will return your gift with another gift.” He rushed to the other room and came back with a thermos that he put in my hand. “It keeps things cold or warm.”
Mattis was on his feet. “I’ve been trying to trade you for that for years. And…how does she not have designation?”
Nox rolled his eyes. “This again…”
“That’s what you get for bringing her here first instead of straight to Torrin. You have to re-explain it to everyone,” said Astor. “Not that I’m criticizing you.”
“Nah, he wouldn’t,”