Total pages in book: 44
Estimated words: 41151 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 206(@200wpm)___ 165(@250wpm)___ 137(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 41151 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 206(@200wpm)___ 165(@250wpm)___ 137(@300wpm)
Both of Shah’s brows go up and the smile disappears. He doesn’t approve. I don’t know why he cares. I have to be less than a footnote in the novel of his life, surely.
“Oh. I get it. You’re bored. This is your little tourist visit to the wrong side of the town.”
“Uhhh…” I don’t know what to say to that. He’s not wrong. It’s bizarre to be confronted with the inside of my mind coming out of the mouth of a crime lord. Shah’s reputation has grown to the extent even I know about it. There’s not a single person in this place who isn’t looking at us with confusion. “I should go,” I say. “I’m sorry.”
“No. You’re here now. Stay. Have a drink. I’ll make sure nobody hurts you, for old time’s sake.” He gives me a crooked smile. “Nice to see you, Dreamy.”
Ordering a drink here is an act of courage. I’ve heard stories about people being immediately poisoned if the bartender doesn’t like the look of them. I hope they like the look of me, because when Shah tells you to get a drink, you get a drink.
Sipping at my beverage, I sway to the beat, letting myself go. I am out of sync. Off schedule. I am in trouble. With every sip of the drink, that concern slips away. Does it matter? Did it ever matter?
If I am not back at work in the morning, I will be replaced. My room will be given to another. I will become nonessential. I do not know what happens to nonessential workers. I hope it is peaceful.
Shah
She’s so out of place. Her shoulder-length brown hair is tied back in a ponytail, and she’s still wearing her little gray worker dress that would have gotten her killed for sure if I hadn’t walked in behind her.
Dreamy is the sort of girl men like me don’t touch. They’re made for other worlds, gentler mates. Or whatever it is the Colony decides to do with them. Last I heard, the drones don’t get to take mates anymore. Celibacy is better for productivity. Dreamy should be back in her cell, tucked up in bed and getting a good night’s sleep for her next shift. But she’s not where she should be. She’s out of place, and after running into me, close to out of luck.
“Who is the girl, boss?” Malik’s following my gaze. He’s my right-hand man, and he knows me better than anybody. He also knows my normal taste in women. I don’t come to Club Omega for drone wallflowers. Nobody does. Delicate flowers don’t survive in this place.
“That’s the girl who made everything possible,” I say.
“Boss?”
Seven years ago…
I’m beating the shit out of an asshole who owes me money. He’s come up short on his tab three times in a row, and I’m not a loan officer for junkies. I’m making my name in this Colony, and part of making my name involves putting down anybody who tries to fuck me out of my money. I also very much enjoy punching people, and this gives me a reason to beat some ass.
I’m in one of the Colony developments. It contains the youth of the Colony, the people who buy drugs, and the ones who will go on to make their fortunes as worker drones alike. They don’t know it, poor bastards, but these are their last days of real freedom. Once they become workers, they won’t live in old style buildings like these. They’ll be assigned cells and work locations and zip back and forth between the two for the rest of their lives.
“Uhm, excuse me, sir?”
Someone taps on my shoulder, or more like my lower back. Someone short is trying to get my attention.
I turn, fist clenched and bloodied, ready to punch the fool who dared interrupt me. But it’s not a guy. It’s a girl, about 5’3 with the biggest brown eyes I’ve ever seen. She’s curvy and wearing an oversized sweater. She does not look like a threat. She looks like a nerd. A little worker drone to be. She’s still in school.
“What!?” I bark the question at her.
“Uhm, if you wouldn’t mind. It’s just, when you punch his face like that, the blood spatters onto the carpets and I’m liable for paying for that because the bond is in my name. Maybe you could take him out back? Or. Uh. Maybe not. Because actually, I think Talbot in the other apartment has called the authorities, and I think they might be coming for you? So. Maybe now’s not the best time to be”—she circles her finger around her bloodied floor — “here.”
She said literally the only thing that could get me to stop beating the shit out of this asshole. I’m wanted right now. Very wanted. Part of coming up in the underworld and building notoriety means coming to the attention of authorities. I used to think I could stay under the radar. Now I know better. That doesn’t mean I am about to be caught.