Chapter 4

FOUR

The overseer’s fortress was stunning and beautiful. He’d added some life to the inside with plants and some furniture, but the space still felt lonely. Empty. But then again, the overseer lived here alone. Of course it wouldn’t feel full of life. He had to be lonely. Even on her farm she had other females to spend time with, talk to, care about.

She nodded as he led her to a corridor and onto a platform that miraculously moved them upward through a shaft. Turi clung to the railing as they ascended. Cool air whooshed around her and slight vertigo made her brace her feet apart.

“It’s called a lift,” Ellion said. “Just a faster way of moving through the fortress. I’ll show you how to use them tomorrow, after you’ve eaten and rested.”

Turi was incredibly curious about how this worked. It was apparent that things in the fortress worked vastly different than they did at the settlement, where if something wasn’t done by hand, it wasn’t done at all. They got off when the lift stopped. He led her down a wide hallway where only a few doors dotted the wall. The surfaces were made of the same silvery material, marked with symbols and images as the room they’d just been in.

“This room is unoccupied,” he said, placing his hand on a silver square beside the door. “I hope you’ll be comfortable here.”

“Aren’t all of these unoccupied?” she asked as the door opened.

He pointed to the door at the end of the hall. “No. I am in that one.”

“Oh.” Their bedrooms were close. It didn’t matter. He stated that he would not touch her and she believed him. Not once had she heard of an overseer being intimate or even flirting with one of the Terians. If the Axis had declared it forbidden, it was not done. “What duties will you assign to me?”

He blinked. “None. You don’t need to work here.”

Turi frowned, wondering how time would be spent while she lived with this male, in this enormous fortress, for the rest of her life. “I will do…nothing?”

“I would have thought you’d like a break from work,” he said. “That rest would be welcome.”

“It is, but not forever.” She straightened her shoulders. “I will need something to do.”

He looked perplexed. His brows drew together in an elegant frown. “Fine. We’ll find something. For now, I expect you to rest. I’ll have food brought to you and new clothing.” His large hand came out toward her. Turi’s first instinct was to flinch away, but she held still, determined to not show fear. His fingers gently rubbed her cheek. Firm pads slid over her skin, leaving tingling warmth in their wake. It felt as if the vertigo from the lift struck again as the world tilted just enough to make her forget the horrible events of the day, just for a moment.

Then, his hand was gone and he stepped back with a guarded expression. “I’ll send someone to show you how to use the bathing room.” His voice was like gravel. “You’re filthy.”

Turi tucked her chin as embarrassment flooded her. Of course, he was wiping dirt off her face. She was a mess. Everyone was a mess at the settlement. No one had time or resources to bathe properly, but the few times she’d seen the overseer, he’d always been clean and well groomed. He lived here , after all. Her brain didn’t have a chance to process who this “someone” was that would be coming to help her before he nodded and the door slid shut behind her, sealing her inside.

With a shaky breath, she looked around her new room. “ Fek ,” she murmured.

This wasn’t just a room . It was larger than her entire family home at the settlement. The walls were dark gray and a thick carpet lined the floor. Turi immediately took off her shoes and moaned as her toes sank into the thick white plush. No one had been in here for a long time, as the furnishings were bare and few. A bed without pillows or blankets sat against the wall in what appeared to be a sleeping nook. Otherwise, there was nothing in the room at all. A glass door to one side led to the bathing room, which contained some obvious facilities, but a large metal tub with a control pad on the wall was indeed too complicated-looking to try out without help.

The room was quiet. No, silent. No creaking floorboards from family members coming and going. No sound of the heat generator kicking on and off. No voices. No clinking dishes. Nothing. A large window revealed the dying rays of light as the evening took over. Turi stood in the middle of the empty part of the room with her feet sunk in a carpet that would have made a fine bed back at the settlement.

She tilted her head as she caught the sound of voices in the hallway outside. It was him, of course—the overseer—and a female with a strange-sounding voice. They were speaking quietly enough that she couldn’t make out the words, but there was little doubt they were talking about her. Arguing, maybe. There was an intense tone to their voices.

All of a sudden, the events of the day collapsed into her like a void, taking the breath from her lungs and hollowing out her empty belly. With a sob, she crossed to the large bed and curled up in the middle of it.

There was only so much someone could take. So much shock and fear and change and loss. She could still hear her friends’ cries as they were taken away. Her own mingling with theirs. And now here she was, lying on an absurdly soft bed in a warm room— not being forced into a bonding—while her friends were being taken to an auction. Then again, the overseer was right—Terian females were resilient by necessity and stronger than most expected. Turi could only hope that they made life difficult for anyone who crossed them. That they found safety and happiness somewhere. Turi ran out of tears in the dark alcove. Her body shuddered and a strong sleepiness passed over her that felt like a drug, making her mind and body heavy.

“Hush, now. Go to sleep,” said a soft female voice in a whisper, but Turi wasn’t sure if it was real or an invention of her mind.

She fell asleep, but when she awoke there was a blanket over her body and a pillow under her head. The alcove was still dark, but it was windowless and it was difficult to tell the time of day from the light in the rest of the room. She sat up slowly, relaxed but disoriented, rubbing a hand over her face. Looking down, she saw a light blue shift in a soft fabric instead of her threadbare clothes. Her hands were clean. Even the nail beds free of dirt. There was a small table beside the bed holding a tray with food and a glass of water.

It took a moment, then panic hit hard and fast. She made to leap off the bed, but a black, shapeless form no taller than her waist, was positioned near the foot of it. It looked like it held something in its dark murky form, but Turi wasn’t paying attention. She let out a garbled cry and sprang backward, slamming her back against the wall.

“A specter,” she gasped. “Please, don’t hurt me.”

“I won’t,” came a whispery, female-sounding reply. “I’m just—”

The thing was speaking to her. Turi covered her face with her hands. This was all too much. Too strange and too frightening. “This is a dream,” she decided, dropping her hands. “I must be dreaming.”

The black shadow shape seemed to let out a sigh and reshape itself. It elongated and became a being that resembled Turi, with legs, arms, a head, and even long hair. It was still a shadow, however, and featureless. It reached up and appeared to tug on its ear. “You didn’t warn her,” the creature said in a chiding tone. “You’d better get in here before she hurts herself.”