Chapter Fourteen

Beth Costache hauled open thegymnasium door and planted herself inside, her face schooled as best she could into an expression of displeasure. The grunts of men exerting themselves flowed over her at about the same moment as the humidity of six sweaty bodies training.

Gábor was working out at the punching bag, the bull skull tattoo on his arm flexing with each hit; Nyko was at the weight rack, bench pressing what looked to be the poundage of a Hyundai; Thomal and Sedge were sparring in the boxing ring; and her husband was wrestling with Dev across the room, the two going at it relatively easily since Arc had just woken from his hibernation state today.

Gábor noticed her first. "Yo, Arc," he called out, backing off from the bag. "Looks like trouble in paradise, Bro."

Arc peered up from his pretzeled position on the mats. "Beth!" He untangled himself from Dev and jumped to his feet, snatching up a small towel as he crossed to her. "Hey, honey, what's up?"

"I tried to arrange a lunch date with Toni for tomorrow, but couldn't." She scowled at her husband, but his lack of reaction made her feel, as usual, like some low rent actress hired for her looks and not her ability to pull off anger with any believability. "Apparently, I have to get my husband's approval before I'm allowed to be alone with her."

"Aw, no worries, baby." He scrubbed the towel over his sweaty blond hair. "You can go. I'll let Roth know everything's cool."

She grrred beneath her breath. "Oh, well, thank you so much for your permission."

Arc flipped the towel over his shoulder. "Don't get all bunched up, Beth. It's just that Roth knows there's some discontent among the wives right now, so he wants all requests to see Toni to go through the husbands."

"Don't get bunched up?!" she repeated hotly. "You're controlling my actions, Arc." She crossed her arms beneath her breasts. "Frankly, I don't appreciate it."

His mouth turned down slightly as he skimmed his eyes over her. "What's up with you?"

Oh, yes, God forbid I should ever complain about an unfairness…or anything else! "You wouldn't have to ask me that if you ever bothered to listen to me."

"What are you talking about?"

She couldn't believe this! "The other night I tried to tell you how unhappy the Dragons are about the kidnappings. It's more than just discontent, Arc, but you didn't pay any attention. You just started kissing me, and … and …. Honest to Pete …sex, sex, sex! That's all you ever think about or want to do."

Arc opened his mouth … then just left it hanging open.

"Dude, Arc," Thomal snickered from a few feet away, "you dawg."

Arc blushed a mottled shade of red. "Shut the fuck up, would you, Thomal. Maybe nearly thirty years of not getting laid after reaching physical maturity took a big toll, all right." He swept a glower across the other warriors.

"Hey, man," Dev threw up his hands, "no need to explain it to me."

Arc turned back to her. "Can we talk about this later, please?"

"You mean alone in our bedroom?" She made a hah noise. "I'm not falling for that again."

Arc passed a hand over his face. "Beth, I'm sorry, okay. You're … God, an incredibly beautiful woman, and I … just can't help myself sometimes."

"I'm glad you're attracted to me, Arc, of course. But you're my husband, and I'm supposed to be able to talk to you about anything." A tight feeling caught in her throat.

"You can, baby."

She was tempted to leave it at that. He looked and sounded so genuine, and it'd be the easiest thing in the world to allow her husband to tell her "everything's fine," then just go home and pretend it was. To let the other Dragon women burn their bras and instigate change so that she wouldn't have to spend a single moment feeling uncomfortable. God, she was pitiful; she wasn't even sure she knew how to confront her own feelings anymore. Had she really wanted to get pregnant? She loved the child growing inside her, of course, now that the baby was there, but she hadn't thought the matter through much more than to acknowledge that being pregnant would please Arc and the community at large. And being the girl who pleased people was the skin she felt safest in. Trouble was, she was also getting fed up with how pathetic that made her feel.

The tightness slid into her chest. Her next breath strained out of her. "For five years we've been married and I've hardly ever argued with you. I hate to fight, so I … I've never told you certain things, like how much it hurts me that you don't share the details of your work with me or that we don't talk about anything deep, about books or the news or culture. It makes me feel like you think I'm weak or stupid."

"C'mon, honey. I don't think that."

"Really? Did you ever talk to Roth like you said you would?" She saw his expression. "No. Of course you didn't. Because you didn't think I'd call you on it; you didn't take me seriously! Heck, you probably didn't even mean it. You just said it because you wanted to put your thingy in me."

There was a muffled snort from one of the warriors.

"Jesus, Beth." Arc's face went up in smoke. "What the hell do you want me to say to Roth, anyway? Excuse me, sir, but the Dragons don't agree with the method you're using to try to save our entire race from extinction."

"It'd be a start."

Arc looked toward the ceiling for help. "Would you please be reasonable."

"As soon as you stop being unreasonable and start speaking out against something you recognize is wrong."

"You know," Sedge butted in, "Kimberly says the same thing to me, Beth, and it's frustrating, because this isn't our decision to make. We're not the men in charge."

"Exactly," Arc agreed enthusiastically, obviously glad for the support. "What you're asking me to do would be like me asking you to tell the President of the United States that he needs to fucking shape up."

Her stomach fluttered nervously. Facing down more than her husband hadn't been in the plan. And it wasn't just Sedge on Arc's side; all of the warriors were. She could see it on their faces. "Y-yes, well, at least in America we have a say, a vote, about matters that affect our lives, and … and we have certain freedoms. The President of the United States sure as heck doesn't get to tell me who I can or can't have lunch with. Or when I can or can't use the Internet. Here in ??ran?, Roth has way too much power, and the Dragons are sick of it. We need a voice, and if you can't stand up to the leadership for us, if … if …." She made herself push the words out, "if you're too damned weak to do that, then we will."

Arc's cheeks flushed a dull, furious red.

One of the warriors made a low sound in his throat that resounded into a weighted silence.

Her eyelashes started to quiver uncontrollably, and she fought to keep her stomach where it belonged.

"You know what –" Arc yanked open the gym, door. "Go ahead, then." He invited her to leave with a sweep of his hand. "Do your worst, Beth."

Her lips parted. She gaped at him for several erratic pulse beats, unable to believe he was being so cavalier about her – or any of the Dragon's – ability to wreak havoc on Roth or the community. It was insulting beyond measure, and it put steel in places she'd never had it before, like her spine.

Snapping her mouth shut, she moved stiffly into the doorjamb. "In five years of marriage, I think I'm seeing you clearly for the first time, Arc." Tears surged into her eyes, but she fought them back.

A muscle quivered in Arc's jaw.

"You Varcolac males like to make us Dragons think we're so special to you, but the truth is," she lowered her voice to a hiss, "we're not even worth the effort for you to fight for us."

Arc opened his mouth, but she was done arguing.

She whirled and stormed down the hall, her heart beating as fast at her feet.