Page 21 of Their Property
“Kah.” Grudge tapped my cheek lightly. “Hm?”
My eyes fluttered open, the woman only an echo in my vision as reality filtered in. I found Grudge staring at me with an intense frown of concern.
“I’m okay.” I reached up to place my hand over his, lacing our fingers together without thinking. “I’m okay. Thank you.”
He didn’t look convinced and squeezed our fingers together.
“Are you okay?” I reached out to touch his shoulder, but like before, he pulled away and only gave a curt nod in reply.
I turned in my seat, now only feeling awkwardness where there had been a sliver of intimacy the moment before. “Anita?”
“I’m okay, Miss Vance.” My assistant rubbed her neck, wincing. “I might just be sore tomorrow.”
With the motorcycles idling and T-Bone and Dyno investigating what had caused the near-accident, shouting voices alerted me to an argument in front of the SUV. I climbed out of the car and went to see for myself, Grudge right at my side.
“You almost hit a kid? What the fuck were you doing, jerking off behind the wheel?” T-Bone, of course.
“How dare you accuse my staff of such lewd behavior!” Governor Perry sputtered back.
“I swear, he just ran out into the road,” the driver protested. “And now he won’t leave!”
While the grown men argued, sitting in the middle of the road between them was a boy no older than ten. His face was dirty, with tear-tracks running down his cheeks. His clothes were threadbare and his hands were cupped palm-open in his lap. He stared blankly ahead, oblivious to the men arguing above him.
I felt, rather than saw, the armored woman from my dream beat her axe against the shield once. My gaze slid to the side because Isworeshe was right there in my peripheral vision. But the space was empty when I looked closer.
Nathan leaned down and wrapped a hand around the boy’s arm. “Hey, kid, you gotta go.” He started to move him physically, but the boy started screaming. A wordless wail erupted from his mouth, full of despair and frustration.
“Ah, what the—! You’re gonna blow out my eardrums! Ungrateful little—“
The armored woman beat her shield again. I felt waves of aggression coming off her, the fierce urge to protect someone innocent from danger. T-Bone’s raven was also cawing loudly, his beak stabbing in the direction of Nathan and the governor.
“What the fuck is wrong with you?” Dyno glared at Nathan, hands drifting to rest on his belt. “Manhandling a kid, really?”
The child yanked his arm back from Nathan and resumed his sitting position on the ground, sniffling quietly.
Do something,the armored woman seemed to urge me.Protect him.
“Have any of you tried asking him what he wants?” I piped up. “Or if he’s okay?”
“He looks fine,” Nathan sneered. “Just in desperate need of a bath. Hey.” He leaned down and snapped his fingers in front of the boy’s face. “Tell us what you want so we can make our way through this slum.”
The boy ignored him, not reacting to the words or the snapping sound. I’d been fed up with Nathan and his uncle since the start of this tour, so I pushed my way forward with a sigh. “Leave him alone. Let me try.”
I kneeled in front of the skinny boy, taking note of his downcast eyes and outward palms. “Hi there. Are you hurt? Do you need currency?” I asked, reaching into one of my pockets. “Or food?”
Again, he didn’t react. Not until I placed a one-Sevier note in his hands and he looked up, making eye contact with me for the first time.
“Of course, a beggar,” Nathan scoffed from somewhere behind me. “Just what we need more of.”
I ignored him and smiled at the boy. “Is that all you needed? Just some money?”
He didn’t respond, at least not with speech. His hand drifted up toward his chest, and he seemed to make the American Sign Language gesture forhungry.
A lightbulb flashed through my head right then, and I carefully signed with my hands as I spoke. “Are you hungry?”
The boy gasped in surprise, and he nodded before signing rapidly.“The soup kitchen ran out of food, and the market is too far away to walk. Mom told me to wait by the road and make cars stop for money or food.”
A heavy pang cut through my chest at the sight of fresh tears in his eyes. How long had he been waiting? How many cars had refused to stop?
