King of Ends Read online

  Somehow, we’d stayed quiet enough for the other two women to stay asleep. Maybe the bouncing of the bed had been calming to them, who knows? I pulled a blanket around us. She rolled over and shifted her ass up against me. I wrapped my arms around her, and we spooned, holding each other’s hands, our arms and legs intertwined as we drifted off to sleep.

  We barely moved a muscle the entire night.

  By the time morning hit, Hannah and Gehn had woken up and saw the two of us holding each other, naked.

  “Busy night?” Hannah joked while we rolled over and blinked in the sunlight.

  “You could say that,” I said to her, still holding Belenie’s sleeping form.

  She nodded and tossed our clothes onto the bed.

  “I’ll give you a pass this time,” she said, “but you better invite me and my sister the next time.”

  “Sounds fair,” I said.

  Gehn rolled her eyes at the banter. She was less flirty and more the type to just rip my shirt off if she wanted me. I liked both approaches just fine, as well as Belenie’s softer approach. “C’mon. We have work to do. Play can come later.”

  Chapter 6

  Cooling down

  Surprisingly, the Ender inn offered a small complimentary breakfast as part of the package, like it was a regular Motel 6 from the old days. As we entered the main structure and into the dining area, I felt the stares of dozens of Enders, both male and female boring into the back of my head. Were they all refugees, having escaped from various outposts or even Rome itself? If so, did they see me as the enemy?

  Some of them weren’t obvious about it. On occasion, Hannah and I got the stink eye from someone desperate to show their displeasure with us. But most of them were content to look at us out of the corner of their eye, just watching.

  We sat at a circular table in the middle of the area with serve-yourself platters of food in front of us.

  “Are you sure we should do this?” I asked. “Every Ender in here looks like they’d be happier if we weren’t breathing.”

  “Don’t worry about it,” Gehn said. “While you were still sleeping off last night’s activities, I spoke to the innkeeper.”

  “The Swedish supermodel?” I said.

  “Oh, you find her attractive?” Gehn said. “I didn’t realize that’s why you were drooling when we checked in.”

  I chuckled. “I’ll take you over her any day,” I said. “But if you want to invite her to join us…”

  “Actually, I already fucked her, so maybe you could join us next time.”

  Hannah squealed with laughter, which drew even more attention to our mishmashed party. I couldn’t tell if Gehn was kidding or not, which only made me want her more.

  “Maybe we should’ve invited them last night,” Belenie whispered. “I don’t think they’re going to let this go.”

  I was starting to think maybe she was right. “Anyway…what did you speak to the innkeeper about?” I asked.

  “Against my better judgment, I vouched for you,” Gehn said. “She said she could hold off the attack dogs for another day. Nobody will mess with us, for today anyway. So let’s just eat and talk strategy. If we play things right today and not pull guns on anyone today…” She gave me a pointed look. “Maybe we can succeed here.”

  Before we settled into the discussion, we all filled our plates. There was some kind of sausage though I had no clue what sort of animal or animals it was made from. There were plenty of eggs, over medium and spiced with something that had some heat behind it. The food was simple but damn good.

  I turned to Gehn. “Where do we start? Do we take another shot at Queen Sierra?”

  Gehn swallowed a bite. “No. That’s not the way things work. I thought maybe our reputation preceded us, but apparently not. Sierra must’ve instructed her guards to stonewall us yesterday. Which means we need to go through her gatekeepers first. Which means dealing with male Enders, unfortunately. You think you can handle that, Cutter? There can be no chest-beating or dick-measuring, understood?”

  “Shucks,” I said. “My dick gained an inch after last night.” I couldn’t help pushing Hannah and Gehn’s very attractive buttons.

  “That’ll be gone after I cut it off in your sleep,” Hannah said.

  “Whoa,” I said, raising my hands. “You crossed a very major line.”

  “Oh yeah?” Hannah said. “Maybe we should discuss it privately.”

  What was with these women in Paris? It seemed as if we were all hornier than toads. Not that I minded at all, neither the banter nor the sex. But still, it was getting hard to focus. Thankfully, Gehn seemed able to separate the sex from the mission better than the rest of us, steering us back on course.

  “Not now, sis,” she said. Hannah smiled sweetly. “The two men we’re hoping to meet with today are Zodos and Guzron. They are the unofficial male leaders of Paris. They don’t rank as highly as the Queen, but this is the first step in gaining the trust of the Enders. You don’t get close to the Queen without going through these guys first.”

  “What are they like?” Hannah asked. Under the table, I felt her fingers touch my leg. She stroked upwards, closing in on the area between them. Holy shit, this woman is going to be my undoing.

  Gehn sighed, reaching under the table to draw her sister’s hand away just as it brushed up against my cock. Hannah laughed. “Buzzkill.”

  “Zodos is fiery, like most male Enders. He leads with emotion. If he has a gut feeling about you, that’s all he needs to know. So your job is to make as good a first impression as possible. Get on his bad side and you risk the mission being derailed before it starts.”

  “No pressure,” I said. “What about Guzron? Will he hit first and ask questions later, too?”

  Gehn scooped up a bite of eggs on her fork, waving it around as she talked. In Paris, there was no question she was able to be herself. She hadn’t even donned her top hat this morning, a first since I’d met her. “Guzron is the ‘good cop’, I guess. Unlike most male Enders, he seems able to control, or at least temper, his emotions. He’s more pragmatic. The Queen chose him as the perfect complement for Zodos’ hot temper.”

  I nodded. “This is great info. What else? How should I act?”

  Gehn chewed a bite of eggs and stared off in the distance, composing her thoughts. “The thing to remember, as if you would ever forget, is that these guys do not trust non-Enders. Like, at all. So you’re working from behind to begin with. One wrong move and you’re likely dead. So tread carefully. Do your best not to rile them up.”

  “Can anything change their opinion of us?” Hannah asked.

  “Respect,” Gehn replied. “Enders in general are all about respect. That’s what they are looking for. It’s not like they want you to kiss ass—they’ll see right through that. You just need to carry yourself with honor, treat them like people not savages. So many of us have been screwed over and killed by humans. It’s your job to show them that you aren’t like that.”

  My mind flashed back to our encounter at the bar the previous day. “That’s why you stopped me from killing those Enders at the bar,” I said.

  “Exactly,” she said. “Killing an Ender is the perfect way to paint yourself like every other human they’ve encountered. Sure, you would have taken care of a short-term problem, but the long-term consequences would’ve been devastating. Even still, word will already have reached Zodos and Guzron.”

  “That’s good, right?” I said. “That means they’ll know we restrained ourselves.”

  Gehn shook her head. “Only partially. They’ll also know that it was me—an Ender—who convinced you—a human—to spare them. They’ll know if it was up to you, you would’ve pulled the trigger. But at least they’ll know you respect an Ender enough to listen.”

  A bright side, I thought. We need a few more of those.

  “What gave these guys so much power?” Belenie asked.

  Gehn shrugged. “The same thing that empowered Atticus. They stepped up. Somebody had to
. They organized other Enders, created this society, sheltered and protected those who needed it. Paris doesn’t exist without the two of them and the Queen. But we’ll worry about the Queen later.”

  “What will they ask me?” I said.

  “How many Enders you’ve killed.”

  Shit. I’d only killed one, and only because he’d tried to murder me in my sleep. “What do I say?”

  “The truth. They’ll know if you’re lying.”

  “Why does it matter? If I’m willing to work with them now, does the past matter?”

  “The past always matters. How many Enders have been killed needlessly at the hands of the Rising?”

  I leaned back in my chair. The slaughtering of innocent Enders was something I had not realized before I met Gehn and Hannah. Like many misinformed humans, I assumed only Enders guilty of crimes were executed. The savage monsters who could not be saved from their own violent tendencies. I wondered if other humans learned the truth about the Enders whether the dynamic would shift. There had to be a lot more people just like me who were just ignorant to the truth.

  “The Rising do not act with honor,” Belenie said.

  “Now hang on a second,” I interrupted, raising my hand. I wasn’t trying to be argumentative, but there was a certain lack of balance to this conversation. “I was dragged from my slumber to be beaten to death. Just yesterday, I sat at a bar, minding my own business, when Enders attacked me without provocation. Where’s the honor in that?”

  Gehn tilted her head back and forth, squinting her eyes. “I’m not saying Enders are perfect, or without blame. But remember, the male Enders have been transformed differently than the women. They have trouble controlling their emotions. Does that make them evil? No more than humans are evil.”

  That was true. I’d looked evil in the eye on both sides. It didn’t look all that different from where I’m sitting.

  Gehn continued. “This is reality. If you want to recruit any of these Enders to fight on your side, you have to play by their rules a bit.”

  I swallowed the last bit of sausage on my plate. I still couldn’t quite place what animal it came from, but it was tasty—smoky and spicy. It woke me up and energized me.

  “Well, I’m ready to do this,” I said. “The sooner we meet with them, the better.”

  “I agree,” Gehn said. “We don’t want to waste a whole lot of time here. The best thing we can do is go meet with them and start the process of earning their respect.”

  We waited for a few minutes so that the women could finish up their meals. I scanned the room in the meantime. Seven other tables were spread out in the small room, with four chairs around each of them. As Enders ate their breakfasts, they glanced over in our direction, watching me. It was a mix of males and females, though the stares of the females were the sharpest. The males just looked like they wanted to pound my face into mush.

  I folded my hands and placed them behind my head, leaning back and relaxing. I was anxious, but I wanted to play it cool. If I acted impulsive, I might anger somebody. I now understood why I needed to walk on eggshells around these people.

  I only hoped that we could make a strong enough first impression that I could win them over quickly. Who knew what Atticus was up to? For all we knew, he might be rallying an army and marching on Paris at this very second.

  I noticed Gehn’s expression had changed. “What is it?” I asked. “Are you having one of your feelings?”

  “Not exactly. I’m just thinking about that last vision,” Gehn said. “I’m not worried about your ability to act with honor. I just know that there was a lot of blood in the streets. I want to make sure that none of that blood is ours.”

  “I get it,” I said. “But there’s not a whole lot else we can do, right? We can’t control everything, only put our best foot forward. We’re in this now. We can’t go back.”

  “You’re right,” Gehn said. “I’m just nervous, I guess.” It was a return to the old Gehn, though she still looked stalwart and determined.

  “Think hard for a second,” I told her. “How do you feel about today? I don’t mean overall, or how you feel about that vision. I’m talking about right now. How do you feel about where we are and where we’re headed today? Do you think we’re walking into a bloodbath, or are we on the right track?”

  Gehn closed her eyes, trying to tap into her emotions for a moment. I wondered if it was like Belenie’s healing ability for her, whether she could access it on demand.

  “I feel okay,” she said. “I don’t have that awful feeling of dread.”

  “Good,” I said. “We should trust your instincts—they haven’t led us astray yet. So let’s move forward with a little confidence. They will want to see confidence. Let’s carry ourselves the right way. Don’t back down from them, or anyone else for that matter. We can be firm without being threatening. They will not respect us if we are soft either.”

  Hannah jumped all over my words. “I am tired of walking around here feeling like somebody wants to kill me every five minutes,” she said. “This is our chance to get a little bit of peace in our lives. I knew this would be hard when we started out, Gehn. I was prepared for the tension and the threats. I knew we’d have to stand up for ourselves. But now? I want you, us, to have normal lives again.”

  “Let’s go,” I said. “Where are these guys, Gehn?”

  “I’ll take you to their building,” she said. “It’s one of the bigger buildings in Paris, of course.”

  “Can we be sure that they will even entertain our company?” I asked. “Or will they turn us away like the Queen did?”

  “Enders respect Enders,” Gehn said. “Because Belenie and I are here, they will let us in, but maybe not you. I’ll do my best to convince them.”

  “Sounds like a plan. Right, you do the talking and I’ll keep my mouth shut.” Easier said than done for me, but I would do my damndest. I was tempted to sew my lips shut, or find some old world duct tape or something.

  The four of us stood up and left, ignoring the stares that followed us. Bright sunshine greeted us. It was time to go meet these Ender leaders, and I was as ready as I could be.

  Chapter 7

  Take me to your leaders

  We approached a large log building on the far west side of the village. Gehn led the way, and we followed behind closely. My hand hovered over Alpha and Beta as we walked, while passersby peppered us with suspicious stares and glances.

  At the front of the building stood two Ender males, a similar set up to the Queen’s house, guarding the place with dark stares that were currently focused on us. They looked past Gehn to stare me down. Great. Here we go again.

  Gehn marched right up to them without breaking her stride, forcing them to shift their gazes to her. “We seek an audience with Zodos and Guzron,” she said.

  “Who’s asking?” one guard replied. He was a meaty fellow with a bulbous nose and a broad forehead that gave way to a shaven scalp laced with white zigzagging scars. His partner was equally large, but had a tuft of hair that was different lengths on different parts of his head, like he’d been to a barber that decided to use a weedwhacker rather than scissors.

  “My name is Gehn,” she answered. “I have been a citizen of Paris, and a faithful Ender. I come with Belenie, another Ender woman. With us are two non-Enders, Cutter and Hannah, who is my sister.” Non-Enders, I thought. An interesting way to put it. It was almost like she was avoiding using the word human, as if it was a four-letter word.

  “You and Belenie may pass,” the bad-haircut guard said. “But the humans have to wait outside.” He said ‘human’ with a full measure of disgust.

  “Either we all go, or none of us go,” Gehn replied. “Segregation is tearing this world apart. If things are to change, we need to unite with sympathetic humans. We need the help of the entire Ender community. These are people we can trust, I assure you.”

  The guards looked past Gehn once more, sizing up Hannah and me. I refrained from reacting, tr
ying to maintain a neutral expression. I didn’t want to do anything that would jeopardize our chances of getting in. All I did was stand there and meet their eye contact with confidence.

  The theatrics didn’t scare or intimidate me. None of this meant anything. The only reason they had guards was because they decided one day to have guards. They weren’t anything special. All this bullshit was meaningless.

  That being said, I had to play the game if we wanted to get where we aimed to go.

  After staring at us for a sufficient amount of time, the larger of the two guards said, “No weapons.”

  “No problem,” I said, handing over each of my weapons butt first. “But I expect to get these back in pristine condition.”

  “The knife, too,” was all the guard replied, accepting the guns. I flipped the knife in the air and caught it by the blade, shoving it into the other guard’s meaty palm. Hannah also handed over her gun and a couple of small knives. When the Enders offered their own weapons, however, the guards shook their hands. “You can keep yours. Paris rules.”

  Interesting. Despite the fact that Gehn and Belenie were traveling with two humans, they were still trusted implicitly.

  Finally satisfied that the untrustworthy humans had been stripped of their weapons, the guards stepped aside and let us all go in. But they stared me down as I walked past. I nodded at them both, and they nodded back at me.

  Something about their expression gave me pause. It was almost like this was the plan all along, and the initial refusal was just for show. I shook away the thought and refocused.

  Just like every other building in Paris, this one was all wood. They built every wall from stacked logs, but the roof didn’t come all the way together in the middle, allowing for an open-air courtyard where sunlight illuminated the dirt floor. We stepped into the light and waited, seeing no one.