City of Dragons: Of Flesh and Blood by Adrienne Wilder Page A

pudding back into the bedroom.
    Haley was curled on her side, huddled under the blankets. “You awake?” He sat down beside her and she opened her eyes. “Here, open wide. You need to eat.”
    She shook her head.
    “Don’t make me hold you down and cram this down your throat. I slaved for a whole eight minutes in front of that microwave.” He grinned at her, but she didn’t smile back. He touched her cheek. “Haley, please eat.” When she sat up, he moved over and spooned up the first bite. “Here.” Haley took it and made a face.
    “Oh, that’s terrible. What did you make?” She glanced over the edge of the bowl and shuddered. “What is that? Brownie in with macaroni? What did you do? Take everything out of the freezer and mix it together?”
    “Exactly.”
    “Gross. Come on, you can’t mix the pudding in with the lasagna, that’s just nasty.” Farley pushed another spoon full into her mouth while her lips were moving. She grimaced.
    “Well, you have a choice. This or I can call Claire back. She offered to bring you anything you like.” Haley flipped her eyes up at him and took the bowl. “Yeah, that’s what I thought.” She ate half before pushing it back into his lap. Farley ate the rest.
    By the time he put the dish on the bedside table the haunted look in her eyes had returned. Farley made short work of kicking off his combat boots, shedding his clothes, and slipping next to her under the sheet. He pulled Haley against him, and she buried her face against his neck.
    Farley shut his eyes and adjusted his hold. How did he tell her? What she’d seen was awful, cruel, vicious…
    “Haley?”
    She made a sound next to his throat. Not quite a word, but it let him know she was listening. He stroked her head. He didn’t want an argument. He didn’t want her to be angry. Haley didn’t understand the hatching grounds. Hell, lots of times she didn’t really understand her own people. At least not beyond her books and the Males she dealt with in the Tank. The ignorance handicapped her. That and her Human
impressions
.
    When Farley swallowed, his throat felt tight. He said, “It was for the best. As horrible as it was, they were weak. They should have never gotten out of the Hatching grounds.” Farley closed his eyes and waited for her to tense, to get angry, to tell him how this wasn’t the Dens. But all he got was silence. When Farley cracked an eyelid, Haley was looking at him, her face tight, but her eyes…They conveyed understanding. “You’re not yelling at me?”
    “You’re right.” With a sigh she pressed closer. “I spoke with them. They were…Food. There’s no way they got out of the Hatching grounds on their own.” Which meant someone helped them get out. “Do you think Re’kah would do something like that on purpose? I mean, send them out so young?”
    Farley said, “She has a reputation for cruelty.” But then, what Queen didn’t? It took a certain type of nastiness to be Queen – that and a lot of power. He sighed. “I don’t know. I’m not exactly in a position to find out that kind of information. It’s Queens’ business.”
    “I really need to know. If her cast outs keep winding up in Atlanta, it could cause a lot of problems. Maybe I should ask Medan.”
    It was Farley’s turn to shudder. “If you say so, but do me a favor and try calling her on the phone or something. I don’t think I could stand having to see her in person again.”
    Haley let out a small laugh and said, “You and me both.”

Chapter 6
     
    Something woke Haley up. According to the clock on her nightstand, it was two. As in two AM. Haley blinked, trying to clear the fuzz from her brain. A heavy pounding sounded from the front room as someone proceeded to beat the hell out of her door.
    The Browning Building Haley lived in was pretty much a way-station for geriatric Humans waiting for the one-way train. And elderly Humans weren’t known for their late night parties. Which meant it was