The Superiors by Lena Hillbrand Page B

breath-freshening implants or teeth whitening products. Still, if he’d gotten to advertise a good musician, a trendy club, or a new pod, that would have been nice. Or if, one day, he got to drive a Second Order car with shiny paint in one color and no ads, and seats laid out in a diamond pattern.
    But he would never have a Second’s car, so thinking on it only wasted time. He turned left onto Medico Street and sped up. Finally he would be able to satisfy his craving. He had hoped to pop by Estrella’s at the end of his shift, and he just had time. He thought about Cali as he pulled the Mert alongside the curb and stepped out into the humid dawn.
    A man was sitting at Cali’s table when Draven arrived. The hostess tried to show him to another table but he shook his head. He noticed again the length of her teeth. He wondered if she had to stop short of sinking them all the way into a vein. It wouldn’t be nearly so satisfying if he had to stop before he was fully inserted.
    His teeth had begun singing by the time the man left. Draven sat down across from Cali. She showed no signs of recognition, and this irritated him. Her eyes were bleary, and when he turned her arm over, he found red welts swollen up all over the inside of both her elbows. He looked up at her face in surprise.
    “Why do they not close your entry points?”
    She shrugged. “It’s just one guy.”
    “What one guy?”
    “A guy who’s always in here. He likes me a lot. He comes every day.”
    “Yes, I see.”
    “I’m not allowed to ask you for anything.”
    “I know,” he said sharply, frowning at her boldness. He glanced at the bouncer who watched their exchange, his face expressionless. The other two saps in his section slept, heads resting on their tables.
    “How many rations does she have left?” Draven asked the bouncer.
    “Two.”
    “I’ll take them both.” He turned back to Cali. “Would you like me to close two of these?” He brushed his thumb across the most enflamed spot and she jerked so hard her arm almost rose out of his hand. He closed his hand around her arm and frowned. She nodded, her eyes defiant.
    “Very well,” he said, sinking his teeth into the two spots without warning.
    Her body went rigid and her eyes rolled back so only white showed between the lids. As the familiar bitterness flooded his mouth and his nostrils, he took Cali’s hand and gave it a gentle squeeze. After he sucked hard once to get the clog from the holes, he slowed to let her delicious flavor replace the bitterness of unhealed bites. He closed his eyes and let his mouth linger on her skin, leaving his teeth in and measuring off the flow coming through her vein. The wonderful pulse in her upper arm throbbed under his thumb, and he pressed into the flesh until he felt her muscle tighten. He relaxed his grip, remembering himself. His thumb massaged the area to disperse the extra sap that rose to form a bruise where he’d pressed too hard.
    He withdrew at the last moment and swiped her arm with his tongue, leaving it on the two pinpricks for a few extra counts to make sure he sealed her properly. The redness and swelling remained. He hadn’t closed a lot of Superior bites, and he hated the bitterness an open bite put in his mouth, but the taste that came after made it worth the unpleasantness. With Cali it did, anyway. He felt better now that he’d eaten once.
    “Is it any better now?” he asked.
    “It doesn’t hurt as much.” She paused, studying him. “Thanks.”
    “How long until the swelling goes down?”
    “A day or two. But when you do that, it drains it and relieves the pressure. It won’t hurt at all after a few hours.”
    “Yes, that’s right. I remember.” He put his thumb back on the swelling. She didn’t react beyond a slight wincing. The hotness of it, both repulsive in its warmth and irresistible in the amount of sap pooled under the skin, intrigued him. He looked at the bouncer. “I would ask permission to close the