Demon Discord by M.J. Haag

Chapter Five

There weren’tmany people around when I quietly thanked Azio and hurried away with the traded food safely hidden in my jacket. I couldn’t decide what I wanted to do first. Go home and show Grandma what I’d managed to get or find Greyly. Part of me was worried that, if I went straight home, anyone there would demand a share of the girl’s treat.

Spotting Abi and Greyly lingering near the storage shed saved me from having to make any decision.

“Hi, Terri,” Abi said when she saw me. “Any luck today?”

The woman beside her snorted, her humor twinkling in her eyes.

“From what I hear, it wouldn’t take any effort to get lucky with the fey.”

Abi gave me a confused look.

“I tried trading with the fey. Let’s walk home together.”

Abi wasn’t at all put off by my vague answer or my passive-aggressive demand to go home. She simply nodded and took Greyly’s hand. I waited until we were a fair distance away before speaking softly to Abi.

“It went well. It turns out there’s a demand for baby clothes over in Tolerance.”

“No way. How many women are pregnant over there?”

“Not many. The fey are collecting things in hopes that they’ll connect with a woman in the future.”

“Wow. Did they have anything good over there?”

“I had chili for lunch. So much that I’m still full.”

“You traded for a meal?” she asked with a troubled side-glance at me. “I wouldn’t tell the others that.”

“It was part of the trade. So was this.” I paused and pulled the twin pack of snack rolls out of my jacket. “It’s for Greyly. I have rice and beans for everyone, too.”

“Terri, that’s really sweet to think of her. Are you sure you want to give it to her? It might cause problems.”

“I’m positive.”

She gave me a grateful smile and opened the package for the little girl. I watched her consume every bite far too quickly and doubted she tasted much of it.

“She shouldn’t skip lunch,” I said.

“No, she shouldn’t. Maybe we could have a house vote on that again.”

I nodded, remembering how it had gone the last time. No one wanted to go light on the calories. Neither did they want to run short on food and go a day or two without anything. It wouldn’t even be a problem if Bram and Bobby weren’t the only ones going out for supplies.

“I’ll sort through more of the clothes tonight and go back tomorrow.” These trades would never bring home as much as a real supply run would. But maybe I’d stop fainting so much and eventually be able to do my part, too.

“See if you can trade for some cans of veggies. It’s been a while.” As she spoke, Abi smoothed back Greyly’s hair.

The girl gave the woman a small smile as she continued walking.

“I saw a little girl around Greyly’s age there. She’s part of a mixed family and seemed very happy. Well-fed too. Have you ever thought of…you know?”

Abi chewed on her lip for a minute.

“I have. But I want to make sure I’m making the right choice for everyone involved, not just for Greyly and me.”

“Can you afford to be that considerate?”

“I don’t want to agree to spend my life chained to someone who’s going to treat me like I’m less than.”

“Less than what?” Greyly asked, proving she was listening closely.

“Less than the smart, independent survivor that I am.” She looked at me. “I want to be valued for more than my parts.”

I understood what she meant and nodded. That the fey craved women of their own was common knowledge. The rumor around Tenacity was that the fey had been locked away for eons and were looking for females to fuck now. But if all they wanted was sex, they wouldn’t be collecting baby clothes.

Wayne’s voice startled me the moment I walked through the door.

“What in the hell were you thinking?” He stood before us with his arms crossed.

Abi and I shared a look, unsure which of us he was talking to.

“I had to hear from Nat that some grey bastard made my wife squeal.”

Understanding he was upset with me, I calmly removed my jacket.

“Do you know how that made me feel, hearing that, Terri? Do you know how it made me look?”

“Who cares how it made you look,” I said, tossing the bag of rice to him. “I found someone to trade with me. That’s all that should matter.”

He looked down at the rice he’d caught.

“And what did you have to trade for this?” he asked, his tone flat.

Abi hurried Greyly away as I narrowed my eyes at him.

“Baby clothes. Nothing you have any use for.”

His gaze locked with mine.

“A bag of rice and a bag of beans for the baby clothes you had this morning? Even they’re not that stupid.” He moved closer to me, dropping his voice so the others wouldn’t hear him from the kitchen. “I can’t believe having a baby means more to you than I do.”

I jerked back from him as if he’d slapped me.

“I didn’t have sex with anyone, you ass.” With the beans in hand, I pushed past him and walked into the kitchen just as Greyly was quietly telling Grandma about the treat I’d given her.

“Where’d she get chocolate?” Wayne asked from behind me.

“From me. And for your information, I cleaned for it. Dishes. Just in case you’re thinking I cleaned something else.”

“We share what you trade, Terri. Equally.”

“No, not equally. Greyly always gets smaller portions.”

“Because she’s smaller!” he yelled, clearly frustrated with me, which was just fine since I was equally frustrated with him.

“She’s growing. She needs more.”

“I don’t care. We have rules.”

“We do,” Grandma agreed, speaking up for the first time. “Anyone who leaves the wall shares the supplies they provide as they see fit.”

“I’m glad that Terri thought of us at all,” Abi added. “Brooke never did.”

“Fine,” Wayne snarled. “I see how this is going to be. Enjoy your food.”

He slammed the door on his way out of the house.

“He didn’t bring back any wood,” Grandma said. “Once they told him you were gone, he came back here.”

“I’m sorry.”

“Don’t be. I sent Bobby for wood. He hates listening to those narrow-minded men, but it’s better than freezing.”

* * *

I satat the kitchen table, a bowl of beans and rice in front of me. The rest of the house was quiet as I waited for Wayne to come home. When he did show up, he leaned against the door frame and scowled at me.

“We saved you your equal share,” I said, sliding the bowl toward him. “We also voted that Greyly should get a lunch. Just her. Just her normal small portion.”

“Doesn’t count. We weren’t all present.”

“Whose fault is that? You’re the one that stormed off in a fit.”

“A fit? You left with another man. What was I supposed to think?”

I shook my head at him.

“Since you’re the one who suggested I try to trade what’s in the basement for food, you were supposed to have faith in me. I did exactly what you wanted. Unlike you.”

He threw his hands up in the air again. “Here we go. Are you going to hate me forever because I was man enough to stand up for what I wanted? A life without being chained down.”

“If you didn’t want to be chained down, then why did you want to marry me?”

“Back then, you were good at giving head.”

“Back then, I liked you more.”

He snorted.

“Don’t worry. I won’t be touching you again until I know for sure you’re not carrying some grey abomination in your baby-hungry uterus.”

I busted out laughing. “Baby-hungry uterus?”

“I see the way you look at that kid. Being around her isn’t helping you. We’ll talk to Matt and transfer to another house. One without kids.”

I stood and shook my head. “Being around her isn’t helping you. Sleep on the couch tonight. It’ll be more comfortable for you.”

“Already planned on it,” he said as I walked away.

I slept fitfully despite having the bed to myself. Even in my sleep, I was angry at Wayne. I couldn’t believe he had actually accused me of cheating on him. I’d forgiven his initial reaction, figuring he’d said what he had out of fear for my safety after hearing I’d left. But I was struggling to forgive everything he’d said when he’d come home.

He could be such a stubborn ass at times.

Telling myself that didn’t ease the sting of his accusation, though. Baby-hungry uterus? Who said that? A man afraid of kids, that’s who. The anger and bitterness continued to climb until I gave up sleeping at dawn and got out of bed to use the bathroom.

Wayne didn’t move on the couch as I let myself downstairs. He snored with the ease of an untroubled soul, which only annoyed me more.

In the basement, I started the process of sorting through clothes. Some of it was too cute to giveaway yet. I removed a few items too impractical to keep, like a tiny dress with more frills and ruffles than a quinceanera gown. The fey probably wouldn’t trade for it, but there was no harm in trying.

With six items neatly packed away in a plastic bag, I went upstairs to start breakfast. At the first clang of the pot, Wayne roused and joined me in the kitchen. He didn’t apologize for being a dumbass, though, so I remained quiet.

Breakfast proceeded like the day before, and as soon as the dishes were in the sink, I grabbed the bag of clothes.

“You’re not going back there,” Wayne said, noticing.

“You’re telling me you don’t want me to do my part?”

“No, do your part. Here. With your own kind.”

Grandma muttered “pigheaded” under her breath as she washed. The others hurried to clear out of the house.

“There’s no food here, Wayne. I’m not going to pass up the opportunity to trade for food because you’re insecure.”

“I’m not insecure. I’m disgusted. Unless you walked, you let one of them touch you. You leave again, and I won’t be able to ignore that. You leave, and we’re done.”

I could see in his eyes that he meant every word he was saying, and a sick feeling settled in my stomach. Anger, fear, and unimaginable hurt consumed me.

“Can you even hear yourself? You’re telling me to choose between you and food?”

“I guess I am. Or maybe I’m asking you to choose between me and living here. Let’s move to another house filled with people more able to carry their weight. There’d be no need to trade then.”

Grandma snorted.

“Do you have any idea how stupid you sound? How do you think Bram and Bobby return from those supply runs with food? The fey. That’s how. The big men touch every single item, packing it up and carrying it to the trucks, then unpacking it again when it gets here. Bram and Bobby are only there to point out what’s useful. Stop being a hypocrite. What Terri is doing is just as useful. Why do you always have to find ways to put her down?” Grandma turned on me. “Honey, even at the end of the world, you could do a lot better than this man.”

I blinked at the intensity in Grandma’s voice.

Wayne snorted. “Spoken like a true man-hater.”

Grandma threw the rag in the water and stalked off to her bedroom, leaving Wayne and me alone.

“You leave, then don’t bother coming back.”

I calmly put on my jacket and walked out the door.