Adrian needed time to think about what to do next. He pulled Zimmer off to the side.

  “Put her under,” he said.

  “Mr. Wiley,” Zimmer said. “I think we need to be very careful with the drugs. She’s in bad shape.”

  Adrian glared at him. “All right, fine. What do you suggest?”

  “I need to take her vitals, hook her up to a monitor, treat her like a real patient. I’ll need some equipment from the clinic.”

  “Do what you have to do. But if she gets hurt, I’m holding you responsible.”

  Once Teri was sedated, Adrian turned on Richard. “What the fuck did you do to her? I gave you one simple task, and you can’t even handle that.”

  Richard’s eyes narrowed. “I did what you told me to do, Adrian. I’m not a fucking babysitter.”

  Adrian shook his head. “Christ. Don’t you know how important she is? You’re the one who told me how strong she is, remember? Just because you’re a damper doesn’t mean you can do whatever you want with a mentalist. We’ve got to be smart.”

  Richard looked away.

  “Look,” Adrian said. “She’s not a slave. She’s one of us. Or she will be, once we explain to her how things work. But whatever you pulled, she thinks we’re the enemy now. You made my job a hundred times harder.”

  Richard turned back toward Adrian and growled. “I said I didn’t do anything. I was just sitting here and she woke up and went crazy. If you haven’t noticed, she’s a nutcase.”

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  Adrian opened his mouth … and saw Zimmer watching them.

  “We’ll talk about this later,” Adrian said. He glared at Zimmer. “Stay with her,” he said. “I want her ready to talk when I get back.”

  “Clara!” Adrian yelled. He stomped up the stairs of his house.

  Clara came running to meet him, bare breasts bouncing. She lowered her head, her strawberry-blonde hair falling forward to brush at the edges of her pale pink nipples. “Yes, sir?”

  “It’s been a hell of a day. I’m hungry. Fix me something to eat.” The French maid skirt was a little over the top, but then again, he could have anything he wanted, and that was what he wanted. Probably because it was over the top.

  He thought of the sad little girl in the basement, and wondered how long he was going to have to hide this side of himself from her. She’ll come around, he thought. It never took long for new arrivals to learn to love being a god. It was all about giving them what they didn’t know they wanted and waiting for them to become accustomed to it.

  George had been as liberal as they came when he first got here, but even he’d come around. If what she’d said about her father was any indication, Teri had plenty of reasons to hate normals.

  He sat down on the couch and removed his blazer and shoulder holster. Clara came in with a tray heaped with steaming bread, mutton, potatoes, and grapes.

  “Grapes first,” he said. She smiled at him.

  He smiled back. Clara was exquisite. It was too bad she was a normal. She had been difficult at first, but then she had been quite young. She’d taken the loss of her parents in the Event pretty hard. But now she appreciated her privileges. A slave would do almost anything to avoid the mines.

  “Ah, my dear, dear, Clara.” He unbuckled his belt as she approached. She held the grapes up by the stem and straddled him, lowering herself onto him with a moan. She dangled the grapes above his mouth, but he shoved them away, opting for her breast instead. She gasped and rocked back and forth, taking full advantage of his good mood.

  When they were finished, he smiled at her. “I want to watch you eat the grapes, my dear,” he said, as he took the first bite of his mutton. Her eyes brightened. She did love her rewards.

  Like lambs to the slaughter, he thought. Sated, he decided to catch a nap until Teri woke up again. Couldn’t hurt to be as well rested as his prey.