“It’s healthy to get up when the moon sets,” Evan informed me.


    “You miss the sun rise if you stay in bed. You must get up when we get up.”


    “I thought you said I wasn’t your ve,” I said trying to reason with him. “I like to sleep after the sun has


    risen. Couldn’t you just tell the Cleaners not toe and leave me at home to sleepte and be by


    myself?”


    Evan looked at me with a raised eyebrow. “Then you would be ill,” he informed me. “Getting up


    and going to the Keepers is good for you. You require thepanionship and exercise. The family


    must stay healthy and strong. Don’t worry, Ciara, we know what you need and will provide it for you.”


    His argument was rock solid as far as he was concerned. The same argument applied to my morning


    enema and the plug. I needed those things. He’d only not done it in the mountains because Nu-reeh


    discouraged them from touching me after the birth. Every ve in thepound had those thing, I


    should too.


    I tried Like hell to convince Evan I did not need what he thought I did but he disagreed. If I wasn’t


    regrly prepared it would hurt me when he and his Brothers used me. He had to do the cleaning to


    use the preparation plug. It was a chain of necessary events.


    The idea I might not want to do those things didn’t even ur to Evan. When I mentioned it, he


    scoffed. He had seen me take pleasure many times while Bane used my ass. I didn’t know what I


    Liked, they did. My family would see to it and keep me happy.


    It was so frustrating. They had said I was free, but they still made all my decisions for me. I realized


    that was because they had been taught by trusted sources how to care for a human. Since they


    believed what they were doing was best for me, they would keep doing it. The only difference was now


    they did it out of love and not just a desire to have the healthiest ve.


    A N G E L A ‘s L I B R A R Y


    Right on schedule, I was taken to the Keepers. My girl friends and all the other ves were eager to


    talk. Everyone wanted to know what had happened to my baby. We had to be very careful that


    someone distracted the Keepers while I told them the story.


    I could have lied to the other ves, but I didn’t. There were Large parts I left out, but I wasn’t


    dishonest. Since we had so little else, I thought mypanions should at least get some of the truth.


    The women had taken me, I told them. I was held until I gave birth. My daughter was born strong and


    considered to be of this world. She grew quickly, much faster than a human child. Once she no longer


    needed me the women left me in the mountains for the men to find.


    “How did you get pregnant, though?” Rose asked.


    I had to exin the health drink was contraceptives, which my fake owners had stopped giving me. We


    weren’t supposed to breed. That relieved a great deal of tension. They were all afraid that if it could


    happen to me, it might happen to them. No one wanted to have children they would have to give up.


    I left outrge chunks of information. I never told them the women were in charge. The way the world


    ran wasn’t discussed. I shared only the basics of what had happened to me specifically.


    When the Lunch bell rang, I was d I could stop talking for a little while. The morning had been


    stressful. I walked with everyone to the lunch room, but my kneeling ce wasn’t there.


    “It’s in the courtyard,” Fuji hissed quietly taking her ce.


    I walked head down toward the spot they used to leave my kneeling ce. Men were alreadying in


    as I found my spot. I knelt down and waited, presumably for Christof.


    “Hello, Little Sister,” Bane greeted me quietly.


    It was surprising to see him and I stood up quickly. He grabbed my kneeling ce tucking it under his


    arm and strode purposefully out the doorway in the wall. He greeted the other mening in and


    headed into the forest.


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    Once we were out of sight of the other men, Bane slowed his stride and walked beside me. He looked


    down at me with a small smile on his face. Instinctively I reached out and took his hand, which seemed


    to please him.


    He took me into the forest in a direction I hadn’t travelled with Christof. Unlike the way we usually went


    this way was obscured with branches that Bane Lifted out of my way.


    “That’s beautiful,” I suddenly said as the growth parted naturally. The light stter of falling water came


    from right in front of us.