“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.”