Hostile Genus: An Epic Military Sci-Fi Series (Invasive Species Book 2) Ben Stevens (best contemporary novels txt) 📖

“Since when do we explain ourselves to our food, lover?”  Sofia interrupted.

Don Luis shot a look at his wife. Maya saw his eyes flash red.

“As I was saying.” He turned back to Maya. “Here in my city, we have established a true civilization. An equilibrium.”

“I admit I haven’t seen any sign of the savagery I witnessed in the desert,” Maya conceded. “Except for the obvious dichotomy between the upper and lower classes.” Another strawberry and a small wedge of cheese disappeared from Maya’s plate.

“I see.” Don Luis’s demeanor showed a sudden gentleness.

He raised his right hand and shrugged. “What can I say? One’s material worth is a reflection of one’s value and one’s contribution to one’s society. The humans are lazy, wretched, and simple-minded and care not to improve their lot. Without us to guide and protect them, they surely would degenerate to the level of dogs, eating what scraps they can find, copulating in the street, and licking their own asses.”

Maya heard Sofia chortle quietly in her cup of blood.

“My most gracious host.” Maya raised her head, looking as regal as she could. “Have you forgotten that I am one of the lazy, wretched, simple-minded ones you speak of?”

“I sure as fuck haven’t,” Sofia mumbled.

Don Luis bolted up onto his feet and slammed his palms on the table. The dishes and candelabras rattled, and the flowers in their vases swayed as if in a gentle breeze, but no soft wind came from the enraged Don.

“Must I banish you to your chamber as if you were no more than a disobedient bitch that sneaks meat from its master’s table?” His eyes glowed bright red, and he attempted in no way to hide his anger. Maya thought that, in his mind, he must be an imposing sight, but to her, he looked no different than any other bully she had ever seen. A Latin vampiric Warbak, and nothing more.

Sofia slowly opened her mouth, the light from the room’s hundred candles gleaming off her golden teeth. She hissed so quietly, Maya could barely hear it. After a moment, Sofia closed her mouth and lowered her eyes and slowly stood up.

“Sit back down,” Don Luis ordered. Sofia, still looking down, hesitated.

“Must I stay and suffer insult while you treat this meat as our equal?” Sofia asked, the trembling edge of hate clear in her voice.

Don Luis seemed to consider his options, rapping his fingers on the surface of the table. Then, when the silence was beginning to make Maya feel like a little worm on a big hook, he spoke.

“No, go ahead and leave, Sofia. Your insulting behavior to our guest disgusts and embarrasses me. Leave now, while you still can.” His voice had returned to a normal volume, but the cruelty in it no longer rang with amusement, but instead dripped with ice, giving Maya the chills.

Sofia did as bidden, but not without first locking eyes with Maya. There was a promise in those red eyes, heavy with makeup and framed by the sharp swoops of drawn eyebrows—a promise of pain to come. Maya played it off coolly, doing her best to channel Lucy.

Don Luis watched his wife walk away and visibly calmed himself as he once again tried to pour on the faux charm.

“I apologize for that outburst. I simply cannot abide by Sofia’s behavior. Her blatant racism would make us out no better than the wild ones you say you met on the way here. I prefer a higher standard of conduct. We have a good relationship with the humans here.” He paused as he sat back down, seeming to suddenly have a thought that derailed his current train of thought.

“I must ask—and I beg your pardon—but you say you witnessed savagery in the desert from the wild ones?” He rested his left hand on his chin and looked at Maya. “It is my understanding that the wild ones never willingly pass up the chance to eat. How exactly did a traveling musician and her tiny troupe come to avoid this grim fate while still being in close enough proximity to know the savages for what they were?”

Maya instantly regretted having said anything, and shifted uncomfortably in her seat as she slowly chewed on a grape, using the food to buy her a little time to fabricate a response.

“We were fortunate to have come across them mere moments before dawn. They left us before they could overtake us in fear of the sun’s rays. We put a good distance between us during the day. The four-wheeled machine and the hoverboard can go fairly fast when they need to.” Maya looked into Don Luis’s eyes—which had stopped glowing—as she spoke.

Believe it. Believe it.

“Fortunate indeed.” Don Luis smiled and sipped from his goblet once more, tipping it back and finishing it.

“Have you eaten enough, Señorita? I would take the air with you, if it pleases you.” He offered his hand as he rose.

“Yes, I am satisfied, and I would be delighted to join you.” Relieved that her deception remained intact, Maya decided to play interested, to use Don Luis’s arrogance to her advantage. She had learned some about the nature of this city, but she needed to learn more. It was already becoming clear that she might not be able to simply procure supplies and move on after her performance, and furthermore, if there were humans suffering here, she felt driven to do something about it.

Apparently pleased with her response, Don Luis took her hand in his and held it up in the air at a comfortable height for her, escorting her out of the banquet hall through a door opposite from the one she had entered. It was not lost on Maya that Lucy would not know she was leaving with Don Luis, but it was too late to do anything about that.

They left the banquet hall and entered an antechamber with passages leading both upstairs and downstairs, as well as outside. Maya looked