Page 431 of Once Upon a Fable

I shuddered, feeling a billow of temper rising.

Gemma noticed my curling hands and shoved the bag of food into them. The weight and heat distracted me from my thoughts as she put the car into gear and drove away from the building. Grease stains already appeared on the paper bag, making me curious.

“Go on then.” She smiled. “Eat something.”

My stomach snarled and mouth watered, but I didn’t open it. Anger still swirled in my gut. Impotence and lack of ability to survive in this new world drowned me. How the fuck was I supposed to show her I cared when I didn’t know how to exist out here? How was I supposed to protect her when she was the one protecting me? How was I supposed to provide for her when I didn’t have a magical plastic card and not a single goddamn dollar to my name?

Crushing the bag in my hands, I growled, “Keep a tally.”

“Excuse me?” She pulled the car into a parking space and shut off the engine. Prying my hands off the bag, she opened it and scooped out a burger, fries, and sipped on a large drink with a straw.

“Whatever you spend on me. I want you to keep track. I’m going to pay you back. Someday. Somehow.”

She frowned as she placed a fry into her mouth. It reminded me of the fries I’d made her when she was still trapped in my basement. The pride I’d felt watching her eat food I’d planted, harvested, and prepared had filled my chest to bursting.

Now it was just hollow because someone else had grown, harvested, and prepared the food she swallowed.

It stripped my worth as a man.

It made me completely fucking worthless, and I had no idea how I would ever pay her back.

“I’m not keeping track, Kas.” She chewed and sipped again. “It’s my pleasure to take care of you. I want to pay—”

“And I don’t like it.” I grabbed the last burger in the bag, unwrapped it, and sank my teeth into it.

My taste buds exploded.

An involuntary groan crawled up my throat.

All the bland, basic meals I’d ingested for the past decade faded into nothing compared to the detonation of salt, sour, sweet, and savory.

“Holy shit, this is good.” I tore off another mouthful, forgetting all my rules about rationing and giving in to the demands to eat more, more.

Gemma laughed under her breath. “I’m glad you like it. Better than the hospital food, huh?” She unwrapped her own burger. “And for the record, I get that you’ll feel strange about me supporting you, but honestly, you’re giving me so much in return. You’re my friend, my lover, and if I can give you back a resemblance of a life that was stolen from you, then it’s my absolute honor.”

I swallowed my bite and wiped my mouth with the back of my hand. Temper still fizzed in my blood, but I did my best to calm it. I appreciated her selflessness. I loved her all the more because of it. But...I’d already taken far too much from this woman. Eventually, she’d grow to despise me if I leeched off her after everything I’d done in the valley.

Catching her eyes as she took a dainty bite, I said sternly, “I’ll eat what you buy me. I’ll take the drugs your doctors prescribe me. I’ll do my best to learn how to fit in with the rest of my species, and I’ll never take for granted the shelter you provide or the kindness you give me, but Gem...Iwillpay you back. I’ll give you back every single penny I cost you.”

She opened her mouth to argue, but my voice slipped past stern and went cold. “No arguments, Gemma. I wouldn’t be here if it wasn’t for you. You’ve already done more for me than anyone. By asking me to keep taking from you...that isn’t fair on me. Back in the valley, I took from you, but at least I provided for you as well. We weren’t ever equals—I’d made sure of that when I trapped you—but at least I knew my place. I knew how to survive, and I had things to offer, but out here...I’m nothing and no one. And you deserve everything andsomeone. Someone who can make your life easier, not the other way around.” I lowered my burger and reached across the space to cup her cheek. “Promise me, right here and now, that one day, youwilllet mepay you back.”

She pressed her cheek deeper into my palm. “And if I don’t promise?”

I lowered my touch. “Then I can’t eat this.” I looked at the burger in my lap. “I can’t go home with you.” I glanced at the door handle and the parking lot full of bright, awful buildings. Not a tree or flower in sight. No birds singing, no insects humming, only cars whizzing by with pollution fumes.

There had been lots of terrible things about my valley, but...I fucking missed it.

I missed the simplicity of foraging and understanding my place.

I missed feeling like I had control over my life and could extend or end it whenever I damn well wanted.

Out here...fuck, I wouldn’t survive out here on my own.

I knew that.

But I also couldn’t let Gemma become my new master. A master who collared me better than Storymaker because she shackled me with love and affection instead of pain and degradation.

I wanted to be hers but not in that way. I wanted to adore her because we were equals, not because I was so far indebted I could never be free.