Page 84 of Shelter (The Wanderers 4)

York nodded. “We’ll have to intercept her on the day she’s meant to be married.”

Haley gasped. That window was so narrow. And risky. “How would you know what day that might be?”

Eldin smirked. “They’ll tell us themselves. The aristocracy advertises upcoming nuptials among the elite.”

“He’s right,” Bray agreed. “They’ll send out notices about three months in advance. Invitations closer to the date once they’ve determined her most fertile days. It’s…freaky.”

Haley swallowed. “I can’t believe how much you all know about what happens.”

Mykel shrugged. “We have connections. Spies. There’s a good chance Harmony’s mother is one of them. You said her name is Marian?”

Haley nodded.

York leaned his elbows on the table. “People are working inside the homes for girls who disagree with the inner workings of The Republic. You have to realize they aren’t members of the aristocracy. They’re fringe members of society.”

“People like me,” Storm pointed out.

“Exactly,” York agreed. “Word travels. That’s how we have these sketches.” He pointed to the blueprints on the table. “That’s also how we’ll know when they’re moving Harmony and where. It’s risky, but we’ll do it.”

Mykel nodded. “He’s right.” He reached across the table to grip Rush’s shoulder. “Without Marian, we wouldn’t have Rush back with us. We owe her.”

Blane glanced at Rush. “I wish you had a clue where you were kept for three months. I’m hoping you can identify the prison based on some sketches. That will help us know where that girls’ home keeps their backup plans.”

Rush gasped next to Haley.

Braylon stepped closer and set his hands on Haley’s shoulders. “The girls’ home? I thought it was my mother who secretly hired the aristocracy to find a lookalike and hold him hostage?”

Eldin shook his head. “God no. She wouldn’t dirty her hands in that mess. The home does it themselves.”

“Why?” Haley asked.

Blane sighed. “They have statistics to maintain. They don’t sell women without a warranty.”

Haley gasped. “What do you mean?”

Mykel met her gaze. “They guarantee their brides will get pregnant in under a year. If they aren’t pregnant by six months, they send in someone else to make sure it happens.”

“Me,” Rush muttered. “So it wasn’t Bray’s family or his mother who had me kidnapped. It was the home?”

“Yep.” York nodded. “Each home has its own appearances to keep up. They aren’t selling a woman for her looks, her kitchen skills, or her fine educational attributes. They’re selling her uterus.”

Haley winced and set a hand over her belly. They’d certainly succeeded.

“Sorry,” York added in a softer tone. “Didn’t mean to sound so crass. It just makes me so angry.”

“It’s okay,” Haley said under her breath.

Rush held her hand tighter. “All this time when I was told I’d been sold, it hadn’t been to the Hansons. I’d been sold to the home for girls,” he muttered out loud.

Bray gripped her shoulders tighter. “It wasn’t my mother’s timetable,” he murmured. “No wonder she’s been acting so psychotic for the past six months. She would have preferred I impregnate Haley on my own.” Bray flinched. “Does this happen often? Does every estate in the aristocracy have a basement jail cell where they keep sperm donors?” Bray’s voice was cracking.

Haley couldn’t blame him. It was madness.

Eldin shook his head. “Honestly, not too often. The women who are sold as wives to the aristocracy have been medically determined to be in good reproductive health. Although some men in today’s society have a lower sperm count than decades ago, that’s not usually a huge issue. Just because men don’t have as many X chromosome sperm doesn’t mean they don’t have as many swimmers.”

Bray flinched at her back.

Eldin lifted his gaze to meet Braylon’s. “I don’t mean to make assumptions. I have no idea what your particular story is.” He glanced at the other men behind Haley and continued. “In a lot of households, someone else might also impregnate the wife. It’s not uncommon.”

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