Total pages in book: 114
Estimated words: 110757 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 554(@200wpm)___ 443(@250wpm)___ 369(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 110757 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 554(@200wpm)___ 443(@250wpm)___ 369(@300wpm)
Stay on your knees, I silently beg him. Let Pax have his win.
Marcus spits out a mouthful of blood, looking up at Pax. “You’re a lot tougher with your goon holding a hostage.”
He gets back on his feet and I exhale softly.
“I can do this all day.” Pax’s smile is bright.
He pulls his arm back again, preparing to strike, and I blurt, “What do you want, Pax? We wouldn’t be alive if you wanted us dead.”
A humorless note of laughter rumbles out of his chest. “Now you’re humble? It’s a little late for that, don’t you think?”
He moves in front of me. From nearby, someone’s breath hitches.
“You touch her and I’ll kill you,” Marcus says, his tone lethal.
The ground rumbles beneath us, my lips parting with surprise. Marcus hasn’t connected with endoliths since the night I killed Virginia, and his aromium was on then.
“You’re killing all of us, anyway,” Pax says to Marcus. “Might as well take you guys with us.”
“Your choice,” Marcus says levelly. “Put so much as a finger on her and you’re a dead man.”
Pax turns his attention back to me. “Never saw you as the spineless sort, Briar. He manipulated you and lied to you, and you’re still bobbing his knob?”
Sweat rolls down my face, a second of silence passing when I refuse to answer.
“Enough of your shit,” Nova snaps. “We’re here for Ellison.”
Pax sighs dramatically and turns. “What a fucking lovefest you guys have going over there. Just so you know, we haven’t hurt her, and we won’t, as long as we get what we want.” He pauses, enjoying the spotlight. “It’s only three things.” He puts a finger up and counts off each one. “Your supplies, your weapons, and Briar.”
I keep my breathing steady even though my pulse is pounding. Tiders shuffle and whisper, apparently just learning about Pax’s master plan. I have to admit, I didn’t see this coming. I wonder if Theron is the real mastermind, though.
“Half our supplies,” Marcus counters. “That’s it.”
Theron lowers the knife from Ellison’s throat to her arm, where he uses the razor-sharp tip to open a cut down the length of her arm. She doesn’t react as blood blooms out of the line, but Nova’s guttural wail guts me. Chance and Wyatt are holding her back, Chance saying something in her ear.
Ellison’s eyes stay locked on her wife as Theron shoves her to the ground and kicks her in the side. She cries out and curls up.
Nova lets out a roar that makes my blood run cold. Rage burns in her eyes, sweat gleaming on the dark skin over the corded muscles in her neck and back. That kick hurt her as much as it hurt Ellison.
“What the fuck was that for?” Marcus demands. “This is a negotiation.”
Pax shrugs. “My people don’t like seeing me insulted.”
“You can have half of our supplies,” Marcus repeats. “I’ll give you half of our fresh produce and livestock, too.”
The Tiders murmur at the mention of the food. Pax glares at Marcus, his aggravation evident.
“You want your doctor back, you give me what I want,” he snaps. “It’s not a negotiation. You can walk out of here with her dead or alive; it’s your choice. Your supplies, your weapons, and Briar.”
“Don’t, Marcus!” Ellison cries from the ground.
Theron picks her up by her hair, lifting her upper body from the ground like she’s nothing more than a rag doll. Blood trails from her fingertips to the ground. He drives a knee into her stomach and I cringe.
“Marcus!” Nova yells. “They’ll kill her!”
Marcus’s gaze stays locked onto Pax. He raises his voice so everyone can hear him.
“What do you gain if we walk out of here with Ellison’s body? Your people are starving to death and I’m offering enough grain, produce, and meat to keep you fed for months. You’ll have seeds for your own garden. Chickens and cows to breed.”
“I want all of it.” Pax sneers at him. “And your weapons, and her.”
“No. I’m not giving you any of my people. Half our supplies and half our weapons. That’s my final offer.”
Pax feigns amazement, looking at Nova. “Damn. That’s gotta be a tit punch. He’ll kill me if I touch his girlfriend, but he’s okay with your girlfriend dying.”
Nova’s looking at Marcus with simmering rage that could boil over at any moment. She’s reacting exactly the way Pax wanted her to. He’s shrewder than we gave him credit for.
“It’s a fair offer,” Marcus says.
“Or”—Pax points at him—“we kill all of you now and go take everything.”
Marcus nods slightly, staying stone cold. “Do what you need to do.”
Nova swears, turning away. I regret bringing her; she’s too close to this situation.
It’s all I can do to keep my breathing steady. Controlling my emotions is the only way to keep the plants at bay. It wouldn’t help anything if they came to my rescue, and it could very well hurt us.