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)
Pax shakes his head when he sees us coming.
“What the fuck did you guys do?” he demands.
Neither one of them responds. Pax advances on them, shoving the bald one. “Answer me! What did you do?”
The man stumbles back, nearly falling. He scowls and bites out, “We were hungry.”
“Everyone’s fucking hungry!” Pax rages. “You fucked all of us! You selfish fucks.”
He turns away, hands on his hips, and I think he’s going to retreat when he instead turns back and throws a punch, hitting the bald man square in the face. His nose breaks with a crunching sound.
Then he goes to the other man, who tucks his chin to his chest and cowers.
“Take it like a man,” Pax grumbles, hitting him in the stomach instead.
This could all be for show. I’m not taking any chances.
“Get on your knees,” I order. “All three of you.”
The redheaded guy is already on his knees, still trying to suck in air after the blow to his gut. The others drop down, Pax glaring murderously at the two thieves.
“Where’s Theron?” I ask.
Pax is the only one looking at me. The other two are staring at the ground.
“I’d tell you if I knew,” Pax says.
“Red Beard, where’s Theron?” I demand.
“How the fuck should I know?”
I shoot at the ground a few feet from him, the bullet kicking up dust and ash. He flinches.
“I don’t fucking know! We took the food from the kitchen because we were hungry last night. We cooked the eggs and ate them and hid the beef jerky in our room. That’s all I know.”
I lock my eyes onto Nova’s. She gives no indication of what she’s thinking.
“You broke a camp rule and the punishment is death,” I say. “It can be quick if you tell us where Theron is.”
“I don’t know,” the bald man says. “Look, I’m sorry. We took the food, but that’s it.”
I glance at Nova. “Do you believe them?”
Her slight nod confirms what my gut is telling me. It’s not the outcome I wanted.
Marcus wouldn’t hesitate. Neither would my dad. Even though this decision isn’t really a decision, I know it will cost me something. I brought these men here, though. I told them the rules—and the consequences for breaking them.
“Dion. Grady,” I say flatly. “You disrespected the people in this camp when you stole food. You know the punishment.”
“Briar.”
I look at Pax, whose gaze is steady and knowing.
“They’re my people. I’ll do it.”
“I’m not giving you a gun, Pax.”
He shrugs. “I don’t need one.”
Dion is crying softly. I hate being in this position, but I put myself here. I could have followed Nova’s decision not to let the Tiders in.
I pushed for this, though, and the reality of leadership is setting in. It’s heavy.
Both men have their heads bowed. I fire a bullet into Dion’s head first, and then Grady’s.
Their bodies drop to the ground. It’s the first time I’ve killed someone who wasn’t trying to hurt or kill me. The difference is massive.
Pax is still on his knees. I motion for him to stand and he does. Niran’s eyes are wide with disbelief. Nova nods and takes out her radio.
“I’ll bury them,” I say, knowing she’s about to call people to do it.
“You sure?”
I nod. “Pax and I will do it.”
When it’s just Pax and me, tying the ankles of the bodies together so we can drag them more easily, he studies me.
“What?” I ask.
“You okay?”
I meet his eyes, unflinching. “You wouldn’t ask a man that.”
“Depends on the man.”
“No, it doesn’t. You’re assuming because I’m a woman that I feel bad about it, but I don’t.”
I tied Grady’s ankles tightly, leaving myself a long section of rope to drag his body with, but it’s still like trying to move a boulder. Pax is dragging Dion’s body without much effort.
“I can get both,” he offers.
“No.” I dig my boots into the ground, seeking traction. “I’m fine.”
I put the rope over one of my shoulders, using my back to pull. I’m moving slowly, but moving.
“Still want to kill me?” I ask Pax.
He tried to call me into the circle for a fight to the death after I killed Virginia that way. Marcus wouldn’t let him do it.
“I never wanted to kill you,” he answers.
I scoff. “Liar. When you wanted to trade Ellison for me, it was so you could kill me.”
“That was just me messing with Marcus’s head.”
We walk in silence for a few minutes, me huffing and puffing with exertion as we cross camp with the bodies.
“You trust me,” Pax says.
“I do?”
He lifts a shoulder in a shrug. “I could easily kill you right now if I wanted to.”
“Maybe. But you’d die for it. Maybe what I trust is that you want to keep breathing.”
His lips quirk in a grin. “I miss that sharpness. I never wanted you to leave our camp.”