Page 27 of Barbarian Daddies

I only wish I had some sympathy left, but right now, I have none. The Sky Tribe took Cynthia. A mission that was supposed to be discrete, quick, and effective turned out to be a bloody group execution. We didn’t stand a fucking chance.

“I’ll burn that whole city to the ground,” I growl, glancing back at Sapphire City, defiantly rising against the night with its blue defense walls and burning torches. “I’ll burn it all.”

“We need that city,” Kai bluntly reminds me. “No, we’ll get her back, Maur. We will.”

“How?”

“I’m not sure yet. We need to find another way in there. We need men. We need men we can trust.”

We both look at Dahlen, probably thinking the same thing. Fucking useless. “You’re right,” I tell Kai, my gaze never leaving our cousin. “We need good men.”

Dahlen nods slowly, finally understanding the magnitude of his failure. “I’m so sorry.”

“Tell Cynthia that,” I shoot back.

Kai pats my shoulder. “Hey, cut it out. Help me with my wound or I’ll bleed to death before we can do anything to get Cynthia back.”

I don’t know how we’re going to get her back. Selina knows who we are. She deemed us so unworthy and unnecessary, she didn’t even bother to have us killed with the rest of our crew. Instead, she laughed in our faces and sent us packing with our tails between our fucking legs. How humiliating is that? Oh, but that was her biggest mistake. Underestimating us.

She may have bigger guns and more men, yet we’ve managed to keep the Sky Tribe off our territories for long enough to prove we’re not to be trifled with.

The only reason she hit us so hard tonight is because she knew we were coming. She was prepared. Whether it was the drones or a traitor, we’ll find out. And if it’s the latter, I’ll catch the fucker and tear his spine out. Until then, however, we have to save Cynthia. We have to get her out of that wretched city before the Sky Tribe do unspeakable things to her.

I can’t let that happen.

12

Cynthia

My head hurts.

I haven’t felt this way since my last serious hangover. Cotton in my mouth, pins and needles in my throat, and a throbbing headache that makes even the simplest act of blinking into a formidable feat.

“Motherf…” My voice trails as I manage to look around me, registering as much of the room as I possibly can at first glance.

White walls. White marble floor with gold veins threading across. The bed feels soft and comfortable, covered in silk sheets with fine embroidery. I smell incense and plums—the scent leads my gaze over to a table in the middle of the room. There’s food. Candles and incense burning. A pitcher of fresh water.

Well, at least they don’t want me starving.

“Of course, they don’t want me starving,” I mutter and sit up, instantly regretting the decision. “They don’t want me starving ‘cause they want me to make lots and lots of Sky Tribe babies.”

There’s a sofa close to a wide window, white curtains billowing in the sea breeze. I might try to get out through there. I get out of bed and walk over, quickly dismayed upon observing the metal bars on the window. There’s no way I’m getting out through there.

“Fuck.”

The wardrobe is stocked with dresses and lingerie—the finest I’ve seen in a long time and likely too big for my size, but some of the loose-looking stuff might work with a waist belt or something. There are shoes, too. Sandals. Leather boots. The vanity table by the bathroom door has drawers filled with handmade pomades and makeup, essential oils and wonderfully aromatic fragrances. And the bathroom is spacious enough to host an entire spa.

I’m supposed to have all the comfort and the pampering in this gilded cage, clearly.

But it will not replace my freedom.

Glancing down, I notice I’m still in my dress, albeit barefoot and covered in bruises. I did try to flee. “Oh, my face!” I gasp upon seeing myself in a mirror. The whole side is red, my cheek bruised and swelling. “That bitch has a mean left hook.”

At least I still have all my teeth. She could’ve done a lot worse.

Where is she? When are they coming for me? These aren’t the kind of questions I wish I had to ask, and frankly, I don’t think I want to know the answer unless it’s “as far away from me as possible”. The front door opens wide while I spin on my heels and see Selina walk in.

She’s even prettier up close, in an evil bitch kind of way.

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