Page 72 of Come Fill Me

“She’s safe,” Zeke said.

Chapter Twelve

What had she done? How could she have been so stupid?

Kele could barely see past her tears but couldn’t stop crying. She’d only wanted Jacob, not the entire world as Carreon did. Not peace the older ones had craved for too long. Not even the kind of happiness Zeke had clearly found with Liz. Just another moment with Jacob…a chance to make him love her.

She’d wanted to believe that bringing Liz back to Carreon would allow everything to return to the way it had been. She’d hoped—

A barrage of gunfire from Carreon’s men interrupted her thoughts.

The man behind Kele tightened his grip on her hair, using her as a human shield as he and his men stood single file behind her, inching their way deeper into the stronghold.

Kill me, please,Kele’s mind cried to her people.Don’t let Carreon’s men hurt anyone else.

The memory of Samuel clutching his bloodied knees, his face contorted in pain, forced an anguished cry from Kele. She’d waited for Carreon’s men to kill Samuel, knowing he couldn’t crawl away to safety, much less stand and run. They hadn’t bothered to put him out of his misery. It was as though they’d relished his pain. One of Carreon’s men had simply kicked Samuel’s weapon away so he couldn’t get to it, leaving him helpless and bleeding out. His agony would be unbearable until he lost consciousness and died.

“Where’s Liz?” the man behind her said. He yanked Kele’s hair, demanding her attention. “Which room?”

They’d reached the end of the first hall. On the way down it, Carreon’s men had shot open the locks of the doors on either side of them. After kicking them open, they sprayed the areawith bullets. Not that it mattered. All the rooms were empty.

Zeke’s men must have taken the women, children, and the elderly males to one of the safe areas, just as they’d drilled for in the past. Kele recalled how one of the younger women had bitched about the constant preparations.

“It’s not like anyone can ever get in here,” the girl had said. “Just us. So why do we have to keep doing this?”

To protect their clan from one of their own who’d betrayed them. Kele wondered if Zeke had known that. Had he seen what she’d done in his visions? If he had, why hadn’t he stopped her?

Tears rolled down her cheeks. Her throat tightened to the point that she couldn’t breathe, her chest hitching as she strained to pull in enough air.

“Which way?” the man behind her demanded.

To the left. Kele had taken that route to Jacob’s room countless times before. Always, she’d worried that he wouldn’t be alone. His door would be closed, and she’d hear him loving another woman inside. She’d heard him with Liz and needed it to stop. A small part of her wanted him to pay for not cherishing her. But not like this. Never like this.

“To the right,” she lied.

The man let go of her hair and gripped her neck. “You’re sure?” he asked then squeezed her throat as Carreon had done.

Kele’s hands flew up, instinct driving her to fight him while shame and sorrow told her to stop. To remain still. To die.

Her lungs burned from lack of air. Her mind begged,Kill me, please.

It was the only possible outcome now because she’d never lead them to Jacob. Nor would she take them to Liz. If Kele survived this, she’d have them traveling in circles until Zeke’s men picked them off one by one like the insects they were.

His fingers dug into her windpipe. “Are. You. Still. Sure?”

The edges of her vision dimmed. Unable to speak, Kelecontinued to lie with a nod.

The man released her throat. Grabbing her hair once more, he shoved her to the left.

She cried out, the sound raspy. “No,” she said as loud as she could. “You’re going the wrong way.”

“We’ll see,” he said, pushing her forward, using her for protection as his men followed.

Liz pressed her ear to the door, listening for more gunfire, men’s shouts, someone—anyone—approaching.

Blood pounded in her ears, muting all other sounds.

She pushed away, running her hands down the wood, searching for a latch or some kind of release that would get the damn thing to open. No way was she going to stay in here while Jacob or Zeke got hurt.

---