Page 2 of Cruel Crown

“In her tent?” I said lamely, careful not to open my mouth and reveal the blade that was on my tongue.

“Funny, other than us, you were the only person who knew?”

“Maybe she got bombed?” I shrugged.

He looked at his partner and then at me. His eyes slid down my body, noticing I was naked. He looked back at his partner. “El sabe algo.”

I knew something.

Daphne knew I would never rat, and not because of any type of loyalty I felt toward her, but because if someone was making the bitch pay, it was me and not them. So, if I didn’t talk, they had no use for me, and if I were of no use to them, then they would want me dead. I was alone, just me, myself, and fucking I, so there was no one to have my back. It came with the territory of being a lone wolf.

Just as they made a move to get me, I brought my hand to my mouth and grabbed the small blade. When the guy came near me, I swiped it on his face, cutting across his cheek and upper lip.

“Hijo de puta,” he screeched.

I didn’t know how I got the strength, but I kicked him. As he fell, I got up and noticed my trousers on the edge of the bed from when I stashed the object I’d carried around my neck. Robinson pulled his piece out and pointed it at me.

“Adonde vas, cabron?”

I raised my hands. “Just putting my jeans on, mate.”

He allowed me that much, but as soon as the trousers were on, I lunged for him, knowing it was my best chance. He matched me in hand-to-hand combat, getting more blows in since I was still feeling disorientated. We fell to the floor, my back hitting the edge of the bed, making me howl in pain. I threw his gun across the tent, which saved me from getting my brains blown off. With the blade in my hand, I tried slicing his throat, but I was weak, and he was over me in a second.

He grabbed me by the throat and brought his hand down from my brow bone to part of my lid when another grenade exploded close to us, causing the tent to collapse. It was sink or swim time, so I elbowed and kicked. I found the blade Daphne had tied me up with and a gun. I fired a shot for the sake of shooting as I pulled my way out of the tent.

Robinson was still down, and I hoped one of the bullets had at least grazed him. With the chaos around, I ran for the dark part of the jungle, knowing that was my best chance of survival.

When someone turned to look at me, I didn’t think, I just shot, and now, here I was in the dark with everyone as the enemy.

I held on to my ribs as I gathered the strength to get up. If I could just make it to the river, I could have a fighting chance. At this point, going in the water and letting the water flow carry me out of here was my fastest option of getting some distance between us.

Five more minutes, then I would get up.

When I closed my eyes, I heard her. Fuck, I hated this. I hated when I was vulnerable because that’s when she crept in. Suddenly I was three years old again. You’d think I was too young to remember, but somehow it was still vivid. Sometimes some aspects were brighter than others. My childhood house was dark with only the light from the hall illuminating the room.

As soon as my parents heard the robbers breaking in, my dad went to check. When they shot him, my mom ran and hid me in her armoire. “Stay here, baby, and whatever you do, don’t come out.” Then she grabbed my cheeks lovingly with tears in her eyes and kissed them.

“No nos vamos de esta puta selva hasta que lo encontremos.” Robinson’s voice snapped me out of my memory. They wouldn’t be leaving the jungle until I was found.

The effects of the poison had worn off, but now the pain was getting stronger. I pushed myself off and kept walking carefully to stick to the darkness of the trees. My steps made more noise than I would have liked since I was putting most of my weight on one side. If it weren’t for the war that broke out, they would have found me already.

As I ran, I saw my mother through the opening in the armoire since she didn’t fully close it. I saw the man who smiled at her; the way he threw her on the bed.

Fuck.

Baby, close your eyes.

I closed my eyes as I ran, and that was my mistake. Acute pain was the first thing I felt in my nose as I got punched. The pain fucking burned. My already damaged eye took the burn of it all. I was in no condition to fight. I had barely any strength, and I fell backward.

“A donde vas?”Where are you going?the fucker who punched me mocked.

When I fell, my side hit a rock. My grunt pierced the air. They had me caged, and they knew it.

I stared up at the man who hit me, then Robinson came. He looked a bit bloodied but other than that, he was fine. He looked down at me, and with the little light from the moon, I could see he was smiling at me.

He pulled out a curved blade, and right away, I knew what his intentions were. Robinson liked to play with his food. He would start by using the tip to cut my neck, and then he would dig the blade until he pulled out the tongue from there. And as for me, I would scream like a little bitch before I bled out.

“Donde esta la puta?”

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