Page 74 of Cruel Crown

I growled and continued to set up the bed while she got the rest of the tarps that went inside the tent and our blankets.

Daphne was inside fixing the other tarp that went on the inside when I crawled in and put the beds side by side. Making sure everything necessary was inside, I zipped us in.

Daphne removed her jacket, and so did I, only staying in our fleece bottoms and sleeves.

“We should rest. The game starts at dusk.”

“How long will it go on?”

“Anywhere from one day to three. Depends on how fast they move.”

Wasn’t that just fucking great? I grabbed some of the protein bars I had brought, and we drank some water. Checking my clock, we had about three hours before dusk.

“How’s the ribs?”

She lay back and took a deep breath. “They’re fine. I’m mostly just sore.”

Before she put the blanket over herself, I grabbed one of her feet and started to massage it, doing the same all over her leg and then the other one until she was panting.

“Are you okay, Petal?”

“My pussy is going to freeze from how wet I am,” she groaned.

I hated her.

“You’re really asking for it, love,” I warned her as I lay down next to her.

Sleep came easy for Daphne. I knew today had taken a toll on her, and it made me angry once more at how stubborn she was, but I was also proud. And it got me thinking about what she said last night and about everything she had told me since we’d met.

How fucked-up was it that she didn’t want to show one ounce of weakness, because that would mean that she got left behind, be useless, that she no longer had a purpose to those who were so-called family. I turned to look at her, watching the slow rise of her chest. Her nose was a little pink from the cold, and I wanted to reach out to touch her, but I knew if I did that, she would wake.

She looked young, and right now, she seemed somewhat fragile but not breakable, something like a grenade or a bomb. Fragile in the way that if she dropped, she would decimate a city when she fell.

Daphne was the strongest woman I knew. Not many men could handle a woman who knew her own mind. They got intimidated by the resilience and confidence. They couldn’t handle the fact that they didn’t need them, but if for some fucking miracle they stuck around, it meant they wanted you there.

I smiled to myself and pulled out the brooch I had been carrying around since Colombia. Another one of the artifacts she had been looking for.

Slowly I laid it on her pillow, and then I went outside because dusk had fallen, and the hunt had begun.

***

It was past midnight when I heard her coming out of the tent cursing. I ignored her as I tracked movements on the scope.

“Why didn’t—” She shut up when I raised my finger, motioning for her to be quiet.

“If we lose, it will be your fault because I had the shot lined up.”

“We’re going to lose,” she said matter-of-fact.

That made me stand from where I was laid on the ground. Daphne looked better, still beaten but not as tired. She held the brooch in her fingers, and I shrugged.

She sidestepped me and went to the sniper, lying down, her legs open at either side of me.

“Lord, give me patience because if I let go, I’ma break her from the fucking I’m going to give her.”

The fucking little bitch snorted, and then she fired. Our vest lit up, marking another hit for the black team.

Fuck this shit. She still owed me for my eye; I could finish bruising a rib or two.

---