Page 17 of Brutal Empire

My eyes widened.

“Cam,” Gideon said to me.

I would have preferred to talk to Daphne, but I knew she was always busy. My fingers gripped the steering wheel.

“Yes…” I replied.

“Push him off the car. We can tell Petal you found him dead.”

My mouth opened, but again, no words came out. I didn’t know if he was joking or not.

“Bye, G. I’ll call when I’m with Roman—or not.”

The call ended, and I almost wished it didn’t—or that Bastian passed out, but I could feel him staring.

“Cam.” He said the words as if tasting them out. “Is that the name you prefer?”

“Yes, Cam, short for Chameleon.”

My phone pinged, and he didn’t say more as he began to type in the location on the GPS I had set up in the car. It was military grade. It gave roads via satellite, so it wasn’t necessarily controlled by the data the government allowed people to have.

“In about fifteen kilometers, rejoin the main highway.” He stopped speaking to regain his breath. “Once you make it to the apartment, call the number and wait for further instructions.”

All I could do was nod.

“Cam…” He groaned as if it cost him to say my name. I couldn’t help it and turned to look at him.

“The person we are seeing is a man,” he wheezed.

Again, I couldn’t get any words out. Had he figured me out so quickly? He closed his eyes, and I turned to look at the road.

“I’ll be fine…thanks.”

A few seconds passed, and he didn’t answer. I turned to look at him once more, but he had passed out.

I was relieved.

But also grateful for the heads-up.

SEVEN

I triedto ignore the fact that there was an unconscious man sleeping mere inches from me. I tried to ignore the fact that we were essentially locked in a moving cage. My fingers still gripped the steering wheel because it was the only variable I could control.

Had I not been terrified of touching Bastian Kingsley, I would have offered to help give him first aid.

All of that didn’t matter.

I was currently parked by the end of the street. And the place we were supposed to go to was deep in the alley. I looked deep into the dark abyss, and my skin was immediately covered in goosebumps—déjà vu.

That was the thing about fear, wasn’t it? You didn’t need to remember it. At least not consciously, because every cell and pore in your body had absorbed the shock of something that had traumatized you, and looking inside the darkness, it was trying to tell me this was something I feared.

I feared many things, but death wasn’t one of them. It now seemed silly to fear something so peaceful and serene when living was so much worse. I’d much rather die on impact than live for the will of others—now, that was hell on earth.

Shaking my head, I knew I had to be quick. Bastian had lost blood, and he had to be dehydrated. I scanned the area, and it was quiet. Leaving the lights off, I made my way into the alley.

My heart began to thump. The fragments of the girl I used to be were trying to wake free as the car engulfed in darkness.

“Please! Let me go.”

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