Page 120 of Breaker

“You will not touch me. You will not threaten me. You will not come within five fucking feet of me. You will refuse to marry me, claiming you don’t want to marry a Julian,” I say. “Call it off and never come near me again.”

“He won’t believe that.”

“No?” I ask. “Papa would hate to hear that his trusted second, the man he let into his company, the man he trusted as if he were his own family, hid that he conspired with the enemy.”

His chest rises and falls, breaths coming faster and faster as panic sets in. “I didn’t know.”

I bolt up, hands slapping down on the desk as I lean over it, rage searing my veins. “Bullshit, Zane.”

He pales.

“You knew exactly what you were doing when you plotted with my mother to destroy Rune’s family.”

Chapter 36

Breaker

15 years ago, September, Age 13

“Was it bad?

He nods.

“Scary?”

“Worse.”

“How did you guys survive?”

“A cave. Not really a cave, just an alcove in some rocks. We headed west. There’s a large rock formation tucked away in the foothills a few miles before you reach the lodge. It has a water trickling through the rocks in the back, near the floor. It’s safe to drink.”

“That’s where you slept?”

Hunter nods again.

“When it’s your turn, when you go, don’t let fear take over. Remember it’s a test of your skills. To see who is strong enough to survive.

“But—

“You already know he’ll do anything for you. The second you land, kill him. Make it quick and clean. Do it before he even knows it’s coming.”

“I can’t kill Vi—”

“Don’t drag it out, Breaker. Viper will do anything for you. Including this.”

***

We stop next to a creek and stare down at the shimmering water. It looks clear, but looks can be deceiving. I lick my parched lips, my tongue running over the dry flesh. We’ve not had water in over twenty-four hours and it’s wearing us down.

My body feels sluggish, tired, weak, my muscles sore. Dehydration would be a terrible way to go. Maybe that’s why Fallon always gives us water when he puts us in solitary.

“Do you think it’s safe to drink?” Striker asks Viper. His eyes look a little sunken and he’s rubbing his Adam’s apple like he’s imagining what that water would feel like moving down his throat.

“We have no way of knowing until we try it,” Viper says from next to me, his gaze following the thin trickle of water to the west. It’s the first water source we’ve come across. “If we get sick from it, we’ll just die faster from dehydration.”

“From shitting our brains out, you mean,” Striker says. “If we could get a fire going, we could purify it.”

“With that?” I ask. “We have nothing to put it in.”

---