Page 100 of Babalon

When we make it to Nathan's hideout for the day, I watch him interact with a few other baby racists. Smacking one upside the head, humiliation isn’t the best motivator but punishment is.

Tell that to Kace.One of the voices rattle off, making me huff out a response.

“Lulu, good to see you!” Nathan calls out, waving me over.

Approaching, I look over the kid he just slapped around a little before making eye contact with him.

“This is your only warning, don’t call me that.”

“Come on, lighten up. You never had a nickname?”

“I do, but you don’t get to use it. Now, what do you want?”

Turning, he put his hand out towards one of his lackeys and the guy slaps what looks like a phone into his hand. Keeping my expression neutral, I wait for him to explain why he interruptedmy prayer time to look at a hunk of plastic with electrical components.

“I got a video I thought you would like to see,” he answers.

Call me curious, I take it from him after he brings up something on the screen. Looking down at the display, anger floods my veins. It’s a dark photo but I can plainly see what is captured. Swiping, I see another photo. Then another—and another.

I told him not to touch what’s mine.

Without a word, I toss the phone at Nathan's chest and walk off, his annoying, meat grinding voice following me.

“What are we going to do about that?”

“You’re not doing anything until I decide otherwise. Go back to your normal dealings, Nathan.”

My boots carry me at such a pace, I might as well jog, but if I do, it will set off the hounds. With a new bus of inmates this week, there are a few extra guards lingering around. Ensuring that they acclimated to the prison without getting the life beat out of them. At least not yet, it’s bound to happen though.

In C Block— they really should secure the blocks better—allowing inmates to roam freely in a max facility is not helping them at all. I look around and find him, talking to his Hispanic friend, the only one that really has his back in here.

Closing the distance, I come up behind him and curl my hand into the unruly white strands on the top of his head and yank back—knocking him off balance. When he crashes to the floor, I grab under his chin, and drag him across the tile away from his buddies. His legs kick to get traction but fail, hands reaching to grab and claw at my arms.

“EY!” Kace’s friend shouts, rushing after us. Digging into my jumper I yank out the shank and hold it an inch before Kace’s right eye, the sharp end threatening to impale his blue orb.

“If you know what’s good for your friend, you’ll back up.”

“Let him go…” Matias growls, a few other homies coming up to his left and right, beginning to circle us.

“I need to have a conversation with him, and you are delaying that, back off or this is going into his skull.”

Kace is panting beneath me, my legs now straddling his back while he sits between them. Sweat beads on his temple while his throat worked through a swallow. The hole I left in him a few days ago still scabbed up but healing nonetheless.

The tension between all of us is heavy, you can usually feel how thick it was but this was something else. As if the weight of the entire prison was settling on this moment right here. Which I can’t help smile over.

With my eyes focused on Matias, I press the side of my face against Kace’s, the dark strands of my hair tangling with his like an ominous ying-yang.

“Call them off or you die right here, right now, and you never get to see our whore again.”

“M— Matias… back off. Please,” Kace strains.

“Nah, Cotton Top, not happening. He won’t get far enough before he’s in the ground.”

Just as I go to speak, my vision darkens along with excruciating pain shooting through my head, forcing me to drop my shank and let Kace go. The same blunt force enters my shoulder, then my ribs; arms lifting to block whatever was causing the torture.

“Nadia!” Kace shouts.

Trying to pry my eyes open as the hits came to an end, everything is blurry but I can see her. The black of her uniform lingering over me when she grabs the front of my jumper and yanks me up to her. Kace likely keeping his distance because he knows if he touches her, to get her to stop, then the rest of the guards would descend upon him.

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