Page 104 of Babalon

His head snaps up, eyes darkening at my words. I struck a nerve and I can’t be happier about that. He is weak. The pathetic excuse for a man who now holds on to me just for balance is nothing like Nadia, in fact he wis just like the others. Here to hurt her. If he wants to be in her good graces, to make her feel accepted or needed, then he’d be gentle with her heart and not alienate her further.

“She will never be yours, wasn’t back then, and won’t be now either.”

“Has she told you that she loves you yet?” he growled.

“N- no.”

Where is he going with this?

“That’s because sociopaths lack the full range of human emotion, Kace. She, literally, can’t love. She’s more like me than she will ever be like you.”

If looks could kill, I would have cut his head from his shoulders.

Chapter twenty-nine

Nadia

It’s 1900 and though I didn’t set a rendezvous point with Kace, he’s late. He’s never late, not like he has anything else to do but be here. I’ve gone from the cafeteria, where I last saw him, to the library, his cell, gen pop, the rec yard, and even checked in with Cindy at the medical bay before she left for home. No one has seen him and I know the fucker isn’t slick enough to get past me by simply walking.

Something is wrong and every little spidey-sense in me is screaming to hunt him down.

In a last-ditch effort, I make my way over to Matias’s cell and call out to him. I don’t want him thinking I am intruding in his space when I have held nothing but respect for this man the entire time I have worked here. He’s kept Kace safe after all, despite the run-ins with the AB.

“Ayala, get out here.”

“Aye, kitty-kitty, what is it?” he responds, his thick Hispanic accent hugging the words while they flow from his mouth. Hisbulky frame moves just inside before appearing before me, at the threshold of the cell bars.

“Have you seen Patton today?”

“No, mama, I haven’t. Last I saw him he was getting dragged off by that deranged guy before you molly whopped him. Why?”

“I’ve not seen him either and it’s unlike him to be MIA like this.”

“Have you checked the showers?”

“Yes, I’ve gone to all his usual haunts, Ayala. Please tell me you know something about him that I don’t.”

“Lo siento, I don’t.”

“Fuck me. Okay, thank you.”

“Hey, when you do find him, can you tell him I said thank you?”

“For what?” I ask, arching a brow.

“He’s been working on some legal stuff for me. Smart guy, he is. I turned it over to my lawyer today, going to see if I can get sprung from this joint.”

“Good luck to you, I’ll let him know what you said.”

Is that what he has been doing in his classes this whole time? I thought he was just bored, trying to keep the time passing, until he gets tired and grows old. I didn’t know he was being helpful, that’s a little admirable.

Unsure why I sound surprised, he wasn’t placed here because he lives life dangerously or continues to hurt people, he made a mistake. Right now, the dread that settles in my stomach, makes me feel like I have made one too.

Marching over to Lucien’s cell, I take my baton out and tap it on the metal bars to rouse him.

“On your feet, inmate.”

He shuffles momentarily then sits up; palms pressing back into the bed he’s lounging on when he responds with an amused look on his annoying face.

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