Page 40 of Rising

I snatched my bag from her boney fingers. “Give me that,” I snapped, our moment of peace clearly over.

“Sheesh, touchyy,”

“Am I? Or am I just sick of the bullshit? Just tell me if I need to get my shit and hit the road or not. Simple as fucking that. I’m done with the games.” I had come here for a purpose, but enough was enough.

Nothing was worth dealing with her, having to talk toher. Having to be aroundher.I’d make sure Suckerpunch was fully healed, found a good home, and that would be that.

“You’re a bitch,” I growled, shaking my head in distaste.

I’d spent a better part of my life condemning my father for speaking to women without respect, yet here I was. But it wasn’t just some stupid teddy bear, and I was tired of her talking down to me. Insinuating that I’m the villain. The one that gets people killed, though I supposed I was that too, in another life.

“No, I’m a general.” Her voice had turned hard, cold. My words had pulled her back into her responsibilities and the reason we had come here to begin with.

“You think I give a shit about your little title? You can barely take care of yourself, let alone keep thousands of people from dying.”

Her stone face didn’t break. “Yeah, okay. Don’t even bother coming back. Let’s see how safe you are then.”

“Made it here, didn’t I?”

“Barely. From the looks of it, bout two of your people didn’t though.” Her hand gripped the woven bracelet around one of the straps.

My fingers closed in on her throat, Suckerpunch injured but circling in on Harley to keep her from coming to her owner’s aid as I slammed her into the wall. The back of her head bounced off, though no flicker of pain crossed in her eyes. As expected, her flames encased her body, ready to defend itself but I’d already let go, expecting her to resort to magic upon the familiar feeling of helplessness.

“Let me ask you something,General.” I ground out, “Does everyone that walks through these gates go through a ten-day thirty-night hazing affair where their privacy is invaded? Or their belongings scoured through? Or is it just me? Hmm? How about you? Does anyone go through your shit? Make sure you’re playing by the rules? Playing fair?” I wanted to grab her, shake her, wanted to force her to let me keep this last piece of privacy.

Her hand reached out to grab my pack back from me and I grasped onto her hands, ready to incinerate them in my defense.

She beat me to it. Fire made its way down her body from her hair moving like a snake down to the hand I was currently holding, “You have two seconds to take your hands off me, before you’re left with no hands at all.”

I released her hands as she added, “Besides, nobody smart plays fair, Alexiares. Any survivor could tell you that.”

Her words stung, but she was right. My rhythm calmed, my vision going from red to clear. Suddenly realizing that maybe she was just doing her job. I thought she was terrible at it. That shelookedto be in a terrible state too, though there was more color coming back to her face than there was yesterday. She’d made her way into this position for a reason. The people here clearly trusted her. And if I were to do what I came here to do, then I’d have to let her do what she needed to as well.

Tossing my bag at her feet, I said, “Here. Take all the looking around you want, go crazy. Just let me know if I need to pack my shit or not. I’m not going to beg for a place to lay my ass.”

Her face softened a bit as she picked up my belongings and ruffled through. Outside of Evander’s bear and Tiago’s bracelet that his daughter had made him, there was nothing in my pack that required true privacy. Not anything she could translate. It had a bit more food, Suckerpunch’s food in case he had a hard time coming across something to hunt out, and some extra layers for traveling through the cold. I had ditched my large coat over a hundred miles back.

I wouldn’t need it after this.

When she was done playing Inspector Gadget, she tossed my pack back, gave Suckerpunch a pat on the head, and walked towards Harley.

“You can stay,” she said, both of them disappearing through the door we’d entered minutes before. Some shuffling and a thud sounded from the front yard.

Quick on my feet, I sprinted outside. One of the dead lay sprawled across the overgrown grass, a knife through its skull. Amaia and Harley lounged off to the side, taking in the rays of sun, feigning a normal day in the park.

Her face rested on the palm of her hand, black coils framed her innocent face, knocked loose from our altercation inside.

“We’re waiting,” she said impatiently.

I stared at her for a moment, questioning my sanity for coming here. There wasn’t a solid plan in place, so much of my focus had been on arriving alive. I hadn’t put much thought into what came in the immediate after. She was unstable, if luck had it, I wouldn’t have to do much at all.

Pivoting sharply, I gathered my belongings. Hugging Suckerpunch, I pulled his head back, rubbing gently behind his ears.

“Here goes nothing.”

Amaia

The walk back to The Compound was fast and silent. I felt bad for prying,sort of. There genuinely wasn’t anything in there that he’d been hiding. Nothing overtly obvious at least. I allowed him to walk freely, uncontained by my fire or without the weight of my stare, but that didn’t mean I wasn’t aware of his or Suckerpunch’s movements as they walked to my side. Neither of us wanted to let the other walk behind us. To be caught unaware and off guard.Don’t see that changing anytime soon.

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