Page 19 of Broken Fate
There’s no way I’m worth that much death and sacrifice … right?
Chapter Ten
“Let’s go. We’ve rested long enough.”
The others started to stir, preparing to shift back once again and continue our run. There were no complaints, though there were a couple of groans. Most of those were met with good-natured ribbing as the group hauled itself to its feet after our brief break.
I watched it happen in disbelief, earning me several looks ranging from questioning to disdain.
“What are you looking at?” the auburn-haired woman asked.
“You. All of you,” I said, sweeping my gaze around as reality set in. I’d thought it hit me as we fled Arcadia, but I was wrong.Now, it was hitting home. “How can you be so uncaring?”
“Uncaring? How?” she demanded to know.
“Youkilledpeople back there,” I said.
“You helped us,” the woman pointed out. “I saw you. You literally slung shit. It worked. But don’t think trying to do that with us, and make us into bad people, will work. It won’t. We’re the good guys.”
“All the dead people back there might have something to say about that,” I pointed out, feeling somewhat self-righteous.
“Did ya want us to send you back?” one of the others drawled lazily, pulling his lips back in a sneer as he said it. “‘Cause that’s starting to look like a mighty fine option to me. All that effort just to rescue you, and now, what? You complain? Darris died helping break your whiny ass out of prison. Show a little respect.”
“Show a little respect?” I gaped, looking around for support. “You’re the ones making jokes and acting like you don’t even care he’s dead!”
“That. Is.Enough.”
My rescuers stilled, any other protests and comments dying on their lips as the towering leader of the group walked over to me. He walked like each footstep should have shaken the ground. He was so full of power. But there was an undeniable grace to his efforts that counterbalanced it all.
“Listen to me, Jada Saunders,” he growled, moving so close that his broad chest and shoulders eclipsed my view, cutting off the angry looks the rest of his band was giving me. “Listen well. We came to rescue you from death. Theyweregoing to kill you. It was just a matter of time. You need to accept that. Full stop.”
“But—”
“No,” he said, quelling my protest with ease with a lift of his hand. “You mustacceptit. Your life was forfeit. Andracis would have whipped you until he took flesh from bone and your blood coated the floor. That is the sort of man he is.”
The icy blue eyes of my rescuer bore down into me with a weight I could only begin to comprehend, his tone grim and bleak … but without fallacy. He was right. Iwouldhave died in there.
“The world is not what you thought it was,” he continued. “The Alphas, those in power, aren’t kind or benevolent like in the stories. You were in prison. You suffered at their hand and saw the others suffer. Look me in the eyes and tell me I’m wrong, that I’m lying.”
I couldn’t, and he knew it. But I didn’t want to admit it. The truth was a painful discovery.
“We killed those people because they support such evil. They might not understand how bad it is, but they know. Tell me, who put you into the cell? Was it Arcadus himself or his guards?”
We both knew the answer.
“Who hauled you off to be interrogated by Andracis? Who hauled your broken, bloody body to prison after the Beta was done with you?”
I looked away.
“Look at me,” he snarled, forcing my attention back to stare directly into his cold, harsh eyes. “This is the world that actually exists. The curtains have been drawn back, and you see it how it is now. You have to accept that and stop acting like you’re still a naïve little girl.”
I exhaled heavily, my cheeks flushing with heat at the reprimand.
“I deserved that, didn’t I?” I asked quietly.
He shrugged. “You’re in shock. This is a lot to go through for anyone, so even if it was deserved, it’s also understandable.”
The sudden switch to gentle and compassionate caught me by surprise. I’d expected him to laugh and scorn me further, saying I deserved even more and that he’d been kind to me. What other surprises was he hiding?
