Page 83 of Obliterated
“Youdid?” I cut him off, the ramble hitting a raw place. Something foul courses through me then. Something possessive and very fucking ugly.
Instead of shrinking away, his eyes heat up and his lips part when he reads the shape of me.
“Godsdammit, Kieran. I swear to the—”
“How touching,” Noura sneers, cutting me off and fixing Kee with a cold look. “Yes. He fucked me. Quite good, actually. It’s only such a shame he wouldn’t stay with me. We could have conquered this island—the world—together.” She turns that hungry smile on me. “Having you at my side, fierce and iconic as you are, would bring the mainland to its knees. It’s still an option, if you’d desire so.”
My eyes blaze as something fucking clicks. Itallclicks. I step closer as one of the unknown Watchers moves forward; a bronze tag bobs on a chain against his chest. The same stamped metal I’m sure came off Joyeus’s tag machine. “So that’s what all of this is about, then?” I say, low. “You’re building your own private army? Using Joyeus’s tag machine which she uses to smuggle new prostitutes to recruit people from the mainland?”
Noura’s smile tightens into something colder. “That’s not the entire story, but something like that, yes.” Her voice is smooth, bored. “Not that it’s any concern of yours. You’ll be long gone, fed to the Walkers in the Pit before you see me take my throne.”
“When Roe gets here he’s going to strip you of your power, throw you in the Pit instead. You better watch your back, Noura.”
“Roe has already been taken care of,” she says casually, as if this is just another business meeting. “Just like that little pet of his, even if he took a knife intended for your surrogate father.”
Everything in me freezes, stills, fucking stops.
Not Roe.Not him. Not Sami.
Kieran grabs my hand in consolation, but I refuse to believe it. If Roe was gone, I would fuckingknowit. Like I feel the constant absence that is Tass.
No. This woman is a master of deception, and I won’t fucking believe it until I see it for myself.
“Last chance I’m going to offer,” Noura says, voice cold as ice. “Go into the Pit together, or stay at my side. Rule the island, conquer the mainland, but watch your little boy toy get eaten live.”
I fucking seethe at her. “If you’d ever think I’d leave him and join you, you’re fucking insane.”
“Takes one to know one, Maximos,” she replies, amused.
“Oh, I know it. I never pretended to be anything else. You, however, are a two-faced bitch.” I spit the words and she ignores me.
“Put cuffs on them. Take them to the prison.” Her order is smooth, final as she turns her back on us and walks out.
The fake Watchers move like a single unit. Metal clicks; a cold cuff closes around my wrist and another around Kieran’s. For a second there’s nothing but the sound of our breathing and the blood pounding in my ears. I know fighting is futile. Ican’t.Not with the barrel pointed to his head.
I don’t let go of him, keep that hand tight in my own and hold on like I’m trying to keep him tethered to me. He looks up at me as we get ushered out of the bedroom—scared, brave—and I squeeze until his knuckles go white. “I’ve got you,” I say, low and certain. “I’ve got you, Kee. I’ve fought my way out of the Pit before. We got this.”
His answering nod is all I need.
Roe. Noura said he’s been taken care of. My head refuses to take that for fact. My heart doesn’t betray me. She’s lied and schemed before; she’s always had an angle and I can feel it like a pulse: he’s still out there, somewhere, circling, waiting for theright moment. I know it in the way my gut clenches, in the stupid, stubborn instinct that’s been my compass for years.
They haul us toward the door, me leading, Kee stumbling behind me as he holds on to me. The world narrows to the heat of his palm in mine; his fingers curl and he squeezes once, hard, like he's asking me to promise something I can't say out loud.
I squeeze back. I promise him. I promise myself.
I'll kill Noura. I'll tear the Pit down stone by stone. I'll gut those fake Watchers and burn them until the ash sings. I'll make them pay in blood and ruin for every step they took through my life.
Right now they win the room. Right now they get to cuff us andwalk us down the hall. Right now they win the battle. But the debt's been noted.
They'll remember this promise when my fucking wrath comes for them.
Chapter twenty
Max
He’sstandinginthegodsdamned Pit in nothing but his shorts and flip-flops. I swear, if he doesn’t die at the hands, or the teeth, of the Walkers, I’ll fucking stab him myself.
Fair enough, we didn’t get time to grab proper clothes, let alone shoes. But that boy is going to be the death of me, assuming the Walkers don’t finish the job.
