Page 100 of The Hate We Breathe
“Now, up you go,” Roquel demands.
Wanting to kill her more with each passing second, I turn back to the barrier. “Why did you even bother to help me find a job?” I ask. The stone is rough against my skin. Little rocks and pieces of concrete dig into my knees as I lift one leg to the ledge.
“It was easier to keep track of you…” Without looking at her, Roquel’s answer sounds absent-minded. I glance back as I set my second knee on the ledge and realize she’s turned to Lex and lifted her gun again.
“No!” I teeter, almost slipping over the edge. Fingers scrambling, I grasp at the edge of the barrier, gasping—air lodged in my throat. Finally, I stop my descent and stare back at both an annoyed Roquel and frozen Lex as he stares down the path of the barrel.
“Do youwantme to kill your boyfriend?” she asks. “Is that what you want, Juliet? I thought you claimed to love him?”
“I’m fucking doing it, okay!” I shout. “I’m up here!”
Instead of focusing on me, though, Roquel pivots to fully face Lex. “I know you don’t understand now, but I’m helping you, Alexio,” Roquel tells him with all of the soothing gentleness of a kindergarten teacher.
He snarls back at her, baring his teeth like an animal ready to strike—a wounded animal struggling to get closer. “I’ll fucking kill you!”
Damn it. My arms shake as I remain perched on the ledge on my hands and knees in a thin dress. Something white filters down and touches my nose. A snowflake.
Don’t look back. Don’t look down. Don’t look back. Don’t look down.I repeat the mantra in my head over and over again.
“She’s a leech,” Roquel tells him, not seeming the least bit cowed by his anger. “She’ll destroy everything you love just like she did for me.”
“Roquel,” I call her name, desperate to get her eyes on me again. “He’s hurt, he can’t stop you. Just… let him go. I’m doing what you want.”
With exaggerated slowness, Roquel straightens and faces me. “You’re right,” she agrees. “But just to be safe…” She points the gun at Lex’s head and cocks a brow.
Fuck.
I close my eyes for a brief second and one by one, pry my fingers off the half-wall barrier.
The sky opens up to me, the biggest thing I’ve ever seen in my life. Wider than the ocean. More vast than anyone can know. I only have one plan now. I hope this works. I hope this doesn’t kill me.
I force my limbs to straighten, standing to my full height as my body starts to shake. Behind Lex and Roquel, I see a head of blonde hair peeking around the wall where we’d come through the door.
Madison.
Her face becomes clearer from where I’m standing, the moon’s light shining down. She looks alive, but unconscious. Her chest rising and falling, but there’s matted blood on the side of her face. At least she didn’t betray me. If I do end up dying here, I’m glad to know that.
Wind whips at my face, throwing my hair back—almost catching me and sending me over the side too soon. I gasp, my arms pinwheeling. Thankfully, I manage to slow the movement and stop myself from falling.
“Get down!” Lex’s voice is shaking, trembling in fear even as he squirms closer, uncaring of the gun to his face.
It’s odd to hear him scared. Lex isn’t afraid of shit, but now, as he looks at me—eyes wide, bloodshot, and yes… even a little bit watery—it’s easy to see he’s fucking terrified. He’s not the only one. I’m not exactly having the time of my life up here.
“Baby… please,pleaseget down.” That second ‘please’ breaks something inside me. The sound of his voice cracking over the word sends a sharp burst of pain right into my heart, splitting it wide open. Snot clogs my nose and my eyes burn with unshed tears.
My chest pumps up and down. Fear crawls up my throat, choking me.
I don’twantto die, but I’d rather throw myself from this roof now than let anything happen to him or the others. Lex grits his teeth as he tries to move closer, only to be stopped as the back of my foot edges just over the brink. Lex freezes in place, his eyes never leaving mine. “Please…” he begs again. “Please get down, baby. Don’t do this. I’m not worth it.”
I’m terrified out of my fucking mind. I should be sobbing right now, but I’m afraid to. I’ve never heard Lex beg. In other ways, yes, but not like this. Not for anyone. He’s cruel to those he doesn’t care for. He takes. He breaks. And he leaves no survivors. But he’s wrong about this, about himself.
Heisworth this. They all are. The Scorpion Kings are the only fucking things in my life that are worth this.
“Shit,” he hisses through his teeth and shoves up onto one foot, only to be pushed back down. The cocking of a gun echoes into the night as the barrel presses into his temple. Vomit claws at the insides of my throat, threatening to turn this nightmare into something worse.
My eyes shoot to where Roquel stands to the side, amusement suffusing her face with rapt attention. “Get on with it,” she orders.
Another snowflake flutters down in front of me. I look back. We’re so high up, it’s almost impossible to figure out how many floors. Just looking makes my head feel foggy. The edge of the rooftop is right there. Almost gone. One step and it’s all over.
