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“I’m fine, Cam, just sore.” In all actuality, I wasn’t sure if I were fine or not. The gun to the head thing scarcely fazed me.
Nothing was terrifying about a gun, only the person responsible for pulling its trigger. And that man was the least bit scary.
Not to mention the interaction was fast, a fraction of maybe ten minutes. So why was the feeling that he invoked not gone yet? I shook my head to clear it. This wasn’t the time to ponder that, not with Lilith, Sam, and Bella still missing.
Cradling my throbbing wrist, I asked, “Where is Makayla?”
“She’s with Butcher,” Luce answered, reaching a hand out to guide me back the way I’d come.
“And?” I probed, wordlessly accepting his help.
“You should let her tell you.”
I wasn’t sure why it mattered, but whatever.
“Where are they?” I demanded to know as soon as I was in hearing range of Makayla.
She jumped, turning to flatten herself against the side of the XL, huddling closer to Butcher, as if that would ever protect her from me.
I didn’t feel the need for pleasantries, and I wasn’t in the mood to pry answers out of anyone after what I’d just dealt with.
Grabbing hold of Makayla’s jaw with my good arm, I forced her to look in my eyes and asked once again, “Where are they? Why are you in front me but they
aren’t?”
She sniffled, green eyes filling with water as her lips started to tremble. I didn’t feel an ounce of remorse for her. Had she simply told a higher acolyte what was going on my sister would have never gotten off the compound.
Letting her jaw go, I reached out and smoothed down some of her wild brown hair, and then I leaned in and whispered in her ear just as had been done to me.
“You have five seconds to start telling me something useful or the fear you feel now will be nothing compared to the pain I cause you.”
Her entire body was shaking when I stepped back. It was unfortunate because I’d always liked Makayla, but her fuck up rested squarely on her incapable shoulders. She was a shit guardian and an even worse acolyte.
“In District 9. The Stags, they took them. Di-District 9. The man in the deer mask,” she rushed out, stuttering over her words.
“Man in a deer mask? Who is that?” I asked anyone that could answer.
Whoever they were, she seemed to be much more afraid of them than me at the moment, which said a lot.
“A Stag,” Cam answered, “they’re a new faction.”
“Do we know anything about them?” Nyx asked.
Annie was the one who answered, unsurprisingly. Being an acolyte of certain status meant she was alerted of any new changes in the Badlands that could affect us.
“They sprang up seemingly overnight. Satanas has been steadily monitoring them for the past month or so,” she explained, adding quietly, “They are not an easy group to find.”
Understanding her meaning, I looked back at Makayla. “Did you say he took them? As in kidnapped?”
“Maybe, they were still there when I ran. I was trying to find help,” she pleaded her case.
My fingers itched to remove my Kambit and slit her fucking throat, leave her body right here on the side of the road for the vultures to feast on along with the other one.
I couldn’t, though. Not when I still might need her. Shaking my head, I went back to the passenger side of the XL and prepared to climb in.
“If they managed to take three Savages and an acolyte, they’re clearly not as new as anyone thought, or they’re suicidal. It doesn’t matter; we need to get to that District, now.”
“I’ll call Dad,” Luce said as everyone began to move. “And for the record, I would never let anything happen to you, Addy. Bullet or no bullet.”
