Only one man joined them in the van as they climbed in. The others set both back doors and the front passenger side to stay locked. The captain sat beside her in the back, holding her hand. A clear message that she had no intention of testing, even though it made her skin crawl to touch him.
When they reached the hospital, they parked too far away to see, so the captain handed her a pair of binoculars and held his phone to her ear.
A van pulled up to the hospital. Men carried Lance and left him in front of the entrance. One man held the phone to Lance's mouth, so Miya heard his wheezing from the broken ribs. He was alive. The soldiers beat on the door, jumped in the vehicle, and sped away.
A nurse looked out and ran back in when she saw Lance. Not even a minute later, a whole team lifted him onto a stretcher.
“Satisfied?” the captain asked.
Miya couldn’t see Lance anymore, but she couldn’t look away. “Thank you.”
The window rolled up. She turned around with the binoculars and watched out the back window until the hospital disappeared from view.
Lance was safe.
CHAPTER 60
Miya
The Territories
Caspador
833 P.C. [Post-Collapse]
The captain and his squad took Miya to a safehouse out in the countryside, where they waited for air transport. The home was isolated and furnished with all the basics, including a comfortable bed in one of the rooms where she rested. They’d looked after her injury, suddenly very concerned with her health, even giving her medicine to dull the pain.
What waited for her in Ciondo? What kind of terrible deals would her father make to bring her home? As horrible as she figured the Phaedra's plans were, her mind kept returning to Lance at the hospital. He didn't have any injuries too severe for them to help him. He was safe now, away from the captain's jealousy and contempt. Away from the Phaedra.
Zayne and Ashantae would protect Lance now. Miya needed to believe that because she wasn't sure what else to do.
The captain opened her door. “We need to talk. How are you?”
She scowled. “Don’t play nice,Christopher.”
Tightly controlled anger twitched his nostrils. “I’ve considered our arrangement and come to my terms.”
Miya sat up in bed, bringing her knees to her chest just to have something between them. “Don’t forget I can always tell the truth.”
“Don’t forget I can always pick up Lance and kill him.”
Miya kept hearing Lance's ribs cracking beneath the captain's boot. Whatever it took to keep him safe, she'd do it. He was a good man. The captain didn't get to hurt him again. So, they talked and agreed on the lies that made him look best.
Twenty minutes before the aircraft was due to arrive, the captain invited her to the living room and handed her a flute of wine. The soldiers sat on the couches and on chairs brought in from the kitchen. Some stood against the wall. Each member of his squad held their own glass, raising them to her.
The captain opened his arm to her, inviting her to stand in the middle of the room with him. She grimaced when she walked close enough for him to pull her against his side, hand on her waist.
“A toast,” he said. “To better days ahead.”
The men cheered and drank their wine, but Miya only held hers, her stomach too nervous for alcohol.
“To Miya!” The captain raised his empty glass, looking down at her, arm tightening around her. “The princess who will make us rich and famous. The Phaedra is pleased.”
When she tried to open space between, he squeezed her hard enough to hurt. Angering him risked Lance, but they also had an understanding that Miya wasn't powerless when it came to him. What she said to the Phaedra impacted his career.
A glass shattered against the ground. A soldier stumbled to his feet and then wretched. Another man jerked forward, saliva dripping from his mouth, before he dropped onto the ground, convulsing.
Miya ripped against the captain's arm to flee, but she couldn't break free of him.
