Page 12 of Blood We Steal

“Is that what I did? Or did I save you from the horrific death you so richly deserve?”

“I deserve to die because I did my civic duty?”

I moved closer. Close enough to feel her breath stutter against my lips. Close enough that I saw the defiance she tried so mightily to hide.

“No, miu, you deserve to die because you betrayed me.”

There was really nowhere to go, but Simone didn’t back up an inch. Just kept her eyes on mine, assessing, studying, looking for a weakness she would no longer find.

Her shoulders sank, and I allowed myself another second to enjoy her defeat before moving away. I needed to know what was going on. I pulled the flagpole out of the dead thing’s eye socket, and wasn’t surprised that Simone was only a step behind me when I moved. The air got thick and foul as I moved down the hallway, and the screams got louder.

But the power was still on, so that was something. What, exactly, it was, I wasn’t sure, but I needed to find my men. After that, I’d figure it out and make sure I had time to finish with Simone.

The walk from the warden’s office had been clean, but this wing wasn’t.

Everywhere I stepped, there were pieces of bodies. It looked like chum for sharks, but the scraps of fabric mixed in with the pieces told me it definitely wasn’t that. Simone flinched when she looked down and saw a bodiless hand. She ran her wrist across her forehead, then wiped it on her jeans, her nose crinkling at the scent of piss, shit, and death. I buried my nose in my shirt, and Simone did the same. She also copied the strides I deliberately shortened. Not so that she could keep up but I didn’t want anything between me and her, not until I decided it should be.

And then finally, we reached the end of the corridor. On the opposite side was the outdoor area, and then the main unit that my men occupied. I rounded the corner and stopped when I heard a soft whisper.

“Krye.”

SEVEN

Rubin

Ipulled up short and looked back, a grim smile pulling at my mouth.

Down the opposite hallway, I spotted two figures behind a heavy metal and plexiglass door. Besnik, my family’s mik, who’d received the same life sentence as me.

Beside him was Damian, my brother and kryetar.

“We’ll come to you,” Damian said as he grabbed the door.

“No!”

He froze, his face twisted in confusion.

I grabbed Simone’s wrist and practically dragged her back down the corridor to stop in front of the door separating me from my brother and Besnik.

“I can open it,” Damian said.

“You’ll open the others too.” I gestured to the opposite side of the catwalk toward A block.

Behind the plexiglass, faces pressed and slid against the glass, leaving red-black smears I would ordinarily have made someone clean by nightfall. There were dozens of them, the ones at the back pushing the ones at the front inexorably forward. I watched face bones crack against the glass. Watched the lack of any reaction at all. Traced the frame of the plexiglass where it was welded into the metal.

For the first time, I was relieved to be in prison.

“Ah, a complication,” Damian said. His eyes narrowed as he stared at Simone. “Maybe we can find a distraction.”

Simone’s expression gave away nothing, but it was a show. She’d never said it, but she disliked my brother, and the feeling was mutual. I hadn’t given a shit before and gave even less than that now.

I waved Damian off. “I have plans for Simone, but there’s another way.”

Damian’s mouth curved as he studied me the way only my brother would dare. The quirk of his brow told me he’d decided something he wisely chose not to share. Certain Damian was done for now, I said, “First, though, why are you here, vëlla?”

He laughed. “I missed you, too, Rubin. Anyway, things are rather…messy outside. You’re needed, so I planned to break you out. I brought Arben and a few others to help. Good plan too. I paid to have one of the guards put you in the back of a delivery truck. Simple, no shooting, but that plan got fucked.”

I glared at him. “As I told you it would when I forbade you from doing so.”