Page 27 of Fractured Memories

“Right. Mika.” My eyes flick toward the door before moving back to her. “Can you really get me out of here?”

She crosses to me, looping her arm through mine. “You’ll quickly remember that if there’s something I want, I get.” Her brown eyes dart toward me as she adds, “And you’re no different.”

That at least sounds right. I doubt there’s an agreeable bone in my body, though I wonder if I was this distrustful before. It’s hard to know who I am without being able to remember all the experiences that made me this way. But my inability to back down? My resourcefulness? My anger that doesn’t waver in the face of fear? All of that feels innate.

It’s almost nice to have that confirmed.

If you can trust her, a little voice whispers in the back of my mind.

Despite that lingering suspicion, I follow when Mika tugs me toward the door. She pulls it open, showing that it was never locked behind her.

I almost hesitate when we step over the threshold, and I find a pair of dark blue eyes narrowed on me.

“Mika,” the man growls. He’s large, towering over the two of us—though for Mika, that’s nearly everyone. “What are you doing?”

She rolls her eyes, not one bit intimidated. “She isn’t a prisoner here, Till. This is her home.”

His nostrils flare. This guy is uptight. “Kieran said⁠—“

She turns away from him. “Tell him that it was me, and it’ll be fine.”

“Mika.”

She whips around, all of that sunshine personality suddenly disappearing under a razor-sharp glare and a tense posture that tells me she should never be underestimated. “You know damn well that Kieran doesn’t have his head on straight, and he’d rather her be happy with me than follow any stupid order he gave you.” She drops my arm, stepping closer to him, and I notice her hand twitching. I wonder if she’s got a weapon on her. “Now I’m going to take a walk with Eden like you’ve seen me do a thousand times, and you are going to fuck off before I tell my husband how you are speaking to me.”

That has Till swallowing hard as he straightens, his eyes flicking away from her. He doesn’t say a word, but it’s clear he received the message.

I have so many questions about the interaction, but before I can formulate a single one, Mika spins back around as if nothing happened. Her posture is relaxed and a bright smile is on her face again. She meant it when she said she always gets what she wants.

I think I really like her.

Looping her arm back through mine again, she tugs me down the hall. “Now how about a tour?”

CHAPTER 9

KIERAN

“It would be suicide!” Conor turns around, hands thrown up like the fucking dramatic prick he is.

Even though he tries to hide it, Lochlan flinches at the word, and it makes my blood boil. When he shoots me a pleading look while Conor isn’t looking, I nearly give in. He’s desperate to kill the fucker. Not as much as Miles, but given Conor is Miles’ little lackey, Lochlan would take it.

It has been my responsibility to work with Miles to keep the city running smoothly since my mother passed and he stepped into his position shortly after. While I was very young for my role at the time, he isn’t much younger than my parents would be. Not that age means he has wisdom or my respect. Those are both lacking.

Pairing that with my personality and lack of giving a shite, Lochlan has been forced to be the mediator between our two groups. He can at least pretend to be charming, where Rohan and I are more liable to put a bullet through someone’s skull.

That’s why Rohan works closely with Jude to oversee our guards and Lochlan is more politically involved—even if he hates it. I usually ply him with trips to the city for partying, betting, or drinking as a reward for taking on the challenge. Something I might have to ask Jude to do later because I shake my head no to his silent request. Lochlan’s head lolls back as his jaw clenches, and I know he’s fighting a groan of disappointment.

He’s not the only one trying to hold it together. I managed to force myself to look presentable today—even if I had to send Jude to get my clothes because I couldn’t step inside my own room—but my mind has been on Eden every second. On how this distance is killing me. On how I might just hand her a blade and let her kill me than endure this any longer.

But I won’t go into the afterlife without her, either, so I need to find a way through this.

I refocus on Conor, who has his hands on his hips as he stares out of the window. We are across the mountain from my half of the compound, connected by a thick, metal suspension bridge. It keeps distance between us while maintaining optics, which is important when it comes to keeping my pawns in place.

Despite the obvious drawbacks—a bridge is far too easy to bring down—we’ve been forced to utilize them both in the compound and the city itself. It keeps us off the ground, and, as we learned with our fathers, it is even easier to manipulate vehicles.

“The benefits outweigh the drawbacks,” I argue, trying to bury my annoyance. When I learned that Miles was down in the city, I should have left.

For some reason, I thought I could give Conor a quick order. How wrong that was.