Page 76 of After the Burn

Another lie, but this asshole didn’t know that.

“With this new normal and the shortage of women, men have shown they’re willing to risk anything.” His words lingered briefly. "I've seen them fight over supplies.” He paused again. “I’ve seen them fight over fuel.” Another pause. “But I’ve never seen the level of brutality they display when fighting over the remaining women, let alone the enhanced ones.” He shuffled the papers in front of him. “The safest resolution to this problem was to formalize it and give them a more controlled environment.”

I would admit, if only to myself, that those words terrified me. The rights we’d had since I was born were going to be a thing of the past in this new world. I would need to become the queen Beck called me if I wanted to survive and protect the people I loved.

“You have the absolute right to refuse both groups, but I wouldn’t advise it.” He glanced down at the papers in front of him. “Now, if you’ll excuse me, I have work to do.”

That was it? Less than five minutes of hot air?

“What about me?” Lila spoke softly.

Gideon raised his head. “I’m sure I’ll have offers in the next few days.” He smiled at her in reassurance. “Enhanced women get claimed faster because they’re so rare.”

Neither of us responded to that.

We both stood, and as we stepped into the hallway, I couldn’t shake the feeling that I’d somehow lost a game without ever realizing we were playing one.

CHAPTER THIRTEEN

BECK

After our brief meeting with Gideon, I went straight to our room to get ready for the most important fight of my life.

These few weeks without Taryn had felt like years. I hated every second. That’s why I’d argued with Adrian so fiercely about going in the first place. The farmhouse was secluded, but if the incident at Ben’s taught me anything, it was that nowhere was safe anymore.

I’d never admit it, but as strange as our situation was, Adrian’s arrangement eased my mind. I’d spent my whole life believing a man protected what was his with his own two hands. Then the meteor shower happened, and Adrian and Lucas entered the picture. Soon after arriving here, I realized that one pair of hands wouldn’t be enough anymore, not with how precious each woman had become. I’d much rather share her than lose her altogether.

Adrian saw danger before it happened.

Lucas saw the pieces of people that the rest of us missed.

And me? I handled whatever slipped through the cracks.

Together, we gave Taryn something none of us could’ve managed alone—a fighting chance.

I sat on the edge of my bed, slowly wrapping the worn leather around my knuckles.

The familiar ritual settled my mind.

Across the room, Adrian stood at the window, watching the street below with that unreadable expression he wore when he was already three steps ahead of everyone else.

Lucas was cleaning one of the rifles we’d been allowed to keep in case an infected broke through the defenses the town had erected.

I was surprised Gideon had trusted us that much before we took a woman and became a family group. Then again, Adrian had been meeting with him regularly, and there’s no telling what that brilliant bastard had come up with to ensure Gideon believed he had us under control.

Neither of us spoke for several minutes.

Nobody needed to. We were all on the same page.

Finally, Adrian broke the silence. “Mace has been talking shit since our meeting.”

I tightened the wrap around my wrist. “What about?”

“That he’s going to grind your dick in the dirt.”

I snorted. “He’s a fool who’s let this enhanced bullshit go to his head.”

“He’s hoping you’ll fight pissed off,” Lucas said, looking down the rifle barrel to make sure it was immaculate.