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I pumped my legs and arms, unsure where to go. My alcove was out of the question. And if I went to the guards, I had no doubt Leland had them in his pocket. He had enough power in the Pit. But I couldn’t stay here. I had to hide. I had to get out of here or I’d die… or worse.
I was small and fast and could outrun him.
I rounded the corner and slammed into a body hard enough it pitched me backward, and I fell on my ass. The air knocked out of me, and my hands got scraped up as they skidded across the hard, dirt-covered floor. I stared up at Bryce. He reached out and tried to help me up, but I pushed his hand away and stood.
“Emma? What are you doing in the tunnels this late? Why are you running?” His brows pulled down lower when his gaze flickered behind me.
I heard Leland’s footsteps slowing behind me and the harsh sound of his rapid breathing. If I were looking at Leland, I could imagine the rage reflected back at me.
Instinctively I moved behind Bryce’s bigger body, refusing to look at Leland, hating that I had this weakness in me. I wanted to have the same power these men did, but fear was a strong-willed bitch.
I didn’t want Bryce to think I was turning to him, didn’t want him to think I needed him for anything. But at the moment I was the smaller, weaker one in this scenario, and Leland wouldn’t go against Bryce. So there was at least that.
I looked up then. Leland’s expression showed murderous promise as he glared at me. The three bloody scratches down his face looked redder, angrier because of his rage.
“What the hell is going on?” Bryce demanded in a low voice.
“Nothing,” Leland grated out and crossed his arms over his chest. “Nothing at all.”
“Yeah?” Bryce glanced over his shoulder at me then, but I refused to look at him.
Although he wasn’t violent like Leland, he didn’t have to be in order to get his way. He didn’t have to be in order to be a bastard. Bryce had power and manipulation working on his side. Leland liked to use brute strength and force to get his way.
Both these men were evil in their own way, and I found myself taking another step back, and one more. Leland narrowed his eyes at me.
“I told you to leave her alone,” Bryce addressed Leland but stared at me as he said it. When I didn’t meet his gaze, he faced forward again.
“We were just taking a walk. Talking.”
Bryce let a long pause stretch out before he spoke again. “Yeah? That how you got those scratches down your face? From just talking?”
Leland’s face turned redder, and his lips thinned. “How about you mind your fucking business and keep it moving along, Bryce? Don’t you have more rules to make for the Pit?”
There was this thick, heavy silence that stretched as the two men stared at each other, and then Leland let out a vile curse, looked around Bryce’s shoulder to give me a nasty grin and wink, and said, “I’ll see you later, Emma.” He turned to leave, but I still felt the tension. I still felt that disgust and stickiness cover me like a second skin.
Bryce turned to face me fully and watched me with gray eyes I’d seen locked on me far too many times. I just wanted to get away from him. From Leland. From everyone. I had no connections to the Pit, none except for Tilly. She was the only one who gave a shit about me. She was the only one who never expected something in return from me.
But she was outgoing, sociable. She made friends with others, had connections. She was all I had, but it almost didn’t seem like enough. I still felt so distant and void inside.
“Why don’t you come with me, and I’ll get you a drink?”
I shook my head. “I don’t have extra tokens for that.” Exhaustion suddenly weighed heavily on me, which had nothing to do with being woken up in the middle of the night by my would-be attacker.
“How about a drink on me? I’ll get you one of Harold’s boozers.” Bryce smiled, but it didn’t come off as genuine or sincere. It came off as a little bit aggressive, a little creepy, like he wanted to push that homemade brew into me so I’d be more forthcoming.
He was used to getting what he wanted. Except with me.
I shook my head again. “Thanks, but I could really just use some fresh air.” I shouldn’t ask him for anything, yet I was bringing up going outside, knowing Bryce would be the only one who could get me access past the guards this time of night.
