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“Did you not fucking hear me?” I snap. “I’m not bringing Selina.”
He shrugs. “You can sort that out with her.”
The Keepers were supposed to ‘Keep’ the women, but it seems more and more that they’re becoming ‘Kept’ themselves. Hopefully, I’ll be able to talk some sense into Christine.
Fat fucking chance.
Maybe I’m not the right man to save humanity. It’s not like I ever asked for the honor, or rather, the burden. There’s nothing fun about leading a group of horny men left behind after an epic tragedy.
Instead of knocking, I charge straight into Christine’s office, ready to tell her all the fucking ways she’s pissing me off.
They’re innumerable.
“You do not have permission to enter my office unannounced,” she says without lifting her eyes from the computer screen she’s eyeing.
“And you do not have permission to leave the Keep.”
Her head snaps back, and she fixes me with a malevolent gaze. How she makes herself look like a goddamn demon is beyond me.
“You don’t get to tell me where I can and cannot go.”
“You’re a part ofmyKeep. My people keep you safe, provide you with food—”
“Don’t act like you’re doing charity. Who’s the one who bandages their wounds? Fixes their broken legs? And soon, delivers their children?”
“Which is why we can’t afford to risk your life.”
She pushes her chair back and crosses one long leg over the other. “I need this, Cole, and I will not ask for permission. I’ve been talking with Russ and they’re struggling. Me spending a few days out there, treating infections, pulling teeth, cutting off moles, is going to do more good than giving them weapons, and if you try to get in my way—see what happens.”
“It’s like you women have banded together to see which one of y’all can be the biggest pain in my ass! Britney might fucking kill Alistair, Selina—who is fucking pregnant—wants a goddamn stroll down memory lane. Amber’s acting like a prude whore, and you—our only doctor—wants to go on a humanitarian mission.”
“Oh, almost forgot. Amber’s coming with.”
I blink back at her, wondering if she’s gone insane.
“No—she’s not.”
“You’re going to want to rethink that.”
“Why?”
“Because in exchange for Amber, they’ll give us someone else.”
“Now, why would they do that?”
“Cole, for once, stop worrying. We’ll take the chopper out, stay for two days, dump Amber, and come back with a more enthusiastic woman.”
As much as I’d like to put her in her place, it feels like things are slipping out of my hands. The angrier people get under my command, the more likely they are to rebel. If I can give them just a little of what they want, maybe we can keep our heads above water until all the other goddamn infernos have been stomped out.
With anger surging through my veins, I bark out, “We leave tomorrow.”
PLAY WITH FIRE; GET BURNED
AMBER
Time seems to go slower after what Cole did to me.
He was supposed to be the safest among them, but underneath his calm, indifferent exterior, he was just as much an animal.
