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“Burfield, in the industrial area at the…” He lets out another cry, and it earns him another smack across the face to keep him focused. “…the old pipe factory. He takes them to warehouses and…”
He trails off, and Finn loses his patience, stepping right behind the man, and bending his head back until his breaths are strained. He points a knife right at his eye, bare millimeters away from his pupil, and the madness I see in him is as disturbing as it’s excruciating.
“And what?!” I shout, tilting the knife under his bone.
The man is almost choking on his own saliva as he hollers in pain, his throat stretched so far back that his Adam’s apple looks like it’s about to pierce through his skin.
“He gets them assessed, prepared…”
Finn doesn’t even flinch as he slowly sinks that knife down. It slides into his eye like butter. Even through the excruciating screams, he pushes the thin blade until all I can see is the hilt. Screams turn to whimpers. The shaking dies down. Then the man dies too.
Good. I didn’t want to hear anymore, didn’t need the mental image of his implication.
“Burfield…” I whisper on an exhausted exhale.
I’m tired, so goddamn tired. It’s not because of the sleepless nights, the fights, or the stress—it’s the fucking fear. So far, it’s both fueled and drained me, but more recently, it seems to be draining me more.
I pull the knife out of the man’s leg, but Finn leaves his stuck in his skull. When I turn around, Carter’s looking right at me, an unbothered calmness in his eyes. I used to wait, expecting some sort of change in his demeanor, but I no longer expect any of this to affect him. He’s like a statue as he stands by the wall.
I wonder if one day I’ll find out what shakes this motherfucker.
Maddox is untroubled too, but not in the same lack of soul or empathy kind of way. He’s seen and inflicted enough pain in and outside of the fighting ring that he’s grown accustomed to the violence. But at least he flinches from time to time. He reacts.
Not Carter, though. The most he’ll do is cock his head, and I’m convinced he does it so he can examine the destruction from a different angle.
Suddenly, he moves, walking to the guy lying on the floor. He stops a few feet away, observes him for a moment, and I don’t know if it’s the exhaustion in me or if the guy moved, but in one fluid motion, Carter pulls his gun, aims, and shoots. Brain matter paints the floor, yet he fires one more time. Then he spins around and heads toward the exit, calling for us.
“Time to go.”
* * *
I think I’m pregnant… pregnant…
I’m falling for you…
Ronan…
I jump in the seat, turning to the space to my right.Shit, I fell asleep.
“You okay?” Carter asks, narrowing his eyes from his spot in the backseat next to me.
I nod and turn my attention out the window. Her words still echo in my head like it wasn’t a dream. A goddamn nightmare! I shouldn’t have fallen asleep, for fuck’s sake.
“Was I out for long?” I ask Carter, who’s still watching me.
“Not long enough. Are you up for this?”
“Are you doubting my abilities?!”
“You’re capable and motivated. I don’t doubt that. But you’re running on no sleep.”
“Aren’t we all?”
“Not like you. Or Finn. We’re forty-five minutes away. You can still sleep for half an hour more.”
“I’m fine. I need to be alert, not groggy.”
I’m lying, I could sleep for a year. My body is already shaky, struggling to regulate its temperature. It needs rest. But I can’t bear hearing her voice in my dreams anymore… that haunting echo. It’s tearing whatever’s left of my heart and destroying my focus.
