Tamar

I watch Virgil hand Benji his sleeping bag, who then drapes it over his legs. Since Benji took watch last night I’m keeping my fingers crossed that the warmth of the fire will let him doze off. I’m fed up with people pointing out that the guy’s an asshole. I damn well know I trust him as far as I can throw him and he’s a heavy-ass dude so that would be all of an inch or two.

Ramon walks into the room carrying pillows he found upstairs, handing them to me and Kage. We both throw them on the floor next to the fireplace. It’s the best angle for us to oversee things. The soft light of the crackling fire only illuminates enough to see everyone in the room but it also gives us the opportunity to see outside where night has fallen. With the door across from us, we’ve got every angle covered.

“Hey,” Ramon addresses Virgil. “Wanna give me a hand?”

“Sure.” Virgil jumps into action and Ramon follows him out of the room.

That’s the difference between Virgil and Benji. Virgil has never had any ambition to be a leader. He’s a follower and yet he’s not a pushover. He doesn’t even ask what Ramon has in mind and yet he’s ready to help out with whatever needs to be done.

Lars comes walking into the room holding a large mattress above his head. He places it in the corner where he made room for it, and then grabs a thick blanket and a pillow before getting comfortable while smirking at Dessa who’s eyeing him.

“We need to keep an eye on those two.” Kage’s breath strokes the back of my neck, making me shiver.

In an effort to hide my body’s reaction to him, I take out my hair tie and run my fingers through my hair. After having it tied up for so long it’s always a great feeling to shake it loose, my eyes slipping shut as I relax and enjoy the moment. I release a deep breath as I open my eyes, only to find Kage staring at me, his eyes darkened and an unreadable look on his face.

“What?” I snap a little uneasy as I glance around the room.

Kage washes a hand over his face. “Nothing. You look different, that’s all.” He swallows before he adds, “It suits you.”

Normally I would either tie it back up or put it in a braid but instead I place the hair tie around my wrist and keep my hair loose. “Yeah, well…I can hardly keep it like this when I need to run or take aim at any given time. It’d be in my line of sight, blinding me or whatever.”

Then why in the hell am I keeping it down right now? Ugh, I could kick myself for letting this guy get to me. Yet I can’t deny the things he’s unleashed inside of me. Shivers from just his voice or feeling his breath on my skin. The thought of his hands or his lips on mine, igniting cravings I’m not ready to surrender myself to again.

Ramon and Virgil walk back into the room and settle in for the night, each with a place of their own, ready to get some sleep. It doesn’t take long for the room to become silent. Virgil, Ramon, and Lars are asleep and yet Dessa is faking it. I feel a smile sliding on my face because I know what she’s planning. Hell, she already told Lars that she would. So Kage and I both watch as Dessa slides off the couch and dances like a feather across the room, coming to a stop beside Lars’ mattress.

She’s tiny and before the world went to shit, she was into ballet, and now she keeps flexible with yoga in addition to our daily routine of sparring, since it’s necessary to keep up our skills. Yet I’m more like a graceful elephant stomping around, while Dessa is the one who can dance over a piece of rope without making a sound or gush of wind.

Kage leans forward and places a hand over his mouth as he watches my sister gliding over the mattress, getting ready to get rid of Lars. Yet I’m on my feet with my next breath as my sister is thrown on her back with Lars covering her body, a knife pressed to her throat.

I’m being pulled down by my wrist as I hear Kage’s voice. “Sit. He won’t hurt her.”

Well, it would be weird if I wasn’t scared he would hurt her, but my fear slips free when I hear my sister’s light chuckle.

“You’ll do just fine. Now stop poking me. Especially in two places, pervert,” Dessa says to Lars. “Move, and leave some space between us.”

Lars sits back on his heels. “Go back to the couch,” he tells her, pointing in that direction.

Dessa shakes her head. “No. You’ve got good reflexes. I’m gonna stick with you having my back, so shush.”

Grabbing the blanket, Dessa makes herself comfortable, leaving Lars glancing over his shoulder at us. I shrug my shoulders. I’m not going to touch that one.

The corner of my mouth twitches when I hear Kage speak to his brother. “You’re on your own with that one.”

Lars sighs and reluctantly lies down next to Dessa, ripping the blanket back from her. It takes over an hour for them to drift off but when they do… it’s a shame I can’t take a picture to confront them in the morning, because Dessa has managed to drape herself over Lars, who in return has his arm wrapped tight around her waist. A blanket of peace flows yet again over the room, and everyone except for me and Kage is finally asleep. Well, all except for Benji who only looks like he’s sleeping.

When you’ve spent years in the presence of one another you get to know them thoroughly. Being able to tell if they are just pretending to be asleep or actually sleeping is just the start of it. Since I’ve spent nights keeping watch and had hours and hours of time to observe, I can tell Benji is faking it. I don’t care, enough is enough already. Like my sister said, I’ll look the other damn way next time. I’m done saving his ass.

The sweet brush of a finger sliding over my hand draws my attention. Looking down, I watch as Kage keeps stroking my skin as my gaze travels up. Our eyes meet and he gives a little shake of his head as if he’s telling me to ‘let it go’. Shit. He probably saw me staring at Benji. It’s annoying how observing Kage is. Or better yet, how attuned he is to me. He laces his fingers with mine as we sit there keeping watch.

After a while, I’m certain Benji is asleep before I give Kage my reasons for not killing that annoying asshole while everyone thinks I should.

I make sure to keep my voice to a whisper as I share something that’s a thorn in my beating heart. “I woke up to the sound of my father dying.”

Kage squeezes my hand in a silent comfort, yet urging me to spill the rest of that hurtful memory.

“There were three guys, one was already running with my father’s backpack as I grabbed for my bow. I killed one, my sister lodged a knife in the other one’s eye. I took off running to chase down the one with the backpack. I was so focused on that one that I didn’t notice there were two more. I killed the one with the backpack…”

“Lemme guess…Asshole hero stepped in, right?” Kage whispers.

I give him a slight nod. “Yeah.” Sliding down my sweater I show him the scar the knife left behind. “If it wasn’t for him I would have followed my father that night.”

“Understood,” Kage roughly states, placing our joined hands on his thigh.

I feel tears burn at the back of my eyes but I fight them back. A slight muffled sound catches my attention and I see Cashwell staring right at me. The poor man still has the duct tape over his mouth.

Standing up I grab a bottle of water and move over to him, ripping away the tape so he’s able to drink some, even though his hands are still tied in front of him. When he’s done, Cashwell eyes me for a moment before he glances over my shoulder.

“The two of you are in charge, right?” He waits for either of us to answer as I feel Kage squatting down next to us.

“Clearly,” Kage states.

“You can’t turn me in. You just can’t. If you think the house Nyles Huntington is promising you is a reward, I can give you so much more. You and everyone else.” A pleading look is dedicated to Kage and me before he adds, “Nyles plans to dominate the area and control everything and everyone.”

“Yeah, what else is new.” Kage rolls his eyes. “That fucker was a drug lord before this world went to shit and he owns an even bigger empire now.”

Panic shoots from Cashwell’s eyes when he leans toward us. “That’s not it, he’s…”

“Shut your fucking mouth, bounty. Or I’ll shut it for you again,” Benji growls.

Cashwell turns white as a sheet and curls his lips around his teeth, fear written over his face. I don’t blame him. Benji’s an asshole, and most normal people would have every right to fear him, while bounty hunters just get aggravated and strike back.

“There’s only one person around here that needs to shut his yap, and that’s you, fucker,” Kage snarls.

“Okay, coffee it is, since we’re all wide awake now,” I state as I glance around the room. “Up and at ‘em, folks. We’ve got a long day ahead of us.”