Alissa
Nate had told me he loved me.
The timing hadn’t been perfect, but he’d finally told me what I’d always wanted to hear, but had been afraid would never come.
He loved me.
If anyone had told me the night Nate gave me his cellphone number that I would someday be where I was right now, in the middle of a desperate attempt to save Tony, I wouldn’t have believed them. The girl I’d been back then had been frightened, weak, nothing but a beaten-down coward who was afraid of her own shadow. But the woman I was today was a far cry from that girl. I’d gone through a lot since then. I’d been beaten by the Spartans. Tracked and branded by the Sureños. I’d saved Nate’s life, twice. I’d saved Tony’s life. I’d discovered a strength I hadn’t realized I’d had. A desire to live. But through it all, I was a better person today. All because of Nate. Whom I loved more than my own life.
I had fallen in love with a dreg. With a wonderful man who was good and kind and altruistic, sometimes to a fault. Nate was always looking out for others, wanting to make sure everyone was safe. Especially me. He’d risked his life for me, again and again. I wouldn’t change Nate for anything. I loved him just the way he was. In my eyes, he was perfect in every way. He was loyal to a fault. And he cared deeply about his friends and went out of his way to help them. I had no problem giving myself up in exchange for Tony’s release. No problem at all. I owed Tony. And I owed Nate. I would do this for them. Even if I ended up getting killed.
But I didn’t plan on dying. Hell, no. I planned on killing Romeo. That bastard was going down. I wasn’t a coward anymore. I wasn’t weak. I was going to cut the head off the beast and end Romeo’s evil reign. If I had my way, the Spartans would soon lose their leader.
Nate got on his phone and called the other dregs, letting them know Romeo had called and that I had agreed to give myself up for Tony’s release. They all agreed to meet us at the Spartans’ warehouse in Augusta.
Nate sped the entire way to Augusta, going way above the posted speed limit. The other dregs followed close behind, all of them anxious to get to Tony before it was too late. I kept glancing in the rearview mirror, expecting to see a cop tailing us with lights flashing, but no cops pursued us. I didn’t know if it was because there was so little traffic heading into Augusta now, or if the cops knew the dregs’ vehicles and intentionally didn’t follow them.
We reached the military barricade that had been strengthened since the gang attack almost a week ago. There were now more soldiers posted here, and a different guard was on duty than the last time we’d come through. Nate rolled down his window and talked to the guy, asking him if a van full of gang members had come through here recently.
The man sighed and shook his head. “There are other entrance and exit points into and out of the city. This is just the main one. The gangs are sneaky. They’ve recently found a place a few miles to the west that doesn’t have anyone guarding it. That’s where they’ve been coming and going from lately, but our orders are to stay here.”
“We need to get into the city to help our friend. Are you going to let us through?” Nate asked.
“Sgt. MacDonald told me to let you guys through whenever you wanted. I remember you. You were here that night when the gangs attacked. You saved a lot of soldiers. Thank you, sir.”
Nate jerked his head in a nod and cleared his throat. “How’s Sgt. MacDonald doing, anyway?”
“He’s going to be fine. He’s at home with his wife now, recovering. Honorable discharge.”
The guard saluted Nate, who saluted him back, and moments later, we drove into the city.
“What branch of the military are the dregs?” I asked.
Nate kept his eyes on the road as he answered. “We’re not part of any particular military group. We were privately trained. Privately owned.”
“The Company,” I murmured. “What are you going to do about them?”
“I don’t know. Believe me, I’d like to kill them all, but frankly, I’m sick and tired of killing. I just want to live a quiet life away from all the violence.” He sighed. “For now, let’s worry about saving Tony.”
Yes. For now, we would worry about saving Tony. And later, we could talk about the future.
But first, I had figure out how I was going to kill Romeo.
And somehow manage to not die in the process.