CHAPTER 27 - Grace
The turbulent anger and crippling fear that surged through my veins almost overshadowed the pain from my hand. My finger was bent in a way that made my stomach roll with nausea. I was shaking like a leaf in the harsh winter winds, my consciousness being teased by black spots threatening to take me away from this horror. I’d been walking through the second floor with Skye, talking about our concerns over the dwindling supplies when Trigger had suddenly appeared. Skye had been ready to run again, when Trigger’s frantic gaze caught mine and he said three words that made my stomach drop, “they’ve got Ink.” I followed him blindly, and Skye followed me. We walked right out of the building and into the waiting arms of the enemy, and Trigger had been the one to hand us over. I felt so stupid, cursing myself for trusting him. That betrayal stung. Not only was Trigger one of us, but he was a soldier, a man who swore to protect Liberty and its inhabitants. He was a friend.
And now Skye was dead.
If I hadn’t followed Trigger and put my faith in a traitor, Skye would be alive.
A sob wrapped around my throat, forcing it tight as I held back my tears. I didn’t want to give Jebediah the satisfaction of seeing me broken. The monster of a man at my back began to unwrap his bulky arms from my body. Dozer, the same asshole who won Hadley. Who raped Hadley. A shudder wracked my body as his hand groped my breast before he pushed me away with a snicker. My knees gave way under the heavy weight of grief, but not a single tear slipped free.
Skye’s lifeless eyes looked through me as her blood stained the white snow crimson. I couldn’t look away, regardless of how macabre the scene was. It was an image which would scar its way into my heart, remembered forever, the moment I’d been unable to save my friend. My best friend.
A pair of dirty black boots blocked my view, and I followed the legs to find the owner glaring at me. His smirk from moments ago gone, now replaced with anger and frustration. “This could have gone differently if you and Skye had left when you could. You fucked up, Grace. You could have been safe in the cave far away from here, but your disobedient, stubborn ass had to fight me.”
“You betrayed your own people,” I spat out. My thoughts couldn’t fathom how Trigger had gone from friend to foe so fast.
“Not my people,” he murmured, a shaking hand tugging at the long strands of his unruly hair.
“You’re a soldier of Liberty. You swore to protect.”
“Nope, I was a rebel soldier. Trust me, baby, I had no plans of becoming a babysitter. I only stayed because of Ink. I would have been gone the minute we dropped you off if it wasn’t for him. That whipped fuck refused to leave and all because he was lusting over some pre-pubescent pussy.”
“So you what?” Incredulity made my temper fray. “You thought you’d betray Liberty because you didn’t get your way? Like some spoiled child you decide to fuck us over?”
Trigger moved so fast I didn’t have time to protect myself. His fist connected with my face in a sickening slap of flesh, the power of his attack throwing me back on my ass in the snow. Without thinking, I reached out to catch my fall with my bad hand and pain radiated through my body, wrenching a scream from my throat. Rolling over, I threw up, before flopping to my back and staring into the black, starless sky above.
Those familiar eyes I’d once laughed with hovered above me.
“Liberty would be fine if Ink would just do as he was fucking told.” Trigger sunk to his haunches beside me. “Jebediah would have gotten what he wanted and moved on, and we would have made some money for ourselves in the meantime. These deaths weren’t meant to happen. They are on Ink’s soul. It’s his fucking fault all this has gone to shit.”
Refusing to be intimidated by him, I struggled to sit, forcing Trigger to move out of my space as I wiped the vomit from my lips. Standing, he took a small step away, disgust curling his lip. Sucking in a lungful of air I glared at him, hoping he could see my own palpable loathing. “Let me get this straight.” I winced, my cheek throbbing with my pulse. “You made a deal with the devil, and it’s Ink’s fault that deal has gone to shit.”
Trigger snarled in my direction, lunging forward to attack me again, a response which still shocked me, even knowing he had betrayed us. His assault was stopped with a single word from Jebediah.
“Traitor,” he yelled.
Trigger paused, his face filled with crazed fury and his hands curled and ready to pound my flesh.
“I let you touch her once because it humored me to see Ink’s face as you hit her, but if you touch her again, I will kill you.” Trigger didn’t move, the tension in his body barely restrained as he fought whatever inner demons had taken over his mind. “Your usefulness is quickly drawing to an end and if you can’t obey my simple commands then I will have no reason to keep you.”
Glancing over Trigger’s shoulder, I watched the grin light up Jebediah’s face, his teeth tugging and playing with the ring in his lip.
“I have a feeling the little bird would like to see that. What do you think, Grace? Would you grow wet for me like you do for Ink if I offered you his heart?”
“Fuck you,” I snapped.
The men around me laughed and murmured while Jebediah watched on. Suddenly, he pulled a bottle of water from the hands of one of his men and threw it at me. Dodging the projectile, it landed at my side.
“Clean out your mouth, I don’t want my cock covered in vomit when you blow me later tonight.” Dismissing me, he turned back to face the barracks, and I reached for the bottle. Not because I was worried about my vomit breath, and definitely not because my lips would be anywhere near his dick, ever, but because I was desperately thirsty. My lips were cracked and dry, my throat parched and raw. Swallowing deeply, I drank the bottle dry before tossing it back to the ground.
With much reluctance, Trigger took a few backward steps before tearing his gaze from mine and melting away into the shadows. Dozer glanced my way, a leer on his ugly face. Fuck him! Fuck all of them. They were so confident they had us beat, but as a loud bang sounded from the front of the hospital, a small smile grabbed the corner of my lip and lifted it into a knowing smirk.
Ink strolled through the doors with the casual grace of a deadly predator, his head held high, his stride long and purposeful and the promise of death in his eyes. The door slammed shut behind him, keeping that barrier of safety between Jebediah and Liberty. Ink kept coming forward until he stood but a few feet before our enemy, not a shadow of fear to be found on him. Face your enemy, show no fear. He didn’t utter a single word, he simply stood proud and tall, glaring defiantly at the men before him. In his silence, Ink was screaming vengeance. The look he wore was one I’d never forget, the same dark, ruthless aggression he carried into the Underworld to free the people of Liberty, to free me. It was confidence, it was acceptance, it was pure, unadulterated wrath.
Suddenly, a loud shot echoed through the air, and Dozer flew back a few feet, part of his head torn away. At the same time, Ink reached into his jacket and pulled out a knife, throwing in a single, fluid moment of beauty. The knife buried in the throat of the soldier who had killed Skye. Men shouted, guns were raised, and my mind struggled to keep up with what was happening.
“Don’t shoot,” Jebediah roared, and his men obeyed, though none of them lowered their weapons.
Jeze didn’t move her gun from its aim on Ink, her arm outstretched as she stood protectively by her brother.
Jebediah was breathing hard and pacing frantically. “I thought I told you not to do that… I thought I told you there would be repercussions if you killed another of my men,” he hissed. “Are you stupid enough to have any other weapons on you?” Ink didn’t say a word and remained still. “Search him… and if that fucker up there with the sniper rifle takes out another of my men, I will have my own sniper take out your Grace.”
Another crack of gunfire and the snow right beside my hand kicked up. Instinctively I wiggled away, my heart thumping wildly under the cage of my chest.
“See, I have a sniper too. Best investment I’ve made in years.”
Ink’s jaw ticked as he was searched, his eyes never leaving Jebediah. Inside them was the promise of death. Ink was beyond livid, retribution was nigh.
A giggle burst free from my mouth, and it tumbled quickly into slightly hysterical laughter. Leaning forward, I wiped the tears from my eyes with my good hand, before righting myself, and peering up into the perplexed face of Jebediah.
“You finally fall from your tree, little bird?” he asked.
I ignored him, my eyes finding the man who was the center of my universe. Our crazy, violent world seemed to fade away at the sight of him. Just having him so close centered me, steadied me. There was no confusion on his face at my little outburst, just quiet acceptance, and he offered me an imperceptible nod of understanding. Face, fear, fight. We were facing our enemy, we’d show them no fear, and even though I didn’t believe we would survive this night, we were going to take as many of these bastards to the ground with us.
My gaze settled back on Jebediah having found the same quiet resolve that consumed Ink.
“You’re going to die tonight.”
He didn’t laugh at my words, he didn’t even grin. Instead, for a fleeting heartbeat in time, he looked uncertain. “Get her out of the way,” Jebediah growled as he shoved one of his men in my direction.
Hauled to my feet, I didn’t fight as I was moved to one side. The dead were dragged out of the way with little care or fanfare. Jedediah’s militia began to form in a large crude circle, Ink standing in its center.
“Ink, Ink, Ink,” Jebediah crooned as he paced within the circle. “This could have gone a whole other way. You could have obeyed, survived, thrived. You could have had that little bird in your bed until you were old, limp and gray.”
Ink’s eye twitched as he began slowly unzipping his thick jacket. “You and I both know that’s a load of bullshit. There’s no way you were ever going to let me live. I’m a threat to you.”
Jebediah laughed his trademark manic cackle. “That is true. However, the people behind you might have survived. They can’t stay in there forever, and the minute they come tumbling out those doors, begging for food and water, I’m going to slaughter them. Every. Single. One.” He held up his hand and closed the gap between his pointer finger and thumb. “Even the itty bitty little ones.”
We had run out of time. Food was low, water was scarce, the people would have no choice but to leave the barracks, and in doing so, they’d find nothing but death. Throwing his jacket to one side, Ink seemed to grow in size before my eyes, his strong physique clearly visible beneath the long-sleeved shirt and military cargo pants. He didn’t argue, he didn’t play into Jebediah’s mind games. Instead, his entire body seemed to tense and flex as he prepared for battle. Stretching his neck from one side to the other, Ink turned his back on Jebediah and found the man they called Bricks. He was a scary looking beast with a hideous scar dissecting one eye and ending at his jaw, his flat lips downturned into a brooding scowl. His face had a look that reminded me of a picture of a dog I’d once seen in a book—a Bulldog.
“Let’s get this show on the road already.”
Jebediah clearly bristled at Ink’s brush off, yet barked out orders for Brick to make his way into the circle.
“Jeze,” Jebediah snarled.
His sister obediently moved, having finally holstered her weapon, walking through the snow to one end of the large area they had established for the fight. Pulling a huge knife out of a holster on her thigh, she stabbed the blade into the icy ground. Walking to the opposite side of the circle, someone handed her another which she slammed into the ground blade first, just like she’d done with the other.
“Rules are for pussies,” Jebediah shouted and his men chuckled, some giving shouts of agreement. “There are no rules. You each have the opportunity to use a weapon, and you may arm yourself at your leisure. You fight until only one is left breathing.” Turning in a dramatic flair, his coat spinning out from his body, Jebediah stalked to where I stood at the edge of the circle. “Fight!”
Holding my injured hand close to my chest, my entire body tensed as I watched Bricks turn and dash for his weapon. Ink ignored the knife protruding from the ice behind him, and instead raced after Bricks. The thickset man was fast, but Ink was faster, and with a lunge and an outstretched hand he took him to the ground. They rolled, Ink being tossed to one side before he jumped to his feet with an agile grace which was both beautiful and frightening, then he kicked Bricks in the face, the maneuver flipping the barrel of a man to his back. With a shake of his head and a roll, Bricks quickly climbed back onto those legs as thick as tree stumps.
Ink easily ducked a solid punch and managed to land a right hook to Bricks’ ugly face, throwing a spray of blood across the icy ground. Bricks roared before ducking down and running at Ink, scooping him up around the waist and dumping him on the hard-packed snow. I felt Ink’s pained grunt as if it were my own. With the agility and power he was renowned for, Ink twisted and lifted a knee into Bricks’ groin. Thick arms barely caught his fall from where he’d been positioned over Ink, and all it took was a hard shove to roll him away. Rising to one knee, Ink reached for the man’s head while he writhed on the ground, and between two sure and sturdy hands, he glared at Jebediah as he snapped his first opponent’s neck.
A whisper of disbelief escaped my lips. He’d beaten Bricks so easily. With wonder, I watched as Ink stood to his full height, his chest rising and falling hard, but not a drop of blood marred his ferocious beauty.
“Such a fucking shame,” Jebediah murmured from beside me. “Sawyer!”
The next man moved into the circle, his head held high. His face was far more symmetrical and scar-free than the last, with smooth, olive skin, dark hair and an arrogant smirk that some women would probably find attractive. I hated it. I hated everything about him, especially the dead look in his eyes as he approached Ink. Having already removed his coat, Sawyer stopped several feet away and rolled his head.
“I can’t decide if I want to defeat you or not,” the man said clearly, his words causing my brow to dip into a confused furrow. “Knowing you would become Jeze’s bitch…it’s almost worth losing.”
Every time I heard her name mentioned I wanted to draw blood and my feet moved of their own accord, taking me two steps into the circle when hard, unforgiving hands dragged me back to my position beside Jebediah. I wanted to kill him. I wanted to kill them all, and when I moved to shake off the grip that held me in place, I found Jeze staring at me. Her. I wanted to kill her.
Unmoving, I continued to stare, imagining all the different ways I could take her life. It had to be up close and personal. I needed to feel her body slacken with death, I needed to see the life leave her eyes. Almost as if she could read my thoughts, her lips rose into something that resembled a smug smile before she turned her attention back to the fight before us. She hadn’t submitted to my glare, she’d simply dismissed me. I had no doubt this woman had a lifetime of mistakes under her belt, too many to count, but her easy dismissal of me would be her final one.
Her failure to see me as a threat would be her downfall.