“Bala, put the knife away,” Lex interjected.
“Where. Is. She?”
"She's okay,” Nadir said.
And she knew he was lying.
"I did not ask if she was okay," Bala corrected. "I asked where thefuckshe is."
Shame burdened his features, Nadir pressed his hands to his hips. “She’s at the outskirts of Savigndor.”
“And where exactly is that?” Bala managed shakily.
“It’s what Man has started calling their settlement.”
—Her fist pummeled into Nadir’s face.
He stumbled on his feet, grasping at his nose, but he didn’t fight back. Anger surged in her veins. She lunged, her fists grabbing his shirt, and she yanked him forward.
“You let her be captured?!”
She released her right hand, only to send it flying into his face again.
Arms grabbed her from the side.
“Bala!”
Bala lunged again, but Lex’s arms caught her. Her feet flew into the air, and Bala kicked his chest.
“You’re a fuckingidiot, Nadir!”
Nadir tumbled into the door, holding onto his side. Wild terror ran through Bala’s veins.
“I trusted you!”
Bala shoved Lex off and jumped on Nadir again. She picked him up by his hair and slammed his head back into the door.
“Bala,stop!”
Lex wrapped her arms under Bala’s shoulders and hauled her off him, but not before Bala railed her foot into Nadir’s side once more.
Lex threw Bala into the railing. "Enough!"
Bala pushed off, but Lex stood her ground before her, pulling her back with her hands tight around Bala’s arms.
“Listen—”
Bala’s heart raced. She shoved against Lex’s grasp. “You fucking coward," she spat at him.
Blood dripped from Nadir’s broken lip and down his chin.
“I should have known you would let this happen,” Bala cried. “You with your lax judgment, your everything-is-fine attitude—”
Nadir still hadn’t looked at her. He grabbed onto his side where she’d kicked him and pushed himself to a sitting position.
“What happened—did you fuck her the first night and then leave her? Break her heart and have her run away? Did your people condemn her because of who she is too? Did you not stand up for her?—”
“It’s not like that—”
