Twenty minutes later, I left a letter in mamma’s room:
The queen must save her king, or there’s no kingdom left for her. I know you’ll understand, even if you hate it. I love you all.
Mia
P.S. Lev will keep me safe
Then I kissed my family, without making it seem obvious, and after Evelina kissed Mari and I hugged her, we escaped through the secret door that led to the building next to the fire house. The fire house was on the corner, so it was wedged.
Evelina hit the button on a fast car with a back seat, but I shook my head and held out my hand when she went to take the driver’s seat.
She flung the keys at me. We both got in.
“Ready?” I said.
She held on to her seatbelt. “Go.”
The garage door opened. I backed out faster than she thought possible, and the door shut a second later. I jerked to a halt when a man came a breath away from becoming part of the asphalt.
“Mia—run the motherfucker over!” Evelina shouted.
“Open the door. Now!”
She looked at me like I was the one who’d been stuck with drugs again, but she did as I’d said. Lev slipped into the back seat. Blood stained his clothes, and he smelled like smoke.
He tipped his head to me as the tires squealed and I took off.
“That was fast,” I said, eyeing him and the road.
“In the neighborhood.” He pointed. “The airport is that way.”
Chapter33
Saverio
My head lolled to the side when the truck we were being transported in hit a bump. Then it snapped upright like someone had pulled a string connected to my neck. My eyes popped open, and my breath came out in a cloud of smoke. Two sides of beef rocked into me from both sides. The hooks they were hanging from rattled when whoever was driving hit another bump.
A man groaned.
It took a minute for my mind to connect with my body. It felt separated. When I went to get up and look for it, shackles around my wrists and ankles kept me in place. My hands were behind my back, and they were attached to the lining of the truck. My ankles were fettered to the floor. The metal looked old and fucking barbaric. It tainted the air. Wet metal mixed in with the fresh scent of animal carcasses. The slaughter had happened not long ago.
My eyes were open, I realized, but my vision was hazy, like I’d been in a fire. I wondered if the breath from my mouth counted. I must have been panting, because my warm breath kept frosting in front of my face, but my chest felt hollow. I couldn’t catch air. Maybe the temperature of the truck made it too thin.
Because my mind was slow to react, the pieces started toclickas slowly as blood trying to move through frozen veins.
Sides of beef. Freezing cold temps. The back of a truck. They were transporting us like dead meat.
I narrowed my eyes, trying to see. My men were hidden from me, but I noticed legs and feed—feet—and started counting.
1
2
3
10
Fuck. I think I’m missing a few. Start again.
