“No, no it’s not.”
Sudden wrath hijacked my hand—I pummelled a fist into a sapling. “Yes, it is. I had her in my arms a few hours ago. I thought I knew best. I stupidly thought I had time. I’m a fucking idiot.I’mto blame. Not you. Never you. Understand?”
Jasmine didn’t reply.
My time had run out. My voice lowered to a soothing whisper. “I can’t comfort you. Not yet. It fucking kills me that you’re dealing with this on your own but, Jasmine, Ineedyou to spit it out. Where did they take her?”
Diamond Alley?
The integration house in Devon?
Where?
Jaz sniffed loudly, shoving aside her grief. “They’ve taken her toAlmasi Kipanga.”
“Fuck!”
My mind swam with images of our mine. The cavernous caves and labyrinth of chiselled pathways. Our fortune had come from there. Our name. Our titles. Everything we had came from the dirt.
Almasi Kipanga.
Swahili for Diamond Hawk.
“When? How?”
“I don’t know. But they took her. They left hours ago. I checked with air traffic control. The plane left on route to Chad then to Botswana. You’ll never make it in time.”
Everything inside went ice, ice cold. “In time for what, Jaz? What else do you know?”
I paced in the clearing, going out of my fucking mind.
“Bonnie took great pride in telling me Cut will make her pay the Third Debt the moment they get there. And the Fourth Debt the day after...Jethro...they plan on carrying out the Final Debt by the end of the week.”
Motherfucking shit.
My mind ran wild, calculating time zones and travel distance.
Even if I left now and there was a charter leaving immediately, I would still be hours behind. I would be too late to prevent the Third Debt.
My heart crumbled to ash.
How could I do this to her? After everything she’d already lived through. How had I failed her so fucking spectacularly?
Christ!
Shrugging into the backpack, I vowed I wouldn’t let Nila suffer anymore. Fuck the plan. Fuck timing.
I won’t give up.
“I’ll take care of it.” My voice was a tombstone. Even as I swore I’d save Nila, I knew the truth. The awful, disgusting truth.
Kes had done what I couldn’t and saved her from the Third Debt. He’d held her. Comforted her. Been there for her while he protected her from being raped.
All of that had been in vain.
He’d been shot because of me.
He might never wake up because ofme.
