Since I’m the only one out of us that actually knows the people behind the masks, I take it as my turn to convince the rest of them. For Fauna’s sake not my own.
‘Let me put this plainly for you all,’ I shift from my seated position so that I can see each of their expressions. Some drawn and skeptical, others devoid of any emotion. ‘My brother is one of them and he would never hurt someone the way we’ve seen people be hurt. He is a good man. I don’t exactly need to go into it after we all saw what he did for Fauna.’
Vish clears his throat from the doorway and everyone bristles at the noise. Some are reaching for their weapons on instinct, but the sheepish smile he gives the room is enough of a surrender to have a few of the girls re-sheathing their knives.
‘Ru is a violent man.’ Knives are redrawn. ‘But never towards those he cares about and certainly not towards those who are innocent and don’t deserve it.’
‘Who said we are innocent?’ Luna’s grin is satanic as she twirls her blade between her fingers.
‘Survivors don’t count. Those pieces of shit that came in here and hurt Isla are the type of people I am on about.’ A few nods of the head flow through the group. ‘The bodies nailed around the city are down to us but they are there for a reason, a warning to other evils and groups to stay out of this city. People outside of our settlement’s walls have to believe we are the bigger monsters. That is what keeps them away… mostly. Honestly? We don’t care if that type of person thinks we’re evil. In fact, I’d betmost of us get some satisfaction from making those animals piss themselves with fear.’
‘And to those who aren’t them?’ Liz asks.
‘We welcome them in. Let whoever needs to make the stadium their home. I’m not saying it's all sunshine and roses. The world is a messed-up place, and it has left a lot of people with immense levels of trauma that they are working through, but there is hope amongst each and every one of us.’ Vish laughs as if remembering something. ‘And for the darker days when it's harder to find the light, wee Elsa manages to drag us into it whether we want to or not.’
‘Elsa?’ One of the girls asks.
Liam answers this time and some of the girls bristle at him moving through the doors threshold. ‘One of three children at the stadium. She’s six years old and has enough energy to keep us all on our toes.’ The way his slightly rough beard shifts to show his warm smile has my insides churning, both with butterflies and dread.
As if I am the only person in the room, Liam’s gaze locks onto mine, something that hasn’t gone unnoticed to me. It’s like he is physically incapable of not checking that I am still here and with the way he is looking at me, gaze filled with such wounded intensity, it’s almost as if it pains him to see me here.
I shift, discomfort creeping over me as I refocus on Vish but Liam’s firm voice is clearly still aimed my way.
‘It isyourchoice and the offer does not have an expiry date. But just to make it extremely clear, we do not hurt our own. I promise you all that although out here we are monsters, we are anything but behind those stadium walls.’
Chapter nine
Laim
I’ve finally found my emerald-eyed beauty, and she's coming home.
Isla is my home and she is coming back to the stadium with me.
Yes, she's part of a larger group of women — seven others to be exact — but she is the only one I care about. Her safety and happiness consume me. I would gladly burn the entire city just to see a smile on her face. The smile I have felt so homesick for these past few months that we have been apart.
Vish’s speech was nice and he was truthful in what he was saying, but it was hard to keep following along with him once he called the stadium home, because how can I agree with himwhen my home is sitting across the room from me, refusing to look my way. Emerald green eyes hidden behind a scowl is my home and just being in her presence makes the familiar heartache I have grown used to a little bit more manageable.
It's clear Isla isn’t ready to speak to me yet and after the small dark-haired woman sternly told me to disappear from outside their room, I’ve settled on the idea that I will keep my presence discreet. But what I will not do is leave her again. I’ve lost her once and I will never do that again.
Standing at the back entrance of the school, I breathe in the spring air. The brighter skies have been a recent welcome compared to the persistent dull winter we just had. Endless snow clouds came in early this past winter and it was a struggle to deal with them. Thankfully, the early start to the winter season did not mean that it was an extended one and spring came just on time. And thank fuck for that because despite how I acted this winter, always finding any excuse to go out on a scouting mission, I hate the cold.
I feel much more comfortable feeling the sun on my skin and hearing the birds sing from their perches.
The door behind me creeks and Vish’s warning voice greets me before I can turn. ‘No fighting.’
Oh shit, that doesn’t sound like a good start. I don’t make it a rushed attempt to turn around — I know from the ache in my heart it’s not her and she is the only person I care about speaking to right now.
The male grunt narrows the possibilities down. And since he is the only other man with us apart from Vish, I know as I turn around to greet the furious leader of The Skulls I'm right.
‘My little sister is the woman you have been… pining after all of these months?’ Ru’s tone doesn’t give much away, but by the way his fists are clenched, I decide it's in my best interest to keep my distance for now.
‘Yes,’ I respond, not sure how much he wants me to say.
From the look on Ru’s face, he doesn’t quite know either. If this were a different situation he would be congratulating me, giving me reassuring pep talks about how she’ll come around but we aren’t there and the woman he knew I was searching for turned out to be his sister.
With a sigh, Ru shakes his head. ‘I don’t know what to say. Finding Fauna and then Isla and now…’ he trails off, gesturing towards me. ‘I haven’t spoken to Isla much but she said you didn’t force her.’
Horror skates through me at the thought of ever harming Isla never mind something like that. I snatch the dark material of his collar, still damp with blood from his earlier kills, transferring onto my knuckles.
