He pulls out a coagulating shot. This thing costs more than fuel. Without warning, he stabs me with it in the chest, just above my worst wounds. I wince as the needle pierces the skin. He waits for five seconds for the serum to enter my bloodstream before pulling it out and throwing it behind him. It’ll stop the bleeding.
“Why waste it on me?” I ask.
Jude glares. “Dumdumb informed me that if you die, I won’t be allowed to fly the aircraft.”
“Dumdumb?” I ask.
“Your AI,” he explains. “I’ve encountered a few AIs over the years, but this one wins at being the dumbest and most useless one.”
“I am programmed to be of service to the President of the United States,” says Fyfe in a toneless voice.
“Yes, yes. Do you know he’s not even the President?” Jude retorts, pointing at me. “There are no more United States.”
“As long as the President is safe, the nation survives.”
Jude groans. “Fucking dumb…”
He pulls out a few tablets of painkillers and other medication, and rams his fingers down my throat. I try to resist, but I’m too weak to do much. Then he shoves a water bottle between my lips and forces me to swallow.
Rage burns my face and eyes. If I survive long enough to regain some strength, I’ll fucking kill him. I’ll electrocute him until his face melts off his skull.
Jude takes a few steps back, and that’s when I notice that we’ve landed on a rocky path.
“Look at that,” he says, pointing to the horizon. “Your underground city is burning.” He sounds delighted.
I focus my good eye over the mountains and see the dark smoke rising in the sky. And flying above Bunkertown is a fucking dragon.
I stare, speechless.
“Didn’t know that one, either?” Jude asks me, pointing at the faraway dragon. “And I thought I had seen everything.” He laughs. “He must have been sleeping in the mountains, and we woke him.”
We’re really far, but I can still see the leathery wings, long tail, and horns.
Those horns… It looks like my recently acquainted brother—Helios’ new lover—was created from the dragon’s DNA.
I curse the day when I found that starving kid in the wastelands. The day I opened the door tofeelings. Everything would have turned out better if I had really been as heartless as they all say I am.
Something caves in inside me as the dragon breathes fire through the entrance of Bunkertown. That will do it. My home, burning and beyond saving. My shelter. After spending years in the wastelands, I found a place with water, food, and space to grow. People flocked to join my dream. Some even abandoned theHighwaymento join us. I was building an empire.
Until Helios and his devil brought it all down. And now a fucking dragon is finishing the job.
I drop my head back on the headrest and close my eyes. I’m fucking tired of seeing the world.
I don’t even resist when Jude ties my feet together with one of the shackles we used on our slaves. It feels heavy on my ankles.
I feel a breath on my face, and I can’t help but peek at Jude’s face just in front of mine.
“Karma’s a bitch, huh?” he says with a wicked smile.
His buzzed ginger hair looks soft under the sun. And from this close, I can count the freckles on his cheekbones and nose. The delicate pattern of the burns I gave him took away nothing from his beauty. But his eyes… His eyes are cruel and soulless as he watches me.
It takes all I have not to cringe away from him.
2
Broken monster.
“Mexico City was one of the first major cities to be attacked. We had been monitoring Quetzalcoatl since he emerged from his temple, so we knew where he was heading. We sent our best fighter jets to counter him. All that we managed to do was enrage him. Once he reached the city, he was set on killing and destroying. We called our fighters back. All those civilians… I still hear their screams in my dreams.”
