One, two, three, my heartbeats marked the passing time, and the understanding gradually dawned on me.
“I don’t know why, but I think Alora would want me to let go. There has to be a reason why she remained quiet throughout her life and didn’t inform anyone about my actions. I just… I don’tknow how I feel about letting it go.” I traced the discoloration on Zion’s forearm—the burn scars from the punishment Gedeon had wrongly judged to be fit. “But I think you already did.” Looking up at him, I asked, “How did you forgive Gedeon?”
He stayed quiet for a while, long enough for me to debate whether he’d fallen asleep. “It wasn’t a choice,” he said at last. “I didn’t wake up one day and decide to do it. After my family was slaughtered, I had few options. Live in the wild, move to another compound, or help rebuild this one. This was my home, so I stayed. Yes, I was messed up, constantly spiraled out of control, but Gedeon would always drag me back home from a brawl in some corner bar, throw me in the bathroom to sober up, and deal with the consequences himself.”
Staring at the ceiling for a long while, he spoke again. “I don’t know when, but I started spending time in our underground. And over time, things changed. I stopped feeling so angry,” Zion said. “So no, I don’t blame him for his past actions. We all did some messed-up shit.”
Gedeon grumbled in his sleep, his knee kicking the backs of my legs, and I stuffed my face into a pillow to muffle a snicker. If he was awake, he would’ve jumped to check if I was okay, uninjured.
Turning my head, I peeked at Zion. “Thank you.”
The first rays of budding dawn deepened the blue in his eyes. “For what?”
“For sharing.” I brushed the line of his jaw, the day’s stubble pricking my fingertips. “For being here, and not…away.”
He tightened his hold on me. “I’m not going anywhere.” Glancing over my shoulder at Gedeon, Zion added, “He won’t either.”
“I think I’m beginning to believe that,” I admitted. The minuscule piece of metal glinted on Zion’s chest, and curiositygot the better of me. Again. “Do you think he’ll like what we did?”
Zion grinned. “If he doesn’t, he’ll just fuck the audacity out of us.”
62
GEDEON
Scouring the closet for a clean hoodie, I ignored the unusual hush. No voices or footfalls trickled through an open window in our bedroom.
Dusk had already descended, and the timer of four hours before we set off to Ilasall had started.
Yet our scouts had reported the city functioned as normal.
Because of Ezra’s escape, undeniably aided by the traitors marinating in our ranks, Ilasall had to be aware of our approach. As surprise had ceased being a tactic we could use to our advantage, it was all going to come down to the numbers of knives, handguns, and rifles. Of legs and arms. Of men, women, and children.
War boasted a rule of no exceptions.
Death didn’t care how skilled or old you were.
Dressed in a pair of form-fitting sweatpants, Kali squeezed in beside me to delve deep into my shelves. I didn’t need to ask to know she was searching for one of my hoodies.
Did she own any herself? More than a few. Zion had relented and sworn he wouldn’t throw them into the closest fire.
However, her own clothes seemed to be an unacceptable option. She had never said anything, but whenever I discardedmy worn hoodies, she would snatch them right out of the laundry hamper.
I had resorted to piling them on an empty shelf, away from the clean clothing. At least this way, she didn’t need to look for them.
Wriggling into my black hoodie, she glanced at me. Once. Twice.
Thrice.
I raised an eyebrow. “Something on your mind?”
Freeing her dark hair from the trap the neckline had become, she muttered the one syllable I refused to accept, “No.”
Kali was mine, same as Zion, and that included her dreams, insecurities, worries, and desires. And nothing,nothing,would prevent me from mincing her fits of self-doubt until not a dust mote remained.
Grabbing her by the front ofmyclothing, I yanked her close. She stumbled, gasping as she crashed into my chest, her weight a soothing presence.
“I will not tolerate secrets between us.” I locked her against me. “So let me make myself very clear. Either you speak up, or once I find out whatever you are keeping from me, I will string you up on the roof and make you come so hard the entire compound will hear your screams.”
