Unfortunately, I was the only one who knew it.
“That’s it. I’m going.” Scooching to the center of the backseat, Kali leaned forward and cupped my face, her palms warm and soothing. She stroked the contours of my cheekbones, back and forth, and that feather-light touch dissolved me. The mossy hues in her irises gleamed with moisture. “No matter what happens, promise me you will come back to us.”
Her asking for a deal that was not actually a deal, a one-sided bargain, apromise, it caused a ball to form in my throat.
I covered her hand with my own. “I promise.”
She rapidly blinked, sniffled, and then dashed out of the car without a glance back at me. The set of her angular shoulders betrayed the tension coursing through her as she pulled Jayla away, both of the women striding toward the mass of our people getting into position.
“Do not go on a killing spree.” Gedeon’s new rule pierced the chatter trickling through the open driver’s door. “I need you clearheaded.”
I slumped in my seat. “When have I ever gone against your orders?”
Instead of glowering and explaining, he simply quirked an eyebrow.
“If leeway is not why I’m letting you fuck me, then why the hell am I doing it?” I grumbled.
Strong fingers coiled around my jaw. “This is not a joke to me, Zion.”
As he pulled me closer, I clutched the console and his thigh to stay upright.
“No one is allowed to hurt you, including you yourself.” He compressed, and my nerve endings screamed in protest.
But I stayed in place. The potency of his low tone had frozen me.
“You want a promise, like you have given her?” he asked, slow and cold. “Then here it is. I will use your own chains toleash you if you do not behave. I will carve our names below your collarbones so it’s crystal clear who you belong to. And if for some reasonmytattoo,myscars, andournames etched into you are not enough to deter our enemies, I will dissect not only their bodies, but their hearts too. I will turn them into bowls to serve their meager brains as dinner to their friends.” Gedeon’s throat bobbed. “No one, I repeat, no one has the rights to you. You are mine, Zion, mine and hers.” His grip eased as his thumb flicked my bottom lip. “So don’t you dare go off the rails, because if I find out you did and someone hurt you, I will punish you along with them.”
I cursed the zipper in my uniform pants.
64
GEDEON
The wheels crushed the withered branches adorning the road as Zion drove away, back into the maze of routes tangled with the city’s forest, the labyrinth as perilous as what we were about to do.
“It’s time.” Taking Kali’s hand, I led our group deeper into the forest, closer to the wide open, circular field surrounding Ilasall. The longer we walked, the more budding foliage caressed our shoulders, moss absorbed our steps, and dew rained on our shoulders.
But she held her chin up the entire trek, her sharp jaw resembling a razor. Resolve emanated from her pores, mixing with the scent of rotting vegetation invading the woods.
If not both her and Zion, at least I could protect her. As much as I detested having to send him away, we needed to cover all our bases.
Ilasall had many small gates, the size of double doors or so, serving as access points to the wall so thick crews of soldiers could march inside it.
But only three major gates existed. Their retractable barriers, as high as twenty-five feet, were wide enough for two trucks to pass side by side. Which also meant that the party thatcontrolled these three points would also dictate the outcome of the war.
And to be featured in history books, you had to emerge a victor.
So I had no choice but to suck it up and send Zion to lead the assault from the north. Ava, east, and Kali and I from the west. The southern part of the fifty-foot wall encircling the city boasted no large gates, diminishing our chances of getting as many people as we could into the city in mere minutes.
For now, I could only hope everyone was primed to go. That the people we had moved through the catacombs during the night had reached their destinations and rallied the citizens opposing the government. That all of them were prepared to lay down their lives today.
No radio contact limited our communication, but we could not risk the city breaking into our channels and ruining everything before we even began.
Trusting my teams to get the job done was all I could do.
Once the thicket thinned out and the concrete wall of Ilasall came into view, sparkles of faulty electrical wiring on top exposing the patrols, we came to a halt.
I didn’t need to glimpse behind me tofeelthe mass of thousands at my back. As countless legs leaped over the gnarled roots, the forest itself held its breath.
