He just meets my eyes, his gaze steady but haunted. "I know you don't understand my world…" He blows out a breath. "I get it. What we do here, what we've built here." He stops to swallow. "It doesn't mean anything to you, Savannah."
He lifts up his shirt, showing me the bandage over his heart. He rips the gauze off, takes my hand, and presses my fingertips to the burned skin. "It's everything to me. It's not more than you, Savannah. I need you to know that. But there is noyouwithout this place. I need you to understand that too."
I don't understand. None of this makes sense.
"We only have until dawn," he continues.
My mouth is so dry, I can barely speak. "Only have what until dawn?"
"Protection. They're gonna vote on you. Every patched member will come in tonight at some point and stay until dawn. Then we have church—not the kind you go to—and they will vote. Should Badlands shoulder responsibility for the Little Ashby Princess?"
I blink. Unable to believe he just called me that.
"Or should we cut her loose?"
I swallow again—my god, I need some fucking water. "Maybe I should just go? If I'm causing all this trouble."
"Well," Legion says. And now is when he touches me. Puts his hands on my knees. "We've got a problem there too, darlin'. Because Ilivehere. Yeah, I have the new trailer, but this is home. And if you leave now, I can't come with you."
I scoff. Is he fuckin’ serious right now? He can't come with me.
"It's not how it sounds," Legion continues.
"Oh, I think it is, Legion. I think it's exactly how it sounds."
"I'm not telling you to go, I'm not telling you to stay." He leans in closer, whispering now. "I'm telling you that if I walk out, they're gonna kill me."
"What?" No sound comes out of my mouth when I ask this.
"The brand, Savannah, it's a promise for life. And when I made this promise two weeks ago, I thought you were safe. I thought we'd stay in our places and live our lives, and… " He throws up his hands. "Whatever. Hook up, maybe. Or never see each other again. I don't know. But that's not how I feel tonight. Tonight, you're mine. And I want it to stay that way."
“I don’t understand. Why would they kill you if I left?”
“Because I’d go with you. And, like I said, I can’t go with you.”
It takes a moment for all this cryptic shit to fall into place, but eventually, it does.
If you leave, I can’t go.
But if I leave, he’s going with me.
It what I wanted, wasn’t it? That’s what I told him the very day they took us. If I walk away, he walks too.
He said no. He made it very clear that he was not walkin’ out on Badlands.
Now I know why. It’s not because he doesn’t love me.
It’s because of that stupid brand.
They own him.
That’s what that brand means.
And if I get up and walk out of here tonight, he’s going with me.
Will they kill him in front of me? Immediately? Kill us both?
Or will they let us walk away and hunt us down later?
