“Yeah.” Marcus glanced over his shoulder again, and my gaze dropped to the crossbow he had slung over his shoulder, and the guns hanging off his belt.
Jumping up, I gestured to his guns. “Gimme those,” I demanded.
Marcus glanced down. “What? Fuck you.”
“No,fuck you. Gimme your guns. I only have one on me and no extra clips.”
Marcus’s eyes narrowed. “You’ve got more at home.”
I gritted my teeth. “I can’t leave. I would if I could, but I fucking can’t. Now give me your guns and get the hell out of here.”
“Man ...” Shaking his head, he groaned, then pulled free one of his pistols and sent it flying up the stairs.
I caught it easily and tucked it into the back of my jeans. “The other one,” I said, gesturing.
Cursing under his breath, he did as I asked and sent the second weapon barreling toward me. This one I caught and didn’t tuck away. If they were coming for me, I was going to be ready. And even if they did take me down, I’d take a handful out with me.
“You owe me,” he muttered.
“Join the fucking club,” I shot back. Since Autumn arrived, I found myself owing everyone, when it had always been the other way around.
Still cursing, Marcus turned to leave and disappeared out the door. Blowing out a breath, I jogged down the stairs and peered out one of the few windows in Purgatory that wasn’t cracked or broken.
Everything appeared as it usually did. People were milling about, headed to and from wherever the fuck it was they went to and from. From here I could just barely see the main gates. Marcus was right; the guards had gathered and only a handful were still lined up outside.
“What the fuck are you doing, Liv?” I muttered.
A few feet away, the front door swung open and as I turned, a young guard I recognized walked inside. He stopped when he saw me, eyeing me cautiously.
“John,” I said.
“It’s Josh,” he said, glancing warily at the gun in my hand.
My fingers twitched, my grip on the handle tightening. “Josh, what the fuck do you want?”
He glanced around me and up the stairwell. Something was up, something was wrong, but I didn’t know what. Liv wouldn’t have sent one lone man for me.
Then the shouting began. It echoed through the halls and down the stairs, followed by a crash and a distinctly feminine scream. Josh pulled his weapon at the same moment I raised mine. But I didn’t hesitate; I pulled the trigger twice, hitting him in the chest both times. As he folded to the floor, I went running up the stairs.
The hallway above was packed full of men, and my stomach sank as a couple of dozen guns aimed at my head. Movement behind me had me turning just in time to see a flash of pink, and then the business end of a shovel headed straight for my face.
Then everything went black.
• • •
I came to sometime later, blinking back the pain radiating through my skull. It was several moments before I could manage to see something other than a colorful blur. When I could finally make out my surroundings, the vibrant colors of the familiar mismatched couches and prized artwork sent me into a panic.
Gritting my teeth, I attempted to push myself upright but only succeeded in causing the burning, throbbing pain in my head to intensify. My stomach heaved in protest, so I decided to simply roll onto my side, and came face-to-face with a pair of boots. I looked up and into Jeffers’s face.
“Careful,” Jeffers said, frowning down at me. “She fucked you up pretty good.”
“Autumn?” I croaked, touching my forehead.
“Alive. For now. She’s in holding, lined up for the cages.”
My body tensed, and I winced as the throbbing grew worse. “She didn’t do anything,” I insisted, my voice raspy. “Whatever Liv’s saying, Autumn didn’t do it.”
“She’s not the one accusing her.”
