Page 37 of Blood We Steal

Rubin

“So how many COs?” I asked Damian from the corner of the common area he’d taken as his.

The men surrounded him, and on the surface, this could have been any other day, men locked inside searching for petty amusements to pass the time.

But it wasn’t any other day, and there was work to be done.

“You’ve been here for nearly two years. Wouldn’t you know better than me?” Damian said, a smirk on his face.

“Yes. But there have been staffing shortages and new hires. Plus, we don’t know how many of them fucked off at the first sign of trouble, and I’ve only heard three voices on this walkie,” I said.

My brother was trying to get under my skin. Not really, but he always told me that I was too serious, that I ran things like our father, the gravest insult he could make, and he knew it. But I understood his aim. If everything was dire all the time, if the men feared that at any moment I might lose it, they couldn’t perform. Still, if ever there was a time to be serious, it was now.

Arben tilted his head, clearly in thought. “At least forty, though that may have thinned in all this mess, plus the civilians,” he said.

“Tell me more,” I responded, looking at him.

“All the COs rushed to D Block, dressed in their SWAT uniforms. We held back while they drove those things into E and sealed the doors. It won’t hold forever.”

“Nothing ever does, but they’ve contained the threat for now?”

Arben shrugged. “On this floor, and maybe a couple of floors above, but that’s about it. It’s difficult to say, but they seemed comfortable enough. And they have gear, weapons.”

“But hardly any food,” I said. I’d overheard them talking over the radio and after deciphering their simple code, I’d pieced their predicament together. “They’re going to try to take the rest of the building and the resources. Any reports from outside?”

Damian frowned. “Not much. Mostly static on the radio, and when I land on a channel, it’s all screams and shooting. No help is coming.”

“Good thing we’ve never banked on help. For now, we need to make sure that we have A, B, and C locked down and get a detailed accounting of the supplies and how much we use every day. Simone has set the rations and will keep track of them. Send anyone who has an objection to me.”

I heard a scoff and looked over my shoulder at Lorik. He was looking at me, then averted his gaze before looking at Simone, his expression hard.

“Is there something you want to contribute, Lorik?” I said.

He lowered his gaze and spoke in a quiet voice, but the anger was radiating off him. “She is tradhtare,” he said. “We all know the penalty for that.”

There was silence. Besnik cleared his throat and one glance out of the corner of my eye saw Damian smirking.

“So you disagree with my approach. You are questioning my decisions?”

Lorik kept his gaze lower, then after a moment, looked up. “I…”

“Speak freely, Lorik,” I said.

“Krye, she deserves to die for what she did to you.”

“That’s what you think,” I said, my voice surprisingly calm.

“Yes,” Lorik responded. He tilted his head slightly, clearly proud of himself for speaking the words.

Every man in the room knew it. Just as I did. Besa demanded blood as payment for betrayal. And Simone’s betrayal was the worst kind. She hadn’t stolen. She hadn’t even lied. She’d exposed our world to the outside, and she’d earned her death.

Yet my words gave her reprieve.

“When you become krye, your thoughts on the subject will matter. Until then…” I looked at all of the men…“and hear this, all of you. Simone is off limits. Don’t even look in her direction. Any man that has a problem with that can take it up with me personally. Right here. Right now.”

I went quiet for a moment, breathed out, and met the men eye for eye. I wished one would challenge me. I needed an excuse to demonstrate that my word was law. Simone had betrayed besa and made a fool of me, but I was still krye. Damian still smirked, but he understood the point. Besnik, I could rely on. Arben, always a wild card, but loyal and not too invested in making waves. I held Lorik’s gaze until the stubbornness bled out of it, and he nodded grudgingly. The others followed suit.

“They broke up the gangs to keep any group from consolidating power, so there shouldn’t be any challenges for leadership,” I said.