Page 30 of Blood We Steal

He nodded decisively. “But the fucking world had to end before I could do it.”

“Yes. I guess it’s unfortunate that the end of the world cut into your grand plan,” I said. “So, what’s going on?”

He nodded and then pulled me over to a corner.

“Stay right there, Simone,” I said, still not looking at her.

Damian laughed. “I guess not all is lost,” he said, staring at her.

I shifted so that I was standing in front of him. “What does that mean?”

“She’s here. That means finally she’ll get what she deserves.” He shrugged like it was nothing.

And it was.

Simone’s betrayal was a capital offense, and had she been anyone else, she would have been dead a year and a half ago. She wasn’t anyone else though, and I still hadn’t figured out how to handle that, but it was for me to handle. I looked at Damian. My brother was much more intelligent than he liked to admit, but his games had never worked on me.

“Who is krye, Damian?”

“You are.”

“Whose word is law?”

“Yours.”

“Then hear me when I say this and know that it’s law. I’ll deal with Simone in the way I see fit, in the time I see fit. It’s not up for discussion.”

He nodded. “Yes, krye,” he said in Albanian.

I held his gaze for a moment longer, pretending like I didn’t know how quiet the room had gone, like I wasn’t sure how this display was playing out. And after a moment, Damian reached into his shirt pocket and pulled out a pack of cigarettes.

“So, what’s happening? We lost two trying to get to this place.”

“What was standing in the way?” I asked.

“Lots of those dead things. COs tried to take us out too.”

“What do you mean?” I asked.

“Looks like they all got together with all their stupid riot gear and toys and took the two other wings. They were headed this way, but we pushed them back. The other inmates spread out. I think they all figured out that trying to settle their petty grievances right now wasn’t the plan. Those who managed to survive the night are looking for someone to tell them what to do. So what’s the plan, Rubin?” Damian asked.

I squeezed my brother’s shoulder. “The same as it’s always been. Survive.”

FOURTEEN

Simone

“How did she survive?”

It was Lorik, one of Rubin’s men. Even if I hadn’t seen his face, I’d know him from the shock of sandy-blond hair that made him unmissable among Rubin and his men. I’d always wondered how he managed to blend in when committing whatever felonies Rubin requested on a given day. Then again, he’d gotten arrested a year before Rubin, so maybe he didn’t blend in at all. We’d rarely interacted, but he’d always treated me with the baseline level of respect that Rubin demanded.

Now, he spoke of me the way Rubin looked at me.

Like I was nothing.

He didn’t even bother to direct his question at me or hide the fact that he was talking about me at all. He, like the rest of Rubin’s men—save Besnik—looked at me with scorn. Men I’d worked with for years. I’d gone to the christening of at least three of their children, had helped one of their sons pass his algebra class. And now they looked at me like they wanted to tear me limb from limb all because I had betrayed their krye.

I understood, but standing under their unrelenting gazes was less than ideal. I didn’t move, though. Rubin obviously had a point to prove and me standing here was a part of it. Whether he was proving something to me, himself, the others, I didn’t know.