Page 67 of Born Savage

“What the hell are you talking about?”

“Commander. They do not belong here.”

“Enough!” she hissed.

While they followed her for a few meters, I headed into the corridor and toward my men.

“What in the hell is that about?” Blade asked as he flanked my side.

“A compromise.” I handed Wrath the bags. “Two hours. Then we eliminate the threat.” We’d run enough drills together to work as a well-oiled machine, even with scenarios like the one we were facing.

Yet tonight it felt different, more like starting over from scratch. The first mission had almost been my last, a gang very much like what we were likely to face attacking out of nowhere with sledgehammers and tire irons. I’d allowed myself to get wedged into an enclosure that had exposed my weakness.

Claustrophobia.

I’d almost lost my shit before managing to find my weapon and blow a couple of heads off.

“I’m heading to the area below the hatch. Just in case.”

The Savages nodded, the men of the compound acting as if they weren’t going to let me pass. Thomas waved them on, still carrying the weight of distrust, but that was fine. The feeling was mutual.

Vicious held pace as we walked down the corridor, his silence speaking volumes. “What do you want to say, Vicious? I can tell there’s something on your mind.”

“What are you doing with her?”

“If you mean Star, you were in the room when John made his request.”

“John. The supposed Revelator.”

I shook my head. Few Verndari believed in the afterlife. We’d already lived it in being transformed into better versions of ourselves. Religion was left to full humans needing something to believe in. “We accepted the mission, a decent enough payback for his and the others who saved our fucking lives.”

“Yet your connection with Star is far removed from protector or in her case, captor since she clearly does not want to return with us.”

“Leave it alone, Vicious. She’s my responsibility to deal with.”

“That’s where you’re wrong. She’s our responsibility and I’ll be honest with you. While I don’t mind taking risks on the missions we’re assigned as we all know I’m a danger junkie, this one feels different. Regardless, we all pledged to discover, protect, and transport her. Not to watch you develop feelings for her. I get there’s some destiny, the prophet insisting that once she’s safely tucked away in a place that likely is created in an old man’s imagination, we’ll all be saved, but your feelings for her are already hindering the operation.”

I stopped walking, spinning on my heel and backing him against the wall without touching him. We’d sparred before, several times over the years. We’d exchanged blows, our heated moments brutal enough others had been called in to intervene. Given I was running hot, the last thing I needed was to lose my cool in this environment.

Or around her.

“You’re right in that this mission is different. This is the very one that has been in the works since the day I was allowed to escape the compound all those years ago. Did you ever stop to think why the goddamn door had been left unlocked and unguarded all those years ago? Why I found a girl wandering all alone in a huge area? Why we were driven to find her? I don’t know what the hell it all means, but I do believe the leaders of the Resistance are counting on bringing her to the coordinates we were given.”

He’d been there the night I’d walked away during the scientific process, at first offering comfort after learning I’d been told my family had been slaughtered. Then I’d believed he’d turned me into our commanding officer, which had precipitated soldiers eventually hunting me down with the girl nestled in my arms.

Even after seeing Star again, only hours before had I begun to believe I’d been allowed out of my cage, preprogrammed to find her myself. Why was still a partial mystery, but one I was determined to discover.

That couldn’t happen while cooped up in this fucking tin can.

He seemed flustered I would ask such a thing, although the man was far more intelligent than he offered to anyone except for me. As he raked his hand through his hair, he appeared more uncomfortable than usual. “Yeah, I’ve thought about it. With all the checks and balances at the time, especially given your real identity, the bastards should have had you on lockdown. Especially after what happened.”

“I didn’t give a damn at the time. I just wanted to get the hell out of there and hunt down the people responsible. I didn’t get very far. Did I? Challenged by protecting a five-year-old. Now I’m required to deal with the woman she’s turned into. Trust me, a much more difficult task.” My demeanor softened and I took a step away. At this point, I was just angry with the world, especially with whatever great big secret had been kept from me.

“It proved to all of us becoming a Verndari didn’t mean losing our humanity.” He clapped me on the shoulder, his exhale heavy. “I don’t know who John is supposed to be. A prophet. A storyteller. What I do know is the life he created for his disciples is truly what I’ve always envisioned as Eden. Maybe it does exist. Maybe.”

“Not unlike what Star has done here, which is why we must make it safe for her to leave.”

He nodded several times, finally snorting. “There’s only fifteen of them. An easy task. We’ll have them carved and dumped before dawn.”