Page 104 of Juniper Unraveling

Not Six.

“Gordy says she comes from the other side of the wall,” Rigs answers.

The man who cupped me steps forward. “It’s what we’ve been waiting for, Rhys. This is our opportunity.”

Rhys’s stare dips from my eyes, to my body and back. “Do you know who I am?”

I slide my gaze to Rigs and back. “Rhys? A biker who plays with human heads?”

His stare doesn’t waver, but the corner of his eye twitches. “No. Not her. Get her out of my sight.”

The woman’s obnoxious moan interrupts the moment, and my thoughts, as I try to decide whether, or not, I’m relieved, or in deep shit.

“I’ll see myself out—” My words are cut short, when Rig’s hand slaps over my mouth.

“What the—what do you mean? She’s the one! They’re not falling out of the sky here, Rhys.” Gropey throws his hand up in the air as if to catch something. What I wouldn’t give for the ceiling to collapse on top of him, or a big ass boulder to rain down.

“I said not her. She doesn’t look like them. Probably isn’t worth a damn to them.”

“Thought she was a little scrawny myself. For a Szolen chick.” Rigs, too. A big ass boulder can fall on Rigs any time.

“Who cares what she’s worth! We’re looking for a key to the fuckin’ kingdom. Not a ransom.”

“They won’t let her back in.” Rhys circles around me, and the slow movement makes me feel like I’m buoying in the ocean with a shark. “Probably wouldn’t trust her.”

“They would,” I argue. And after the shitty day I’ve had so far, I’d take another night in Szolen. “I know the guards well.”

“You see?” Gropey strides closer, prodding a finger toward Rhys. “She is the one.”

“Enough! I said not her.” Rhys’s eyes fall on me again, and the squint tells me he’s wearing a snarl behind that mask. “Get her out of here.”

“Can I keep her?” Beside me, Rigs grabs a fistful of my hair and holds it to his nose. “She smells so fuckin’ good, I can’t stand it.”

Rhys lurches forward and slams a fist into Rigs, shoving him back a step. “Take her back to the wall.”

“Brother! Are you insane?” Gropey accosts Rhys, right up in his face, which leads me to believe he must be someone important for the bigger male not to knock him back on his ass for it. He points beyond me, toward the door. “They catch wind you let an opportunity like this go, and you will have a fucking mutiny on your hands.”

“I’m warning you. Drop this.”

“No. I’m warning you. Every one of them saw her with Rigs. She leaves, and all hell will break loose. They’ve been waiting. We’ve been waiting.” Hands set to his hips, Gropey’s gaze dips from Rhys’s intense glare. “Let her stay. At least until we figure something out. A plan of attack. Whether she leads the way, or not, we’re getting on the other side of that wall. You let her go, and we’ll have all of Legion on our asses.” He storms past me, out of the cavern, and I feel the slight squeeze of Rigs.

“Sorry, babe,” he whispers before turning away from me.

The click of the door sends a shockwave of dread down my spine, and I clamp my eyes shut, opening them to the man standing across from me.

The monstrous beast of a man who clearly doesn’t want me here.

Chapter 30

Rhys steps cautiously toward me and, like before, circles behind me. My hair shifts at the back of my head, as he lifts it and exhales a shaky breath. “How did a woman like you end up outside of the wall?”

“Hunting.”

“Hunting,” he echoes. “What do you hunt?”

“Whatever gets in my way.”

A nudge to the center of my back trips me forward, and I catch myself as he guides me toward a rusted steel pole sticking up from the ground. A chain has been fed through a hole at the base of it, each end attached to a set of handcuffs. Spread out on the ground is an agave woven mat, and another smaller animal skin atop of it.