Page 13 of Us Defiant Few

“Why do I feel like you’re getting enjoyment out of this?” she grumbled.

“You’re the one refusing to leave me alone. I’m simply repaying the favor.” His voice was dry, and he stared at Khalani like the roaches that used to stalk her in prison would’ve been better company.

A retort formed on her lips, but she swallowed it back.

If she kept letting him get under her skin, he’d win.

So, from that moment on, Takeshi would get nothing but silence from her. But punching him in the head was still an appealing option.

He regarded her closely, and when she refused to say another word, the slightest frown appeared on his face. But he didn’t speak either.

They continued to glare and formulate plans to break one another.

The gnawing tension might have stretched an eternity if the door hadn’t swung open. Jericho labored through, filling up the doorway with his hefty frame. His black coat skimmed the floor. In one hand, he held a tray of food, and in the other, he gripped a single red apple.

Without warning, he tossed the apple to Takeshi, who caught it effortlessly, despite being chained.

When Jericho handed the rest of the food to Khalani, her mouth instantly salivated.

On the small plate rested a tiny slab of meat, strange-looking potatoes, two pieces of bread, and a fork. Her tongue swept over her lips when he deposited a jug of water on the floor beside her.

“Thanks. What about him?” she asked.

Jericho crossed his arms. “He’s not a guest. He’s a prisoner and will be treated as such.”

Khalani’s stomach twisted.

She used to be treated the same way in Braderhelm. Less than human. Merely a number to be discarded and unremembered.

“He at least needs something else, so he doesn’t starve,” she stated, ignoring Takeshi’s stare boring into the side of her head.

“Not my problem.”

Jericho slammed the door shut, and the metallic clink of a deadbolt reverberated through the air.

Khalani let her head fall back against the wall with a sigh.

She was so far from home, she couldn’t remember what peace felt like anymore. She’d held it in her hands for a moment. In a different cell.

Ironic that the man who made her feel on top of the world was the one trying to put her in a grave.

Takeshi ignored the apple and chose to study her with an ice-cold expression. She had no idea what he was thinking, but the malice and distrust radiating from him spoke volumes.

“Why did you do that?” he suddenly asked.

Khalani furrowed her brow. “Do what?”

“Ask for more food for me. I would’ve let you starve.”

At least he was still honest.

“Yeah, well…consider it proof that I care. No one deserves to go hungry.”

Takeshi’s lips pressed firmly together, like he’d been told the opposite, but then he shrugged and finally took a bite from the apple. The loud crunch echoed through the windowless cell.

She picked up the white plastic fork, but something in his statement nagged at her.

“I don’t believe you, by the way,” she whispered, almost to herself, but he heard her in the tiny space.