Page 59 of Us Defiant Few

He shook his head, still smirking.

“Tell me!” Khalani demanded.

“I’ll make you a deal. You come back with me to the Sinners, and I’ll tell you everything there is to know about Desert Spring. I’ll even tell you their little secret.”

“Why would I ever do that?”

His upper lip curled in a vile grin. “You could join my bed for a few nights. And if you’re really good, I might even share—”

Bang!

Khalani jumped when a bullet tore through the man’s head.

But Brock’s gun never fired.

She turned to see Takeshi clutching a pistol, a murderous expression carved into his face.

The man’s dead body slumped to the ground.

“Are you crazy? We could’ve tortured him for information!” Brock exploded.

“He would’ve told you nothing,” Takeshi said in a chilling voice as he lowered the gun.

“You can’t know that.”

“I know when a man doesn’t fear death.”

“We should’ve discussed it first,” Brock snapped, helping Khalani to her feet. Takeshi’s heavy gaze lingered on Brock’s hand before she subtly stepped away.

“I don’t need to discuss anything with you,” Takeshi uttered in a tone so cold it was unsettling. “He was a stain on this earth and didn’t deserve to breathe air for one more second.”

He glanced at the corpse like he wanted to shoot it again.

“And where’d you get the gun?” Brock hissed. “I don’t remember giving you one.”

Takeshi pocketed the weapon.

“You didn’t.”

16

Do you recognize the broken parts of me because you’re fractured too?

Khalani caressed the knife handle.

When Takeshi had bumped into her, she’d felt his fingers brush against her pocket. Was he the one who’d slipped the blade in? To protect her?

Her heart swelled even as her mind told her to ignore it.

Saving Apollo was their mission.

But saving Takeshi was hers.

Unfortunately, the person in need of rescuing didn’t want to be.

Takeshi stayed as far away from her as possible since the incident at the rest stop. Like he was trying to prove to himself that he didn’t care.

As days passed without him saying a word, it took every ounce of her strength not to fling the knife in his direction. But she kept moving, pretending his cold distance didn’t bother her.