Page 86 of Us Defiant Few

“And before you think about betraying me,” Ansel casually remarked, “know that if you don’t raise the gates, we will find another way into the city. I have my men posted outside the walls, and they’ll kill anyone who leaves. And once we’re inside, we won’t just slaughter everyone. We’ll torture them in front of you. After that, my men will pass you around like a souvenir and let the desert have your remains after.”

The monster inside reared its head.

The fire surging through Khalani’s chest prevented her from speaking. She studied every inch of Ansel’s face, burning him into memory, hoping he did the same.

Because one day, she would kill him.

“Nod for me like a good girl so I know you understand,” he whispered.

It took all her self-restraint not to spit at him again, but she glared at him and silently obeyed. Ansel signaled to the other man, who stepped forward, undoing her restraints.

Once she was free, Khalani stood, rubbing her raw wrists. Blood still leaked from the wound in her arm and dripped to the floor.

But Ansel didn’t care or offer her any type of bandage.

“Follow me,” he ordered, turning toward the tent flap.

She held her breath, not wanting to spend another second in his presence. “Where are we going?”

“Don’t you want to see your friend?”

22

A vicious life earns a vicious death.

Khalani lifted her hands, shielding her eyes from the brilliant sun that sailed overhead. But when her vision finally cleared, she froze.

She’d been kidnapped and dragged to a different desert settlement with hundreds of red-and-blue-colored tents. In the center stood a tall, dilapidated building. It was gray and looked like an ancient castle with towering turrets overlooking the town. Faint letters on the front spelled: CASINO.

Was this one of the original buildings from the Great Collapse?

“Keep up,” Ansel barked. The man behind shoved her with the hilt of his blade.

Intense heat radiated off the sand beneath her feet. Ansel quickly led her through the camps, and she noticed the people standing by the tents stop what they were doing to stare.

In Desert Spring, a lightness lived behind the walls. A hope for safety and a better future.

But the Sinners possessed a hardness that made her fingers itch for her weapons. The men and women were deeply tanned and they wore sandy-colored combat gear that blended with the desert. And each person glared at Khalani like they wanted to carve out her liver and string it up on the barbed fence that encircled the small town.

Unlike Desert Spring, there were no signs of electricity. These people appeared to live in poverty, their faces worn down like they’d never knew a day without conflict.

After a long, blistering walk, Ansel finally halted in front of a smaller blue tent. He let out a low whistle, and a thin man emerged through the flap, fidgeting with his knife.

“Did he agree?” Ansel asked.

The man’s throat bobbed. “Not exactly, sir.”

“Excuse me?”

“He said he wouldn’t help unless the girl was brought to him unharmed. And if a single hair was missing on her head, he would…um…” He hesitated, looking away.

“Go on.” Ansel narrowed his gaze.

“He would remove each of our organs. Tie them around our bodies. And we’d enter hell wearing them like a necklace so demons would never let us rest in peace…sir.”

Khalani’s lips twitched.

Ansel’s fists clenched at his side.