Her words made me freeze, my muscles locking. The seamstress’s hand on my thigh prohibited me from looking directly at Atta, so I settled for moving my eyes only.
“What?”
There was only one person she could be referring to. One woman who she could be talking about.
Mali.
Her message delivered, Atta stalked out of the room, her long, peach dress trailing behind her. I was left numb and trembling, her words replaying in my head.
Sorry.
Sorry.
Sorry.
Mali, I miss you.
I forgive you.
Those thoughts diminished, buried beneath weeks of anger and pain. She could be sorry all she wanted, but there would be no forgiveness from me.
I hardened myself, emptied myself, so I would feel nothing at all.
ELEVEN
Z
T flashed me his signature smile, looking so much like S at that moment it was a physical pain slashing my chest. His reddish blond hair was shorter than when I had last seen him, only a few days ago, and his pale face betrayed his strain despite the easy smile.
"Any updates?" I asked.
We stood in a cluster of trees two towns over from the Capital. In the distance, I could see the shambles of faded russet colored roofs that made up the cozy, minuscule human town T had instructed me to go to. I had found him initially inside a tavern, drinking happily and flirting with the pretty waitress. When he had seen me, he had jumped to his feet and had guided me into the surrounding forests with a simple come-hither crook of his finger. The skeletal branches grazed my cheeks, and the bitter wind contradicted the bright sun overhead.
I pulled my jacket tighter around my shoulders.
"Nothing," T said. His nervous eyes flickered, taking in every shadow and every hidden crevice of the dark forest. The canopy of boughs obscured the sunlight minus a single strip that lit where we stood. "We checked every safe house in Sector One and Sector Two. They're gone, Z. All of them."
I processed his words for a moment in silence. It just didn't make any sense. How could over a hundred people magically disappear without a trace? How could over a hundred assassins disappear? My stomach churned, tightened, perilously close to losing the contents of my early morning breakfast.
"It just doesn't make any sense," T said, echoing my thoughts. He forked his fingers through his hair.
"Nothing about this makes any sense," I agreed. Movement in my peripheral captured and ensnared my attention. I frowned, pulling my lip between my teeth when I recognized the figure crouched behind a trunk.
"I should go," I continued, cutting off whatever T was going to say. He raised an eyebrow suspiciously but did not comment.
"Okay?"
"Okay."
When he continued standing there, staring at me as if I had grown wings and horns, I shoved his shoulder.
"Trust me, okay?" Canting my head to the side, I nodded at the "hidden" figure. T's eyebrows raised, confusion being replaced by amusement. He shook his head once in disbelief, muttering beneath his breath.
With a chaste kiss to my cheek, he hurried out of the forest. I could've sworn I heard his chuckle long after he disappeared through the thicket.
Alone - correction: semi alone - I placed my hand on my hip.
"You can come out now," I called, not bothering to turn towards the intruder.
I heard the shuffle of leaves, a muffled curse, and then a warm body was mere inches from my back.
"How did you know I was there?" Bash asked, and I finally looked back at him. His blond hair was wildly disheveled, a few loose leaves stuck on his head. Dirt covered his high cheekbones and nose, and his clothes were ruffled. I had never seen Bash so unkempt before, and I couldn't help but flush, white hot, at the onslaught of dirty thoughts assaulting me. Namely, other ways I could ruffle his clothes and mess up his normally impeccably styled hair.
There was no denying that Bash was a handsome man...and that I was attracted to him in a carnal way.
But then he had to open his damn mouth.
"Apparently, I'm your babysitter for the day," he said with a sly tilt to his lips. Those damn kissable lips with a plump, full lower one and a small upper one. I couldn't help but imagine pulling it between my teeth.
And then his words registered.
"Babysitter?" I asked in disbelief. When he continued to stare at me, I huffed, placing my hands on my hips. "I don't need a fucking babysitter."
"Try telling that to your other six mates." He leaned back against a tree trunk, arms crossed over his chest. "Personally, I think you're kickass enough to handle things yourself, but I'm outnumbered."
That was...surprisingly sweet.
"You're more man than female anyway," he continued. "I would not want to be locked in a room with you for more than an hour."
Or not.
"Oh fuck off, Bash," I hissed, stomping through the forest and back towards the town. Foliage and dried leaves crackled beneath my feet with every step. I heard, rather than saw, Bash move behind me. He didn't seem inclined to stand beside me, despite his long legs easily being able to eat up the distance between us.
"Trust me. I wish I could fuck." I didn't even have to see him to know he would be scowling. "Anyone and anything. Besides you, of course, princess."
I stopped in mid-step, glancing over my shoulder to meet his eyes.
"Is that a nickname?" I cooed mockingly. "That's so sweet. I knew you cared."
His nostrils flared.
"Why would I give you a nickname? I don't like you." He spoke these words candidly, the sincerity in them almost impossible to deny. Almost. But I was his mate, after all, and I knew his tell.
The slightest hitch of breath was definitely one of them.
Ignoring it, I continued walking, purposefully pushing branches out of my way only to have them hit Bash square in the chest. I smiled in satisfaction when he grumbled.
"So do you have another lover we need
