Page 73 of Leave Me Behind
Arms dealers rose over the dunes simultaneously and all hell broke loose.
“Gallows, back to Riøt. We were never here.” Jenkins pulled my wrist.
I tried to reload. “I missed him, sir!” I wanted to get the intended target. He was so easy to pick off, holding his fallen comrade.
Jenkins snapped, “You had one shot. Let’s go. Now.” My eyes flashed at him and I could see the rage boiling behind his stoney expression.
I swallowed the disappointment of failing him. “Yes, sir.”
I close my eyes slowly and my breath grows weak with guilt. I’ve never felt remorse for a life I’ve taken. But why did it have to be him?
A black bullet killed Abrahm.
Ikilled Abrahm.
twenty-nine
. . .
Bradshaw
Bunny’ssoft breathing comforts me. Is this what it’s like to have a partner? I bury my face into her hair and let her scent soothe my nerves. I move my hand up from her stomach and trace her ribs, quickly finding raised skin from the scar I’ve left her with.
Eren’s words on the headset replay in my head, buzzing in my mind like locusts.“Kill her, Bones. I knew he’d set us up… He fucked me over. Kill her!”
It was almost like he didn’t give a shit about her killing Ian. Like the news of him being the infiltrator meant nothing to him. I’ve never heard him so furious.
Who was he talking about? I close my eyes and press a kiss to her head. Her naked body is pressed against mine and I’ve never been so warm in my entire life. Everything about her quells my demons.
I almost choked her to death today and something broke deep in my heart when the betrayal registered on her features.The pain in her gaze was enough to bury me a thousand times over.
Eren will hate me for this, but I can’t keep his secret anymore.
I pull her closer against my chest and she makes a small, cute sound before rolling over and facing me. She tucks her head into my chest and wraps a leg around one of mine. A smile spreads over my lips.
“I have a secret to tell you.” I stroke her hair back. Bunny’s hands curl against my chest. I smile that she’s trying so hard to pretend to be sleeping.
“My mother was sick most her life and she only got five years with me and Eren before she passed. I didn’t know she was sick for a long time, not until our aunt started taking us to see her in the hospital. She always looked worse each time we saw her. She stopped caring to see us and stopped smiling. She became cruel. It took a year of hospitalization before she finally died, and by the time she did, I was calloused to the idea of her. She didn’t even remember us and I hated it. I hated her.”
I pause and stare at the dimming light to the entrance of the cave.
“I hated her because I didn’t yet understand how her sickness took her mind. My aunt explained to us that our mother loved us very much, that she didn’t mean the horrible things she said before she died. But I was a wicked child. I truly was bornoff. I didn’t care. I was indifferent, ready to move on with life. But Eren? He thought about the evil that grows in the human soul and he broke. In more ways than I could ever describe.”
Bunny looks up at me. She doesn’t interrupt me, though, just watches my features. I refuse to meet her gaze.
“He killed our aunt when we were twelve. He grew tired of her senseless beatings and decided to take care of it. Made it look like an accident, but I always knew his secrets and he knew I’dalways keep them. But then we grew up and we dreamed of a life better than what we had. Eren dreamed bigger. He wanted the world. He wantedpower.
“I didn’t so much care for it. I just wanted to stay by his side. So we signed up for the military. Eren read a lot of black market shit. He wanted to get involved with the underground dealers and sell weapons. It was a great gig for a few years. I became top of my platoon, and he rose to sergeant. But then we were caught red-handed by our general. At first we thought we were going to federal prison but, to our surprise, the general sent us to the dark forces. Something, at the time, we didn’t even know existed. We were such a lethal duo that we were placed with Malum immediately. Andfuck, did we love every second of it. The dead bodies didn’t matter and neither did the terrible things that Eren’s underground operation allowed really,reallybad people to do.”
I swallow and finally look down into her eyes. Her empty stare gives nothing away, so I press on reluctantly.
“Two years ago, he got into a fight with his dealing partner. He won’t tell me what happened, but it was bad enough for him to pull his exports that were on their way to Patagonia. I think whoever he fucked over may have been the reason for the attack.”
She sits up, spine stiff and eyes wide with rage.
“You’re not talking about the attack on Riøt…” she says slowly, like she doesn’t believe me. Her hand trembles and she pierces me with hollow, burning eyes.
I rise to sit beside her, but she scoots away. Our eyes don’t part.
