Page 43 of Senseless
I didn't know where to start looking. When was the last time I read for pleasure? Probably in nursing school, devouring the adventures of a young heroine while I pulled an all-nighter.
I soon reached the back wall of the building and decided to turn down the left aisle. This was a small library, but no less worth treasuring when so many had been burned down in the chaos following the Collapse. Scanning the spines as I walked slowly, this section seemed to be about travel and foreign countries. I paused to flip through a book on the Maya culture through Mexico and Guatemala—something close to my and Jandro's heritage.
Jandro.
My chest squeezed uncomfortably tight at the thought of him. I'd been too exhausted or too focused on my destination to give him much thought since I got here. Now I sank into it, our last night together and how good he felt that I almost didn't leave. Guilt filled me up at how hurt he must have been to find my note in an otherwise empty bed. He was so happy to have been intimate again after weeks of nothing.
Reaper and Gunner were one thing, but Jandro...I hated hurting him most of all. He’d been there for me and Shadow, and didn’t deserve to get caught in the crossfire.
Setting the book back on the shelf, I ran a finger down the spine. "I'm coming back to you,guapito. Probably sooner rather than later."
I kept making my way down the aisles, passing a row of glass-walled study rooms that people could rent out for meetings or private study groups. Most of the rooms were empty, but two people in one had me looking with absent curiosity, which turned into dread.
Shadow was impossible to miss, organized chaos surrounding him in the form of his open sketchbook, small pots of ink, markers, and his tattoo machine.
But it was the woman with him that made my stomach drop. A pretty—no, beautiful—brunette sitting on the study table, her shirt pulled up past her waist, and her butt perched on the table's edge.
Directly in Shadow's face.
He touched her waist as he leaned over to tattoo her lower back. Their position to each other was close, if even intimate.
The entire wall facing the inside of the library was made of glass, so I quickly slid behind a bookshelf so they couldn't see me. The glass was thick, so I couldn't hear much of their conversation. Those rooms were meant for some privacy after all. Still, I heard the buzz of Shadow's machine and their murmured voices talking to each other.
He said something that made her laugh, looking over her shoulder at him.
My heart drummed a powerful, aching beat in my chest, growing more painful the longer I watched.
I saw Shadow smile at her before his hand returned to her body, resting on the center of her back as he tattooed just above her ass.
It's nothing. It's just tattooing.
But my heart didn't seem to get the memo. It raced painfully, like I was watching something much more nefarious. My eyes only saw one ofmymen touching another woman in a private room.
And I couldn't bring myself to believe anything else as I walked hurriedly out of the library, blinded by tears.
Fourteen
JANDRO
Gravel and small stones crunched under my tires, my body shifting on the bike with the uneven terrain. Sitting behind me, Slick held onto my waist, doing his best to move with me and not throw us off-balance. But it was clear he hadn’t done much off-road riding before, and especially not with an arsenal of weapons weighing us down.
We were in neutral territory, roughly two hours northeast of Four Corners, looking like a pair of redneck hunters. The spare bike we rode on was covered in desert camouflage tape, and our borrowed uniforms from General Bray’s army had a similar pattern. Even our weapons and gear had been taped and painted to blend in with the landscape. The whole idea was for the opposing army to never see us coming. They had bigger numbers than us, so we had to be smarter.
I wasn’t sure about this attempted stealth thing, but me, Slick, and a few other Steel Demons volunteered to scout as close to Blakeworth and Jerriton as we could. Without Horus’ eyes, it was the best chance to gather intel on our enemy. And with us going, we wouldn’t put more of General Bray’s soldiers at risk needlessly, not until we knew more about what we were dealing with.
We had no orders, except to get as close as we could, find out what we could, and defend ourselves as necessary. That, I could do.
I was a defensive fighter. I didn’t have a raging temper like Reaper, the strategic mind of Gunner, or Shadow’s innate ability to kill swiftly and efficiently. But I knew how to defend and protect.
As soon as the long city wall came into view on the horizon, I veered sharply to the left, signaling the four other riders spread out behind us to follow my lead.
“Where you going?” Slick asked through the cloth mask covering his face.
“Nothing stealthy about walking up to the front door and ringing the doorbell,” I answered. “We’re gonna peek through the back door.”
This city was once called Grand Junction, Colorado and was technically Jerriton territory, but it straddled the current border between Jerriton and Blakeworth. From our previous intel, we figured that Grand Junction was a hub used to direct troops and goods between Blakeworth, Jerriton, and New Ireland. If Tash was supplying Governor Blake with weapons and soldiers, it was likely through this city. And likewise if Blake was sending payment, it mostly likely came through here too.
The best case scenario would be disrupting a supply chain, maybe blowing up a freight of ammunition or other supplies. Anything to send the army scrambling and buy us some time. The worst case scenario would be getting discovered, probably by their own scouts, and getting captured or killed.
