Page 120 of Their Property
“Then what could it be?” she demanded.
“Still figuring that out. We’ll probably know before too long.”
I turned to look out the open van doors where Dyno and Grudge were being subjected to their pat-downs. The dipshit I tripped reached into Grudge’s cut and pulled out the folded papers he’d stashed there. Grudge’s expression remained neutral, but I saw how his arms flexed against the cuffs as the asshole unfolded the sheets for closer inspection.
“For Kyrie?” The soldier turned to face us sitting in the van, a cheeky little smirk coming to his face. “Aw, was this a love letter for her?”
Grudge’s jaw clenched in answer, and the soldier walked away with the most private details of Grudge’s life in his hands. The moment my hands were free, I was going to divorce all of that that fucker’s teeth from his gums.
And I’d bestow the same treatment to whoever ordered our capture.
THIRTY-SIX
KYRIE
The four of us were mostly silent as the van drove. Aside from the observations T-Bone had given me, none of us knew what was going on.
The small, square windows in our mobile prison told us little about where we were going, at least for the first few hours. At some point, I saw flashes of black amid the neutral tones of the desert. I shifted in my seat to look out the window behind me, and my blood froze at what I saw.
Burned ruins. Charred husks of what were once businesses and homes, some of which I recognized. They just kept going on and on as we drove.
We had to be back in Sevier. Or at least, what little remained of it.
Everything clicked into place for me right then. The highly organized soldiers in black uniforms, just like the ones that had stayed at the service center before us. The guards after the uprising who wouldn’t let Dyno and Grudge into the territory had also been clad in black and seemed to be a professional unit.
These men were part of the new regime running the territory.
Which meant they had to be working for the new governor, or whatever the new leader called himself. I didn’t know whether to feel comforted or more worried about the apparent orders to keep us alive and lucid.
What did they want with me, a former ambassador who no one had listened to, and her bodyguards? Were they rounding up everyone from the old leadership who was still alive? And if so, for what purpose? To make an example out of us? I couldn’t shake that this whole situation had a very prisoner-of-war feel.
The worst part had to be knowing that no help would come for us. My father and I were cut off from each other, something I was still reeling from. And the Sons had no way of getting a message to the Steel Demons for help.
We were well and truly on our own.
My valkyrie seemed oddly unconcerned though. She sat on the floor of the van across from us, one leg stretched out leisurely and her forearm resting on her shield. Did she even know what was in store for us? She always seemed to know when I was in danger.
As usual, trying to look straight at her ensured that she disappeared from my vision.
I stared out the van window at the blackened remains of the vacation homes Governor Perry and Nathan had shown me when I first arrived. There was a small sense of vindication that they would no longer lord over the town, flashing their wealth and sense of superiority. Then again, I didn’t know if they were still alive, and no one deserved to be gunned down in the street.
Once out of the city center, where the governor’s cabinet and their associates had worked and played, it was like we’d entered a brand-new territory.
The burned areas stopped abruptly at the edge of an open field where several people tilled dark soil. Beyond the field, structures stood perfectly intact. Homes and businesses alike appeared to have been untouched by the violent uprising that occurred only a week earlier.
Not only were the buildings undamaged, people milled about fearlessly. There were no armed guards here, just more people farming and walking around carrying armfuls of what appeared to be food and supplies. Construction crews in orange vests and hard hats unloaded lumber from a truck. There were even young children running around and playing.
It looked like Four Corners when my father began rebuilding after the Collapse.
But my father never kidnapped people and forced them into a van, so this new regime wasn’t about to score any points with me.
The van eventually stopped in front of a two-story building that looked eerily familiar. I squinted at it, trying to remember, when Dyno cursed under his breath.
“If that old geezer ratted us out, I’m gonna be pissed.”
“This is the place you guys took me,” I realized. “With the basement bar.”
“Looks different in daylight, huh?” T-Bone remarked.
