Page 42 of Burdens
I would try to find a way to get Gabriel out, like I’d done to many other kids Barrera captured, but right now he was the least of my worries. He might have reminded me of my little brother, but I had to bury the thought away.
We didn’t have long before we landed and whatever ounce of niceness I’d shown toward him would have to evaporate, like it had never been there in the first place.
I still had two days to spend at the riad and any change to who Ines was would trigger Barrera and I didn’t want to raise any suspicions.
It took Gabriel a moment to let my words sink in before he accepted them, giving me a curt nod. He then unfastened his seat belt and stood, moving to walk away but paused midway.
He looked at me. “For what it’s worth, thank you,” he said with a small smile, the faint hint of a dimple appearing on his cheek before it vanished as fast as it appeared.
He moved again and I watched him as he headed for the back. His gaze roamed over the space, his fingertips skimming the surfaces before he finally disappeared into the bathroom.
While he showered, I reached again for my duffel bag and retrieved a cloth, ropes and a gun, then placed them on the table in front of me. By the time the plane touched down, Gabriel was bound and gagged, something he didn’t fight me on.
“Let’s go,” I said in a muted tone once the plane was parked, reaching down to grasp his arm.
I pulled him to his feet and pushed him in front of me. Once I heard the mechanism of the aircraft’s door being unlocked to open the door, I brought my gun up and slammed the butt against the back of his skull, sending him tumbling to the ground.
CHAPTER 11
NOAH (PRESENT)
I’d beenin this cell for the last two weeks and still hadn’t found any ways to escape or had figured out what my father wanted from me.
When it came to him, it didn’t surprise me that I still hadn’t seen him. In the past, he’d always waited until I was almost unconscious before he’d paid me a visit, and now that I was older and no longer at his mercy, he definitely wouldn’t come around, knowing I’d fight him back.
I’d been observing the guards who came every once in a while to check on me—which was an indication that I was the only prisoner down here—to see if I could persuade any of them to turn, but so far I’d had no luck. They’d come by, confirm I was still breathing, then leave, occasionally leaving a piece of stale bread and a small brass cup filled with warm water inside my cell every few days.
Another wave of exhaustion was looming over my head and my entire body hurt from the inside out, especially after the latest beating I took earlier. I’d mostly been left alone since the last time I saw Amalia, but for some reason, over the last twodays, Hamza’s lackeys had paid me more visits than they’d had since I’d been taken captive.
I’d initially fought them back, but I’d soon learned that they took a perverse pleasure in my resistance, so I’d stopped, which made them leave a lot faster. They weren’t the strongest opponents I’d faced, but repeated beatings would take a toll on anyone, especially since I hadn’t fully healed from the accident or knew the extent of my injuries.
I looked down at the bloodstained gauze wrapped around my thigh. The only grace I’d gotten had been Amalia caring for the wound on my leg instead of letting it get infected and potentially lead to sepsis from the exposure to the dirty old cell I was currently living in.
A few hours after she’d left with Hamza and that kid Sabiri, she’d returned to my cell and tended to the wound she’d inflicted, barely saying a word. She’d only spoken to me once to order me to take my pants off so she could have better access. Then she’d stitched my leg in a time record, bandaged it, and left.
During the whole time she’d been here, I’d wanted to explain myself since we hadn’t really spoken ever since the night I’d left. Yet I couldn’t find the courage to do so. I’d been a coward then for leaving without a word and still was one for not explaining myself now.
But I found myself stuck where to even begin. Nothing I came up with seemed good enough. I knew telling her the truth would be a great way to start, but which truth did I even start with?
The one where I lost the most important person in my life and felt hopeless and scared? Or the one where the person she was now working for was none other than my father?
Both seemed like the beginning of an uphill battle.
I’d have to wait until I got out of these four walls so I’d be able to make her listen to me. Because I knew she would run from me if I asked her to talk, not that I’d blame her. She had every right not to want to listen to what I had to say, but I’d make her. I’d lost her once. I wouldn’t let it happen again.
No matter the cost or how hard I had to fight, I’d get her back.
And she helped you,my mind wishfully thought, but I pushed it aside, not wanting to read into it and end up disappointed.
I’d been lying on my back, looking up at the ceiling and counting the cracks in it for the hundredth time. A gnawing hunger ate at my gut and I managed a dry swallow to tamp it down. I’d been ignoring it over the last few days because if I gave in to it, I’d step into a helpless and desperate territory.
I couldn’t allow myself to if I wanted to come out of this alive.
Besides, I’d gone through much worse when I was younger.
When you were born to be the heir of the cartel, your life consisted of one thing—surviving all the trials you were subjected to until initiation day.
On a Barrera’s twelfth birthday, you’d be given a target to eliminate. If you succeeded, you were trained to take over until the oldRa’ispassed, whether by natural causes or if he’d been killed.
