Page 170 of Starborn Husbands
Atlanta sinks to his knees as Gemini fastens himself to my brother’s body. “I’m going to fix this, okay? No matter what happens, we’ll get through it. It’s gonna be me and you, I fuckin’ promise, baby.”
It’s the first thing to calm Gem down. Gem’s always had absolute faith in Atlanta.
Meanwhile, I know Atlanta’s lying his face off. He knows he’s not getting out of this, which is why he was fighting. He only stopped because they were hurting Gem. He’s certain they’re going to execute him. They might. Running is his only option.
“We have to fucking do something,” I say under my breath.
The hands that have me, tighten. “You’ll end up in a cell right next to him,” Zhang says.
“I don’t care.”
“You’re not doing it, Treyu. We’re going to get him out of this,” Zhang says, molding me to him in a way that can only be called possessive, as if he’s afraid they’ll take me too.
Atlanta captures Gem’s lips, saliva and tears blend together as Atlanta holds it to-fucking-gether. Barely.
He stands, leaving Gem on the ground, turning heel, and nodding at the guardians who’ll lead him to the dungeons.
Maybe I can’t kill anyone right now, but I can soothe my brother’s nerves by not leaving Gem to fall apart alone. “I got him, bro,” I say, shaking away from my men who finally let me go. “C’mon, Gem. We’re gonna figure this out.”
Gem sniffles and nods.
“Take him to his room,” the king says, but at least he doesn’t seem opposed to it being us.
Merrick and Zhang join me.
Fuck, things just got a helluva lot worse.
But it can’t get any?—
Nope, not going there again.
CHAPTERTHIRTY-THREE
Atlanta
It’s been two days. I think. Or maybe an eternity.Drip. Drip. Drip.What the fuck is dripping? If someone would just hand me my damn rifle, I could shoot the fuck out of it. Otherwise, I swear to the Gods, that infernal sound will finish me off.
It’s a race between that, the smell of rotted meat, and the unrelenting ache for Gemini.
I can’t get his anguished cries out of my head, and they grate on my torn heart. Gah! I claw at my bald head.
I’m supposed to protect him from heartache, but I can’t do a Godsdamn thing about this. Sitting here, rotting, eats at my mind. I’ve never been filled with as much anxious whirring. Every sound perks my ears, and every stomp of boots down the stone corridors sets my heart racing.
I can’t fail Gem. I can’t.Wailing off a large grunt, my fists crack into the stone over and over, scraping off more skin, and spilling more of my blood. Punching the wall didn’t help on the first night, and it helps even less now, only futilely breaking my knuckles, but I don’t know another way to get rid of the rage.
I slump onto the feeble cot in the darkest corner. The Guild is going to skewer me, and since the king decides my fate on this one, I’m not going to find any lenience. I’ve got to get out of here. Then I steal Gem’s ass and we hightail it across the galaxy.
Heavy boots land in front of my cell, but I can’t quite make out who it is in the sparse lighting that leaks in from the cracks. Fucking runes muting our powers. What I wouldn’t give for a little light.
He grunts and that’s what gives him away. When did I become so familiar with Zhang’s grunts?
“How you holding up?”
“Fine,” I rasp.
He shakes his head. “What if I told you Gem wasn’t?”
My beaten hands shake the bars of my cage, and a low growl stirs in my chest. “Why wouldn’t he be? I told him I’d take care of things.”
