Chapter 7 Gedeon
GEDEON
Before nothingness had claimed me, I had realized one thing. No matter how much you wanted to be in control, to protect, to own their lives, you had to listen to their choices. Life or death, it was theirs to pick.
Freedom was such a subjective thing. For Kali, it meant obliterating the oppression suffocating Ilasall. For Zion, acceptance—ours of his need to sow pain and his of being needed.
For me?
Them.
As simple as that. My freedom could be described as having the two people my soul dreamed of at my side. Smiling, safe, and alive.
Unfortunately, no words had left me in time.
Not like they could now. I was gone from my previous life. Had been merely watching it through a fogged-up window this morning, the mist serving as my shroud.
My triceps burned as I shoved off the damp forest floor in the last push-up and got to my feet, wiping the sweat off my forehead with a small towel. The treeline failed to conceal the compound’s buildings looming nearby, the grayness of concrete as dull as the hum of my car’s engine.
Moss squelched under my boots as I strode through the thick haze toward the beat-up vehicle hidden on one of the many desolate roads. In this plane of existence or the next, the drive to Ilasall was going to be identical: long, winding, and…lonely.
Logically, I knew I had to let Kali and Zion go so they could fight for their freedom. So that was what I did—moved on.
And on.
And on.
Toward the end of the open road, with the skeletons of discarded vehicles occasionally dotting the fissured asphalt as my sole company.
FOUR MONTHS AGO
“Oooh, that smells good.” Zion’s wet hair sparkled in the golden sunshine as he strode into the kitchen, barefoot. A pair of gray sweatpants hugged his hips, his toned torso on display, the map of the scars he had collected over the years a sight tempting enough to forget the eggs I was scrambling.
I forced myself to focus back on beating the mixture until foam formed at the top and then emptying the bowl into the heated pan. “Sit.”
Sizzling sounds grated on my eardrums as I fried Zion’s portion of our breakfast. His aversion to properly cooked eggs was staggering.
Apparently, egg whites could be consumed only if they were as dry as chalk.
Regardless of how many times I had attempted to talk him into learning how to enjoy the creamy texture, he insisted on evaporating any moisture.
A chair screeched against the floor, and Kali’s squeal followed. “No, no, stop!” Laughing, she backed away from Zion and dashed through the open door.
“I’ll catch you,” he called out.
After giving an approving nod to the disgustingly lifeless eggs I’d loaded onto his plate, he stalked out of the kitchen, clearly set on chasing our girl.
Last night, in Damia’s compound, Kali had finally admitted she was ours. That she belonged to us, and not just her body, but her.
A smile threatened to split my face apart as I opened the milky white cabinet above the counter—
And shook my head. The bag of coffee sitting on the shelf was less than half its size the last time I had seen it—the majority of its contents were gone.
As screeches rolled over to me from the hallway, I scooped out the ground beans from my swiftly diminishing stash, the process expedited undoubtedly by Zion. He always denied being the thief, but I had caught Eislyn carrying steaming cups to his underground more than once or twice.
Returning to the kitchen with Kali slung over his shoulder, Zion slapped her ass. “Told you I always catch my birds.”
Shrieking, she clutched the hem of the oversized black t-shirt—undeniably mine—to cover her perfect backside. “You cheated!”
Chuckling, he deposited her beside me, and I laid a kiss on her shoulder, where the cotton fabric had shifted to reveal a prominent collarbone.
But the caress couldn’t erase the fight in her.
She tracked Zion taking his plate of eggs, and the moment his back was to her, swatted his butt as hard as she could. The crack pierced the rush of boiling water in the kettle.
He twisted around. “Did you just hit my ass?”
“Nope.” She leaned against the counter, her chin held high. “Gedeon did.”
My eyebrows joined Zion’s on their trip to reach the sky. Such a sly little death.
“How did your last lie feel, Kali?” Stepping into her, I tucked a strand of her dark hair behind her ear, savoring how her breathing hitched. “Because you will tell no more after we are finished with you.”
“What—” She glanced at Zion coming to stand at my back. “What are you planning to do?”
Grabbing the counter near her hips, I caged her in, desperately trying to distract myself from the body heat radiating off the man behind me. I longed to lean back into him.
“Lies come at a cost, so first, we will take our payment.” I gripped her waist and, without warning, switched our positions, so she was trapped between me and Zion. “And then we will have our way with you.” On the last syllable, I pushed her into his ready arms.
Zion lunged, tickling her waist until she collapsed on the floor. Her gasps and pleas for mercy spurred him on, and he narrowed his targets to the back of her knees and her sock-clad feet—her weak spots.
Fueled by their laughter, warmth spread in my chest, eradicating the cold and evoking an emotion I had long forgotten about—joy.