Chapter Four
Zahra
My eyes snapped open, and I flinched, a sharp burn scraping down my arm. “Motherfucker.” I groaned in pain, realizing I was lying on a soft mattress. My head rested atop comfortable pillows stacked up to ensure I didn’t cause any discomfort to myself when I woke up—apparently, that hadn’t worked.
“Hey.” Devil’s voice had my head snapping up; he was leaning on the wall next to the small table across from me, arms crossed against his chest, watching me like a dark shadow, dressed in all black.
I sighed in relief. “Hey, creep, why are you way over there?”
A small, strained smile tugged at his lips as he approached me, sitting on the side of the bed. “How are you feeling?”
My eyes took in the bruise on his cheek. Other than that, he didn’t seem injured anywhere else.
“Like death.” I groaned, trying to sit up. He was quick to help me, but I moved my arm wrong and winced at the spike of pain. “Ugh, fuck, this hurts like a bitch.”
“I know. It’s going to leave a scar. They took the bullet out, but it was difficult because of how deep it was in your shoulder; they had to tear—”
“Don’t tell me. I’ll probably ink it when it heals,” I said, letting out a shaky breath. “How are you? Where are the others? Where are we?”
I took in my surroundings more clearly. It looked like a guest room. But none of this made sense. I shouldn’t be alive—none of us should be alive.
“Where else would we be?” The sharpness in his voice had me frowning. He sighed, looking down at my arm in the sling. “Sorry, we’re still hostages. We were given quarters in the compound. We’re in Marino territory.”
I slumped slightly, careful not to move my arm. “Fuck—the others, they—”
“Are pissed. Just a heads-up.”
There was only one reason they could be pissed at me.
I told The Wicked we would forever be at his service as long as he kept us alive.
When he left me in that fucking oven, I didn’t think for one second that I would make it out of there alive.
He hadn’t given me any guarantee that he approved of my proposal to be at his service, so it made no sense—or maybe my brain was still filled with the water he had almost drowned me in. Water—
It was almost like the thought of water reminded me of how thirsty I had been before I had probably passed out from all my pathetic screaming.
I cringed, embarrassed that I had let myself go like that—that I had forgotten how to be strong.
“Can I get water?”
Devil’s eyes softened. He got up from the bed to walk to the table across the room. He poured water into a glass and brought it over to me. I collected it eagerly with my good hand before bringing it to my lips, drinking it all in five gulps.
There was a tense awkwardness in the air between us. It was unfamiliar, but I knew where it came from; it was probably why I felt ashamed.
“How did we get here? Was I the only one questioned?”
“Yeah. For some reason, you were the only one they wanted to talk to.”
My anklet.
“I take it you watched—everything—me?” I asked, a little part of me hoping those bastards didn’t make them watch how I screamed and begged. Devil was quiet, and it only confirmed my suspicion.
Carefully, I relaxed against the headboard. “Is that why you’re being awkward? Because the amazing Zahra you knew would have never begged, cried, or screamed while she was basically being toasted alive.”
His gaze snapped to mine in a second as he blinked his thoughts away.
“What the fuck? No. Never—I don’t—it’s not you—” He breathed.
“They made us watch. They tied us up and made us watch, and it was fucking torture, not being able to—” He swallowed.
“To do anything. It was cruel, Zahra. I can still see, hear, and feel the anger. I hate myself for not seeing this happening and talking us out of going through with the Marino mission—we should have known.”
I shook my head. “No, this isn’t your fault. If anyone’s to blame, it’s me. I brought the idea—”
“And I egged you on. I provided the layout; Milk seduced one of the soldiers, and we got electronic access; Upper fucked with their systems and locked them out; Dog and I took the men guarding the Vault House down, one by one. This shit? It’s on all of us.”
“But they’re pissed at me.”
“Because you signed off all our lives to him, Z.”
I blinked. “There was nothing else I could have done, Devil; he could have killed us all—he could have—we wouldn’t be alive right now if it weren’t for me.
I did what I fucking had to do. Do you think if it were just me, I would grovel like a fucking pussy?
My head, thoughts, mind, and heart were on all of you.
I don’t give a fuck about my life; he could put a fucking bullet in my head as long as I know you all are far away from him. ”
“I’m not blaming you for it, Zahra; I would have done the same thing.”
“But apparently, those shitheads wouldn’t—fuck this.” I was already getting out of the bed, ignoring how heavy my body felt, and my arm throbbed.
But I was pissed; I was pissed because what the hell were they angry about? I was the one who had been tortured; I was the one who had been baked alive; I was the one who had saved their sorry little fucking asses.
“Zahra, slow down.”
I was already out of the room; hearing their muffled voices, I followed the sound. It didn’t take long before I found myself in a kitchen. “Okay, motherfuckers, let’s hear it. Why whine behind my fucking back when you can say it to my face?”
I was met with silence, but I watched how Dog’s expression turned into a hard glare; he had a cut on his brow that was already stitched up.
Upper had a scowl on his face, but I could tell it was only directed at the situation.
Milk had a bandage on her arm, but I couldn’t read her emotions because she wouldn’t meet my eyes.
“You wanna pick a fight?” Dog asked. “Cause I’m ready to give it to you; I don’t care if you have a busted arm.”
Devil came up beside me, sighing. “Guys, the last thing we need right now is a baseless disagreement.”
“Baseless? We are fucked—we’re all fucked!” Dog yelled.
“No more American dream.” Milk’s voice was quiet.
“What the fuck else was I supposed to do? He was going to kill you all—I had to do what I had to do, so yes, I spoke for us at that moment.”
“Really? Who the fuck put you in charge? Because last I checked, we don’t have a boss on this team,” Dog said, coming closer. “This is your problem, Zahra; you always love to play the hero. It’s probably why they picked you and shot you.”
I scoffed. “We got caught because of me. That’s why they picked me and shot me. I left something behind. They found it.”
After I said that, it went very quiet around us, and I could see them all giving me questioning looks.
“Shit,” Devil said from beside me. “I was wondering where your anklet ran off to.”
“Are you bloody joking!” Upper exclaimed. “We made a mistake?”
“Funny how that’s what you’re worried about when we will never get to see America ever again,” Milk directed at Upper.
Dog groaned. “Would you shut the fuck up about America for one goddamn minute?”
Milk stood upright with a frown. “Don’t tell me to shut up. You’re the one who’s been whining about being chained up.”
“Guys—” Devil tried to cut in.
“How could we have made a mistake? How could we have missed something? That never happens,” Upper mused out loud.
“Miss Hero probably took it off herself so she could sell us all out and keep the prize money for herself,” Dog said.
The accusation slapped me in the face.
“You’re so fucking stupid, Dog. I am trapped too! There’s no way I can sneak my way out of this compound without being shot in the head. Besides, why would they leave the money back at the studio? It belongs to them now.”
“Guys, stop—”
“Just like we belong to them, thanks to you!” Dog yelled back. “I don’t give a fuck if he could have killed us all—I’d die happy knowing that I didn’t have to live my life committing crimes for anyone again.”
“Me too; you also kind of did bring the idea to go for Marino, so…” Milk added.
I let out a humorless laugh. “Oh, you guys are ungrateful pieces of shit. I really should have just let every single one of us die because I can’t believe I brought down my fucking pride, begging for our lives, only to survive this shit to see how fucking terrible the people I consider family are!”
Dog glared. “Don’t you fucking pull the family card because that doesn’t have shit to do with—”
“It has everything to do with—”
“I can’t believe we made a mistake—”
“It was supposed to be our vacation time—”
“Time-out! Time-fucking-out!” Devil yelled, and I almost jumped out of my skin.
“We have bigger fish to fry, okay? The last thing we should be worried about is the mistake we made, or the stupid vacation, or the life sentence, or our fucking pride. We’re here, and that’s done.
We should be thinking about how to keep our heads above water. ”
Dog shook his head, returning to stand behind the counter, rubbing his palm down his face as the quietness seeped in.
“I don’t care what any of you think you know, but E—Marino—is not a merciful man. Do you think he would just send someone to shoot you if he wanted to kill you? No, he would send people to do it slowly and painfully until you beg for death. Zahra saved us from that shit—”
“I don’t need you to—”
“Would you keep quiet?”
I glared.
“No matter how angry we are right now, I have no doubt we would have done the same thing if we were put in that position. It’s who we are.
We are family. We do our best to make sure we survive to see another day.
Just because we’re here now doesn’t mean our life is done.
We’re smart; we’re fucking Street. There’s no way we aren’t going to wiggle out of this.
I can’t guarantee our freedom if we turn our backs on each other now, if we point fingers, fight, and hold grudges.
We need to trust each other now more than ever. ”
He was right, and I felt the anger that had been boiling in my blood dissipate. The solemn looks on everyone’s faces also said Devil’s word had hit home.
“So, what’s next?” Upper asked from where he stood.
“We wait,” Devil said.
I nodded. “Observe and listen.”
“And after we’ve observed and waited?” Dog asked me.
“Then we do what we do best,” I said, looking over at Devil.
Jaw locked, he said, “We scheme.”