“Nate!” I snapped. “She’s the mother of your child and my fucking best friend!”
“She was nothing more than a walking sack of amniotic fluid. She doesn’t need to be alive anymore. Her job here is done, oh” —he cut his eyes to me— “and I don’t fucking trust her.”
“Trust her?” I yelled, a little too loudly because Bishop came closer to me. “You fucking loved her!”
Nate barked out a laugh. “Watch the way you use that word, sis. You and I both know that if I loved her, I wouldn’t have been sinking my dick into Tatum every day of the fucking week.” His eyes narrowed at me, and I shot daggers back at him. He wasn’t only being rude, but he was lashing out. I expected something to happen with him in the brief moments we were standing here waiting to decide to find the guys, but I didn’t expect him to lash out quite like this—I especially didn’t expect him to take his anger out on Tillie. I could see it now, though. The change in his demeanor. The monster that always lurked beneath the surface, cloaked under his cool swagger, was now prowling back and forth with fire seething between its lips. The rage that was pelting off him was igniting smoldering flickers of anger inside of me.
“That was a shit dig, Nate,” I mumbled in disapproval, shaking my head. Bishop threw a shirt on, and it was then that I realized why he didn’t wear one. So he didn’t get blood on it. He was way too good at this, obviously.
“We need to leave, now,” Tillie said, not giving Nate a reply. “There is underground access that can take us straight to the airstrip, but we have to leave out this window.”
“Done,” Bishop started to the window, grabbing my hand on his way.
“Nah uh.” Eli shook his head. “I’m with Nate. I don’t trust this bitch.”
“Trust me or not,” Tillie finally said, giving the baby to Daemon. “But I’m all you have right now.”
Eli looked to Nate, who then looked to Saint and Jase. I shot Jase a glare who then nodded. Hunter joined him.
“You ambush us, woman, and I’ll show exactly why you should be afraid of me—you hear?” Nate answered, slowly making his way to the window.
Tillie nodded, her eyes going to her feet before she’s leaping out the window. Daemon handed the baby out to her and then followed. Nate went to jump out, but my hand flew to his chest. “Hey! I get that you’re angry and confused but try to simmer the anger down. We don’t know what she has just endured, Nate. Try not to be an arse.”
He winked at me, gripping onto the edge. “I’m always an arse, sis.” Then he leaped out the window.
“That’s it. I’m calling it. He has schizophrenia.”
“Your turn.” Bishop pointed out the window.
“Bishop…” I whispered. “Look at me.”
He wouldn’t, his eyes remained on the window. “Get out of the fucking window, Madison.”
“What have I done now!”
“Jesus Christ, girl! For once, just once, can you do as you’re fucking told!” Hunter gripped my arm and shoved me toward the window. “Get out. Now!” I shrugged my arm out of his grip and jumped out. My feet hit the dusty ground with a thud and vibrations shot up my leg from the impact. Nate took my hand and pulled me into him.
“What’d I do now?” I asked, looking up at him. Daemon was on the other side. He took my other hand.
“He’s had real life hit him in the balls over the last thirty minutes.”
“What does that mean!” It wasn’t my intention for my question to come out as a whine, but it did.
“It means don’t fucking ask until we’re back on our soil.”
Then Nate pushed me into Daemon and scrubbed his eyes with the palm of his hand. Nate had never handled me in any threatening way, but again, the energy felt different tonight. There was an obvious change in the dynamic and I was dreading coming to terms with whatever was about to go down. Bishop was the last one to exit the window and as soon as the soles of his feet touched the ground, we all shot off, following Tillie and Daemon, who still had the baby in his arms. It was strange, but I sensed a story there. The Lost Boys had a job to do when it came down to it, and that was to end all of the Swans—or get rid of, as they would say—and I knew for a fact that Daemon had done it before, so why was he hesitant with this one? My legs continued to carry me forward in the silence with nothing but the heavy pity patting from our shoes hitting the road.
Tillie stopped, and that’s when my eyes flew around the place, taking in everything. We were outside, running through a meadow, which was odd, considering. But if I had to guess, I would say we were in the backyard, only the backyard looked to be the size of a damn football field. Tillie pointed toward a barn that was hidden discretely at the back of the house. “In there. There’s a manhole in the floor that leads underground. It’s where they transport stuff that they don’t want documented—ever.”
“Are you saying that some shit has been going on here behind the Kings’ back, or are you saying my dad knew about it and they’re hiding it from The Circle?” Bishop asked from behind me, where he had been the entire time. He had barely touched me since coming back from his slaughtering, and if it wasn’t for the dire situation we were all in, I’d overthink the fuck out of it.
“The latter and then some,” Tillie admitted. She started jogging toward the metal barn. We all followed and waited as Daemon opened the heavy tin door. There was a loud creaking sound that filled the deserted meadow, but once it was open, we all ran inside. Tillie kicked off the manhole cover. It was large enough for us all to jump down and walk through. She went first, and then Daemon handed her the baby before jumping in himself. The order went much like the window, and before I knew it, we were all walking down hidden tunnels. The walls were made of dirt and there were rail tracks that lined the clay ridden rode. Smaller than what you would find for a train, but definitely big enough to hold a small cart.
“These tunnels have areas that curve off to not only all four factions of Perdita but every section too.”
“Every section of this area of Perdita?” Bishop wanted to clarify.
Tillie shook her head, hiking the baby higher. “No. I mean, everywhere on the island.”
“That’s messed up. What the fuck is going on here.”
We continued our trek deeper into the tunnels. Twenty minutes later, the air was tight and sweat was falling off my flesh with every step.
“Tillie,” I called out, wiping away some fallen dirt that had dropped onto my face. It smudged into my sweat and turned it to soft clay. “Is the baby ok?”
Tillie gave me a small smile over her shoulder. “She will be fine once this is over.” Then her legs picked up. “There it is!” We all jogged to an opening archway to the left of the trail. I looked up above, seeing a small metal plate that had “Airport” engraved into it. I let out a sigh of relief just as Tillie pushed open a door and walked through. The space was small, so small that we couldn’t all fit inside at once. Tillie banged on the manhole above her head, and then banged another three times. A lock slid open and daylight slammed into the small enclosure.
“You’re all ok?” Tinker asked, worry evident on her face. “Come on, you’re running low on time.” She reached down and pulled Tillie out, and then Daemon, again, they both switched who was holding the baby—who hadn’t made a sound through the whole way. I was impressed, she obviously got that side from her mother. I grabbed Tillie’s hand and she pulled me up until I was out of the hold and sucking in crisp air again. My chest loosened and relaxed. I turned back to pull Tatum out and then we both grabbed Nate. While the guys were coming out, I took this moment to turn to Tinker.
“What’s your deal?”
“My deal?” Tinker smiled. “Not all of us get to choose our path, Madison, so” —her eyes went over my shoulder before coming back to me— “choose yours wisely.”
I turned my head over my shoulder to see who was there. Bishop.
“Thank you for the advice, but it seems, I can’t choose mine either.”