Heathens (Badlands Book 4)

by Natalie Bennett

  “Where is Zane, Beth?” I asked again in a firmer tone.

  She abruptly turned her head and stared off into the shadows as if someone was there.

  “Vitus threw him away.”

  It was the last thing she said before she jumped.

  Chapter Seven

  BLUE

  A traumatizing smack echoed all around me.

  I heard her bones shatter on impact. Her head hit at an angle, shooting blood in every direction as it busted open.

  She lay twisted at an unnatural angle, a bone in her leg sticking all the way out.

  What the fuck had just happened?

  I blinked and sucked in a breath. I took a step back, and then another. Before I knew it, I was simply walking away. I wasn’t sure where I was going, but it damn sure wasn’t to Vitus.

  So many questions assaulted my brain. I needed to get away; I needed a minute to breathe. The sound of her body hitting the ground would be stuck in my head forever.

  A sudden bang echoed throughout the prison. The entire building seemed to vibrate. Yelling filled the air immediately after.

  I rounded a corner and stopped, squeezing my eyes shut, trying to get my thoughts in order.

  I’d been standing there for less than a minute when I was grabbed from behind. A hand covered my mouth and an arm came across my chest, forcing me to hold still.

  I struggled as best as I could anyway, blindly throwing an elbow back into a hard stomach and earning a soft grunt from whomever had a hold of me.

  “Don’t fight me,” a deep voice said directly in my ear. My name’s Bryce. I’m here to help you.”

  Immediately, I stopped and let myself go slack.

  “I’m going to let you go now, but I need you to stay calm.” His arms fell away and he stepped back to give me space.

  I turned around and found myself face to face with the man with green eyes.

  “You,” I murmured, not at all that surprised. “You didn’t have to grab me like that. What are you even doing all the way over here?”

  “I can explain everything as soon as we get out. We need to go now. Stay close and keep quiet,” he commanded.

  Without further preamble, he set off at a brisk walk.

  Unsure of what else to do, I followed after him. He led me into another portion of the prison that wasn’t used.

  We had to maneuver around old cots, a rusted toilet, and fallen debris. Every few minutes, Bryce would look over his shoulder and make sure I was keeping up.

  I felt the breeze minutes before he led me through an old rusted door.

  Outside, the shouting had grown louder.

  “Come,” he urged, picking up his pace.

  I followed his lead, not really believing any of this was happening.

  He veered into the overgrown weeds that nearly reached my navel.

  I did the same, keeping up as best I could. I relied on the back of his head and the moon to guide me in the right direction. After a minute or two, he stopped and bent down.

  There was a rattle, and then he was standing up, peeling back a piece of the chain link fence.

  “Blue!” Vitus’ voice carried on the wind.

  “Go, hurry,” Bryce ordered.

  I shivered, gave one last glance at the prison, and climbed through the hole.

  Bryce came through right behind me. Wordlessly, he placed the fence piece back how it belonged.

  “Blue!” I heard again, this time much closer.

  “Now what?” I whispered.

  “Now, we run.”

  He grabbed my hand and dragged me into the woods.

  Chapter Eight

  COBRA

  I adjusted my facemask and looked around the dimly lit barn.

  I could deal with a lot of foul smelling shit, but human flesh being cured wasn’t one of them.

  Luther stood beside me, marking items off a checklist.

  Like everyone else, he was getting ready to transition his business to a new supplier, thanks to Romero.

  I shifted my attention to where his niece was making quick work of a man hanging upside down from a meat hook.

  She was about nine or ten now, and handled herself like a pro. I watched her carefully make the relief cuts on the man’s wrists, chest, and neck to help remove his skin in large sheets instead of individual chunks.

  When she was finished with that, she used her little blade and began to flay.

  The man writhed in his restraints, no doubt feeling his skin being pulled off his muscles, and the nerve endings dying. His agonized screams were muffled by the dirty cloth shoved in his mouth.

  “Where is this package I’m supposed to pick up?” I asked Luther, breaking my gaze away from the live display.

  “It’s not ready yet,” he answered dismissively.

  I looked to the ceiling and counted to three, searching for patience I didn’t have.

  He glanced over and shook his head, chuckling at my inability to hold still. “What’s the rush? Didn’t you miss me?”

  “Need a smoke,” I told him, ignoring his question.

  As soon as I was outside, I lifted the facemask to the top of my head and sucked in a breath of cool air.

  The temperature was beginning to drop at night, a sign fall had arrived at the Badlands.

  Reaching into my back pocket, I took out my joint and a lighter. I placed it between my lips and sparked up.

  I chiefed it three times and rolled my neck to loosen my shoulders.

  The sooner I got whatever fuckin package this was, the better. If Rome sent me all this way to pick up a belt, I was going to kick his ass when I got home.

  I was just about to go back inside the barn when I heard the low whir of an engine gradually getting louder.

  Instantly on alert, I looked across Luther’s property but didn’t see anything. Not even headlights.

  Someone was definitely coming, though, and they were moving pretty damn fast from the sound of it.

  Shoving my facemask back down, I snubbed out my joint and went back inside.

  Something heavy hit the rear door and the whirring cut off.

  Luther all but shoved his fuckin clipboard into my hands, and rushed towards it.

  “Fuck’s going on?” I asked, watching him hurriedly undo the heavy padlock, keeping the rear exit sealed off.

  “Your package has arrived.” He looked back at me with a shit eating grin and pulled open the doors.

  I saw the acolyte administered Jeep. Saw a sweaty and muddied Bryce.

  Then, I saw her.

  The unusual girl with the blue hair.

  I was fucked.

  Chapter Nine

  BLUE

  For once, I was thoroughly exhausted.

  My feet ached.

  My head hurt.

  Hell, my ass hurt.

  All I wanted to do was sit down and figure out what was happening.

  Bryce was chugging right along like this was an everyday occurrence for him. Knowing who he worked for, I wouldn’t be surprised if it was.

  Only one of us was dressed for trekking through the woods in the middle of the night.

  It obviously wasn’t me.

  “We’re almost there,” he said, looking back to make sure I was still behind him.

  “I swear you’ve said that at least four times now,” I grumbled.

  “I actually mean it this time,” he replied. I could hear the smile in his voice.

  “What’s going to happen now I’m gone?”

  “Depends.”

  “On?” I questioned.

  “It depends on how Vitus plays his hand. You don’t need to worry about any of that. My liege has everything taken care of.”

  That was nothing short of diplomatic. I nodded, even though he couldn’t see me.

  “There it is,” he said after we’d walked a few more minutes.

  I peered around him and almost melted with relief. A blacked out Wrangler was parked on the side of a rural road. The sigil of Baphomet w
as embellished on its hood and the driver side door.

  Two people in long, black hooded robes and white masks stood outside of it.

  “Um…who are they?”

  “Acolytes,” he replied, holding out his hand to help me down the hill we had come upon.

  I accepted and let him lead me down, not letting go until I was by the passenger side door of the Jeep.

  One of the acolytes turned to look at me, but didn’t speak. I couldn’t tell if they were male or female. Whichever, it was unsettling to have their sole attention.

  I offered them a smile and made a point to stare at the window until I heard the lock click.

  I scrambled into the Jeep and swore I heard one of them laugh under their breath as they got in the back with their companion.

  Bryce climbed in the driver’s seat and quickly got us on the road. It didn’t take long for him to say his piece.

  “Romero sent me to Vitus a few months ago. No one knew where I was but him. Everyone assumed I’d been working at a skin farm.”

  “I wasn’t around a few months ago,” I pointed out.

  “I was not sent there specifically for you. Once you became more of a… priority, the plan was readjusted. My duty was to gather intel, to keep you safe, and to get you out when the time was right.”

  I took a few minutes to process all that. I wasn’t real ecstatic about the whole me being a sudden priority thing.

  Romero wasn’t someone I wanted to owe any favors to, but he was the reason I’d just gotten out.

  Speaking of…

  “What was that loud noise?”

  “The foundation of that prison is weak. I simply gave one of the weakest columns a little push,” he said casually.

  I knew there was more to it than a ‘little push’, but his answer was satisfying enough.

  “You did all of this alone?”

  “I wasn’t the only Savage on the inside, no, if that’s what you’re really asking.”

  I nodded, wondering what else he knew. I assumed he had a way to communicate with Romero while on the inside to relay information.

  “So Romero knows about…” I trailed off. Maybe I should have been asking what he didn’t know.

  Everything I’d come to learn about that man amplified how cunning he was, always ten steps ahead of everyone else.

  “What he doesn’t know already, he will know very soon. As it stands, my task is not finished quite yet.”

  At that, I looked down at my lap.

  If he knew Vitus was full of crap, why make an alliance with him in the first place? If he knew so much, why didn’t he do anything to stop what had happened?

  As if he read my mind, Bryce dropped another Easter egg for me to ponder over.

  “Vitus and my liege have a long, sordid history. That’s all I’m allowed to say on the matter. He’ll question you himself.”

  “He’ll question me?” I gave a quick glance his way, crossing my arms over my chest. I hoped my voice didn’t convey how uneasy that made me.

  “Yes, once you’re home.”

  “Home,” I repeated to myself.

  He had to be referring to the compound. Did I want that to be my home? I wasn’t sure.

  I think I was ready to get far, far away from all of this. The Savages, the Venom, people in general.

  I wasn’t sure if I was ready to deal with Katya.

  I didn’t how I was supposed to face Cobra, knowing what I knew now.

  How could I look him in the eye and tell him his child was missing? That he may be dead?

  I turned my face to the window and focused on the passing scenery.

  My eyes stung. I blinked to clear the wetness coating my lashes.

  My heart ached.

  Yet, the emptiness I felt didn’t abate. If anything, it grew deeper.

  The first thing I saw was a pretty farmhouse with a wraparound porch.

  The second was the cheery red barn surrounded by rolling green hills.

  “Where are we?” I asked, my voice laden with drowsiness.

  “It’s a surprise.” Bryce parked the Jeep in the back of the red building and cut the engine, hopping out before I’d fully roused myself.

  “I don’t like surprises,” I mumbled.

  He pounded on the barn door with his fist and signaled for me to get out.

  Releasing a weary sigh, I climbed out of the car and went to join him, stretching as I walked.

  The rear doors of the Jeep opened at the same time, and I almost jumped out of my skin. I’d forgotten there were acolytes in the backseat. They hadn’t uttered a single word the entire drive.

  They walked off together, taking a path that ran along the side of the barn.

  When I reached Bryce’s side, he turned slightly towards me.

  “It would be for the best if you didn’t mention how the child demised,” he said quietly.

  His words confirmed what I’d originally suspected. The baby was gone.

  “I don’t know how he…”I swallowed around the sudden lump in my throat and looked down to hide my pensive expression.

  “Then you are very fortunate,” he stated somberly. “Tell him it was stillborn.”

  “And what’s the truth?”

  “That it was stillborn.”

  No more words were said between us. He straightened just as the large barn door swung inward.

  I lifted my head and had to blink twice. I didn’t notice the smell, the bodies, or the man who was practically standing in front of me.

  All I saw was him.

  The crazy redhead who kept trespassing in my thoughts.

  His eyes met mine and whispered they were going to drag me to the darkest pits of hell.

  My stupid irrational heart immediately responded, “Yes, please,” and I instantly knew I was screwed.

  PART TWO

  Oh, heaven knows

  We belong way down below.

  Chapter Ten

  BLUE

  How can one look make someone feel so damn much?

  It was enough to paralyze me.

  It was enough to take away all the bad for a few blissful heartbeats.

  However, reality refused to be ignored. Everything came rushing back, including the overwhelming smell trying to suffocate me.

  “What is that?” I cupped a hand over my nose and finally wrenched my gaze away from the gorgeous man in front of me.

  I honed in on a little girl standing by a bloodied man hanging from a meat hook, a friendly smile on her face.

  If I was seeing things correctly, he was missing large pieces of flesh.

  In fact, there was flesh everywhere.

  Shelves were lined with jars of things that would give me months of nightmares. Metal tubs full of lye were dissolving who knows what.

  I turned my gag into a cough and backed out of the barn, the stench making my eyes burn.

  Cobra was quick to follow, his silver eyes completely focused on me, which only added to my complete humiliation when I turned to the side and nearly doubled over from a coughing fit, as if my lungs could spit out the foul odor they’d just ingested.

  I was aware of the rear door slamming shut, and then Cobra’s hand was rubbing my back.

  When I was done, I awkwardly regained my posture.

  “You good?” he asked, yet to remove his hand.

  I sniffed a few times, relieved that the smell seemed to be well contained in the confines of the barn.

  I gave him a small smile and nodded. “As long as I don’t go in there, I will be.”

  “Yeah, it’s an acquired taste kind of thing.” He laughed softly, pulling his facemask off.

  He removed his hand, too, and I immediately wanted to put it back. Then, I remembered everything that had happened and all the things he didn’t know, and it felt like a vise tightened around my heart.

  I took a small step back, swallowing when his brows furrowed in displeasure.

  He reached out and grabbed my lower wrist to stop me from going any
further.

  “Cobra, we need—”

  “Not yet,” he cut me off. “I can see it all over your face. Whatever you’re going to tell me isn’t good.”

  “But I—”

  He shook his head again.

  “The first thing we’re going to do is get you cleaned up. Can we do that?”

  I looked up at him, really looked at him, and there went another piece of my heart.

  He looked exhausted. His eyes were tired, but it was the kind of tired sleep wasn’t going to fix, full of a deep rooted pain; I hated myself for knowing what I did. I hated that I would have to add to whatever burden already crushing him.

  It was disarming to go from uncaring to feeling so much of his sadness that it physically hurt.

  “We can do that,” I breathed softly.

  “Thank you,” he said, seeming genuinely relieved, me with an authentic smile. “Come on.” He nodded to the walkway the acolytes had taken, and slid his fingers from my wrist to my hand.

  A trail of electricity followed their path.

  We walked side by side towards the farmhouse I’d seen from the Jeep.

  The warmth of his body helped ward off some of the evening’s chill.

  I kept quiet, unsure of what to say or what subject to broach first. I didn’t want to blurt out the news about his baby in a cold, tactless manner. That was too delicate a subject, and I could tell he was already in a decaying mental state.

  I couldn’t even summon anger to rant at him over his decision simply for the fact that I wasn’t angry with him at all. He didn’t owe me anything, had never promised anything, and if it hadn’t been me, it would have been Katya. She wouldn’t have lasted a week.

  Think positive thoughts, I told myself.

  I needed to take a chapter from his book and not focus on all the heavy right then.

  “So you’re my surprise?” I teased, desperate to shatter the silence.

  “Guess so. Best fuckin surprise ever though, right?”

  “Considering I don’t like surprises, I have to say this one tops all the others.”

  “Hmm,” he hummed in response.

  We reached the farmhouse and he led me up the stairs, going straight through the front door.

  I was surprised by how homey it was. The inside theme matched the outside. It was clean, cozy, and smelled of cinnamon.