Heathens (Badlands Book 4)

by Natalie Bennett

  What the hell had I just done?

  I ran my hands over my face. My goddamn heart was still racing. Her moans were on replay in the back of my mind. They were going to be my new workout soundtrack.

  She’d looked me in the eye and told me she could accept more, yet I’d still held back.

  I wanted her again.

  I wanted her in every fucking way I could have her.

  She looked even more beautiful than I remembered, but that fuckin sadness in her eyes…Did I do that to her, or was I just now noticing it existed?

  Could I fix it?

  Fuck.

  I needed a drink.

  What was she going to do when she saw all my flaws?

  The shit wrong with me wasn’t fixable.

  The pain would never leave. It wasn’t physical; it was constant mental fucking anguish, worse than depression, because there was no cure or treatment; it was just something I had to live with.

  I wasn’t sure what it was she had to tell me, but I knew from the look in her eyes it wasn’t going to alleviate any of my current issues.

  “You look like shit,” Luther’s voice carried from the kitchen doorway.

  “Good evening to you too, fuckhead.”

  “I thought the girl would help,” he said, coming to sit across from me at the table.

  “She did—she will,” I corrected. “I just got her back.”

  “That you did. Now you can quit being so damned depressed and moping around.”

  “Ouch, that hurt me right in here.” I patted a hand over my heart.

  “Do you want to talk about it?” he asked, turning serious as he broached a touchy subject.

  “I don’t know how to talk about it.” My voice went dry. “All I want to do is make people bleed and cause a fuck load of pain. You know her birthday is coming up?”

  “Yeah, kiddo, I know. It’s your birthday too.” Luther sighed.

  I swallowed thickly, thinking of my sister and how full of life she’d been before everything fell apart.

  Everyone knew loss. We’d all been through some shit.

  I wouldn’t argue that Romero hadn’t had it worse than me due to the fact he’d been locked up like a fucking animal since the day he was born.

  The difference between us was that he thrived in darkness, while I was forced to endure and adapt to it.

  He’d never had to perform for a group of pedophile pieces of shit and fuck his twin sister until she came.

  I remember cutting her body down from the cherry tree, and then being forced to put her in a trash bag.

  They tossed her body in a creek and never looked back.

  I was on the receiving end of their perverse games for a solid two years, until two dark-haired boys painted our trailer with their entrails and let me out of my cage.

  “Is it sick that Blue reminds me of her?”

  “No. I think that’s a good thing. I think she’s a good thing, for you. You didn’t need someone like Calista, that’s for damn sure,” he laughed. “Why don’t we reload the car? The sooner you get your woman home, the better.”

  “Yeah,” I puffed up my cheeks and nodded. “That sounds like a good fuckin idea.”

  “You can go in. I got the rest,” I told Luther.

  “All right. I’ll see you when the sun’s up. You can introduce me to Blue.”

  I nodded and bent down to grab my duffel bag. I shoved it in the trunk on the side of a gas can, and slammed the lid shut.

  I stood where I was and looked around the property. My instincts had never once let me down, and right then, they were telling me something wasn’t right.

  Keeping my guard up, I moved towards the house.

  I had just placed my boot on the back porch step when I heard the sound of shattering glass.

  I spun around to see the barn catch fire. With all the chemicals and flesh stored inside, the entire rear end was covered in seconds.

  The screen door hit the wall and Luther charged out in nothing but a pair of jeans.

  “No!” I shouted, trying to catch him as he charged past me, but he was too fast. “It’s a—”

  Trap.

  The word died on my tongue.

  He made it less than halfway there when a fucking arrow zipped through the air.

  “Fuck!” I yelled, watching it find its mark.

  “Sonofabitch,” he groaned, and stumbled off the path. He wisely turned to come back, grabbing for the arrow sticking out of his shoulder.

  I jumped off the step and ran towards him, hearing the yells of his employees that lived on the property coming over the hill as they made a run for the barn.

  They were a bunch of dumb fucks that weren’t thinking clearly.

  The barn wouldn’t spontaneously burst into flame.

  I reached Luther and grabbed hold of his good arm, propelling him to the house.

  “You’re not the brightest crayon in the box, are ya?” I asked.

  “Fuck you. This shit hurts,” he laughed, unable to pull the arrow out.

  “Motherfuckers,” I muttered when I barely missed taking a hit myself. “Who the fuck shoots arrows?”

  Over the yelling and pandemonium behind me, I could hear the sound of approaching vehicles.

  “You need to go get Blue and—”

  There was a wet splat, and a spray of blood hit the side of my face as a second arrow found a home in his left eye.

  Chapter Thirteen

  BLUE

  I jack-knifed into a sitting position, goose-bumps erupting across my flesh.

  A quick survey of the room told me I was alone.

  Hearing yelling from outside, I climbed out of bed and went to the sole window in the bedroom.

  I pulled back a corner of the curtain and peeked out. Seeing the barn going up in flames, an unmoving body a few feet in front of it, and all the people rushing around had me jerking backward.

  I needed to get out of the house.

  Rushing to the stool, I hurriedly dressed in the clothes that had been placed on it, a dress and a pair of combat boots a size too small.

  There was no underwear or bra, but I could worry about that later. All I could think about was Cobra. I had no idea where he was or if he was okay.

  Leaving the room, I froze in the hall when a gun went off.

  My palms clammed up as I forced myself to keep walking.

  Before I could reach the end of the hallway where the stairs began, I heard heavy footsteps slowly ascending them.

  Walking backward, I ducked into the first room on my right and quietly shut the door.

  It had one of those knobs with a simple lock, but that was better than nothing. I pushed it in and took a second to figure out my best option.

  This was a man’s room.

  The masculinity of it made that apparent.

  Knowing I had mere seconds before the person on the stairs realized someone was in here, I began to pull open all the drawers for something I could use to defend myself.

  In the bottom of a dresser beneath some t-shirts, I found a heavy black handgun.

  I pulled the clip and saw three bullets. There weren’t any other casings nearby, but this was better than nothing.

  I flicked the safety off and tested the weight of it in my sweaty hand.

  When the doorknob jiggled, my stomach dropped. Swallowing the excess saliva in my mouth, I turned around and expelled a deep breath.

  Adrenaline coursed through my veins and caused my hands to shake. I did my best to hold steady and aimed the gun right at the door.

  “Up here!” a man yelled a split second before kicking the door in.

  I jumped slightly as wood splintered, causing me to pull the trigger.

  “What the fuck?” the man yelled, grabbing the side of the neck where the bullet grazed him.

  I gritted my teeth as my ears rang and fired again, this time hitting him in his stomach.

  He placed his hand over the wound and hunched over slightly. His black shirt prevented me fr
om seeing the blood, but his hand was quickly becoming red.

  Hearing footsteps running up behind him, I ran forward and shoved him out of my way.

  He fell into the doorframe, still clutching his middle as blood ran freely from the wound in his neck, right over his Venom tattoo.

  I didn’t feel even a little bad about it.

  Facing the woman who had just reached the top of the stairs, I aimed and fired my last bullet.

  She dodged it, barely, and came rushing at me.

  “Ah!” I cried out as she tackled me to the floor.

  We landed in a heap. The air was knocked out of my lungs, and my head bounced off the hardwood. The gun fell from my hand as we struggled.

  Getting a good look at the woman beside me, I recognized her from the prison.

  She recovered before I did, bouncing to her feet with the agility of a cat, and moving to stand over me.

  “You’ve been a real pain in the ass,” she sneered.

  I didn’t acknowledge that ridiculousness with a response; instead, I did the only think I could think of and swung the toe of my boot into her pussy.

  She hissed in pain and took one step backward. That’s all she was able to do. Her head jerked and the tip of a knife popped out of her throat.

  I gasped as Cobra made an animalistic growl and twisted the blade to the side, widening the wound before pulling the knife from the back of her neck.

  She released a whoosh of air and blood sprayed out, coating the walls. I scrambled out of the way as fast I could, but it was impossible to dodge the mass of fluid.

  I felt it on my face and running between my breasts.

  “You good?” Cobra asked nonchalantly, grabbing my hand and pulling me towards him. His hand was sticky and there were bloodstains on his face.

  “Yes,” I breathed, relief coursing through me seeing he was okay.

  “Fuckin A, babe. We gotta go now,” he kept hold of my hand and pulled me with him down the stairs.

  Two bodies lay haphazardly on the floor below, one in the living room and one in the doorway of the kitchen.

  I didn’t question them.

  He led me right through the front door. Thick smoke and the smell of burning flesh filled the air, making it hard to breathe.

  The barn seemed to shudder before a portion of it caved in with a loud boom.

  I held onto Cobra’s hand as tight as I could, feeling like my heart was about to beat right out of my chest.

  We ran to the opposite side of the house where an old-school muscle car was parked and already running.

  “Get in!” he called to me, letting my hand go. He made it to the driver’s side in record time.

  I flung open the passenger door and damn near dove inside.

  I barely registered that Annie was in the backseat with a shotgun across her lap.

  The instant my ass hit the leather seat, he gunned the engine and floored it.

  Chapter Fourteen

  BLUE

  He’d been driving for hours and had yet to say a word.

  He hadn’t even looked at me when he’d stopped to refuel.

  As the adrenaline wore off and realization of what happened kicked in, I wanted to blurt out an apology.

  But that wouldn’t bring Annie’s house back or resurrect any of the people she’d lost.

  I didn’t dare ask about the man who was with her in the barn—seeing as she was with us and not him, I had a pretty good idea he was dead.

  This was my entire fault.

  I rubbed my cheek on my shoulder to try and get the dried blood off.

  Every few minutes, I’d look in the mirror to check on Annie. She didn’t look upset per se, but I figured she wasn’t an emotional kid.

  I was staring out the window when he placed his blood crusted hand on my knee and gently squeezed.

  I covered it with mine and laced our fingers together.

  It may have seemed like an insignificant thing to do, but for me, for us, it spoke volumes.

  Neither of us knew what was going to happen today, tomorrow, or even two hours from now, but that was okay.

  We would figure it out together.

  Chapter Fifteen

  COBRA

  This was all so fucked.

  I knew they’d be coming for her.

  The second Vitus realized one of us had taken her, our alliance went to shit.

  We shouldn’t have been there.

  Why the fuck did Rome send her there?

  Luther was gone.

  The skin farm was burning to the ground.

  Annie was a fuckin orphan for the second time—though it’s not like she fuckin cared. Kid was a bonafide psychopath.

  I needed to relieve the pressure in my head. The pounding in my skull had me seeing black dots. I couldn’t remember the last time I’d slept. I was an idiot for letting myself get this bad.

  I looked over at Blue to see if she was still awake, and saw her staring out the window. She had yet to say a word the entire drive.

  Without even thinking about it, I reached over and placed my hand on her knee, giving it a tight squeeze.

  My heart flipped like I was fuckin girl when she put her hand over mine and laced our fingers.

  I didn’t deserve someone like her, but I sure as fuck wasn’t about to let her go now.

  Pulling past a sign that read Polk County, I coasted past a decrepit old gas station, an abandoned bank covered in graffiti, and a strip of stores well past looted.

  Turning a sharp corner and narrowly dodging an old shopping cart in the center of my lane, I spotted a body on the sidewalk.

  Their stomach was torn open and crows were beak deep in organs.

  In a parking lot further ahead, a circle of men were beating the shit out of someone. They all turned, hearing the sound of my car approaching.

  I’d have to tread carefully here. This wasn’t one of our marked territories yet, which made us fair game.

  Blue took in everything with a blank, almost disinterested expression on her face. It was a lot different than how I remembered her reacting to violence at the brothel.

  “My name’s Mavi.” Her soft voice broke the hours’ long silence.

  That was random as shit, but I’d take it.

  “But everyone calls me Blue,” she added.

  “Is that because of your hair?” Annie asked.

  Understanding what she thought she was doing had me swallowing an amused laugh. It was sweet, though. I immediately committed her name to memory.

  “Nope, it’s because when I was a little girl, I wanted everything to be blue.”

  “That makes sense,” Annie shrugged.

  “What about you?” she asked, finally looking over at me.

  “What about me?”

  “How’d you get your nickname?”

  “They said I’m like a cobra—deadly, dangerous, and kill all my victims viciously.”

  “Fits you just fine,” Annie nodded, stroking the gun on her lap like it was a fuckin cat.

  Blue’s brows furrowed as she finally picked up on the fact that our tiny human passenger wasn’t an innocent little girl.

  Spotting the sign for the old motel I was looking for, I headed towards it, checking my mirrors periodically to make sure none of town squatters were following us.

  “Aren’t you going to tell me your name now?”

  I swallowed and rolled my neck. I couldn’t remember the last time a chick had wanted to know what my real name was. They were mostly just interested in being fucked by a Savage.

  “Cody,” I replied after a minute.

  “Cody,” she repeated under her breath. “I like that.”

  “And my twin’s name was Carrie,” I found myself saying.

  I waited for the surprise and the million questions but they never came.

  “I like that too,” she simply said, tightening her grip on my hand.

  Chapter Sixteen

  BLUE

  “Home Suites,” I read aloud.
<
br />   It was the first words I’d spoken since Cobra had told me the name of his sister.

  Twin sister, I corrected myself. And he’d said it past tense.

  I wasn’t going to attack him with questions; I would wait for him to tell me in his own time when he was ready.

  “This place looks like shit,” Annie said from the backseat.

  “It really lives up to its name, doesn’t it?” Cobra joked.

  I puckered my lips at her choice of words but didn’t comment. The kid had a shotgun on her lap and seemed to be handling her new circumstance just fine.

  “I need to contact Rome. We need to eat, and I have to take a piss. The man who runs this will let us use a room as long as we don’t cause trouble,” Cobra explained.

  “Us cause trouble? Blasphemy,” I deadpanned.

  They both laughed.

  “Sit tight. I’ll be right back,” he said, climbing out of the car.

  “Do you feel safe?” I asked after ten minutes passed, glancing in the backseat at the dark-haired girl.

  “Do you not feel safe?”

  “Right,” I turned back around and crossed my arms over my chest.

  The room was nothing spectacular.

  It had two full sized beds, running water, and a toilet.

  That was all the good things.

  The television didn’t work, the carpet was filthy, and only one light worked in the whole room.

  But we made do.

  I swallowed my last piece of jerky and stood from the bed, stretching my arms above my head.

  Cobra watched me from where he was leaning against the wall.

  We hadn’t said a word to one another since we’d came into the room and he’d handed me some food.

  If I couldn’t still feel him between my legs, I’d have thought I’d imagined us having sex. There was an awkwardness I didn’t know how to breach.

  I silently went into the bathroom and shut the door. It didn’t seem much cleaner than the prison’s bathroom. The shower was a no-go zone. A nice sized spider web was stretched across the corner and the drain was completely black.

  Sighing, I went to the sink and looked at myself in the pieces of glass that were left of a full mirror.

  The dress I had on was black with little pink flowers, much lower cut than anything I’d normally wear, and hit just above the knee.