“Hunters of Mayhem entered New Mexico looking for a girl with brown eyes and red hair. You wouldn’t know anything about it would you?”
“Why would I know? You gave me all of one day inside. How’s Mike?”
“I’m sure he’s fine.”
“I’m sure I need more than that.”
“You’re not in a position to negotiate.”
“Trucks filled with food are leaving New City. I know when and where. I want to speak with Mike.”
“Tell me about the trucks.”
“No.”
He reached into his pocket and pulled out some sort of tech. Maybe a phone? Where the hell had Men of Earth gotten tech? He pressed buttons and turned it to me. A live video of Mike on Center, his horse. They clearly hadn’t let him shower or shave, and he wore rags and looked about ninety years old with his white beard over a dirty wrinkled face.
“Let him go,” Maurice commanded to his men.
A man’s hand slapped the horse, and Center took off at a gallop. Happy tears clouded my eyes. When Mike had reached a safe distance, I rattled off everything I’d heard in Mayhem’s office.
Maurice spoke into the device. “Kill the old man.”
“No!” I stood.
“Yes.”
“No, no. Please.” I dropped to my knees. “Don’t kill him. Please don’t do it.”
Arrows flew.
One pierced Mike’s back, and he fell off the horse.
Shocked into silence, I whimpered in the back of my throat. Maurice smirked. “You don’t get to threaten me. The girl is next.”
I rounded the table and grabbed Maurice by his throat.
“You’re drawing attention,” he choked out.
I let him go and sat back down, murder in my eyes. “Where is Hanna?”
“Where you left her.”
“They need to feed her, bring her water, and if they touch her, I swear to you, I will tell Mayhem. I will tell them everything even if means my life. They will hunt you down like dogs.” An empty threat. She’d die before Mayhem could do anything about it. Tears rolled down my cheeks. I didn’t know if it was anger, hate, or grief. I cupped my face and sobbed.
Maurice patted my head. “There, there, child. Don’t worry, the girl will live if you do this one small thing for her.”
I lifted my tearstained face. “What?”
Maurice was looking behind me, probably at the crowd, which was quieter now than before. He slipped a vial into my hand. “For your buyer. If you give him this, nobody dies.”
I rolled the small vial between my fingers. It held clear liquid. “What is this?”
“Remedies for our problems.” He kissed my cheek and lingered to whisper in my ear. “You will kill the hunter. I await news from New City. When the news comes, I will release the girl.”
“How do I know you’ll let her live?”
“I swear on God.”
“That’s not good enough. You’re a liar.”
“It has to be. The hunters are closing in on us, and we can’t leave the camp yet. I need the hunters to return to New City and mourn their leader.”
With that, he left me there. For a while, I stared at the empty chair, the vial filled with what was presumably poison still in my hand. A vial, no bigger than my pinky, with a black rubber stopper, would change everything. I wasn’t stupid. I knew Hanna might never make it, but if I kept my end of the deal, maybe, just maybe Maurice would keep his. And if I kept my end of the deal, and he killed her anyway, I would die knowing I’d done everything I could for someone in a way Mike had done everything he could for me.
If I didn’t keep my end, Men of Earth would send another girl for Mayhem. Being with him wasn’t a hard job. Aside from his bossy personality, arrogance, and great looks, he hadn’t hurt me or shared me with others. Another girl would fill my place, and he’d suffer the same fate.
What choices did I have? What could I do? If I told Mayhem, he’d kill me, then send more hunters after the camp. Maurice would kill everyone and run before they got there. But if I did what Maurice asked of me, maybe me and Hanna would make it.
Standing, I slipped the vial into my pocket and left the market.
“Where to?” the bike asked.
“Home,” I told it. “Take me home.”
Chapter Thirteen
Mayhem
I winced at the sting. “Ten,” I counted.
“More?” Lore asked.
“Five more.” I gritted my teeth and leaned my forehead on the cold stone wall he’d chained me to. Lore flicked the whip. It hit my shoulder, right over the marks I’d put there with my flogger. My entire back burned, and I still couldn’t get the mouse out of my mind. I couldn’t meditate because I couldn’t concentrate on anything besides her pussy.