“Odette.” Han raises his hands, shock and confusion drawing his brows to his hairline. “What are you doing? Sire”—he looks at Rome— “she means no disrespect—”
Suddenly, two shots of a gun ricochet outside the church walls, the girls drop to the floor between benches, whimpers rush along the ground, and Rome’s head snaps to the door.
“Who did you let in?”
The men lurch upright, Kong and the Guard moving to either side of the window, rifles braced and ready. Discreetly, they risk looking outside.
“I didn’t approve anything,” Han states, his polite smile flattening into a thin line.
My heart races.
A mechanism attached to the Guard’s vest crackles with static and then a word. A word that chills the length of my veins.
Endigos.
“How many?” Rome asks.
“Twenty.” Kong peaks through the window, then leans back, concealing his location. “Thirty.”
Rome shoots his gaze to Han. “Where are the men in your community? Where are they right now? Armed?”
Han swallows over a ball of guilt. “Everyone will be in hiding. The women. Men. They have their own vaults. Secret rooms. We decided as a community to wait out raids. Not to defend. To rebuild. We don’t fight, Sire.”
“Fuck,” Rome bites.
The Guard presses his back to the wall, savouring a moment. “Do you think they followed us from Ruins E? We were careful.”
“We cut off the road. They have Snakes all across the desert.” Kong frowns with a nod. “Perhaps they saw us.”
Suddenly, guns reel off outside the church, one after the other, over and over.
Events throttle faster than my shallow breaths. The girls crawl along the church floor toward the mysterious inside door. Rome has me in his arms, Kong has Tuscany, and the Guard has Ana.
“Let me protect them,” Han begs Rome, pointing toward the room where the other women flock. “There is a chamber—a bunker. Full of our old relics, tombs, everything sacred to us. In case the weather wins. They will be protected down there.”
“Not out of my sight!” Rome barks.
“She will be safe. As God is my witness.”
“Boy,”—Kong warns, using his thick arm to cover the queen’s head as more shots roll from rifles outside the walls— “Listen.”
Han’s expression breaks. Desperate. “Believe in the good. In me. Let me protect the Silk Girls and the queen.”
Rome looks at me. Stares. “I know you care for all. I know you. But…” His voice breaks in a way that snatches air from my lungs. “The piece beneath your feet, Aster. The piece beneath your feet. Protect it for me.”
With a growl of utter defeat, Rome lowers me to the ground, his hands suddenly everywhere, mapping, remembering.
A frightened Tuscany and Ana are both set down, and we are swept away by Han. The throttle of events stops completely when I get to the door.
Grip it.
Turn back…
“Come with me,” I beg.
Now time stalls and everything happens in four heart beats—
One.
Rome’s eyes score across me, from the fear in mine, to the black strands tousled down my shoulders and back, to the swell at my hips, and the piece of ground beneath my feet.
Two.
“That piece,” he mouths to me.
Tears burn the backs of my eyes.
Three.
And I stare at him—memorising—the black armour conceals his bulk, but I know every inch of his muscles, every scar, every hair, all the tension, all the twitches. I know him. My Rome. Mean. Cruel. Unapologetic. A warlord. A ruler.
And mine.
Go to him. Go to him.
Four.
Han closes the door.
Rome disappears outside.
Chapter Fourteen
Aster
Tears mist my vision as we scramble through a metal hatch into an underground chamber. The lights flicker once, or maybe, it was my imagination.
I stare at the trapdoor, knowing that in a few moments, an hour, or more or less—I don’t know—it will open again.
And someone will be on the other side.
I do not know who…
I cannot change what happens on the other side of that metal door. I have absolutely no impact on those events. I can only control what I will do on this side, on how I will react.
Meltdown?
Fall apart?
Imagine the worst?
Reel in his lies…
I once was told, if I’m ever unsure how I feel, I should toss a puzzle piece in the air and will either be pleased or disappointed by the result.
Colour side up, I forgive him.
Blank side up, I cannot forgive him.
But as I stare at the hatch, deaf to the surrounding commotion from the girls, it is crystal clear without the puzzle piece—half of my heart is out there fighting for our lives.
If somehow, he can feel me down here, I only want him to feel love.
Spinning around, I face the large concrete room. At first, I can barely absorb the details of the enclosure, but I feel it’s confinements. The windowless space presses on my chest.
Focus.
I scan the room presented like a small house, with all necessities and cabinets with old books and gold, except… If we need to fight— If the hatch is blown open— Are there any weapons?
“Are there any weapons down here?” I ask Han, my voice uniform and empty.
He opens a closet, displaying a single rifle, and I almost laugh. “We don’t believe in murder.”
“Right,” I mutter, hollow. “Your king will do that for you. How convenient.”
The Common girls are climbing onto bunks, staring at me while Ana stays close to my side, seemingly knowing better than to fill the moment with words, or perhaps the glaze in my eyes is frightening them all… What I am willing to do to protect them—to protect him—is frightening me, too.
To my left, Tuscany is with the woman from her Army. That is good. We might need her. She can help me. She is strong and capable. I note that.
But not Tuscany—her complexion is pale, her hands are clasped below her neck, and her fingers are rubbing together. I wonder if she wishes for her toy eagle. I am not one to judge. She has been so brave, but the cracks are showing. This is all my fault; I pushed her to venture outside.
The woman from earlier approaches me while I measure the situation. “I’m Odette. I think I am your sister…”
I glare at her. “And Rome is my king. I need you to leave me alone. I cannot think straight.”
She steps within an arm’s length of me, but not before Ana slides between us, blocking her. “She said leave her alone. You should listen.”
The woman’s gaze sweeps past Ana to my belly; my jacket has fallen open, displaying the large swell between my hips.
“Is that my niece or nephew?” Her face lights up, her hands invading my space. “Can I?”
I jerk backward. “Stop. Don't touch me.”
Ana shoves her a few steps away. “What do you think you’re doing?”
The woman sneers. “I only want to know the baby… You let him touch you?”
“Girls.” Han moves to stand beside us, his hands held in the air, ready. “I know nothing of what you speak, but the queen is here. We need to listen to her.”