Page 8 of Lies That Bleed
I pulled the blade from the holster on my thigh and held it up to his throat, causing his eyes to go wide.
“Jace Ledger, if you attempt to explain your man whoringonemore time, I swear to every star in the sky I will gut you like a fish the second we get to The Wilds, just to shut you up.”
Hurt flashed across his face and then his gaze fell tomy lips. “But?—”
I pushed the blade deeper until one drop of blood trickled down his neck.
His gaze darkened and he snapped his mouth shut and wisely stepped away from me, moving past me to get onto the bus. The second he left, I was staring down Kohen Badshah, who had just heard every word of what I’d said and was apparently standing right behind Jace.
I swallowed hard, sheathing my blade as I tried to read his expression. It was blank, like he either had no emotions or he was good at hiding them. I was guessing the latter.
Why had he stepped out of line during the Lottery so Tetra could stand next to me? It didn’t make sense. Unless he had some ulterior motive…
I raised one eyebrow. “Enjoying the show?”
His tongue swiped out and licked his lips, causing my stomach to warm at the sight. He was undoubtably the most handsome man I’d ever laid eyes on—and completely untouchable to me. My father would murder me and make Valor his heir without hesitation.
He stepped closer, cocking his head to the side, and peered at the opening of the bus where Jace had just entered. “If you want me to, I can make him disappear.”
Surprise rushed through my body, which was quickly doused in fear. I had been joking about killing Jace to shut him up. I still cared about the bastard, Ijust didn’t want to hear his excuses for why he was screwing some blonde on Lottery Day when we had been saving ourselves for each other.
“No thanks,” I said and turned, confused.
I got onto the bus and found Tetra. She had saved me a spot, and I slunk into the seat beside her. My mind was still spinning with what had just happened outside.
“Got you a pack. How did your mom take it?” I asked her.
“She said she would start saving for my funeral costs.”
I barked out a laugh. That sounded like Bethel. Brutally honest and sarcastic. I loved her like my own mother. “But seriously, did you assure her that I would take care of you?” I turned to face my bestie.
She shook her head. “I didn’t need to. She said she knew that we would either both come out alive or there would be two body bags when our name was called.”
I grinned, happy that Bethel had confidence in me to keep Tetra safe.
The bus started on its journey and a short girl with pink dyed hair that I didn’t recognize as being from Riverine walked over to our seat and crouched down.
She met my gaze. “We are forming an alliance. You want in?” she asked me.
Though she was small, I could see her arms werestacked with muscle, and she had an eyebrow and lip ring for whatever that was worth.
“Who is we?” I asked her.
She flicked her head to the back of the bus where there was a group of meatheads speaking in hushed tones, Jace being one of them.
“Pass,” I told her. We needed an alliance if we wanted to survive, but I wasn’t so desperate to join Jace and his idiot friends.
Her face fell. “We can protect your friend.” She flicked her gaze to Tetra, who crossed her arms in annoyance. She didn’t like being talked about like she was fragile, and normally she wasn’t, but in this case she was.
“So can we,” a familiar female voice called from the seat in front of me, and I looked up to see the Imbrian girl from the locker room. The one with the four earrings who had laughed at me.
“I’m Anika.” She held out a fist and I frowned. Reaching out, I bumped her fist but glared at her.
She peered at the pink-haired chick. “You can run along now. She passed.”
I liked her attitude when it wasn’t aimed at me.
The girl with the pink hair growled but took off, walking back to the end of the bus.
