One moment, Marquise was alive, keeping me from Nila. The next, he was gone to the underworld. Gruesome to witness but humane to put him out of his misery. He was a dead man already...this way...the pain had gone—even if he didn’t deserve such compassion.
Bonnie will need to buy someone else’s loyalty.
If she survived what I would do to her when I returned home, of course.
IfI return home.
A man moved toward me. My muscles stiffened as he cocked his head. Up close, he appeared younger. His skin unblemished and pupils as dark as his skin. Without a word, he went behind me.
I swallowed hard, waiting for a knife to slice my throat or a bullet to lodge in my brain.
The swish of a blade being drawn from a scabbard set my heart racing but then the pressure around my chest suddenly vanished.
I toppled sideways, freed from the chair, ropes trailing after me. The sawn ends landed on the floor like decapitated snakes. The moment the chair no longer held me captive, the young man grabbed my wrists and sawed through the remaining twine.
I couldn’t understand...why?
Whyhad they done this?
The man helped push me into a sitting position. My head thundered with pain, but I blinked and stretched my spine. It felt amazing to sit up and roll my back without stiff wood holding me in place. My ribs complained and the wooziness of my vision didn’t help, but I could move, I could breathe, I could survive.
Pearly white teeth, almost as bright as diamonds, appeared in the gloom. He smiled, speaking rapidly in Afrikaans.
My memory of their language was rusty, but I let my condition and the few remaining words I recalled give me a hint of what he said:We save for you save.
It made no sense.
The worker who’d cut me free gave me a hand. Without hesitating, Iclasped fists, staggering to my feet. I stumbled sideways, finding yet more injuries now I stood upright. My right kneecap ached and a large bump on my thigh swelled with a new bruise.
The weakness from lack of rest and nutrition caught up with me as the room spun.
Holding my elbow, the worker didn’t say a word as I blinked and forced myself to be stronger.
Pushing the help away, I brushed off damp mud from my clothing with shaking hands. The movement helped remind my body how to react, fresh energy filtered, and the pain faded a little. Looking up, I glanced at the men all watching me. “I don’t understand.”
The manager came forward. His once white shirt was now stained a rusty ore from digging all his life. His skin glistened while his eyes shone with vengeance. His hand shook around the machete—still glistening with Marquise’s blood—as he raised it to my heart. In English, he repeated, “We saved you soyoucould saveus.” His blade wobbled as he breathed hard. “We’ve taken care of the guards. We’re in control of the mine now. We thank Kestrel Hawk for his help, but the guards obey the bossman’s orders and our conditions are no better.”
Temper strained his voice. “We have had enough of being treated like slaves. Tonight we rise. So answer me honestly, diamond son, or share their fate.” His weapon shook as he pointed at Marquise and back to me. “Are you like them? Or are we right in thinking you are not like your family?”
I rubbed my face, forcing myself to focus on conversation not bodily pain. All Kes’s work here had been for nothing? Had none of his generosity and deals behind Cut’s back been delivered?
Injustice for our men and my brother’s cause pissed me off. “You’re asking if I’m not a Hawk?”
He shook his head. “No, we’re asking if you’re like them.”
I didn’t move. “Why? Why ask this now?”
The young man who’d freed me said, “We saw you.”
My eyes landed on Marquise’s corpse, unable to look away from the gash in his neck from the sword. “Saw what?”
“Saw you drag your brother’s body and the lions take it. You killed your own flesh and blood.”
Fuck.
I froze.
I didn’t think now was the time to mention Nila had killed him. I’d just helped tidy up.