I want tokillhim.
My rage returns, and I have to bite the inside of my cheek to keep from hurling angry curses at him. I actually bite down so hard that I clip it, the sharp pain making me even more furious as the rusty tang of blood fills my mouth.
I spit down at him and miss by a mile.
Thatfucker!
“Now, Alexandra,” Darryl says, and though he sounds like he’s simply reproaching me like a genial old grandfather would, I’m not so lost that I don’t hear the warning in his voice, “a carton of cigarettes is nothing to sneeze at. You’ll be happy with Coney.”
Darryl points out in the crowd, and if I thought this nightmare couldn’t get any worse, I was wrong. He’s pointing at the same creep who grabbed me as he helped me up the steps. A crumpled carton of cigarettes is held over his head. When he catches me staring in open horror at him, he licks his lips, then blows me a kiss.
And I decide then and there that if Maverick doesn’t offer up his gun to get me out of this mess, then I wouldn’t rest until I used one of the two remaining bullets on him.
“High bid is Coney’s cigs,” announces Darryl. His echoing laugh makes my skin crawl. “Going once?—”
I can’t keep quiet any longer. Through gritted teeth, I hiss Maverick’s name.
“Going twice?—”
Maverick lifts up his head. He opens his mouth, but something stops him.
It stops us all.
“Wait! I bid an antidote!”
A ferocious mutter ripples across the crowd. For a second, I’m stunned. I can’t believe what I heard; from the rising volume of the men assembled, they can’t either. An antidote? EvenIdon’t think I’m worththatmuch.
Darryl raises his hands up high. “Quiet everyone!” he roars, and the crowd falls silent.
He peers out into the sea of faces below him. They’re all looking over their shoulders, searching for the owner of that voice. An antidote is a huge deal. We all know that.
Who is willing to use one to buy me?
Darryl shields his eyes with his spade of a hand, looking for the bidder. “No one can beat an antidote… if you really have one, that is. Who bid it? Step forward, boy! Show us what you got, and if it’s legit, you can come and claim your prize!”
It’s like the parting of the Red Sea. Everyone in the crowd moves back and away, leaving an empty path that leads right up to the stage. A single figure stands at the back, his head bowed, a navy blue hood over his head, his hand cradled to his chest. It’s folded into a fist and, as he approaches the front, he opens his hand.
Resting on his palm is a vial that’s a twin to the one Jack gave me, down to the faded red ribbon tied around the bottle.
Darryl picks up the hammer and rings the bell. “And Alexandra is sold for one bottle of antidote to… to… show your face, man. I can’t tell from here. Who the hell are you?”
He hesitates for a moment before he lowers his hood and lifts his head, and I’m finally able to see the face of the man who is willing to trade his antidote for me.
I nearly collapse to my knees when I do.
“Name’s Chase. Chase Knight.”
CHAPTER 17
I’m rushed off the stage before I have any time to process what the hell is going on.
Two goons have me by the arms, forcefully escorting me through the town. I don’t recognize them but, then again, most of these prison brutes look the same to me: big and tattooed, super muscular, and in desperate need of a trip to the barber. The one on the right smells of body odor, the one on my left reeks of alcohol, and I can’t help but feel incredibly exposed, sandwiched between them while in a bikini.
At least neither one of them is Coney.
Darryl headed right for Chase. Maverick… he could’ve disappeared into the crowd for all I know. It’s my turn to be carried off, and I’m not surprised when they march me to Darryl’s house. I’m hustled inside where three of Darryl’s six wives are together in the front room. Bernadette, Kendra, and the young pregnant girl with the wavy black hair.
The last thing I see before the two dickheads push me down the hallway is the pregnant girl getting up and waddling into the kitchen as quickly as her legs can carry her.