Wild Lands (Savage Lands Book 2) Read online

  Not because I was scared of him, but because in my gut I knew he was experiencing the same thing I was, like a magic drew us to each other.

  Chapter 19

  The rooms were small and basic, very similar to some of the soldiers’ barracks in Leopold. Two metal beds on either side, one nightstand between them with lockers at the ends of the beds for personal storage. A towel, nightclothes, bathroom kit, black cargo pants, and top were waiting on my bed. Folded with a note signed My heart feels full again—Nagybacsi.

  “Look who is already Lieutenant’s pet.” Birdie rolled her eyes at the note.

  “He’s family to me.”

  “Don’t we all know it.” She huffed, opening her locker and pulling out a towel and bathroom kit. “Sometimes your well-being dictated his actions even ahead of our mission. Brexley, Brexley, Brexley.” Her lips curled as she stood up.

  It felt strange to know the Resistance knew about me this whole time, had been watching me, and I had no clue.

  “I have never seen him lose his shit like he did when he found out you were in Halálház. Not even when Ling was caught.” Looking ready to head off to the shower with a towel in her hand, she sat on her bed instead. “She was trained for something like that. Prepared. He knew she would be okay. But you… fuck. He flipped out. Almost blew our cover.”

  I glanced down at the note in my hand, placing it on the nightstand. Andris was better at expressing his emotions in writing than saying them out loud. My birthday cards were always full of love, but I heard it very seldom from his mouth.

  “I don’t think he thought you would make it out. Honestly, none of us here did. We had bets.”

  “On whether I would die or not?” I tucked hair behind my ear.

  Birdie shrugged. “You’re human. No human lives long in there.”

  “Yeah...” Human. Was I? Shoving away the thought, I looked at her defensively. “Well, I did.”

  “I heard you were in the Games. Ling told us you killed two people at once, one being fae.” The first sign of excitement lit up her eyes.

  I didn’t respond.

  “That you were beaten, tortured, starved, and still even fought against the Wolf.” Birdie rolled over his name in a hushed whisper, like she was afraid to summon the devil. Not far from the truth, actually. “Ling says he’s real, but come on. Warwick Farkas? The legend known to kill a dozen fae at once without a weapon? There’s no way you could fight against him.”

  I kept my mouth shut. It was clear Andris kept his association with Warwick secret. Little did she know he had been right above her head just hours ago… or in the bathroom with me only minutes prior.

  “I guess if I did all those things, it’s probably wise not to underestimate me.” I tilted my head, lifting an eyebrow. “Though it is fun when people do.”

  A knowing smile quirked her mouth, and she nodded. She understood all too well. Fae were far less sexist than humans, but it still seeped in, tainted the land here, going back generations.

  “I’m gonna go jump in the shower.” She rose from the squeaky bed, traveling for the door.

  “Um, hey.” I cleared my throat. “I was wondering… What is Scorpion’s deal?”

  “Oh?” I heard a strangle in the vowel in that single word, instantly having me curious if she and Scorpion were a thing.

  “Just got a strange vibe off him. He looked as if he wanted to kill me.”

  She chuckled. “That’s how Scorpion is with everyone. A man of few words, and most of those are one syllable. But when you see him fight, it’s like poetry. Harsh, vicious, cruel poetry. But damn, I can only imagine the way he fucks.”

  “So, you two…?”

  “No.” She frowned. “He won’t touch any girl here, but he goes on a lot of missions, and I’m thinking he finds someone to get him off. No person with so much rage and death can go long without releasing it somewhere.” She bit down on her lip. “I’d be more than willing to work out his anger with him.”

  “What’s happened to him?”

  “What hasn’t?” She scoffed, her eyes rolling back. “Like most of here, he has a real fucked up past. But he was in the Fae War twenty years ago and has some real PTSD shit going on. He and Maddox were Unseelie soldiers together. Maddox knew him since they were kids and said the man who went into war was vastly different from the man who walked out.” A tendril of dread slunk around my stomach. “Drunk one night, Maddox started confessing all this shit… told me he saw Scorpion get killed. Like completely gutted and cut in half.”

  “What?” My spine straightened.

  “I mean, I doubt it. They were in the middle of a fucking war at night. Maddox probably thought he saw him get axed.” She shook her head, grabbing for the door handle. “Though it freaked me out how persistent Maddox was. He looked me dead in the eyes, and I had never seen him look frantic or scared before. He swore he saw...”

  “Saw what?” My throat strangled, barely letting the question out.

  She stepped through the doorway, looking back at me.

  “That he had watched his friend die then come back to life that night.”

  The clock glowed three a.m. in the pitch-black room, sleep dodging me at every turn. Birdie’s heavy breathing was a constant taunt of what my mind denied me.

  After my shower, I had climbed into bed, hoping my fatigue would pull me instantly into a slumber. Nope. My mind tossed and turned over thoughts and questions, not able to stop the nagging sensation in my gut.

  Thoughts of Scorpion nipped at the back of my head. It was a coincidence. Lots of people died that night. Probably a lot who were close to death ended up surviving. Maddox probably thought he saw something different from what happened. In times of war, memories could twist in your mind.

  I had heard countless stories of how brutal and horrendous the war had been, but I couldn’t fully imagine it. Millions of humans had died from the influx of magic. The loss of fae from the battles stretching across the globes was also great.

  When I was six or seven, a violent thunderstorm hit Budapest, and my father hid behind our sofa, yelling out orders, screaming to attack, talking to people I knew were no longer alive. I got so scared I started to cry. My tears brought him back to himself. He wrapped me in his arms and started to sob.

  “I’m sorry. I’m so sorry. It’s okay, kicsim.” He rocked me in his arms. “Daddy just gets confused sometimes. Thinks he’s somewhere else.”

  “Where?” I clutched a stuffed dog to my chest, digging my head into my father’s shoulder.

  “To a place where I lost more than my friends. I lost my heart that night.”

  “Mommy?”

  “Yes, kicsim. I wasn’t there when she left this world. Never got to say goodbye. But I gained you… It makes it worth it.” He kissed my forehead. “Because you, my little one, you are my soul.”

  We stayed this way for a moment before he spoke softly. “Know if anything happens, I will always look out for you. There is nothing I won’t do to keep you safe. Your uncle is watching over you too. We will all protect you.”

  Little did I know the real significance of those words. He wasn’t talking in general; he knew then something was different about me.

  Itching in my skin, I tossed off my covers, needing to move. In sweats and a T-shirt issued to me, I slipped on my boots and sports bra, heading to the workout room to focus my energy.

  The hallways were dimmed for the night, and all the rooms were dark, but the people on night watch nodded at me as I passed.

  Turning on the training room lights, I went straight to the hanging punching bags, diving straight into a warmup Bakos had us do a lot. Ten minutes in, sweat trickling down my brow, I felt a prickling at the back of my neck, and with a swish of awareness, I sensed someone in the room.

  I was not alone. Spinning around, my body jerked with alarm.

  Scorpion leaned against the wall, watching me. Dressed as if he never went to bed, his penetrating hazel eyes trapped me in their gaze.


  Swallowing, I schooled my expression into composure, but my heart thumped wildly in my chest, and not from exercise.

  “Did you need something?” I reached over to grab some water.

  He didn’t move or speak.

  “Nice talking to you.” I started to turn back for the bag.

  “You can cut the crap.” His deep voice fit him perfectly. Raspy and irritated.

  “Cut what crap?” I tightened my ponytail.

  Scorpion pushed off the wall, his six-foot frame heading for me. He had a lean build, though I could tell what body mass he did have was pure muscle.

  “You know what the fuck I’m talking about.” His boots hit mine, driving me back until I hit the bag, his cankerous tone spitting out like nails.

  I stared back at him, my jaw clenching down. My entire world was about to crumble around me. Warwick was hard enough to explain, but Scorpion would push me over. There would be no rationalizing it away.

  “I don’t know what you mean.” My throat bobbed, my eyes going to the side with anxiety.

  He scoffed, moving in closer. “I can fucking feel your panic. I can taste it.” He snarled, getting into my face. “How the fuck is that possible? How did I know where you were without even looking? How can I feel you like a goddamn ghost tramping over my grave?”

  “And here Birdie says you don’t talk much.” I glared, my defenses rising like a fortress.

  His hand grabbed my chin, fury bursting through him. “Don’t fuck with me. What the hell are you? How are you doing this? Aren’t you human?”

  Ripping my face from his grip, I moved away from him.

  “Tell me.”

  “I don’t know.”

  “Don’t fuckin’ lie to me.”

  “I’m not!” I tossed out my arms. “I don’t understand this any more than you do.”

  He tilted his head. I could feel his distrust, his anger brushing against my skin.

  “You doubt me. Fine. You say you can feel me? Reach out. See if you can detect any lies.” I motioned to myself, then dropping my arms to my sides, opening myself to him, which felt like brushing my hair the wrong way. I wanted to close down, push away, fight the obtrusive connection slinking over me like webs.

  His chest rose and fell as he stood still, as if he weren’t quite sure what I was suggesting. But after a few moments, I could sense his presence flutter around me.

  Fuck.

  Still hopeful this wasn’t what I thought, I pushed out my thoughts to him. A glimmer of myself circled him while I stood feet away. Doing this with Scorpion felt much harder, as if I had to actively focus on doing it, where with the other asshole… it seemed to happen without even trying.

  “Am I lying?” My vision whispered in his ear, though I hadn’t moved.

  His head yanked to the side with a yelp, and he jumped backward. “Fuck,” he bellowed, his head snapping back to where I still stood a dozen feet away. “H-how?”

  “Again, I don’t know.” I folded my arms, cutting off the connection, glancing at my boots. “Trying to figure it out. You aren’t the first. Hoping to find a way to break it.”

  “You know about this? There’s another like me?”

  “Hey. This is a two-way street, buddy.” I put my hands on my hips.

  “I had no fuckin’ streets until you showed up… buddy,” he snapped back.

  His tone made me want to kick the crap out of him, and not in the sexy way.

  “Yes. There is another.” Yeah, lucky me—linked with a freaking myth. A terrifying, sadistic one. And now it appeared I had another violent asshole to add to the list. “I thought it was just him.”

  “Kovacs!” As if I summoned the devil himself, Warwick was in the room, his gaze wild, voice demanding. “They’re coming! Run!”

  “What?” Terror iced up my spine. Without trying, I was outside the rebel base next to Warwick, who appeared to be hiding in some overgrown bushes. The streets were quiet and dark, but my gut screamed something was wrong. In the distance, I saw hazy silhouettes. Sounds of horse hooves and boots clipped the street. Several hundred of them marched this way.

  “They’re almost here.” Warwick barked, his hands gripping my shoulders. “Get the fuck out! Now!”

  The link snapped, and I was back in the belly of the Resistance, Scorpion staring at me wearily and confused, his form taut.

  “What?” His head darted around, sensing the utter panic coming off me, but he clearly couldn’t see, hear, or feel Warwick.

  “They’re here…” I repeated.

  “Who’s here?”

  Again, I somehow knew. A gut response.

  “HDF.” I looked into Scorpion’s eyes. “They found us.”

  A shrill alarm rang through the bunker as figures darted every which way, the air stinking of panic.

  Scorpion hadn’t questioned me, immediately darting for the night watch and sounding the alarm, probably feeling how deadly serious I was. It wasn’t long until the outside camera picked up on the soldiers coming down the lane with an arsenal that could destroy the entire block. They weren’t even trying to be secretive about it. They were coming at this base with the full power of the guard, wanting to obliterate us. These were soldiers I knew personally, a group I would have been a part of just a few months ago, invading the “thug” rebel base without a question.

  Now I was among the hunted.

  Scorpion had run off with Wesley and Maddox, taking point on the roof to give us all more time to escape.

  “Brexley!” Andris trampled down the stairs, yelling my name, frantically searching for me.

  “Nagybacsi!” I called after him, pushing through the handful of people packing up equipment in the lab, feeling his arms wrap around me tightly.

  “You need to go, dragam.” He pulled away, his usually stoic face full of dread.

  “What about you?”

  “Don’t worry about me. This is not a time for us to fight. We cannot win here. It’s like shooting fish in a pond. Our fight is the long game. Everyone knows how to get out, and when it’s safe, I will get in contact and reestablish headquarters. Istvan has been itching to find me… or rather Sarkis’s hideout and destroy it. I will let him think he has this win. But you need to get to safety.”

  I nodded, watching how only the computer room was being cleaned out, taking vital information. Ling shoved laptops, files, and maps into a bag, tossing it to Andris as she filled another, pulling one over her shoulder.

  Gunshots and yells boomed through the room upstairs, intensifying the rush of the thinning crowds.

  “Birdie!” Andris pushed me toward her. “Get her out of here!”

  “Come with me,” I yelled back at Andris, the chaos above and in the bunker growing louder. I had scarcely gotten him back; I didn’t want to lose him again.

  He cupped my face. “I will make contact once we are all safe, dragam.” He hurriedly kissed my forehead, shoving me back into Birdie. “Stay safe. I love you. Now go! Get her away from here,” he commanded Birdie again and slipped away in the crowd with Ling.

  “Come on!” Birdie grabbed my arm, tugging me the opposite way. As if they had rehearsed an outcome like this, people divided up around the bunker.

  “There are multiple exits,” Birdie explained, jogging down the hall. “So as to not gridlock our own escape and get ourselves killed in the panic. We each have a certain exit. Smooth, efficient, and brings us up on all different sides of the block.”

  This strategy was pretty genius. It must have taken a lot of planning and secret construction.

  “How long has this been your base?”

  “Since I joined. Which was about four years ago.” She skirted us around the corner and into a water heater closet. A path behind the heater had already been opened, and a few people were running down the dark tunnel. “Why, after all this time, did they find us today?”

  Guilt twanged me like a guitar string being plucked. Seemed a little too coincidental. The day I arrive here, the location is found…
?

  It was no fluke.

  We ran several yards in the tunnel before we hit stairs, which clanged beneath us as a handful of us jogged up. It returned me to my escape at Halálház, constricting my lungs and spinning my head. The memories mixing with my present, making it hard for me to breathe.

  Everything was a haze when I reached the top and plunged out into a dim alley, dawn only a hint on the horizon. Voices and gunshots rang through the dark streets. A mist of damp air shivered my bare arms. The smells of rotting garbage, wet stone, and urine burned my nose.

  Bang! Bang!

  Bullets zipped close by us, ricocheting off buildings.

  “Shit.” Birdie hunkered close to the wall, pulling out a gun.

  “You don’t happen to have an extra one?” I thought I was joking until she pulled out three more from her clothes.

  “Take your pick.” All of them were top of the line, expensive, badass weapons.

  “Damn.” My mouth fell open. We hadn’t been issued anything this nice as soldiers at HDF.

  “Little hobby of mine.”

  “What? Being the most badass gunslinger in the Savage Lands?”

  “I love to collect pretty things.” She let the safety off with a wicked grin. “No one suspects the cute, doe-eyed blonde girl to rob them blind while they are busy gambling.” She winked, handing me two while double-fisting the other. Tucking one in my waistband and keeping the other in my hand, we scuttled closer to the end of the alley, peering out.

  “Fuck,” she exhaled.

  “Yeah…”

  The six-lane avenue teemed with HDF soldiers, motorcycles, and horses. My gaze took in their configuration, assessing and recognizing battle formations. I was one of the only people here, besides Andris, who knew their style intimately, had insight into how they fought.

  “Come on.” Birdie started to move, more people from below joining us in the alley.

  “No.” I grabbed her shoulder, pulling her back.

  “What?” She looked around, then glared at me.