Final Debt (Indebted #6)(32)

The terrible crime would shade me forever.

Who am I? Who have I become?

“Please, Needle,” Jethro murmured when I didn’t respond. “Be quiet. Just…focus on happier things. It will help me immensely.”

Forcing a door closed on my thoughts, I nodded. “Okay.” If blocking my feelings was the only way I could help him, I would do it.

“Thank you.” Jethro’s back bunched as he slowly moved ahead with his slain sibling.

A rustling sound shot my head up. Every thought dispersed like the wind while fear squatted heavily on my spine. “Jethro…”

“Shit.” He froze.

“Shit?” I couldn’t breathe. “What—what is it?” My ears strained for more noise while my eyes frantically searched the thigh-high yellow grass.

Jethro took a determined step forward. “Don’t look. Just keep moving. We need to get a little further.”

I disobeyed, locked into a statue.

A chilly morning breeze rustled the grass, making it dance and weave. But there was something else…something other than plant life…something very much alive.

Stalking us.

Hunting us.

“It’s watching us…” My voice barely escaped.

“Do as I say. Don’t run. Don’t panic. Just stay calm.”

Something glided, hunting closer and closer.

Jethro slowly turned to face me, his eyes narrowing on a spot to the side. Daniel’s arm escaped the sheet, hanging loosely over his shoulder, his frame morbidly sprawled.

Jethro tensed. “Fuck.”

My heart rate exploded. Instincts ordered me to run. But I couldn’t unlock my knees.

Never tearing his eyes from the speck in the grass, Jethro very gently, very methodically slid Daniel off his shoulder. His legs, hips, torso, arms, until finally Daniel lay on the ground. The moment he was down, obscured partly by foliage, Jethro tore off the sheet, threw it away, and paced toward me.

Stupidity made me speak. “People will find him. It’s too close to the camp.”

Jethro shook his head. “Believe me when I say, they won’t.” He backed up, splaying his hands as if showing no threat to whatever hunted us.

I knew why.

Don’t ask why.

“Why?”

Ignoring me, his voice dropped to a whisper as his face skittered between fear and fight. “Nila…back away. Return to the camp. I need you to run, understand?”

My mouth fell open. I gulped terrified breaths.

Jethro came close enough to touch me, swivelling my shoulders until I faced the fence. His voice burned my ear as he growled, “Run. Now!” He shoved me hard. “Run!”

His command was a gun and I became a blur of motion. My knees shot high, bouncing over the tall grass; my hair flying in all directions.

Movement immediately exploded beside us, disrupting the peace of the plain.

Shit!

Run.

Run.

Run, run, run.

I wanted it to be explainable—grass stroked by the breeze. But it wasn’t. There was no wind anymore.

Prickles on the back of my neck had nothing to do with the cold morning. Basic instinct knew what this was—why I ran for my life.

I was prey in the middle of a hunt.

My legs sprinted harder.

My lungs burst as we covered the distance back to the base in seconds compared to minutes.

We collided with the fence, Jethro grunted as he wrenched open the panel. “Get inside. Quick.” Shoving me through, he was rough and aggressive, before tearing inside behind me and slamming it shut.

I buckled over, planting my hands on my knees as I inhaled air and life. The whiff of ammonia and excrement hung thick in the space, but I didn’t care.

I’m alive.

I’m alive.

We made it.

Jethro didn’t move. He pressed his face against the crudely made fence and stared.

That was when I heard it.

Not a howl or grunt or purr. But a loud crunch.

“Oh, my God.” I sidled up beside him, staring through the slats to the plains beyond. Daniel had disappeared in the grass, the sheet caught on the stems, fluttering in the breeze. But he wasn’t alone.

Two lionesses had found him. Their tails flicking in greed, tan coats camouflaging them perfectly, and muzzles covered in Hawk blood.

“Oh…” My stomach roiled as the larger feline ducked and grabbed Daniel’s throat, hauling his carcass into view. I slapped a hand over my mouth as she tore through his jugular, ensuring I’d done the job correctly and he was dead.

The other lioness swatted her companion, taking a bite of Daniel’s shoulder.

Jethro vibrated beside me, silent but merciless.

We didn’t say a word as the cats gnawed a snack from the man I’d lived with, a brother Jethro grew up with. They ate a few large mouthfuls before grunting with triumph at the dawn sky.

With tan fur rippling, the head huntress snarled over Daniel’s gashing throat and with powerful muscles, carted her trophy away. The black tuft on her tail bounced back and forth as the evidence of my murder slowly disappeared.

His death to give life.

His evilness to feed purity.

We watched until there was nothing to see. No lions. No Daniel. Nothing.

Finally, Jethro pushed away, swiping a hand across his face. His shoulders rolled as he battled and segmented whatever emotions had risen. His voice was gruff as he said, “That’s why.”