Miscreants: Next Generation Natalie Bennett (web ebook reader .TXT) 📖

“Mal?”

Ignoring me, he slipped into the hall and shut the door.

I broke every record there was for how fast one could eat and get dressed. He did unsurprisingly well, picking me out something to wear—sans underwear. Those seemed to have been forgotten. He was lucky he’d grabbed my jeggings and no jeans. No way was denim rubbing against my kitty.

When I got downstairs, I could hear everyone else was already outside. I took my time joining them. I was genuinely curious about this place—about Samael in general.

I knew he was making a name for himself in the Badlands, but I never could have imagined this. It was the fact that he didn’t seem to be finished yet. Just how much power did he and Amo have?

I took note of the contrasting wall murals as I walked out the door. He and I definitely still had a lot to talk about.

“One thing at a time,” I said to myself.

I blinked to adjust my eyes to the sunlight. It was another one of those days where the heat would seep into the bone.

Both Brabuses were running and facing towards the road we’d need to take to leave here. Neither had body parts attached now. I didn’t see any sign of Amo or Mal, either.

“Lils!” Takara charged me, enveloping me in a suffocating hug before I could return her greeting.

“Okay, I missed you too.” I laughed and patted her back. I was glad she hadn’t gone through the same ordeal as me back at the arena.

She drew back and eyed me critically.

“What did he do to you?” she leaned in and whispered.

She was referring to the handprint shaped bruise around my throat. I couldn’t do anything to get rid of it, so I’d be sporting it until it faded. I’m sure Mal was going to love that.

“Use your imagination,” I replied.

A look of mock disgust morphed her features. “Do you two fuck or try to kill each other?”

“A bit of both,” I replied flippantly.

“Have a good night?” Poet asked as he joined us. Cherry trailed a few steps behind him.

Of course, he understood what it was right away. These two needed to find some dick of their own. Well, for Poet, the pendulum could go either way. More importantly, I checked him over from top to bottom, making sure he wasn’t hurt anywhere.

“Hey, I’m tougher than I look,” he reassured me.

“Let’s go,” Mal’s voice cut into our huddle as he and his head villains arrived on the scene. “Poet, you’re riding with us.”

“You get to ride with me, barbie,” Amo beamed as he passed by with Brody.

“Oh, I’m the luckiest girl in the world,” Takara deadpanned. “Come on. You’re coming with me.” She grabbed Cherry’s hand and followed him.

I glanced over at Poet. “Think she’ll be okay with him?”

“Eh. They were pretty chummy last night.”

“Really?”

“Yeah.” He wrapped an arm around my shoulder and guided me to our Brabus. “Couldn’t believe it myself, but it makes sense when you think about it.”

He must’ve figured out something I hadn’t, because it didn’t make sense to me in the slightest.

“Get your hands off her,” Mal demanded.

“Oh, come on. That guy’s harmless,” Rory chided him before climbing into the backseat.

“Right?” I threw a hand up.

Poet still let me go, going as far as taking a step away.

“So much for being tough, Poe.”

“I value my health,” he joked, circling around to the other side of SUV.

“See what you did?” I directed at Mal.

“I don’t want men touching you.” He took my hand and walked me to the passenger side.

Since when was Poet men? Passing in front of SUV, I got a better look at the person in the third-row seat. It wasn’t someone I recognized.

“On the subject of men, who is that?”

“Jin. He was with us yesterday.”

He was?

“Oh, the proselyte? You’re only bringing one?”

“I would never take my people where we’re going. Jin’s the best choice for this.”

Ah! I’d almost forgotten why I rushed down here in the first place.

He opened my door for me and helped me climb up before circling back around to the driver’s side.

Another proselyte walked up and spoke to him for a few minutes, but I couldn’t hear what they were saying. I toyed with the AC vent, and that’s when something dawned on me.

I twisted around and peeked at my sister. She looked back at me expectantly. My Satanas. I couldn’t get over how much she resembled our father and Cam.

“When did you get here?”

“Last night.”

Did she get dropped off?

“Who did you come with?”

She smiled at me. “If I’m not doing something for Mal or Amo, I tend to travel alone.”

I was taken aback. Had she always done this?

I really didn’t know much about Rory, which was my fault. Either way, that was amazing. I let her know as much.

She shrugged it off like it was no big deal. “Yeah, I’m thinkin of starting a female revolution.”

Mal climbed into the driver’s seat just as she finished her sentence.

“Then we’d all be fucked.”

“No more than we already are,” I shot back. “But never mind that, tell me where we’re going.”

“I already told you. We’re going to visit the Savages.”

“You know where they are?” I wanted to ask how, but this seemed more likely to get a response.

“I do. Travis didn’t.”

He put the Brabus in gear and pulled past Amo, taking the lead of our two-car envoy.

CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE

He was meant to mislead me.

This was the only conclusion I come to regarding Travis. He never would’ve been left to rot in the pens if Samael knew he had valuable information.

It