Page 78 of Blood Ties

“You need to get me out of here,” I say. Barely a whisper. “Or they’ll do the same thing to me.”

For a moment Kai’s expression is blank, like he doesn’t understand what I’m saying. Then he sits up, wiping his eyes with his sleeve, something unreadable shifting over his features. I stare at him, waiting for him to say something.

“Please,” I say. “I... I-I’m sorry, I know this is a lot for you right now, but I’m so scared. I’m so scared all the time. That your brother or your dad are going to—” My voice shakes and my eyes fill with tears. “I-I don’t want to be trapped here. I don’t want to die here. I want to live, Kai.”

He lowers his arm from his face and looks at me. There’s fear in his own expression, too. I know how much I’m asking him. To go against his father, his uncle, his brother. To risk his own life.

But he takes my hand in his and squeezes. And he nods. “Yeah,” he says. “You and Momma. I’m gonna get you both out of here.”

I hesitate for a moment.How?How can be possibly hope to save us both, if his mother can’t even walk or feed herself? But I can’t ask him to leave her behind. I hate myself a little for wanting it.

“Okay,” I say, while internally I steel myself. Whatever else happens, when I see an opportunity to run, I’ll run. Alone or not, I’m getting out of here. “Do you have the key? Can we go tonight?”

“I need some time,” he says. His brow furrows. “And the key... uh...”

“Knox,” I whisper, remembering him setting me free so he can chase me. “Knox has it somewhere.”

He blinks, realization registering on his face, and nods. “I know where it is. I’ll get it.”

He sounds confident. But I search his face, looking for hesitance, for indecision. The longer we wait, the higher the chances he’ll back out, and the more opportunity there will be for something to go wrong.

When he sees my hesitation, Kai leans in and presses his forehead against mine. “I’m getting you out of here,” he says, and it sounds like a promise.

I shut my eyes and try my hardest to believe it’s true.

?Chapter Thirty-Eight

Kai

The decision to setRiley free is easy, when it comes down to it. All I have to do is let go of the idea that I’ll be going with her.

I’ve been so hung up on what will happen when I leave my family behind. What I’m going to do in the outside world when I’ve got nothing to offer it. But I’ve realized there’s a reason I struggled so badly to picture a future past our property’s fence line. I’m not meant for it. And that’s okay. As long as I get Riley and Momma out of here, I’ll be satisfied.

I’ll send them off together. Then I’ll come back, sabotage the trucks so nobody can follow, and burn this place down to the ground. I’ll go down with the rest of them.

Step one is getting my car running. I could try to steal the keys to Knox’s or Dad’s truck, but it adds another potential obstacle. Better to get my own ready. I work on it during the day when the rest of my family is out, in between keeping up with my other chores. It takes a couple of weeks, but after installing the spare parts I took from the car belonging to Riley’s friends, my pet project, the red car, finally comes to life.