Page 161 of Dustwalker

“We can only do it if we’re all together,” Lara continued. “As one, we can defeat him. We can take back this city andlive.”

“What the hell’s going on here?” a familiar voice called.

Lara clenched her jaw as Devon pushed his way to the front of the crowd. She hadn’t spoken to him since the day Ronin took her to the bot district.

He looked the same as she remembered, but her experiences had altered her perspective. Beneath the dirt smudges on his face and the rags over his clothes, he was a well-built man with a filled-out face and a healthy color to his skin. A man who always had plenty of food. A man who always avoided the gearheads despite the attention his prosperity should’ve attracted.

“We’re taking down Warlord,” she said.

Devon’s stride faltered and his eyes widened before he burst into laughter. He doubled over, hand on his stomach, guffawing. The crowd stood silent as he wandered closer to Lara.

“What canyoudo? Besides fuck bots, I mean.” He stroked his crotch. “You didn’t have to run off with one of them if you needed dick so badly.”

“We don’t have time for this shit, Devon.” Lara shifted her attention to the others. “If you want to be free of Warlord, stand with us. Anyone too weak to fight will be taken to a safe location where?—”

“You’re fucking serious.” Devon furrowed his brow and turned to the crowd. “You believe this? Follow this bot-banger, and you know what’ll happen. You’ll all get killed. Hell, he’ll probably kill some of you just for listening to this bullshit.”

A middle-aged man pointed at the team behind Lara. “Those men are soldiers. Look at their guns.”

“Warlord’s got guns, too,” Devon said. “And even without them, one of his bots could tear any of us apart with its bare hands.”

“What other choice do we have?” another person demanded.

“Go home and keep living!”

Steve glared at Devon. “Easy for you to say. How is it you got so much, boy? How is it they ain’t come knocking on your door yet?”

Devon shrugged. “Not my fault if you aren’t resourceful enough to get what you need without digging through trash.”

Lara’s breath caught in her throat. With his words, everything fell into place. No one got by without trading in this world. For most of Cheyenne’s humans, that meant scavenging, scraping together meager harvests, or putting their unique talents to use, like shoemaking, tailoring, or trapping.

She’d never seen Devon work, and she’d never seen him hide when Warlord’s lackeys came around. The gearheads always seemed to know exactly who to look for, exactly what their crimes had been.

She glared at him. “It was you.”

He looked at her over his shoulder, frowning. “What?”

Lara stepped forward. As Devon turned to face her, she swung her arm. Her fist connected with his mouth, mashing his lips against his teeth. Devon’s head snapped aside, and he tumbled to the dirt, sending up a small dust cloud.

Rage muted the pain in Lara’s hand, which throbbed distantly. “It was you all along, you son of a bitch!”

Chest heaving with heavy breaths, Devon pushed himself onto hands and knees and spit blood into the dirt. When he looked up, fury shone in his eyes, and he held Lara’s gaze as he wiped the blood from his mouth and slowly stood. “Best watch what you say, bot slut.”

“Or what? You going to run and tell the gearheads, like you told them about Kate?”

A collective gasp washed over the crowd.

“What?” Gary grated, stalking closer.

Lara pointed at Devon. “He’s Warlord’s rat. How else could he live so easy, never lifting a damn finger, while theyalways know who broke the rules?”

“Is it true?” a young woman rasped. Her face was pale beneath a layer of grime, and the two smallest fingers of her right hand were missing. Lara recognized her as one of Devon’s past lovers.

Though he puffed up his chest, Devon couldn’t quite keep his voice steady as he spoke. “Are you going to believe this cunt? This fucking traitor?”

“Only one traitor here.” Steve crossed his arms over his chest, fixing his steely glare on Devon.

Gary growled. The sound grew into a bellow of rage as he charged Devon, tackling the man to the ground. He punched wildly as they rolled.