Page 146 of Scavenger's Oath

She was my friend.

The rifle lies heavy in my lap, metal cold against my thighs. I stare at it, and I swear I feel her blood on my hands again.

I can’t do this anymore. I can’t give them the monster they’ve carved out of me. If I don’t get out soon… I’ll rot into one of them completely.

No more.

I don’t care what it takes, who I have to kill, or how far I have to run.

I’ll get out.

And I’ll never hurt anotherinnocent again.

Chapter 47

Phoenix

I don’t hear what Ivy says at first.

I’m too busy watching the way her fingers trail over the wood grain on the table as if she’s trying to memorise it.

She’s been glowing all morning. I noticed it the second I walked into the kitchen.

She smells like sunlight and soil. Something that shouldn’t exist in this rotten place.

Zane sits across from her with a gentle peace in his eyes. Myles is still shirtless from working out earlier, halfway through a protein bar, also not paying attention.

Until Ivy speaks again.

“We planted sunflowers in the garden too. Did you know you can eat them?”

I freeze. The air thins as if someone cut off the oxygen.

Myles drops the bar. “What?!”

Ivy looks confused by the growl in his tone.

Zane lifts a brow. “We were careful. Just by the front steps, near the fence line. She needed some fresh air.”

Myles tilts his head as if he’s trying to gauge how far this went. “You took her outside? Without telling us?”

“She needs fresh air,” Zane repeats calmly. “She wassupervised. It’s fine.”

“I’m not a child,” Ivy grumbles quietly, shrinking lower into her seat.

Myles opens his mouth, ready to argue, but Zane cuts in again, maddeningly steady. “We get to leave. Patrol. Hunt. Scavenge. She’s been locked in here since the night we found her. That’s not right.”

He’s not wrong. But I don’t give a fuck right now.

“You don’t get to decide that,” I snap, shooting to my feet, chair clattering to the floor behind me. “Not when we don’t know if there are still people looking for her.”

Zane’s eyes dart to me. Sharper now. “She deserves sunlight.”

“She deserves safety!” I yell, control fracturing as something tight restricts my breathing. “You think planting fucking tomatoes is worth risking her life?”

Ivy flinches, her hands disappearing under the table, shoulders curling in on themselves.

Fuck. My hands won’t stop shaking even when I clench them.