Page 20 of Scavenger's Oath

“SomeoneIhelped!” I shoot back, ready to bite his head off. “And you went behind my back! You had no fucking right—”

“That's enough! Both of you,” Phoenix cuts in, raising a hand between us.

But I'm not finished.

“You think you're better than me? You think she's gonnafallfor you? You think she's gonna wantyou?” I hiss, eyes trailing over his scarred body.

He stares back, jaw clenched. But I see the flash of fire in his eyes as he registers what I’m insinuating.

It pleases me for a moment while he holds my gaze in astandoff. Then he turns away—like I’m not even worth the energy it’d take to punch me.

That stings more than if he had.

Phoenix doesn’t move again but the warning glare he’s giving me says enough.

I’ve seen that look plenty of times before and I know not to push further. But I can’t believe he’s taking Zane’s side. After everything the two of us have been through.

Well, fuck them both.

If they think I’m a monster, then fine… I’ll be the worst one they’ve ever seen.

Chapter 7

Ivy

Yelling started, shattering the fragile silence that settled over the old building.

My fingers pause on the can of fruit in my lap, my body still shaking from the encounter.

Zane's voice is the first to rise loud enough for me to make out clear words. “A human being!”

His voice is deeper and calmer than the asshole who gave me a can of old fruit with no way to open it. But his voice was definitely not calm just now.

“…went behind my back!”

That voice was unmistakable. Loud, sharp, like anger was his first language.Death—ironically, the owner of the kind of face you’d pray to.

Worry pulls on my face.

Are they yelling about me?

I press closer into the bars, not because I want to eavesdrop... because I have to. My survival might depend on what is said in that room. But I can’t make out all their words.

The words that follow are muffled, fast, overlapping. Something about a hero. Something about a blanket. Oh shit… my eyes drop automatically to the fabric still wrapped around my legs.

Something slams... a door? Something hitting a wall?

I flinch at every sound, my heart racing like it did when I first saw them.

Closing my eyes, I try to breathe, to go somewhere else in my mind.This isn't new.I know how to survive this,I tell myself. Not only have I survived worse; I escaped it.

This is manageable. I have shelter, and I can plan my escape over the next week before it’s time to meet Jade. Together we’ll get as far away from Bennett, and his deluded followers, as possible.

But Death’s face intrudes my mind. The way he looked at me this morning makes me shudder. The same way a cat eyes a mouse. As if I was his prey to toy with.

If he hadn't been looking at me with such predatory eyes, I might have been struck by how attractive he was.

Even without that haunting skull mask, I could recognise him by those tattoos. The designs snaking up his arms, from fingers right up into the sleeves of his tight white shirt.