Page 81 of Scavenger's Oath

“She left someone behind too,” I tell him. “Another girl. Apparently, she was supposed to follow. But… well, haveyouseen anyone on your patrols? Because I haven’t. Not since the night we found Ivy. When we burnt that trader alive.” Already knowing his answer, I continue, “Ivy was locked in that cell for four weeks, wondering if she missed her friend. Or worse, iftheygot to her first.”

He frowns, processing. “You think they're still looking for Ivy, don’t you?”

“I don’t think they ever stopped,” I reply, tone darkening with the weight of what that means for us. For her.

Phoenix is silent, but his whole body is locked down like a loaded weapon. Not just angry.Worried.

He fought so hard to hate her when she first joined us, even labelled her as a stray. But after five weeks, she’s clearly slithered her way into whatever soft-spot he has left.

“She's not just some stray anymore, Phoenix. She's a target. Which makes this place one too.” My grip on the railing tightens as my eyes scan the abandoned street below, littered with rubble and overgrown weeds.

Phoenix exhales slow, steady, calculating. “The perimeter on the west side still has a weak spot. We should get a barrier up today.”

“I'll do it,” I say.

He nods once. “Double up the traps. If someone’s tracking her, I want to know the second they hit our perimeter.”

“And if they come?”

He meets my eyes, and now, there's no fight left between us. There’s something deeper. Mutual and fierce. “We protect her,” he says, matter-of-factly. “She’s ours.”

My chest expands. Not mine. Not his.

Ours.

And for the first time since the world went to hell, that doesn’t feel like a compromise. It feels like a purpose.

I nod. “Yeah. Ours.”

For a moment, neither of us speak. We stand there in the warm morning light, shoulder to shoulder, eyes on the rooftops.

The one thing we can agree on right now.

Nobody's taking her from us.

I hesitate for a second before speaking again. “We have to find a way to tell Myles without him detonating.”

His jaw tightens, but he nods. “Yeah. I’llhandle it.”

Chapter 28

Myles

Peeking through the crack of my bedroom door, I grind my teeth.

There he is. Zane.

Slipping out of his room, shirtless, moving all relaxed like he’s just dumped ten loads in her. Inmy girl.

That door was locked last night.And yes, I did fucking try it. Because I swear to God, I heard her moaning. And I know I wasn’t imagining that.

My chest hasn’t stopped burning since. Not since I caught Phoenix between her thighs. Not since I saw the way she was grinding into his hand and moaning his name like she was about to come.

Shewasabout to come!

And now what? Zane too?

She ran to him. She fuckingstayedwith him. All week. I wanted to smash the door down and take her back, but I need to be more strategic about reminding her who owns her.