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“I need to get you a collar and leash so you stop scaring people,” I tease, and he winks at me over his shoulder.

“Kinky. Will you choke me with it while you fuck me?” he inquires, completely straight-faced.

Lera makes a noise like a gasp as Tag booms out a laugh and I just roll my eyes. “Depends, will you get it bedazzled with my name?”

“Oh my gosh!” Lera laughs and I wink up at her.

“Sorry, cutie, I’m no sub, I like it to hurt and fight back.”

“She does,” Dray agrees, and Lera’s face turns beet red as she smacks a still laughing Tag’s arm.

“I like her,” he declares, and Dray growls as he tenses, ready to pounce on the man, making me snigger.

Men.

We have breakfast with the couple before I head back to the plane and grab our bags and load up, I get everything on my bike and go in search of Nan, who is coming to The Rim with us.

I ask Lera where Nan is and she grins knowingly, telling me to head upstairs and knock on the big double doors.

Uh-uh, knock? I don’t think so, payback is a bitch and she is old and called Nan.

This will get her back for that time she interfered with me and my men.

I sneak upstairs and then kick open the doors Lera told me about, grinning at the sight. “Morning sunshines!” I holler.

Nan swears, trying to get up, but it’s no use. Her and Reeves are tangled in the sheets in his bed, her hair mussed and his chest covered in bite marks. “Damn, didn’t take you for a kinky bitch, should have guessed,” I tease, leaning against the door.

“Ya fuckin’ little pervert!” She shouts and I snigger.

“Uh-uh, remember how you pushed me and those guys together…” I trail off and she quits fighting to get up.

Instead, she just glares at me as I wink.

“Payback.” I blow her a kiss then and shut the doors.

“Get up though and no fucking, we are leaving in five!” I yell, hitting the door once and then sauntering downstairs.

Dray is waiting at the bottom and he raises his eyebrow, but I just grin and move past him as I hear them swearing and stumbling around upstairs to get ready.

While we wait, I grab our canteens and fill them at the well outside, and then add them back to our packs.

Dray is on his bike, so I go and lean against him, and his arm winds around me straight away, pulling me closer to his side.

“Good morning,” he mumbles, kissing me hard, and I grin against his mouth.

“Don’t think I’m fucking you on your bike,” I tease, and he laughs.

“No? I’ve heard the vibration can be…bliss.” He bites my lip then and I groan.

“Break it up, ya cunts,” Nan calls, grumbling as she trots to her new car.

“Cock blocker!” I holler back, and she laughs as she flips me off.

“Come on, let’s get going before she shoots me.” I kiss him again before backing away and swinging on my bike. I pull up my bandana and peel out of Dive’s car park, heading towards The Rim, with Nan and Dray hot on my heels.

The ride to The Rim doesn’t take long and we are there by midday.

The sun beating down on us is nearly blinding, but when we roll over the horizon and they spot the truck, guards begin converging on the front gate.

I park and slip from my bike, before lowering my bandana, and spotting the guy who usually pays me.

He is standing by the gate, and when he spots me, his eyes go wide and then he looks at Dray. “Shit, you here to cause trouble?”

“Tha fucking better not be,” Nan grumbles, climbing from the car and the guards instantly go on alert, moving closer to her to protect her. “Tha staying for tha day.” She looks at me then. “Rest, eat, get ya weapons, and leave for the Cities in tha morning.”

“Don’t worry, cupcake, no trouble.” I wink and his lips twist into a smile as I nod at Nan. We do need a full day, but we won’t wait for morning to leave. We will leave when it is still dark, but I don’t tell her that. Instead, I follow her to the gate.

I grin at the guard and he returns it as it cranks open, admitting us to the shanty city I used to call home.

Just stepping inside and seeing the hustle and bustle, the houses, the swaying bridges, and the paths leading to the bazaar has me relaxing.

I know this city like the back of my hand.

Out there, I’m a queen, but in here I am just Worth.

Nan breaks off going God knows where, but I leave her to it.

I slip through the alleys of the buildings and head straight for Corky’s shack, I have some bartering to do. Dray follows behind me.

Whores call out as we pass and a twinge goes through me when I spot Cherry’s usual working corner, reminding me so much life has been lost recently.

Will it ever calm down, will there ever be an end?

Shaking away the morbid thoughts, I bang on the cracked wood as Corky turns in his chair and eyes me.

“Figured you were dead,” is how he greets me and I smirk.

“You fucking wish. I have a list and I need it quick. If you don’t have it, have your men find it by nightfall,” I order.

“What’s in it for me? Where’s ya payment?” he questions, picking at his teeth.

I grin then, knowing this will piss off Nan. “The truck outside these walls, brand new from the Cities, it’s yours.”

He grins, nodding at a man to the left who breaks away, heading for the gate, obviously to confirm it’s there before we start our deal. “Whatcha need?”

“Bombs, as many as you can get your hands on. Dark clothes to hide me and him.” I jerk my head at Dray.

He whistles, eyeing me again. “That truck better be worth it. That will cost you, bombs aren’t easy to come by.”

“Don’t fuck with me,” I growl, getting in his face. “I know what stores you have, I brought most of it to you, get me my goods. I will be by later,” I snap, before turning on my heel and leaving him stewing.

I make my way around the shops, not looking for anything in particular, just killing time and enjoying my last moments of peace.

Dray sticks close but says nothing, allowing me my silence, and even though it feels like before when I was all alone, I know I never will be again.

His body heat behind me reminds me of that every time I forget.

Something catches my eye, glinting in the sunlight from a table facing the bazaar at the stall I am at. I drop the shirt I was fingering and head over, moving the other junk out of the way to reveal what caught my eye.

There, nestled in the cast-offs and unwanted junk, is a ring, but not just any ring.

Grasping it between my fingers, I lift it up to the light, unable to pull my eyes away from it.

The band itself is simple, just silver and covered in scratches, but the stones nestled along the thick band blow me away.

Four stones, all different colours, divide in the middle with a heart stone.

The heart is red, the colour dark and shining in the light.

To the left are blue and green stones, and to the right are yellow and orange gems. Four stones and a heart.

It seems like fate, if I believed in that kind of shit.

“Thinking what I am, soulmate?” Dray murmurs.

“What’s that?” I ask distractedly, still turning the ring in the light.

“You just found your ring for your other men,” he whispers.

I scoff but don’t drag my gaze away until I hear him talking to someone else.

I spin quickly, realising he has left my back and is handing something over to the shopkeeper who nods and then turns away.

Dray strolls over. “It’s yours,” is all he says.

I can’t help it, I grin, and he holds out my hand and slips the ring onto my other hand before kissing both of them. “One for your darkness, for your past, one for you light and your future,” he whispers as he kisses them. Is he right?

“You’re my future too,” I reply.

He winks at me and straightens. “Damn right I am, but I’m also your past.”

“Let’s get a drink,” I blurt, lost on anything else to say, and he laughs as I turn around and head into the bazaar.

It’s busy even at this time of day, with scavs and roadies spread out, but they seem more sombre, more on edge than last time I was here, and I remember Nan saying Cities boys came through here.

It shows, they are ready for a fight, they are ready to protect.

Some even sit with untouched bottles in front of them, their eyes scanning their surroundings.

I choose a table towards the outskirts, shielded by the bright coverings hanging over the bazaar.

Dray sits with me, kicking his legs out on another chair and closes his eyes, leaning his chin on his chest. His body is relaxed, but I can tell he is awake and ready to react if any trouble heads our way.

I relax back in my chair, scanning the bazaar, never allowing my eyes to linger on one person for too long, but that doesn’t stop them.

Like always, a big man feels the need to challenge me.

Maybe it’s because I’m not hiding my tattoos and scars, or maybe it’s because of my weapons or the Seeker at my side.

Either way, he stands up and heads over.

I expect him to start something, so I grin up at him, my face cold, ready to tell him where to shove it, but he surprises me by nodding respectfully. “Champion, I heard rumours you are going to war.”

I say nothing and he grabs the seat opposite me, swinging it around and sitting on it backwards as he watches me. “You’re one of us, a bounty, a Rim fighter.”

I blink in shock, but he forges ahead, his eyes angry. “We might not look like much, we might kill each other on the daily, but we stick together. If you are heading to war, so are we. We protect our home, we protect the North.” He slams his hand over his chest and stands then.

I get up slowly and turn, hearing others doing the same.

Every man, woman, and fighter in here is on their feet, with all eyes on us and their hands fisted over their chests, ready to face down death.

I thought I was alone for so long. Even here I was always on edge, always having to protect myself.

Running from my past and forgetting it at the bottom of a bottle, but now I see I was wrong.

We might fight, we might kill, we might even hate each other at some point, but we all stick together, and they are showing me that.

They are showing me that I am home no matter where I go, that they haven’t forgotten I am one of them despite the fancy new titles.

They are showing me they will stand by my side and fight.

The bazaar is silent for the first time ever as they all wait for me to make a move, and then, as one, they drop to their knees, waiting.

“Don’t kneel for me, ever, I don’t deserve it,” I call, and then clear my throat.

“It’s true, there’s a war. Fight if you want to fight, I won’t force anyone, but know if you do we are doing it to protect our home, to save our people from the Cities’ rule.

You might die, you might not,” I stutter then, unsure what to say, and a voice catches my attention.

“We face those odds every day. This is our home, we fight with you!” a scav yells, and some agree, getting to their feet as cheers go through the crowd, their voices blending in anger.

Their words are different, but the meaning is the same—they will fight, they will stand with me, and die at my side.

I force myself to remember their faces, each and every one, because before this is through, some will die, and I want to remember them, even if no one else does.

“In three days, meet where the sand turns to stone before the Cities, and be prepared for war!” I shout.

They cheer, popping bottles open now as excitement races through the crowd.

They were waiting for someone to make a move, for something to happen, and now that they have a plan, a battle, they are ready to live again.

Bottles are passed out, and the big man from before drops one on my table with a small smile before heading over to his friends.

I sit down and my eyes go to a grinning Dray.

“Do you just collect people wherever you go, soulmate?” he teases.

“No, I usually kill them, this is a first,” I admit, grabbing the bottle and taking a gulp, warmth spreading through my chest from the liquid.

“You prefer the killing, the loyalty makes you unsure.” He nods and I flip him off.

“Know-it-all.” I grin.

He laughs and toasts me with the bottle. “To the woman who will lead us to war, may we find beauty in their death!”

A cheer goes up at his words, and music starts up as the bazaar gets into full swing. Another group of people added to my army, making our odds better, yet it’s also more men who will die because of me, more bloodshed, but with my men’s lives on the line, I can’t seem to care.

So I grab the bottle and drink with them, as my past, present, and future clash in the place I started.