Page 56 of Uprising

Terry looks at me and then back at him. “The fuck you want with stuff like that?”

“Darius has all of that at his disposal and more.” I state before Koen can reply. He’s right, I should have thought of it, I should have realised that what we have even now is not enough. “If we stand a chance of doing this we need to match him.”

“There’s a big difference between getting you guns and getting you tanks. I can’t exactly fit one of those on the back of my truck can I?” He snaps.

“But you can do it?” Koen asks.

Terry squirms just a little. “For the right price. It won’t be cheap.”

“Money isn’t an issue.”

That makes me pause. How much does this man have? How much is he making even now, while Darius has all but chopped the legs of all his business enterprises.

“I’d need some time.” Terry states.

“How much time?” I growl. I’m not angry at him just sick of everything taking time, meaning more precious hours of what I know for me are unbearable and for Rose are unimaginable.

“A few weeks.”

I shake my head. “We need it sooner than that.”

“I can’t do sooner Roman, not without putting a fucking great target on my back.” He snaps. “Besides you’ll need time to figure out where the hell you’re gonna be hiding them.”

“We have that sorted.” Koen says. “Get us the tanks, get us everything you can and in the meantime…” He fixes his gaze on me. “We’ll have a little fun.”

Fun? He thinks this is fun?

He stalks off back to where his men are finishing packing up our vehicles. I stare after him for a moment.

“You sure you know what you’re doing here?” Terry says quietly.

“We don’t have any choice.” I state.

“What will you do after? If you beat Darius, then how will you stop the Storm Crows from taking over?”

I let out a sigh. That’s a problem for another day. As selfish as I am I don’t really care if that is the outcome. My priority is beating Darius, saving Rose and Lara and my sister. They’re my concern not how this glistening gold city and all its inhabitants may have to adapt if Koen takes over.

“When that day comes, then we’ll deal with it.” I state before turning and leaving. I don’t want to think about it more. I don’t want to dwell on it.

I need to focus on the now. On the immediate. Get my family out and get my vengeance.

Nothing else matters beyond that.

Rose

Ihear a whimper.

It’s quiet. Far off.

But I know that voice anywhere. I know it as well as my own.

I storm through the house, pushing one door open and then another, not caring if they slam, not caring what noise I make.

When I find them I freeze.

Lara is there, with blood streaming from her nose and tears down her cheeks.

And her tutor is standing over her, arms on his hips, with such a look of contempt.