Renegades: Badlands Next Generation by Natalie Bennett

Author:Natalie Bennett [Bennett, Natalie]
Language: eng
Format: epub, azw3
Publisher: BB Books
Published: 2020-03-29T00:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER FOURTEEN

The sun rested high in the sky, its malevolent eye unblinking. Heat wrapped around our limbs like a hot-blooded serpent. The contrast between inside and outside was incomparable. It was like going from a freezer to an oven.

I brought a hand up to shade my eyes, dragging my gaze from left to right. Everything looked just as it had from the upper window, only two times larger.

There was a hint of stench in the air, one that reminded me of death and burning bodies.

“What did you do to my brother?”

I glanced over at Bella and saw a smile on her face.

“That wasn’t normal for him?” I still didn’t know what exactly had just happened, but I was even more curious now.

Bella scoffed and looped her arm through mine, leading me to the right.

“The being a cocky asshole and casual killing thing, that’s all Luce. I cannot tell you the number of people he’s occasionally killed or tortured in one week.”

“Okay…”

“Taking a man’s eye because he didn’t like the way he looked at a girl… that’s not Luce.”

As we turned a corner, my stomach did that stupidly annoying flip. “I don’t think he did that for me.”

“Psh. I know my brother. He’s protective over his family and his Badlands. That’s it.”

I wasn’t convinced. “He seems to be that way with Ice and Cam…”

She laughed, and the sound was like someone tapping a glass with a fork. Bella was perfect proof not to judge someone by appearance. Her looks and sweet demeanor would make you think she was delicate. I highly doubted that was the case.

“Luce doesn’t have friends; he can’t afford to. He’s got family. The acolytes. Ice and Cam. Heck, even Zane. That’s his family.”

Zane? I’d heard that name before. I couldn’t place it right then, though.

“Does that mean I’m an enemy?”

“Nah, I think you’re good. You’d be dead or being painfully tortured by now. We believe in gender equality.”

I was more confused now than I had been in a long while.

He let A.R.C know where I was. He could have killed me or given me back. He hadn’t done either. And now sending Calvin straight to their doorstep… was he trying to start a war?

Bella stopped walking, resulting in me doing the same. Releasing her hold on my arm, she turned so that we were facing one another.

“It’s not really my place to tell you what he’s up to, and honestly, with Luce you will never always know everything. Remember that for future reference. It can be rage inducing.”

“Is Cam like this too?”

“They have a lot in common. But for the most part? No way,” she laughed.

Turning so that we could begin walking again, she continued. “Cam is sweet even when he’s cruel.”

I didn’t know him well enough to agree or disagree with that. Calling him sweet felt like I’d be underestimating what he was capable of.

“He’s been through a lot. We all have, but Cam got the worst of it. I think he has a complex now, like he failed or something and has to make up for it somehow.

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