bookssland.com Ā» Other Ā» SICK HEART by Huss, JA (nice books to read TXT) šŸ“—

Book online Ā«SICK HEART by Huss, JA (nice books to read TXT) šŸ“—Ā». Author Huss, JA



1 ... 113 114 115 116 117 118 119 120 121 ... 128
Go to page:
the teenagers who are on their way up, these fighters who, by this time, have killed more opponents than they can countā€”donā€™t bother sneaking around the side of the ring because this is the oldest trick in the book.

And these menā€”these arrogant men who are so full of themselvesā€”have left their bodyguards all the way over by the cars because they are acting as drivers. And that is much too far away to stop what is coming.

Finally, these kids are in a fight worth dying for.

That night Cort and I jumped off the platform and sat under the rig we had that small conversation about revenge.

And Cortā€™s words have stuck with me. Have haunted me.

Donā€™t you ever think about revenge? I asked him.

Donā€™t we all?

Then why not go get it? Iā€™ve heard youā€™re the most dangerous man on this planet.

Maybe Iā€™m holding out for the fairy tale ending, Anya.

Whatā€™s that look like?

I donā€™t really know. I guess I never thought it through, but just off the top of my head Iā€™d sayā€¦ a rescue would be nice.

Doesnā€™t everyone want a rescue?

Sure. I guess I can see the logic in that.

Itā€™s just all so unlikely.

If thereā€™s one thing Iā€™ve learned in this life itā€™s that no one is coming to save you and if you want the happily ever after you should just rescue yourself.

But it doesnā€™t have to be that way.

Maybe the fairy-tale ending isnā€™t about being rescued at all.

Maybe that whole lie is all twisted-up backwards?

This is what Iā€™m thinking about when Irina, and Rasha, and Zoya creep up behind the unsuspecting slave owners watching Maart and Cort pretend to fight, and the little kids crawl out from under the mat platform, and the older ones walk straight around the ring and the slaughter beginsā€”I just watch for a moment and appreciate it for what it is.

And when Udulf and Lazar break away and start running for their livesā€”the way Cort ran in that maze of shipping containers back when he was just a small boyā€”I pay no attention to Lazar.

I go for Udulf.

Because this is the Sick Heartā€™s rescue.

And what comes next might not be anyoneā€™s version of happily ever after, but we donā€™t care.

For the first time in our lives weā€™re in a fight worth dying for.

CHAPTER THIRTY-SIX - CORT

 

Maart has me pinned to the mat when the slaughter begins, his fist raised, ready to strike. But he pauses. And smiles. Then hops up, pulls me to my feet, and says, ā€œThe ship is waiting at the dock. Meet you at the cliff when this is over.ā€ Then he turns, ready to go join in the fight.

But I call out, ā€œWait! Maart! How long were you planning this?ā€

He looks over his shoulder and grins. ā€œSince day fucking one, havenā€™t you?ā€

I hold my breath and shake my head as chaos erupts around me.

Maart comes back to me and grabs my shoulder. There are people dying ten feet away and weā€™re having a moment. He looks me in the eyes and says, ā€œItā€™s fine. This day was never your job, Cort.ā€ He puts his hand over my heart. Presses it like heā€™s making a point. ā€œIt has always belonged to me. And besides.ā€ He grins at me. ā€œIā€™ve always been the brains of this operation. Go find your girl, Cort. She needs saving.ā€

Then he jumps down into the fray and tackles one of the slave owners who is pointing a gun at Oscar. A shot rings in the air, but I donā€™t have time to see how it ends, because Ainsey screams somewhere behind me, and when I turn, I spot Lazar running through the woods carrying my daughter like a football.

Something happens to me in this moment. Something changes inside me and I go from Cort the Sick Heart to Cort the father before I can even process itā€™s happening.

Fuck that dude. Justā€¦ fuck that dude.

I jump off the platform, land, and then I am running into the jungle understory after him. Everything goes dark when I enter. The canopy above is so thick, almost no light gets past the tree tops, and this means that not much grows on the jungle floor. Ferns, mostly. Plants that suck nutrients from the ground instead of processing it from the sun.

So I can see Lazar ahead of me, weaving his way around the thick, massive tree trunks. Monkeys and birds scream as he passes, pissed off about the intrusion.

But even if the wildlife wasnā€™t announcing his presence in my jungle, I wouldnā€™t need to worry about losing him. Because there is literally no way Lazar escapes in that direction.

Heā€™s heading for the cliffs.

So I go slow, my mind whirling at the sudden change in fate. I can hear the fight I just left. Guns are going off. People are screaming. But as I go deeper and deeper into the jungle, the shadows around me begin to shift into something else. Another time, another place.

Same man.

I stop in my tracks as the memory suddenly comes back.

The shadow people suddenly have faces.

Udulf and Lazar.

And Iā€™m not running through a bathhouseā€”though that did happen at some point in my unfortunate childhood, I was just too young to separate all the horrific experiences I lived through after my sister and I were put into that shipping container and sent across the ocean.

She was the silent girl. She knew the silent language and she taught me.

Thatā€™s where I learned to sign. From the silent girls of the breeding camp I was born into.

There were dozens of children in the container with us. We were not the only ones. We were just the last ones out.

Stay still, stay back. She signed these words into the palm of my hand as we listened to the locks jangling on the other side of the metal door. We will go last. After everyone is out. And then we will run.

And thatā€™s what we did.

We ran. And they chased us.

And, of course, they caught us.

Lazar

1 ... 113 114 115 116 117 118 119 120 121 ... 128
Go to page:

Free e-book Ā«SICK HEART by Huss, JA (nice books to read TXT) šŸ“—Ā» - read online now

Comments (0)

There are no comments yet. You can be the first!
Add a comment