Miscreants: Next Generation by Natalie Bennett (essential reading .txt) 📗

After reaching the grassy embankment before the woods, I rushed into the woods and whirled around to see how Cherry was doing. Aurora stopped beside me, Mal right behind her.

“We need to keep going. Mal said.”

“What about Cherry?”

I rested my hands on my knees, clutching my right side to relieve a stitch. I peered through the foliage, trying to find her.

I could hear her crying and whispering to herself. I couldn’t see all that well from this vantage point. I managed to catch a small glimpse, revealing that she had blood dribbling down the side of her face.

“You were hit?” Amo’s voice carried from deeper in the foliage.

The concern in his tone alarmed me. I’d never heard him sound like that before. I turned to see who he was talking to, my eyes landing on Mal.

He’d already pulled his shirt off to use as a tourniquet. A small hole was visible on the upper side of his right chest, blood trickling out of it.

I wanted to rush over and do something, but what could I do? There wasn’t anything around to magically fix his wound. Freaking out wouldn’t benefit anyone either.

“We need to keep moving,” Takara said.

“She’s right. We can’t stay here. We’ll have to leave the girl. She isn’t going to make it, and we’re not going to save her.”

The ‘girl’ in question was Cherry. It would’ve been more humane if one of us had taken her out than leaving her life balancing like this, but we didn’t have any other options right now. Samael would always come first.

Cherry had made it this far being seemingly unmarked by any faction. If she miraculously managed to survive this, her greatest advantage would be that.

CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO

It didn’t take us long to get out of the woods. We took an obvious path straight for approximately twenty minutes before arriving in a field. From that point on, we followed another road.

When I caught sight of the Brabus in Glady’s Inn parking lot, I was once again left to wonder just who Samael really was. How could he know of this place unless he’d been here before?

Immediately, the moment we stepped foot in the Inn’s parking lot, proselytes began to exit two of three Brabuses.

They surrounded us, clearly concerned about their kingly leader.

“I’m fine.” Mal shooed them away if they were pesky flies. “The room keys?” he questioned.

“Here.”

He was handed four plastic cards, passing them all out except for one. He’d paired everyone up. Brody with Jin. Amo with Poet. Aurora with Takara.

“We can chill here for a few. Let’s meet at the diner in two hours. I’m going to clean this up.”

He split off from the rest of the group and went to the rear of one of the SUVs along with Amo and Rory. I lingered back so I could talk to Takara and Poet, trying not to pay too much attention to Brody.

I didn’t know too much about him other than that he’d joined Samael in the incredibly early stages of him building a faction. He was the tallest here and built like a tank. His masculine face had a long diagonal scar going from his left temple to his chin.

With a rugged beard and his hair in a complete undercut all the way around—no blending whatsoever—and the longer hair on top braided back in a man-bun, he had a peculiar attractiveness to him. The odd icy blue eyes added to the overall allure. The most exuberant I ever saw him was when inflicting violence.

“Are you two going to be okay?” I asked Takara and Poet.

“Ha, I plan to take a shower and sleep. I’m exhausted,” Takara replied.

Samael called my name to get my attention, waiting on me to go with him.

“Go on. I’ll meet you at the diner,” Poet assured.

“Okay…”

I left the two of them together and joined Samael near the Brabus. He had an aluminum box in one hand and a duffel in the other. I couldn’t tell how badly he was bleeding, but it was only natural he’d be feeling pain.

“Let me carry the bag.”

“I got it.” He angled his body so I couldn’t grab it.

We entered our room, and he tossed the bag on the bed, carrying the box straight to the bathroom. I looked around as I followed him. It was obvious that whoever was responsible for this place tried to do their best. The jewel-toned abstract bedding wasn’t too shabby. It went well with the honey-colored walls. The AC had a strange smell to it and was rattling, but I’d rather that than be without one.

All in all, this wasn’t too bad .

Samael already had the sink running and a first aid kit popped open by the time I joined him in the simple bathroom.

The blue tiles had seen better days but seemed to be clean. Same with the shower and tub.

“Let me help you,” I stated determinedly, taking hold of his uninjured side.

He allowed me to guide him to the toilet and sit him down on the lid.

“You’re worrying about me now?”

“Don’t ask me stupid questions. When have I not worried about you?” I dug through the first aid kit and gathered what I would need. “Remove the shirt.”

He did as requested, without protest for once. I could feel his eyes on me, watching my every move as I washed my hands.

“You’re really pretty,” he said quietly.

“What?” I nearly knocked the kit into the sink, catching it at the last second.

“Why are you so surprised?”

“Because…” I gave a shake of my head and found a simple white rag beneath the sink. Getting it damp, I gently cleaned around the entry wound.

“Because?” he pressed.

“I’m filthy, for starters.”

“I love you all the