Outcasts (Badlands 3)

“Fuck that,” Cali said at the same time Romero said, “Done.”

“You can’t fucking do that Rome!” Cali yelled, pushing back from the table.

“I have to.”

“What does that even mean?” I snapped.

“We can’t just send her with him, Rome.” Cobra interjected, runnin a hand through his hair.

Romero ignored that at first, walking into the kitchen. “You don’t pick pussy over your fucking kid. We both know how high the chances are of the little shit being yours.”

“Why the hell do you care, anyway? You specifically told me you didn’t want Blue.”

Course, it was at that moment Blue herself was dragged down the stairs, Katya right behind her.

She was like an open book. She looked hurt, a little pissed, and then she saw Vitus and seemed to fit the pieces of what was going on together.

“What is happening?” Katya asked, placing a protective arm around Blue, just to be pulled away by an acolyte.

“Blue is going to spend some time with Vitus,” Romero replied.

At his words Blue immediately took a step back, but the acolytes prevented her from going anywhere.

“Please don’t make me do this,” she pleaded softly. Her struggle played out on her face when tears broke free.

I think my heart broke more because she didn’t try to fight. She accepted her circumstance with a swallow and a tense nod.

Katya, on the other hand, was down on the floor like a damn wildcat, bein restrained by the acolytes and cryin and yellin curse words in her native tongue. But she was the only one.

It was calmly veiled chaos.

“I like you already,” Vitus grinned victoriously when Blue took his hand.

Cali stood beside me, as helpless as I was. I think the saddest part of all this was, Romero was right. He always was.

“It’s okay, I’ve been through this before,” Blue told me on a near whisper, forcing a sad smile.

That didn’t make it okay. That made it worse. I stepped forward to say somethin, but Grimm pulled me back.

“Wait,” Romero said, walking towards them. He walked right up to Blue with something in his hand. By time any of us knew what it was, he was pressing it into the side of her neck. She cried out and instantly tried to jerk away. He was movin away again as fast as he’d gotten to her. A large red welt was now visible on her flesh.

“What the hell, man?” Vitus asked, actually lookin concerned.

“I just marked her. She’s one of ours. I want her back alive.”

“I’ll be in touch,” Vitus said, not looking pleased by that at all. He took her anyway, gently still. His men followed him out and that was it.

Romero held a hand up for silence. “Before any of you say anything else fucking stupid and insult my intelligence, Grimm seemed to be the only one that trusted me enough to know what I was doing. If you think

I was suddenly caught off guard you’re as stupid as Vitus is.” That was his fuck off speech I assumed.

He left too, taking Cali with him.

Cobra helped Katya up where the acolytes had left her and helped her back upstairs. If it weren’t for the heaviness in the air, it’d almost be like all of it never happened.

Chapter Twenty-Seven

He hadn’t left his room in hours.