90 DEADLY DAYS (WEEKLY UPDATES RETURNING THIS DECEMBER)

Chapter 41

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Chapter 41

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"My sister. That was her!" My eyes grow wide.

Of course I've lied about Jewel being my sister. If I said she was my dearest friend he would laugh in my face.

"Do you take me for a fool?"

"No, Butch—Atol. I swear on my life, I'm not trying to run from you."

"Here's a secret, Phoenix," Atol bends down. "I've never believed any of the sh*t you've spouted off. The only reason I kept this little head of yours intact is because the minute you kissed my hand I knew you'd do anything to please me."

I squeeze my eyes shut.

Even though he knows the truth I've got to keep up the charade. Everything will get worse if I don't.

"What I said yesterday was real, even if you don't believe it."

Atol wrenches my arm. I cry out.

"Enough lying, Phoenix," he snaps. "Now the truth. Admit you're trying to run."

"Atol, believe me. That is my sister. Do whatever you want to me if I'm lying." I pant through the pain of my arm being twisted.

The pain lets up. I bite back tears of frustration. Atol finally shifts his piercing death stare to the sky. I relax little. For insurance, I carefully reach up and cup his cheek. When he doesn't bat me off I smile softly.

"It's true I hated you because I was afraid," I say. "But now, if things improve between us, I think I could come to care for you."

Atol rolls his eyes as if to say, 'you think I believe this sh*t', and pushes me off disinterestedly. My heart starts pounding. He's unsuspecting now.

"And you should be sorry for letting me this close," I add.

Before he can react, I knee him three times in the groin and shove him. He tumbles into the snow with a mighty crash. I steal across the snow, making for the section of trees under fire. I move like a Fynx is after me. If it were any other man chasing me I wouldn't be so scared of getting caught this quickly, but Atol has some seriously fast recovery times.

Blackened trees fly past. Open sky chokes with heavy soot. Small fires flicker in blasted tree stumps, on fallen branches. Melting snow slushes up the ground. I slip and slide in my haste.

By the time I reach a lowly ditch filled with red snow and crumbling dirt I'm covered in gray slurry. I jump over the hole just as a close range wail erupts. Landing on the opposite side, the cry registers, stopping me in my tracks. Tears well up in my eyes. I barely have the strength to look down.

A pale, sunken face greets me. Lips cracked from thirst moan uselessly. The blue eyes of the dying creature are as hollow as Butcher's. Long, once luxurious, red hair splays over surrounding snow. So does dark, souring blood.

"Jewel," I whisper. I'm instantly dragged into a tragic war drama. Those dramas where everyone the protagonist loves ends up dying the moment they find them. The protagonist always turns up a second too late or a minute too early and fails in shielding his closest friend from the flying shrapnel or the enemy troops lurking behind. I never thought those terrible twists of fate would end up at my doorstep. But I too am chasing a clock with hands that move too fast.

I shiver. The pale body shivers back as recognition glows under the skin. A measure of light brightens the face.

Phoenix, the ghostly figure mouths.