Shifting a large sofa, Broni found a handgun. Opening the chamber, she saw it had bullets.
“I found a gun.” She handed it to Ransom, who looked at her with indecision.
“Why didn’t you try to hide it and keep it for yourself?” Guns had become a valuable commodity to barter, used to trade for food and water.
“I have my sword.”
Ransom tucked it into his pants as they moved to the next building. They had no luck inside and were leaving when a large band of men came around the corner, spotting them.
“Shit! Run!” Harlow yelled.
Broni ran after the two bikers, dodging and weaving between empty cars abandoned on the street. Ransom and Harlow both disappeared, turning the corner before her when a hand in her hair jerked her to a stop.
Ignoring the pain at her hair being yanked from her scalp, she turned, slashing out with her sword. The eight men enclosed her within a circle.
“You want me to show you how to use that?” one heavyweight man asked, his gut so large Broni was amazed he had even been able to chase after her.
“I can use it well enough to cut that hand off if it comes any closer,” Broni retorted, the sword swishing out, barely missing the hand that had hastily been jerked back.
“We got ourselves a fighter, Tom.”
“That’s fine with me. They quit fighting once they get a taste of what I can give them.” The man smiled, showing gleaming white teeth.
Broni wondered how these men had lived before the world had turned to chaos. Had they worked a normal job? Had they been respected at work? Had a loving family? How long had it taken them to turn into the animals staring back at her, lewdly clutching their dicks behind dirty jeans?
Suddenly, Broni felt a pain on the side of her temple and fell to her knees before she could blink back the blood streaming into her eye. The man who had hit her with a hammer then struck her hand. Broni couldn’t hold back her scream of pain as the men attacked her at once. One ripped her clothes off her body while another kicked the sword laughingly to the side.
Dazed, she was sprawled naked by the men in the middle of the street. Looking up, she saw Tom unbutton his jeans, exposing his dick, and Broni struggled against the two men holding her down. They responded by punching her in the face and stomach until she was winded, lying still. Tom squatted down before her, parting her legs.
“Where’s all the fight right now, bitch? I have a sword you can play on,” he bragged.
Broni screamed as he lowered himself between her thighs. However, as he fell on top of her, Broni didn’t feel the pain of his cock entering her. He didn’t move at all. He lay motionless on her, and it took another one of the men holding her to fall down with opened eyes staring blankly into hers for her to realize there was fighting going on around her.
Broni tried to push the dead body off her, but the deadweight held her pinned underneath. Finally, the body was pulled off of her, and she was gently lifted into strong arms, her head falling back, unable to support its weight.
“Broni?” Adam’s hoarse voice was the last thing she heard before the darkness enveloped her, giving her an escape from the pain.
* * *
Fate appeared before Mother, kneeling before her creator and friend.
“Rise, Fate.”
Fate’s expression was closed as she made her request. “Centuries ago, you made me a promise to grant a request.”
Mother’s face was pale, filled with compassion. “I cannot take back my judgment.”
“I know you cannot. That is not what I ask.”
“Then tell me, Fate, and it’s yours.”
Chapter 22
Rhys appeared in Odin’s Hall, having returned from a summons. Within seconds, he had Allia and Delia bringing him a goblet of wine. He took a seat at the table, relaxing with a woman on each side.
“That didn’t take long.” Balder leaned sideways, burying his hand in Allia’s lap.
Rhys shrugged. He never discussed with Odin’s warriors where the summons would take him. At first, when the summonses had begun, he had expected Broni to show up, but she hadn’t. In fact, he hadn’t seen or heard from her the entire time he had been at Odin’s castle.
Rhys lifted his goblet to his mouth, taking a long drink and enjoying the taste. There wasn’t much he hadn’t enjoyed the last two months. His every request had been filled, many times before he even asked.
When Fate had left him behind, Odin had explained that his past lives as a warrior entitled him to spend his eternity in his Hall. As Allia placed a large piece of beef on his plate, Rhys glanced at the throne to see Odin staring at him. His usually unreadable expression showed disappointment before Odin looked away, taking his own goblet from Athena. Odin was generally served by one of the many Goddesses while the men were served by beautiful women of various descents.
Delia’s silky gown gaped away from her rosy tipped breasts as she leaned forward, licking a droplet of wine that lingered on his lip.
The sky darkened then, lightning flashing outside the massive glass doors that led outside to Odin’s balcony. In the next moment, Fate appeared there, blowing the massive doors open. Wind rushed through the room, knocking men from their seats and sending the women running and screaming from the room. The warriors stayed behind, but there wasn’t a man among them that wasn’t afraid of the fury directed at him.
Rhys’s hands gripped the table as he got to his feet.
“You always liked to make an entrance.” Rhys saw that while Odin was seemingly unaffected by Fate’s appearance in his hall, there was a trace of sorrow on his face.
“You bastard, if not for your Mother’s protection, I would seek your destruction, Odin.”
“Fate, I’m sorry.” Odin rose to his feet. Rhys didn’t think those words passed his lips often. “You know that I’m not allowed to influence matters on Earth. I would have stopped it had I been able.”
“You could have stopped it!” Rhys was confused when she waved her hand toward him. “You wanted to hurt me. Well, be happy, Odin, you succeeded.”
At that point, a large goblet flew across the room, aimed for Odin’s head. The huge God managed to deftly avoid the goblet. Rhys could see where Cara had inherited the temper Jericho said she’d exhibited when they had fought.
Fate strode across the room toward him. The men had resumed their seats at the long table, but Rhys stood still.
“You whoring mongrel, if it was up to me, I would destroy you and every memory of your existence.” She spit in his face.
Rhys’s head jerked back when she struck his cheek. He gripped the table to restrain himself from leaving the room. The only reason he stayed was the sick feeling in his gut that, for a woman like Fate to lose her temper, it would involve something to do with her children.
“Did something happen to Broni?”
“You don’t deserve to have her name on your lips.” She spat at him again.
“Tell me what happened!” Rhys said, taking a threatening step forward.
“What do you care? You’re unable to care for anyone but yourself. Not those sluts that you bury yourself in each night and certainly not my daughter who didn’t deserve that deplorable treatment at your hands.”
“I never hurt Broni. We used each other for sex, and I never lied to her. As a mother, I can understand you want Broni’s happiness, but I don’t love her.”
Rhys thought his bluntness would have fueled Fate’s fury, instead with cruel detachment, she spoke, “You are not the one I want to love my daughter, Rhys. Why would I? You are weak. You have without any evidence or reason tried to blame Broni for the death of your family, and if that wasn’t enough, you placed the blame on her shoulders for you being unable to spend the afterlife with them. Well, it is past time you learned the truth.
“Broni tried to tell you several times—it was I who prevented you from being at home when they were murdered. Let me leave no doubt in your mind, not only would you not have saved them, you would have died. And i
f you had died with them, you still would not have shared eternity with them.
“Your family was a gift to you for the short time you had them. Treasure those memories, but you must accept that they are gone forever and come to some kind of peace. There are no do-overs in life. It has been five years, and you have punished yourself each and every day for your failure to protect them. The truth is, their true happiness was never going to be with you. You taught those precious souls what it was like to be loved, and they will pass that gift on to others while you have forgotten and destroyed that same quality within yourself.”
“Stop. I won’t listen to this —” Rhys took a step away from Fate.
“Why not, Rhys? Which hurts the most? That you are weak? Or a coward? When I brought you here, you were relieved you were away from Broni. You wanted to run just as you have the last five years.”
When Rhys would have turned around and left, Fate’s hand waved, freezing him in place.
“I am not my daughter, willing to walk on eggshells to please you. You will listen to me, and then you may do whatever you wish.”
Anger poured off Rhys. “Do you think that by making me accept my family’s death I will begin to care for Broni?” The sarcasm in his voice made him wince in guilt. Broni didn’t deserve his harsh words; he regretted them as soon as they left his mouth. However, it was the only way to put up a wall for the frightening feelings he had begun developing for the woman who kept giving without asking anything in return.
Fate stared angrily at the stupid man before looking out to the sky, yelling, “What does she see in him?” as millions of other mothers have lamented. Receiving no answer, finally Fate was able to gather control of her emotions and continue.
“Let me show you exactly what you are throwing away!” Fate angrily waved her hand at the sky and Rhys saw instantly why Broni’s family was always watching the sky.
“Broni lived a previous life before she was gifted with another as my daughter, and her first life was a fight for survival from beginning to end.”
Rhys tried to look away, yet he was still frozen in place, forced to watch as he saw Broni beaten and tortured as no young child should even be exposed to, much less be made to endure such savagery. He watched helplessly as the young girl was shown no mercy from the leader of the group who was the first to rape her then kill her without mercy when his men had finished with her.