She looks down.
Shame flashes across her face.
“What did you do, Bryn?” I growl, stepping closer.
Her breathing picks up.
“I don’t take orders,” she narrows her brows. “Never have.”
I chuckle.
“Let me guess. You tried to take over?”
Her glare could kill.
“They didn’t know what they were doing!” She snaps, hands slicing the air. “Idiots pretending they could lead a community!”
I shake my head slowly.
“So now you’re trying to do the same shit here.” It’s not a question.
“And Ethan?” I press. “Was he really planning to take us out?”
She nods without hesitation. “He told me everything,” she mutters. “His plan was shit. He didn’t know how to build anything. But then… I met Roman. And everything clicked.”
She starts pacing, wild and restless.
“I told him what happened and what I tried to do. And Roman said, if you or Knox ever found out… if Aspen found out…” She breaks. “I’d be dead.”
Of course he told her that.
Feed the fear. Make her loyal.
I grind my teeth.
“So after we saved you, gave you food. a roof and security. You still wanted more.”
She cuts me off, stepping right into my space.
“You arejust like them!” she yells. “Rules. Control. Decisions made without us. You think we had a say in anything? You think you cared about what we wanted?”
I rub my hand down my face.
Fuck.
I don’t even know what to say anymore.
“You could’ve left,” I mutter.
Her laugh is bitter, sharp as broken glass.
“Could I? Aspen tried, and Knox hunted her like she was an animal!”
She’s breathing hard now, fists clenched.
I hold up a hand.
“Listen,” I stare into her eyes. “The world was a fucking graveyard evenbeforethe plague. Now? It’s worse. If we let you run off to town, you wouldn’t make it a day before you were caught or dragged something back to our doorstep.”
