Love Among The Ruins-Chapter 133

NADINE’S POV

"You are the snitch," I said quietly, my voice carrying across the room.

A maelstrom of emotions passed over Solomon’s face, and it was almost as though he was trying to decide if he should lie or not.

But when he locked eyes with Edith and saw the disbelief in her eyes, when his gaze collided with Lilian and he saw the shock, the betrayal in them, he broke down.

"I did it to protect my people, okay? I did it for the community. How else do you think we managed to get by in a fucking open space without the monsters mauling us? I had the money, and I used it to pay Trent off. I used it to save and protect everyone that made it here. I did it for them!" he yelled.

Rowan took a step forward, his hands curled into fists as he stared the man down.

"You sold Nadine out. You were working with that bastard, and you knew how much of a danger he was to Nadine. So you sent us out there to die. In his hands. How fucking dare you?"

Solomon stilled for a moment, then he shrugged.

"He wanted her. He wanted you both. You weren’t supposed to come back. You and your precious princess were supposed to die in that bunker. Why do you think I sent Camden and Ezekiel with you? Because they were supposed to guide the people back here and ensure their safety. Trent promised to get you off my hands! You were not supposed to survive the fucking blast!"

My chest was tight, and I could not breathe, again.

Solomon had wanted me dead all along. He didn’t want me here, with his people, so he sent me, he sent us off to die.

"Yet here you are, betrayed by the man you placed your trust in," I stated, and my voice came out small. Quiet.

Everyone turned to look at me.

There was a sharp sting in my chest, and tears pushed at the back of my eyes, but I blinked them away.

I would not cry.

I would not cry. Especially not in front of this traitor.

"Trent was never going to keep anyone alive, Solomon. He killed all those people in the bunker, and now he’s going to kill your people too. You should not have trusted him at all."

Solomon threw his hands in the air. His eyes were wide and red with anger, and a vein pulsed in his head.

But I didn’t wait for whatever it was that he had to say before I turned to face everyone else.

Avoiding Edith and Lillian, I spoke to Amy, Jen, Joshua, and Rowan.

"Come on. We have monsters to fight."

~

Edith and Sam gathered the scared crowd around, while the guards and Edith’s girls fought off monster after monster, trying to stop them from getting over the barrier.

The people had been too scared to fight, and the monsters seemed unending. Which was why Edith gathered them all around.

We needed everyone, and fear wasn’t going to help us now.

I was at the edge of the crowd, my eyes darting around the trees as I waited for the monsters to break in.

I wanted to fight, but I also wanted to provide morale for the people. To lend them the courage they needed to join in fighting those abominations off.

Edith met my gaze and looked away as her lips parted to speak, but I never got to hear whatever it was she wanted to say because Rowan gripped my wrist and dragged me away.

"Princess, listen. We cannot be here," he whispered, when he was sure that we were well out of earshot.

My brows furrowed into a frown. "Why? We cannot run away. We have to help them fight the monsters," I countered.

Rowan nodded. "I know. But what if we killed Trent instead? Once he’s dead, the monsters would be easy to get rid of, no?"

I stiffened at the certainty in his voice. "Trent is not here."

"He is."

"Listen to me, princess. The general responded to Solomon through the very channel that is used by everyone in the community. It was not an outside frequency. Nobody else might have noticed, but I saw it. Trent is close enough to be connected to their frequency. He has to be close for him to have rigged the entire community with bombs too. We have to find him."

My heart started to race. His words made sense. And once Trent was out of the way, it would make things easier for us all.

Still, a silver of doubt reared its head in my chest.

"What if he’s not? What if we end up going on a wide goose chase like we did yesterday? What if this is what he wants us to think, luring us away from the people we are supposed to protect?"

Rowan gripped my shoulders very gently. "Listen to me, baby. The fight has started," he was right. I could hear the melee from where we stood, and there was a desperate prayer in my heart for all the people I held dear that were out there.

"Trent will not fight. He loves his life too much to put himself in danger’s path. But he will be close by. Watching. Strategizing. He already got the best of us back at the bunker. We cannot let him blow this place up."

I had no counter arguement to make, so I nodded. At least if things went wrong even further than it already was, it would be just us.

We wouldn’t have to risk anyone who else dying.

Even before I said anything, Rowan saw the decision on my face. He leaned in to kiss me softly, his tongue lapping gently against mine.

When we broke away from each other, I leaned my head against his.

"I love you."

"I love you too, Princess."

We remained like that for a while, and then we broke the embrace and it was business all over. We made our way out of the community borders, and it was as Rowan said earlier.

Trent was around.

It didn’t take too long for us to find him. Hell, it was almost as though he had been waiting for us to find him.

"Hello, Nadine Tyler. It is an absolute pleasure to meet you, as always."

My expression was schooled into indifference as we stopped a few feet away from him.

But before either Rowan or I could say a word, the General pressed on a remote he was holding, and I heard a loud click.

"What are you..." Rowan started to say, but he must have realised something because his eyes turned wide, and his jaw tightened with rage even as I caught a flash of panic across his face.

Then he turned to face me.

"Run!"