Chapter 31

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"Answer me!" Zac snaps, yanking my arm towards him and forcing the sleeve up

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"Answer me!" Zac snaps, yanking my arm towards him and forcing the sleeve up. "Why do you have a fucking tattoo?"

"Zac, calm down," Jordan tries as I narrow my eyes at the anger in Zac's eyes.

"Calm down?" he snaps. "She has a permanent fucking mark on her! What if the Enforcers see it?" he continues.

"So do you!" I shoot back, pulling my arm away from him.

"You should sit down!" Claudia tells Zac, stepping around me. He moves away from her, shaking his head.

"Don't fucking test me Claudia," he growls. "There's only one person who could have given her that."

Busted. I knew he'd find out at some point, I guess I was just hoping that it wouldn't be for a while.

"Zac-"

"No," Zac cuts Jordan off. "You introduced her to Riley?"

"Something like that." Claudia grimaces as Zac's eyes widen even further.

"What the fuck does that mean?"

I take a step closer, pleading him with my eyes. "Zac, please sit-"

"I'm not fucking sitting down!"

"I'll tell you everything!" I exclaim. "Just please, sit!"

"No," he snaps. "You'll tell me everything, right fucking now."

I take a deep breath, looking down at the ground as I try to figure out where to begin, searching through my mind for the best way to explain this.

There's no easy way, not a single pain-free way to tell him what I've been up to during his imprisonment, so maybe I should just blurt it out, as quickly as possible and straight to the point.

"I'm part of the Resistance," I announce, his eyes nearly falling out of his head, knees looking as if they're going to buckle.

"Zac!" Jordan exclaims, grabbing onto his friend and pushing him back onto the seat.

"There was definitely a better way to say that, Em," Claudia says softly as Zac shoves Jordan away.

"What the fuck does that mean?"

"It means what it says on the tin." I shrug guiltily. "I've joined the Resistance."

His eyes flick to his friends, narrowing as he attempts to stand back up. "You fucking told her! You dragged her into this!" he yells. Jordan shakes his head as he fights against him, Zac still able to use a miraculous amount of strength given his weakened state. "That's all I fucking asked from you! You know I wanted to keep her out of this."

"It's not their fault Zac!" I exclaim, throwing myself towards him, wrestling my way between the battling friends. "It's mine."

"How?"

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