Free Lie to Me by Gracen Miller Page A

what I say.”
    A smack to her cheek for her saucy reply. The move pissed Stone off more. “Name your price, Jones.”
    Murder spewed from her gaze, and her jaw locked, obviously gritting her teeth.
    “I decline your offer. I like Mack too much. Guards, take her to the square for punishment.”

SEVEN
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    J ust like the day she’d been auctioned to Stone, Kella slapped on her brave face, and sauntered onto the scaffolds with her shoulders squared and her head held high. Regent Jones thought punishment would deter others from rebelling against his tyranny when his actions would have the opposite effect and would fuel her revolt instead. If her life was forfeited for that end result, she happily paid it with her last breath.
    What pissed her off the most was that Stone tried to purchase her for a second time. The irony! Although he’d failed this go round, she was pretty sure he’d made the offer to protect her. That he’d even suggested the offer had her simmering. For a person to even think of purchasing another said a lot about their lack of morals.
    The ‘thief’ died a slow death, strung up by his arms, weights placed on scales attached to his ankles until he suffocated. It was a cruel way to go. The crowd that’d gathered was dead silent as his final breath gurgled from his lungs. An eerie sound for a dishonorable ending.
    “Take heed citizens of Quadrant2. Stealing will not be tolerated,” Regent Jones’s voice boomed over the loudspeaker. Kella would gladly slice his throat, or at the very least cut out his tongue. Too bad she’d probably never get the opportunity.
    She surveyed the horde, recognizing the majority of them. Once again Stone stood among the throng, his features just as stoic as when he’d bought her. At his side, James measured the throng, his palm resting on the hilt of his gun. The only difference between this and the auction is that this time she wasn’t scared or embarrassed.
    In the front row on the other side of the mass her best friend and mentor, Reaper, glowered. She shook her head at him, hoping he understood not to attempt anything stupid. Like trying to save her from her punishment. Kella could endure whatever Jones threw at her. She had to because there was a larger rebellion brewing.
    Something about her communication with Reaper must’ve caught Stone’s interest because he raked his gaze in Reaper’s direction.
    After the scuffle, James had asked about Kella. It’d taken all her willpower not to sprint in the other direction. That inquiry terrified her. Scared her more than the punishment about to commence.
    No one had had his hand on her when he’d asked about Stone’s wife, so it would’ve been easy to escape. She knew these streets better than anyone. Bolting would’ve also signaled her guilt. She wasn’t sure if they’d bought her bluff, but she had no idea how to make herself invisible to him either except to run once more. She couldn’t start over. She just couldn’t. The first chance she got, she’d talk with Reaper. Surely he’d have a suggestion.
    The guard shoved her forward. Kella waved at the crowd as the punisher gripped her arm. “I don’t want to do this, Mack,” he whispered as he walked her to the cross-like apparatus he’d bind her to. “Punch me or kick me in the balls and take off. You know the crowd will protect you.”
    Jeb was a friend, a fellow compatriot fighting the good fight against the system, but she wouldn’t endanger him to save herself. They needed him to maintain his position among Regent Jones’s ranks. “Do your job, Jeb.”
    His lips tightened, and he shook his head. “Goddamn you, Mack. Hurting you will plague me.”
    And it would help her cause. “I’m tough.” I hope . She’d seen grown men weep and soil themselves from an electrical lashing, and none of them had endured twenty.
    “You’re stubborn.”
    She couldn’t argue with that so she stepped up to the cross, gave a cheeky salute