An owl hoots from the roof, reminding me I need to hurry. The creature perches right above us, his amber eyes seeming to glow, his orchid-white feathers bright against the dark sky. For reasons I can’t really explain, the owl shows up nearly everywhere.
And his presence has gotten even more persistent in the last week too.
“Wouldn’t be a party without you,” I mutter before refocusing on the task.
I glance over my bow, the string close to snapping. A gun would be better, but ammo’s expensive. Especially iron-coated bullets, which are the only type that can put a Fae or darkling down.
In the Tainted Zone, iron is worth more than gold.
Chatty Cat suddenly begins to growl. At the same time, the white owl takes to the sky, his shadow flickering over the lawn and drawing my attention to movement behind me.
My heart slams into my throat as I whip around to see a light coming from my right, the bright orb bouncing over the lawn.
Flashlight.
Which means someone is attached to that flashlight.
2
Hell fire. I grab the splintery ends of the wheelbarrow handles and shove it across the lumpy grass, my boots digging into the soil for traction.
Heavy. It’s too heavy!
I aim for the woods twenty yards away. Every bump nearly topples the wheelbarrow as it careens all over the damn place.
A male voice yells behind me. “Stop!”
Yeah right. Does any criminal actually stop when they’re told?
I break into a sprint. Chatty Cat’s eyes are saucers, his claws dug into the ramen for dear life. My package of tampons straight up bounces out of my wheelbarrow.
Damn.
I barely hesitate before plunging into the dark woods. I’m hoping the guard won’t follow me. Most are terrified of the forest at night, especially this close to the Shimmer.
I crane my neck back, only to see the guard standing at the edge of the tree line. He lifts his pistol, squints, and then a red flash lights up his gun’s muzzle. At the same time, a loud pop splits the air.
The bullet hits the tree next to me, leaving a quarter-sized hole in the bark and propelling wood splinters into my jeans.
“You mother cracker!” I growl, sending my lollipop tumbling from my lips as I plunge deeper into the forest. My heart is lodged in my throat and I’m breathing so loud I can’t hear anything else. My too-loose jeans sag low on my sharp hip bones. My belt is fixed at the last hole, but still it’s not tight enough.
Yanking my jeans up, I blindly burrow deeper and deeper into the forest.
Once upon a time I could run a fairly decent mile, even in this infernal heat. But we had a herd of cattle then, a couple good dairy cows, some chickens, plus the biggest garden this side of Texas.
Hard to make your muscles obey when you have nothing to entice them with but saltine crackers and gruel.
Staggering across the carpet of underbrush, I fight the darkness nibbling my vision to jagged crumbs. Limbs claw at my bare arms and rip my tank top.
Panic strangles my heart, and I blindly punch farther into the woods. If I’m caught, my family will suffer.
Since they cordoned off our lands and closed the last of our trade routes, everyone in the Tainted Zone—the long four-hundred mile wide border zone that goes vertical from North Dakota to the tip of Texas—is struggling.
The government from the Untouched Zone in the East sends us food and water, but the Millers confiscate everything that arrives. For safekeeping, they promise.
Not sure when safekeeping something turned into selling it back to the people for five times what it’s worth, but when you’re as rich and powerful as Cal and his family, you get to make shit up.
Righteous fury steels my resolve. I tug my lips between my teeth until sharp pain punches away the dizziness. Coppery warmth pools beneath my tongue as I pause to get my bearings.
Surely the guy didn’t follow me this far.
A yellow disc of light sweeps over the trunk of a huge oak ten feet to my right.
Oberon’s luck!
Dragging in a lungful of air, I try to force the now half-deflated wheelbarrow tire over a fallen tree, sending the rickety contraption reeling sideways. I watch in horror as the contents spill out onto the forest floor.
Chatty Cat lands on his feet. Ears flattened, he pins me with a look of supreme annoyance.