Breakaway - Sadie Jacks Page 0,2

closely resembled hamburger instead of lips.

“Tree.” She looked up, studied my face. “Are you with the Grove?”

I blinked a couple times. “The grove?” I shook my head. “No. I live at the Crest. Do you need to get back to the grove?”

Her eyes widened as she skittered back some more. “No! You can’t sthend me back there. I won’t go.”

Her lisp was probably the cutest thing I’d ever heard. But the terror in her voice was something I couldn’t ignore.

I held up my hands, shook my head. “Okay. Then you won’t go back. Do you think you can stand? I could take you to a hospital.” I pushed to my feet, lowered my hand back down to her.

“Are you a good persthon?” She ignored my hand and rose to her feet.

I blinked as she rose to her full height. Only a handful of inches shorter than my six-five. She was one of the tallest women I’d ever met. Images of her legs wrapped around my body slid through my mind in 4K UHD.

She waved her hand in front of my face. “Hello? Are you?”

Get your mind out of the gutter, you jerk. I nodded. “Yes. I like to think I’m a good person. Where did you come from again?”

She jerked her thumb over her shoulder, her face wearing a clear “oh no, you’re stupid, aren’t you” look.

I chuckled. “You came from the solid wall?”

She turned, looked over her shoulder. With a soft yip, she shot towards the stone barrier. As she pressed on it, her hand disappeared.

When she touched the wall, something inside me flared. No fucking way. “Do that again,” I demanded. My voice as hard as a sledgehammer.

She snarled at me over her shoulder. It probably had more going for it since she was covered in blood and had a half-mangled face. “Sthay pleasth.” She plopped her hands on her hips as she took the slightest step back from the wall.

I ground my teeth together. “Please.” I waved her on.

She nodded, a smile tried to form. She winced and stepped forward, no smile to be seen. She laid her hand on the wall again. Her hand disappeared inside it.

I moved up behind her. “I’m not going to touch or hurt you. I just need to check something.”

She nodded and scooted away from my body.

I laid my hand next to hers and pushed. Solid wall. “Shit. Can you try over here?” I pointed to the section of wall I had tested.

She shrugged and moved her hand over—while it was still inside the stone.

“It’s you, then,” I said as I looked at her.

She shrugged, dropped her hand. “I won’t go back. And sthincth it appearsth you can’t make me, I guessth I’ll be going. Thanksth.”

She walked off.

Straight into traffic.

Chapter 3 – Hollyn

A metal leviathan screamed at me as I stepped off the edge of the ground. I stumbled a bit, my hand out to catch my balance. I slammed a hand against his nose. “Hey, I’m walking here.” I shoved two spread fingers up in the air at the man inside the beast.

The man behind me laughed before he caught me around the waist. “Yeah, that’s traffic. They can kill you.”

I shrugged. “I knew that.” No, I hadn’t, but he didn’t need to —

He smiled. “No, you didn’t.”

Jerk.

His mouth tipped up in a smile that I kinda wanted to bite. “Do they not have cars where you’re from?”

I could listen to this man read a recipe and find my first sexual satisfaction, I think. It sounded like a heavy wind rushing through the mountain passes. A low sound that was both comforting and exciting.

I shook my head as I chuckled. “You mean the magical wall? No. No carsth were there.” I grimaced at my impaired speech. “Do you know of any tooth doctorsth? While sounding like Annie from A2 wasth kinda funny at firsth, I’m really not into it anymore.”

His dark eyes glittered in the dark. The lights from the passing beasts—cars—alternately lit up and shadowed his face. His swarthy skin was a beautiful counterpoint. “Dentists? Sure. We have them. Lucy has a lisp then, huh?” He angled me down the path. “Let me get back to my home. Get you cleaned up. We can see what kind of damage we’re looking at.”

I nodded. I pulled up the pants I’d been able to swipe from Zee. The vine belt I’d made was starting to fray. I needed to find some replacements. And soon.

I looked at the man next to me.