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My lip twitched. “Come on. Let’s find you a place to crash nearby.”

With a sigh, he followed without much else to say. After several minutes of nothing but the sounds of our footsteps, his stomach growled in protest.

I glanced at him over my shoulder with a raised brow.

“I’m so fucking hungry. I’m really missing those salted potatoes right about now,” Dash grumbled. “Man, what I wouldn’t do for a fucking Pop-Tart.”

“A Pop-Tart?”

“Hell yes, man. Strawberry. Those were my favorite as a kid before Devolution Day.” A pebble skittered past me from the kick of his booted foot as he walked, seeming to aim for every loose stone he saw with each step.

I let out a humph, never having had the experience of eating Pop-Tarts prior to that day. “Well, maybe I can sneak you some of Katia’s famous strawberry delight next time I see you.”

“I might just kiss you if you do.”

“Please don’t.”

“Afraid you might like it?”

My face contorted in disgust, “Ew. You’re like twelve.”

“Sixteen!” Dash protested. “This height does not say twelve!”

I shook my head. “Still a kid. Now, come on, this place should suffice until morning,” I said as we approached another ramshackle house. This one was only a single story and in worse disrepair than the one Gray and I currently squatted in, but it should do. “I’ll check it out and make sure there are no surprises before I leave.”

Dash’s nostrils flared with a nod, his shoulders stiffening. Another wave of heavy guilt washed through my chest and sank down, down, down into the depths of my gut. He was scared. After the last two encounters, I couldn’t blame him. Now, he was to be left to defend himself. I hated having to leave him behind, but I wouldn’t be far. And if trouble struck, we had a plan.

We searched the house and declared it clear, with nothing but varmints nesting inside. I passed on a message for him to transfer to Sergeant Hogan, reminded him of the back-up plan if something were to happen, and then bid him goodbye. I couldn’t fail him. I’d ensure nothing fucked with him.

With a heavy heart, I exited the small home and made my short trek to the house the Kinetic Princess and I occupied, reminding myself to remove the restraints in a few hours. I tried to sift through the few tangible thoughts I knew were mine. My personal reality became more obscure by the day, warped by the darkness.

Fear iced my veins at the cloudy memory of nearly killing the assassin earlier. I thought of how close I’d come to throwing caution to the wind and losing it all. Without her, any chance of removing Forest from his self-appointed seat of righteousness would vanish.

She was the key. We needed to find the lock next. And without either one, all hope for fixing the mess of this world would be lost.

I only hoped I could hang on long enough to not kill her in her sleep.

Chapter 16

Gray

Iawoke on a soft surface, grogginess and confusion warping my mind.

I didn’t know where I was or how I’d gotten here. Ending up in these types of situations was becoming too common. What was left of my pride began to wither away.

The smell of musk and mold overwhelmed my nostrils. In fact, it was too much. My itchy throat forced out a raspy cough, and a heavy pressure weighed on my chest that made breathing a struggle. Sodden and spent, I lay there as I came to full consciousness.

I dared to peek an eye open. A shattered window bared open to my left, filtering in a cool breeze that kissed my cheek and covered my skin in goose bumps.

I shivered and groaned as the aches protested any movement. My body begged me to give it a rest, but I knew I couldn’t afford to give in to its desire. A sense of urgency nudged my mind into motion.

All the recent events replayed through my thoughts as I stared at the bright afternoon sunlight streaming through the window. My father wanted me dead. And he had the entire fucking Warrior Guilds hunting me down.

Dash. The Endarkened. Dash killing the Endarkened. Human militia.The kid was no doubt part of the human militia. But where was he?

As the pieces snapped together, I bolted upright. My head spun, and I felt sluggish. So, so sluggish. I pushed through the dizziness and nausea that threatened to take over.

The peeling walls caught my attention first. Chipped paint curled off in large sheets sporadically throughout the room. But it was the dark presence that loomed in the shadowed corner that set my instincts blaring in alarm.