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“Demon girl!” The other man took a step back, eyes wide as he reached for a knife. I wasn’t afraid. I ran after him, tackling him to the ground. I fought him for control of the knife, by sheer strength turning his hand on him, plummeting the blade into his chest. That was three men down. I glanced up, Gavin defended himself, fighting the two outlaws at his side. He wasn’t bad.

“Olivia!” I heard Rane’s voice and turned around rushing towards her as one of the men had climbed atop, pinning her to the ground with a blade in his hand. I kicked the man hard, throwing him back against the car. Momentarily, he lost consciousness. “How did you…?” Her words trailed off sitting up and scooting away.

“Practice!” I answered jumping over the hood of the car, sliding to the opposite side to help Gavin. He’d taken out one outlaw but the other wouldn’t seem to take the hint. “Let me!” I shouted watching as the man turned towards me.

“A girl?” He laughed, clearly unafraid.

“A girl who can kick your ass,” I retorted and did just that. I kicked him hard in the groin, watching him bend over before I shoved him headfirst into the car. He was out cold.

“Olivia? How did you do that?” Gavin looked at me with wide curious eyes.

“We don’t have time to explain.” I gestured for them to follow as I ran towards their truck a few yards away. The keys still inside, I turned it on and we continued our journey north to search for Joshua.

CHAPTER 4

“Are you going to explain what happened back there?” Gavin asked as we drove further north. I kept glancing back in my rearview expecting to see the men chasing us but with four flat tires it wasn’t likely.

“Not really.” I glanced at Gavin giving a weak smile. I hoped it was enough to fend away the questions for a while.

Rane piped up, “You’re going to have to tell us eventually. I saw what you did. You didn’t just use training and fighting. You lit a guy on fire, without matches!”

I sighed, glancing back at her. “You can’t tell anyone what you saw. Okay?” I still didn’t know how I did it.

Rane held up her hands in surrender. “I promise. It’s not like anyone would believe me.” She put her hands down in her lap and I glanced at Gavin. I still felt his eyes on me.

“I’m different. The people of Shadow, we’re all different,” I explained. I didn’t want to elaborate but they’d volunteered and risked their lives for Joshua. It was the least I could do, right? “They experimented on us in Shadow. When you’re a teenager, they can administer a cocktail of Mindonsiphan to the brain. It allows you to see the world differently.”

“You did more than see things, Olivia,” Gavin pointed out.

“Yeah, I guess so.” I tried to remember what they’d told us, what Chancellor Collins had explained to me. “The drug works in perception and your natural physical and cognitive abilities. It doesn’t allow us to do things that we weren’t already capable of.”

Rane laughed. “Yeah, right. I can’t throw fire at a guy, drug induced or not.”

I shot her a look and she shut up. “I didn’t want this! Any of it. I just wanted a normal life,” I reiterated. “It’s not my fault they felt it necessary to make us one of them.”

I felt Gavin’s hand come to rest on my arm. “You saved us back there. Whatever they did to you, it was worth it.”

I wasn’t sure it had been worth it. I sighed, glancing at him. “Thanks.” At least he accepted me, accepting what I could do and had become whereas my mother had told me to leave and never come back. She had done it to protect me but it still scared me. How long until word got out what we were capable of? Would we ever be safe?

It grew darker as we continued our journey north. Dusk was coming and we should have reached Haven by now. “We’re lost,” I admitted, stopping the car. I was hungry, but I doubted I could have eaten, even if we had food.

I stepped out of the truck, glancing around. None of it was familiar. “Where do you think we are?” I asked hoping Rane would have some recollection. She had lived in Haven for most, if not all of her life.

Rane shook her head. “It should be here. Or nearby. We’ve been driving for hours,” she whined.

Gavin sighed. “Soon it’ll be night and too risky to travel. It’s likely we’ll come across more outlaws.”

“So, what are we supposed to do?” I was trying to keep a cool head, but the fact Joshua was gone and we were lost, I felt myself unraveling.”Start a fire, stay here for the night and hope we’re left well enough alone,” Gavin commented. He walked off towards the forest.

“Where are you going?” I called to him.

“To bring back firewood. Stay there. Keep an eye on Rane.” He knew I could look after myself. It was at least a reassuring change of pace. I turned towards Rane seeing her look at me with a mere shrug.

Gavin brought back firewood and I was destined to start the fire with my hands. It wasn’t as easy as it had been when we’d been attacked. Eventually I got the fire roaring and we all stretched out, trying to make ourselves as comfortable as we could.

It was quiet for a while before Rane finally spoke up, “I know you’re married to Joshua and this may be entirely inappropriate,” she paused, glancing at me. “But I’m glad if anyone married him, it was you.”

I didn’t quite know what to take of that. “Thanks,” I answered, staring down at the fire. I was tired and sore, but all I could think about was Joshua. He hadn’t reached out to contact me. That wasn’t a good sign.

“I just mean I tried to hit on him when we were in Haven, but he had his eye on you the entire time. Told me as much. I should have listened to him, but we kissed. I’m sure he told you that,” Rane said.

I frowned at her. “No, he didn’t.”

“Oh,” she laughed. “Well I swear it wasn’t any big deal. He’s a good kisser, but he didn’t have his heart into it, you know?”

“No, I don’t know.” I stared at her. Why was she doing this? To torment me? Joshua had sworn nothing had transpired between them. Why had he lied to me? I tried not to feel jealous and betrayed. He’d chosen me. He’d decided to marry me. I should have been happy but here I was, listening to Rane go on and on about Joshua and it was making me sick.

Gavin watched the exchange and finally coughed, interrupting the tension. “Hate to break up the reminiscing about old boyfriends, but I think I hear company.”

We couldn’t hide the fire, not without it smoldering and showing where we were. I could use a glamour, possibly try and hide all three of us, but it would be too exhausting and if Joshua would try and contact me I wasn’t sure I’d have the strength left to communicate. I’d done a lot as it was today with the Mindonsiphan. I needed to be careful. I wasn’t sure if there was a level of too much and if I could overload my system.

“What do we do?” Rane whispered.

I closed my eyes, trying to focus on how many voices and if it was anyone we recognized. “Coyotes.” I remarked, letting my eyes open. “You hear coyotes.”

“Really?” Rane asked in awe. “Are you sure?”

I shrugged. “I wouldn’t wander off too far if you want to find out.” She didn’t budge. Not that I expected her to.

Gavin moved to lie down, stretching himself out on the grass. “I think we’re within an hour’s reach of the town of Spade.”

“They’re not to be trusted,” I remarked, scooting my legs closer to my chest. “They killed a friend of mine, for showing up at their door.”