For the first time ever, I wasn’t lonely.
Mother whispered something inaudible, and her tone was dark.
The only problem was—things werenotgreat with the foster parents.
There were fewer provisions than ever at the local food bank. Half the food stamps they received for Charlie and me weren’t redeemable, since there was no meat and dairy to be had in the winter.
We were all starving.
Even worse than usual.
The icy conditions also meant fewer neighbors left their trailer to buy the foster parents’ “special drink.”
Mother spoke softly, and I strained to listen.
“We need to,” she whispered, “get rid of Charlie. No one will know.”
Father grunted in agreement.
I froze with fear.
No.
They can’t.
But they could.
We hadn’t had school in weeks because the roads were too icy to drive on, which was probably why they were making plans now.
A few kind teachers gave us their scraps of food. It was what usually kept us alive. Things were getting more desperate for us with each snowstorm.
Out here in rural northern Montana, in the middle of winter, you could doanythingto anyone, and no one would know until spring.
Gently, I shook Charlie awake.
Bright-yellow eyes stared up at me with confusion. He shivered,condensation from our breath lingering in the air. His pale skin was almost translucent.
“Go hide in the bathroom—now,” I mouthed. “Lock the door.”
Charlie’s eyes widened with horror as he took in my tense expression.
“Whatever you hear, do not leave the bathroom,” I whispered quickly. “If things get... serious—and there’snoother option, only then do you use the phone and call the first responders. Dial 777.”
The phone was attached to the bathroom wall in a glass case labeled, “For Emergency Use Only.” Every house was mandated to have one in case of a Titan attack.
Mother had installed ours in the bathroom because she said she didn’t want to “see the ugly fucking thing all day.”
She also said the same thing about me.
Charlie’s breath caught as he realized what I was saying.
The phone line connected to local first responders, but they dealt with crisesafterthey unfolded. The Titans were the only threat that warranted immediate intervention; for everything else, everyone was on their own.
After all, there were only ten Chthonic Spartans in existence, and only five were currently qualified to hunt downdozensof monstrous Titans.
The Assembly of Death was short-staffed.
Since the Great War, only five Chthonic children had been born.Everyoneknew who they were.
