The garden blurs. Branches whip my face as we hit the trees. Men shout behind us. Another shot cracks through the dark.
I run as fast as I can, but panic turns my legs useless. My boots skid on loose dirt. My breath tears in and out of my chest.
Shadow catches me before I go down.
“Keep moving,” he snaps.
“I’m trying.”
“I know.”
Another shot cracks behind us.
He hauls me closer, his grip firm around my hand, his body cutting through the trees like he belongs to the dark and the dark knows better than to get in his way.
We burst from the woods onto the old service road I’d used to sneak in.
A black motorcycle waits in the shadows like some kind of metal beast.
He swings on and shoves a helmet into my hands.
“Put it on.”
“I’ve never ridden one.”
“Tonight’s full of firsts.”
“That is not comforting.”
“Talia.”
My name in his voice stops me.
He looks calm. Hard. Certain.
“I’ve got you.”
Three words.
Simple.
Impossible.
I put on the helmet.
He pulls my arms around his waist.
“Hold tight.”
The engine roars beneath us.
Then we shoot forward into the dark, gunfire fading behind us, my cheek pressed to his back and my hands locked around a man called Shadow.
Brianna is still missing, and all I’ve done is prove how badly I failed her.
Chapter 2
Shadow
