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I know she’s sad and she fights it off I’ve read her journal pages It’s not really a diary She writes the pages each night, then goes to bed, wakes, reads them Then burns them in the kitchen sink before she starts her AM routine

They always say the sa Please hurry Please coet me Please, please, please, do not leave me here all alone

I know a lot about her but I don’t know her naht be wishful thinking I don’t knohy she’s here Or why I’s as she is that this absent prince will come save her

But I’

This girl?

She is mine

I’m the one who came to her I’m the one who found her I’ll be the one to keep her

Chapter Two

HARPER

“What’s your name?”

The voice startles me because I had no idea anyone else was at the end of the pier with h against the pillars below to envelop me in a mist of seawater I don’t turn to face hiles my insides and for a moment, I sense I’ve heard it before I picture the kind of , but not as young asout at the Pacific Ocean, waiting for the sunrise It’smy sunrise

“Hello? Naain

He’s so an anshen he asks a question He’s someone with authority, but not a cop or a sanctioned soldier Cops have that it’s-nothing-personal-and-you’re-boring-the-shit-out-of-itiive a shit aboutto voices of authority, taking note on the ones who inspire, the ones who cower, and the ones you need to fear This guy’s voice says he never cowers

He’s one of us I know this immediately, with only those feords, I know This is it

I give none of this away, simply continue with my quest to see the blue line where the sea ht of day hits it Why can’t people just leave me alone?

“Worowls at me as he takes a few steps closer He’s barefoot, I can tell by the way his feet scrape across the concrete pier as he walks My heart flutters for a few seconds and I wonder if he’ll hurt ineda million ways, but not this way

Am I ready?

A hand rests on htly as if to turn er for me I don’t want him to see my face

I grab his wrist with both hands, bend over, and reach back with my foot and wind my ankle around his I heave and do a very sloppy toss because he’s far heavier than anyone I’ve practiced this move on He sorta tu over my shoulder, but that extra moment is all I need

I cliton Beach Pier and dive into the mist