Page 22 (1/2)

The raging starts again, shadows dancing, fighting with each other,their chests

And then the big shadow raises both his hands, da the noise from forte to rates out over the sound of his men "If you think we’ll turn her over to you, you’d better have an outrageous reaiting for us, and I can’t guarantee she’ll be i dies at the word delivery, as if cut off by the sharp blade of a knife

"You misunderstand me She is the reward But if you find her--when you find her, because I know you will--do not let her get inside the wall!" the sh the smooth tone is accompanied by a fevered need "When you find her, kill her I don’t care how But make all evidence that she existed disappear Burn her re painfully loud Torchlights flicker Men howl, their shadow faces aimed at the dark sky I try to force myself to blend into blue metal Become the box

"Bowen!"

Bowen ju on the ce around us So--even ht ahead at the shadows on the building One of theure uncurl fro ht into the beast’s eyes--eyes that are twin to my own

"Jonah," I whisper, as sorrow and fear thunder through uard, thethe chains fall forith Jonah’shis chains behind hirow round, and I shake ine ill happen if I aives entle Jonah, he pauses, the briefest release of his sculptedtoward the opposite side of the street, sprinting away on one good ankle, and one ankle that is twisted painfully to the side

The round Gunfire echoes over the shocked, furious screams of men, and as if a vortex has sucked everyone away, the street becomes dark and empty in a matter of seconds Only the sently flutters to a stop in the street

Bowen sags against ether,on?" he whispers, his breath like frost against my ice-sweaty skin

"I don’t know" My voice is alovernor From inside the wall The ruler My brother’s e into me as if his bones have been reuy?" I can still hear his gravelly voice indas I told you about? The raiders? There are two of thes He’s the leader of one of them He’s the man who stole my mom"

Chapter 22

My head throbs with tension that hasevery o s frolass skyscrapers of don Denver reflect the brightening sky, gloith the promise of a very near sunrise In between the slender skyscrapers, a few blocks away, the wall looms--a muddle of stacked, rusty train cars and cinder-blocks

Bowen pauses, and I al I halt, wanting to fall to the dusty sidewalk and sit, but stay standing

"Where are we?" I whisper, wobbling on unsteady legs My voice is out of place in the quiet aze and blink at a lass skyscraper that see blue sky

"Marriott," Bowen states, sticking his head through the fra’s exact center

"The hotel?" I ask, wondering if ht

"Yeah You need rest And sometimes there’s water in the toilet tanks, in case we run out And if we are really lucky," he says, looking at ht find a room with a bed that hasn’t been destroyed You can sleep in coht, I s in a real bed Bowen smiles back, an expression that reaches his eyes and warms my exhausted body A er to his lips I cringe and twirl around, expecting attack A hand softly squeezes my shoulder, and Bowen turns me back to face him

"It’s okay You’re safe When the ht, the raiders stopped coht" He nods toward the reainst his lips again, and tiptoes into the hotel

Inside, sunlight glints off the glass-speckleddoor--and I find myself in a ransacked lobby Faded, once-red furniture has been pushed to the sides of the roo out of most of the pieces, and I see a rat--a rat!--poke its head out of a hole in a sofa to watch us with beady eyes Paintings hang crookedly on washed-out walls, and a layer of dust dulls everything

In the lobby’s center sits sorand piano

A slew of lymelody of snow and ice Christmas music At Christmastime I would dress in scarlet velvet trimmed hite lace and play the piano This piano