Page 36 (1/2)

My head swims all of a sudden, and I shut e of Ash’s face crosses my mind He looked so betrayed Please don’t let it be over between us

The door opens, and Sebastian staggers in without waiting to be asked His Tracker jacket is open, revealing a white vest underneath I can s with the rest of the Trackers after his successful hunt with the cadets

He notices the suitcase "Where are you going?"

"Away"

"Don’t go I love you I want you," he slurs

"I think you should leave, Sebastian"

He lurches toward e to turn my cheek just before he kisses me

"Get out!" I shove hiainst the bed My suitcase topples off, spilling its contents over the carpet Sebastian rolls on top of me, and for a flash, I think of Ash and hoe’d been like this earlier this evening Except this time I’m pinned down by my wrists My heart jackhaht in Sebastian’s eyes All that’s there is darkness and hunger: the eyes of a predator Sebastian shoves a cold hand up my top and cups my breast

"No!" I screa ue He tastes of alcohol, fiery and bitter I angrily bite his bottoers find the jewelry box on htstand and I wildly strike out at Sebastian Crack! The weight lifts off my back I drop the box and the phial of Golden Haze rolls across the carpet It smashes under my foot as I race out of the room I don’t look back I just run Away from Sebastian, away fro, and the air is freezing cold, but I barely notice I get half a oing, and I don’t have any money Nohere?

There’s only one person I knoho can hide me

34

NATALIE

BEETLE PUTS A BLANKET over my shoulders and hands h my bruised lips The flesh on his cheek where he was burned is still pink, and the skin is starting to look tight and shiny He’s going to be scarred for sure His stoles to ht Better than I expected

His barge is packed with Hu I knew about s withthe other er in a cage, her long dreadlocks swaying behind her as she rants on the phone to her contact at Black City News

"It was the govern,poison in the Haze Yeah, yeah, yeah, we’re getting proof I’ hot air, Juno This is the truth"

I put the teacup down on the table The motion makes me wince Every part of my body aches where Sebastian attackedup before I can stop it Beetle hugsa Hu my mother down and stop Rose’s Law It’s a risk, but I’ afraid of my mother, of Purian Rose They need to be stopped My father understood that, and I know Polly feels that way too I’ll find a way to protect her

"Have you heard frootten in touch I sent a few uess he’s busy, with his Mom’s funeral and all Maybe he’ll be at school toests

"Sure," I say, unconvinced

"He’ll coh He’s crazy about you," Beetle says

I rub the bruises on my wrists where Sebastian pinned me down on the bed How could I have ever loved hienerous I shut my eyes and think about Ash’s lips as they kissedover my skin, how it felt e made love It was the best e s news if we can get the to knohat hit them!"

A skinny, blond-haired man enters the room, his face flushed He looks elated Roach sent hiet hold of some of the Golden Haze, since the phial I had broke when Sebastian attacked me The only other phials of Golden Haze are in the laboratory back in the Sentry HQ, and there’s no way I’ back there after what happened

He takes off his rucksack and tips out the contents on the table Over twenty phials of Haze roll out, along with a dozen digital disks, which I know are recordings of people who visited Mr Tubs’s Haze den

"I didn’t get a chance to see e, but this disk says it all" He pops it into the disk player and turns on the TV

The footage is a little grainy, but it clearly shows Kurt giving Mr Tubs a case of the Golden Haze

"We’ve caught those bastards red-handed," the blond rins "I nearly didn’t get it The Sentry guard’s crawling all over the city They set Mr Tubs’s shop on fire, no doubt to destroy the evidence It’s just their bad luck I got there first"

Roach grins "Excellent, we’ll take this evidence to Juno By this tiovern that wall down once and for all! Humans for Unity!"

Everyone cheers Everyone apart from me

35

ASH

DAD, SIGUR AND I STAND around the Sun Altar on top of an old church overlooking the Legion ghetto, watching the hazy sun rise over the city In the distance, on the Sentry side of the wall, I can already hear the din of factories starting up, of laborers heading to work

Dad’s face is tilted to the gray skies, his eyes shut in a quiet prayer He looks both haunted and relieved, in hell and at peace Everything I’ The cremation was quick; all that remains of Mom is dust and ash

I look toward the Boundary Wall and hope Evangeline’s all right I wish I’d handled things better with her Where did she go? I doubt she’ll stay in Black City Maybe she’ll go to one of the other Darkling ghettos out west?

The Legion guards are back on the wall, although they’re not at their usual posts They’ve congregated around each other, talking ani