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I stopped at a bus stop, but re that all buses had caed my mind and slipped into the shadow of a nearby convenience store while I tried to figure out the best way to get out of toithout being tracked Stark could hack into any of the city’s surveillance systems so public transport was out He could hack into Uber to see if I ordered a ride, even if I used a fake name If I stole a car, as soon as it was reported, he would have the description and plate nu away from my family had beenin more ways than one

I decided hter trains that rolled in and out of the city on a regular basis The security was lax because everyone knew the good stuff cautter punk who hadtrains I figured if they could do it, so could I

It was a long walk to the freight yard, one I spent looking overhard and was so tired when I slipped through a hole in the chain link fence that surrounded the noisy, dirty trainyard It sucked that I had no idea where any of the trains were going, that I didn’t get to pick where I was running to, but as long as it ay from the threat of Aaron and the promise of Stark, I wouldn’t complain It took a minute to find an open boxcar, one that I could toss my backpack into and hoistjust as round I threw myself onto cry

I left That’s what I did That’s how I kept myself safe It was for the best, even if I couldn’t convince myself that was the truth Goddah the Point and out of the city into the Valley I freaked out when I thought it was going to stop in the place that harbored ing through the foothills and over the slight incline of the h a quaint, small town that was only a handful of hours away from the Point, but eons away from my hoiti was open after dark

I worried I was going to stick out like a sore thumb, that the local police would show up and run ht, but this toas a throwback to when people cared for their neighbors and watched out for their co for an alcove or alley to camp out in for ed woman Her face was clouded with concern when she askedto eat

I openedthrough, onsob thatfor who I was and where I had come from I was confused, and for the first ti forward or running backwards

She took a step towardshoulders and told h here They come from the city Itpeople fleeing The church has a place you can spend the night and shower Itto eat, but if it is, you let et you soht I was pathetic, weak, and pitiful All the things I’d fought so hard not to be after the first time Aaron ruined my life She didn’t look any deeper, couldn’t see how much more there was underneath the surface, because she didn’t come from where I was from Everyone was so much more than they appeared to be, they had to be to survive

That was all I ever wantedso to wonder if it was somewhere or someone that held the security and safety I craved

I wiped the back ofbreath "It is an awful place, but the people" Well, some of them were awful, but more often than not, they were special because they survived and sometimes even thrived in a place that was hell on Earth "The people uided lass s and a steeple holding a bronze bell It looked like a scene off of a postcard you sent back ho soclean and pure It made me feel a little uneasy and co away, I should have run toward the one person who actually ht was always so crystal clear

"A horeat" She sounded so sure, so judgmental of the place that had protected me when I really did run away from home I didn’t like an outsider, so the city that had made me

I rubbed my face with my sleeves and told et away but noas clear there was nowhere else I belonged I had space, I had air, I had freedom, and it was absolutely not what I wanted "I didn’t run away I just got a little lost" I could have used so It would have stopped un

The woman opened the doors to the church and I followed silently I had no choice but to accept the town’s hospitality for the night In theI wouldn’t have to do it alone I was too old, too ss that scared ure out what you want" The woure it out I know exactly what I want" And I would bet all of ile heart that he was already on his way to find " I believed that as reverently as I believed he would never, ever let Aaron get anywhere near, bad world And once he hadto help hi was ain

I was so hot, the fury boiled underany part ofbehind an uncoed animal I wanted to tear my prey limb from limb I wanted to feel their blood on my hands, smell their fear, and watch as they cowered before ical or reasonable about my reaction and I was as far fro

There were noht the fly and there was no way it was getting free

Titus gavelook as atched Goddard and his lawyer speak, their heads bent close together They were in an interrogation room and I was on the other side of the tay observation panel,I could see the assholes who ruined Noe’s life, but they couldn’t see me Titus hadn’t see me in with bothWhat he didn’t knoas that I was just as interested in the lawyer as I was in the forood cop so he didn’t bother to ask why I was so insistent We both kneas the reason his depart above board and cleansed of all the bad seeds He owed me

Nassir called me the second Noe bolted He wanted to know if he should stop her or have his guys tail her When he told et away, I knew the best thing to do was let her go She was panicked, freaking out, and scared There was no telling what she would do in order to put distance between her and the man who terrified her I didn’t want her to hurt herself or anyone else I assured hi her back Julia Grace was bewildered and htened than she already was She looked up to Noe, viewed her as a savior It was hard for her to see thatwoht

Which is why I was at the police station, teeth grinding together, hands clenched into fists as Titus warnedto have to arrest me He didn’t really seee With the entire police force in disarray, everyone was relying on hiether He was the last good guy left, the lastto report ent on in that interrogation rooe I was feeling was as close to murderous as it had ever been, so I made no promises If I lost control, if I pictured all the ways those ood chance so o after her I needed to find her and bring her back She needed to knoould always come for her and it didn’t matter where she hid, I would track her down She was the only thing that made sense to me She was the only one who understood me She was the only person anted all of ht the fact that I wanted all of her Everything inside of me had been in disarray and out of order until she broke intothat reset everything, the person who knocked the rust off and started the machine back up I purred steady and loud now, all because of her