“That was good.”

  Angelica held out another with no comment and I devoured it the same way I had the first. As I finished, I realized the Runners were laughing again.

  “Two! That should stiffen his upper lip!”

  I flushed as I realized what it meant, but I didn’t look away from Angelica. She wasn’t laughing. Her gaze was on my mouth… Electricity sparked between us, turning flat black to brilliant pink.

  I dropped my head at the fresh brays of amusement.

  “Five minutes,” Angelica stated tonelessly, stepping by me.

  I studied the area, searching for war relics, and found myself alone with Angelica’s sister. The others, my owner included, were repacking the bikes that were also hidden inside.

  Nervous, I waited for Sam to speak, but there was only another assessing glance and silence.

  When she didn’t move from my side, I realized she was guarding me, and felt flattered. This big woman was clearly the leader of her crew. Why would she bow to a younger sibling’s wishes? Clearly, I didn’t have these Pruetts figured out yet.

  “You have a tracker in your arm. Do we need to sedate you to remove it?”

  I turned toward the woman in horror. “Get it out of me! Now!”

  The big female didn’t get Angelica’s permission first, but I sensed my owner standing tensely nearby as her sister drew a large knife.

  It didn’t hurt nearly as bad as some of the things Rankin had put me through, and I was able to remain silent for it. The Runners were impressed as she dug the locator beacon from my arm, and then handed me a bandage. What they would do with the tracking chip, I didn’t ask.

  “Heads up.”

  Movement in the near distance had Sam sounding a sharp whistle. In seconds, I was surrounded by armed Changeling Runners with red eyes and long claws. In front of them, Angelica joined her sister. When I saw our company, I cowered in the middle. My worst nightmare was about to come true.

  Rankin rode up slowly, openly, searching for weak spots in the ring around me. There was no doubt in my mind that we were about to be under attack, and the Runners agreed.

  “Tie him in.”

  Angelica’s order had more female hands reaching for me than I thought I could stand and I cringed back, only to be held mercilessly in place by those behind me. I moaned my fear as they attached numerous ropes to my belt, my ankles, and my wrists.

  As they spread back into a tight circle around me, I understood the Defenders would have to kill every Runner here to take me, but I wasn’t relieved. She would do that.

  Angelica took a step forward to meet Rankin, and I moved toward her with no further thought of my own safety. She didn’t know who she was…

  The Runners jerked me back and shoved me to the ground, where the view between their legs was gritty, but clear. I stayed down and watched the confrontation I’d been dreading since leaving New Network City.

  Angelica

  “If I don’t lose one guard, I won’t call out the Hounds. It’s the only concession you’ll get from me, Pruett!”

  Rankin’s tone said she’d seen too many of my close moments with Jason. She wanted me to pay for the view.

  I subtly moved closer to her, and to the sleek black horse she was towering over me with. “If I refuse to give him up?”

  The Head Defender snarled, hands clenching around the saddle horn. “No survivors will be allowed!”

  Those were terms I could live with. I’d rather be dead than see Jason back under her control. “Agreed.”

  I turned long enough to meet my sister’s knowing gaze, and then we both reacted as the situation deserved. We jerked our knives out and threw them - hard.

  “Attack!”

  Rankin’s pain-filled voice told me at least one of our throws had been good, but I didn’t waste time verifying it as I ducked into the protective circle of the Runners and got set to fight. She could have him over my dead body.

  Jason

  The females on the outside of our circle flipped their heavy fur cloaks over a shoulder, holding them up for shields. The next line hurried to bind these cloaks together with their attached strings, and knives and bullets slammed into the vivid-shaded cloth and were held!

  I heard Rankin scream in rage, and I cowered closer to my new owner as the Runners began to return fire. With the cloaks attached, they made a wide circle of protection and freed gun hands that were now knocking guards from panicking horses.

  Rankin had underestimated the Runners, I thought gloatingly. As I had the thought, I felt the Runner next to me, Wendy, tense. She’d just seen the new odds and didn’t care for them.

  “Here they come!”

  I turned to see a large pack of Network Hell Hounds running full speed towards us from the dusty distance. We were trapped.

  Angelica

  The Hell Hounds snarled furiously, zeroing in on the scent of blood and the sound of gunfire. Their enormous paws shook the ground as they pounded toward us, and saliva flew from their lethal mouths.

  Welcome to the Borderlands, I thought sarcastically. “Fall back!”

  I placed us with the crumbling shelter to our backs, ready to dive inside, but my sister and her girls were too good for that.

  Half of the Runners kept firing, forcing Rankin’s crew to seek better cover. The other half of the Runners pulled long red cords from their pockets, lighting them quickly before giving hefty throws that landed these objects near the Hounds’ relentless path. We watched the slobbering dogs approach the first one…

  Kabblllammmm!

  The explosion evaporated the nearest three Hounds in a geysers of debris, and sent the others veering off of their straight-at-us course.

  The pack quickly remerged.

  Boommm!

  The second impact took two more of the collar-controlled dogs from our battle and split the pack in half, but neither group changed direction. They were coming for us.

  Sam tossed two of the red cords at the same time, buying time for her girls to reload, for us to come up with the next step.

  Given cover by the arriving Hounds, Rankin and her remaining Defenders had moved back to fire sporadic shots that tried to slip through our defenses. If we came up to fire at the fast approaching Hounds, Rankin and her crew would be able to pick us off from there with clever shots.

  “Down!”

  We all dropped at Sam’s shout, just in time to avoid the first Hound that sailed over our heads from the top of the building we were up against.

  Uncovered, bullets began slamming into targets.

  “Don’t hit the male!”

  Rankin’s shout had me standing.

  Ahhh!

  I turned to see Jason’s ankle in the grip of the Hound that had jumped over us. I fired without thinking, blowing its rage-filled eye out of its head.

  Gore splattered, but the teeth didn’t let go of his ankle.

  I fired again, taking out another red orb, and the furious dog gave up my prize. I jerked Jason behind me as the other Runners closed the gaps in the shield.

  “You sure know how to make friends.”

  Sam didn’t sound anything but perfectly pleased, and I snorted, firing as I moved our circle away from the corpse. “You know me. I like a challenge.”

  Jason

  I listened to their banter like they were from another planet. How could they be so calm while we were under attack by both Rankin and the Network Hounds? Didn’t these Pruetts fear death?

  My ankle shouted as Angelica jerked me behind her, and I held in the moan of pain, seeing Rankin was aiming, starting to smirk…

  I instinctively yanked Angelica down and felt the Runner behind us sag against my rope as she took the hit.

  A second Hound reached us and leapt directly into our circle of ropes and cloaks, forcing the Runners to leave the outside unprotected again as they turned and fired. Rankin drew down again…

  I did the only thing I could think of. I snatched one of Angelica’s spare guns from her belt and started firing at my terror in the darkness.

  Angelica was the only one I wasn’t tied to and I was horrified to see her jump out of the protective circle of Runners. She drew her bow and let an arrow fly. Not pausing, she grabbed the next and fired again. Three more and her quiver was empty, but her gun wasn’t. She continued the same lethal aim, cutting through half of the remaining guards like a swift, bloody blade.

  She walked forward as she fired, headed for Rankin’s covered area, and I opened my mouth to call her back. She didn’t know what Rankin was…

  Angelica launched a handful of spikes, drawing the Defender’s full attention as the sharp projectiles drew more blood. Rankin fired ruthlessly, gun trained on Angelica.

  “No!”

  I lunged forward and the Runners shoved me back down.

  “Retreat!”

  Rankin’s shout had me staring frantically… There! Angelica was standing in the middle of the chaos while firing, with no care for her safety. It was impressive... and annoying. Didn’t she care if she got hurt?

  Angelica

  “Now, Angel!”

  Mental flames shot up from Sam’s call, but I pulled the bow from my belt with steady hands, aware of Jason still using one of my guns. Good!

  The arrow slid into the notch and I drew down on Rankin without stopping to aim. Killing her would be so sweet…

  Rankin sensed it coming at the last second, dropping to the side of her horse as my arrow and Sam’s bullet reached her. Both plunged into the guard behind her, and the body slammed into Rankin’s horse as it fell.

  The Head Defender seemed to wake at the impact, realizing most of her crew, her protection, was gone or pinned down.

  The Runners were still firing steadily, throwing cords, and the Hounds were almost all dead. The Runners had adapted fast, holding the explosives until they were at the end of their fast-burning wicks. Rankin had come awfully light to handle a crew like Sam’s.

  Understanding failure might be an option if she stayed, Rankin sounded a whistle and spurred her horse back the way she’d come without helping any of her fallen crew. She hadn’t gotten Jason, but she’d injured a number of the Runners, and reminded us all of who we were dealing with.

  The Hounds, however, knew no such fear or compromise. The four left staggered at another close explosion, but they seemed to know if they avoided the cord when it landed, that they would be clear of it. The Hounds also adapted fast, and it let them avoid the rest of the explosives Sam tossed.

  “Prepare to fire!”

  Sam’s shout had us all aiming together.

  “Wait!”

  Jason dropped my spare gun and moved closer, almost frantic. “You don’t have to kill them!”

  I snatched him back by the shoulder, but he wretched away from my grip to grab Sam’s wrist, ropes jerking at the others.

  “Please, you don’t have to…”

  Sam shoved him back into my arms before one of her crew could, but her quick glance at me was questioning.

  I wasn’t sure, either. I thought about the way Daniel had saved himself from the Hound when we’d been attacked outside the Bama Swamps. I wanted to give Jason the same chance to prove himself…

  “How?”

  “Sing.”

  I snorted in disbelief. “You want us to sing to them?”

  “They can’t help it, either!”

  “Fifteen seconds. Make the call.” Sam’s tone was half amused, half impatient, saying she knew we would win, but to hurry up.

  I wanted to trust him, but there wasn’t enough time if he was wrong. “Open fire.”

  The Runners did as I said, and Jason turned from me with hatred on his face. He clearly had sympathy for the Hounds and I vowed to make it up to him even as I did my share to destroy the remaining mutations.

  Jason

  I stayed out of the way as they tended their wounds and cleaned up. I didn’t look at the carcasses, instead staring in the direction Rankin had gone. This was her fault; she’d called the dogs down here to be distractions, sacrifices. When did she start paying for the awful things she’d done?

  Behind us was a rolling hill covered in yellow flowers and bloody bodies. We’d lost four of the twenty big females and I stayed clear of the graves that each of our escorts had now spent a few minutes at.

  Ahead of us was a lightly-wooded path with overgrown debris to one side, too molded in nature to be recognized. The signs of the war I’d longed to see were barely visible after so long, but after the death I’d witnessed here, they now screamed at me in accusation. They said until I was a real rebel, fighting against the Network, I was just as guilty as the others who ignored the sins of the past. What we’d done to the world was unforgivable. All our lives should have been spent fixing, repairing, and rebuilding - not surviving the apocalypse only to die at the whims of the Network’s tyranny.

  “I’m sorry.”

  Angelica had come up beside me.

  I shrugged tightly. “There probably wasn’t time anyway. You have to get their attention first.”

  “And they were already on the blood hunt...”

  “Yes.”

  “How do you know so much about the Hounds?”

  I didn’t turn around. “Rankin sometimes took me out. We would ride or walk, but we always finished the trip at the pens. She loves them… as much as she can love.”

  Clearly, it didn’t mean she wouldn’t sacrifice them, but I’d known that already, hadn’t I? I’d seen her drown the runts, and intentionally get packs to fight over her handouts for Network wagers.

  I felt Angelica studying my profile, worrying.

  “Are you okay?”

  I nodded again, not sure if I was. “She’ll make me pay for every one of them.”

  Angelica’s hand on my arm was gentle. “No, she won’t.”

  The Changeling knelt down to examine my bruised ankle, and I stayed still, not caring about the minor pain. Terror was all I could feel, and it was icy.

  Angelica

  His wound was no more than a scratch, and since he was male, there was little fear of him being infected. It was the inside that worried me as I wrapped it tightly.

  His fear even had Sam’s crew being quiet so that they didn’t startle him. Sam and her Runners hadn’t met Baker’s males yet, but Jason was a good example of what they’d find, and I didn’t interrupt their reactions to it. When I finished, he stayed sitting against the edge of the crumbling brick, staring at Rankin’s prints in the dust.

  “Give him this.”

  Rosa was holding out one of her most cherished possessions, a relic of the old world that she never parted with.

  I took the taser in shock. Rosa’s town had been destroyed by the Network after refusing to mine against their contract. Her family hadn’t survived and she’d been with Sam and her crew ever since. It was my guess that Rosa was still hoping for payback. If so, she’d found it.

  “I’ve got a few packs. Let him practice while we get set.”

  It was a good idea, and I gently led my ward away from the carnage and back into the crumbling shelter. He didn’t resist the lesson, but it was easy to see he didn’t think a taser was enough against Rankin.

  I agreed. I slowly drew my bounty run weapon and held it out. “Now try this.”

  Jason

  The feel of Angelica’s gun in my hand was incredible. I was sure no one else used it and I was honored.

  The instant I wrapped my hand around the grip, the rage that I always carried flared to life and I started pulling the trigger with little thought of adjusting for the power.

  Angelica’s light arm on mine controlled that, and allowed me to vent my rage. The slugs and brick chips flew in a wide array as I let out some of my pain.

  Click! Click!

  I handed the gun back reluctantly.

  Angelica reloaded in a blur, then put it into her holster and stepped in front of me.

  “I need to make an amendment to our deal.”

  I was unprepared for the emotion in her words.

  “Until she’s dead, you can’t be without guards, protection. I’ll make that clear to Baker.”

  It was what I longed for, what I needed. My mouth opened of its own accord. “You…”

  Angelica drew in a sharp breath, hands clenching. “If you prefer.”

  “I do.”

  There was no one else I trusted. That realization had me moving toward her, forgetting where we were, who we were. “I want an amendment, too.”

  Now she stiffened, and I frowned. “I don’t like your pain. I want you to accept my services.”

  Even saying it now brought a chill and a twitch from my body, signs she noticed, responded to even though she didn’t like being that week.

  “I’ll… think on it.”

  It was more than I had hoped for, and I wanted her to know she’d pleased me. I darted in for a quick peck to her warm cheek.

  Fighting the temptation, I made myself back away just as fast. “Thanks.”

  Angelica’s jaw tightened, but those eyes remained black with misery instead of the heat I’d been trying to draw.

  “It’s time to go.”

  I turned obediently toward the light, where our escorts had come at the sound of the gunfire. Not paying attention, my foot tripped over the debris, and Angelica grabbed my arm to keep me from falling.

  My weight pulled us over, and we landed in the dusty rubble, with her on top of me.

  Angelica

  We would be at Baker’s hiding place by nightfall. From there, we would sleep a bit and then head for the Safe Zone, where the rest of his males were waiting, training, preparing. Two days after that, I would be free of Jason. My heart would never be the same.

  Looking down at his sooty face, I thought I’d never wanted anything more than for him to care in return. I’d never be able to settle for one of Baker’s meek rebels after this. I likely wouldn’t even try. Once I got Jason to safety, and Rankin was taken care of, I might take off on my own for awhile.