CARLI'S POV

“Why are we stopping here?”

My voice came out rougher than intended. The wind had dried out my throat, and dust still scratched at my nose, like it had settled there to stay. I got off the bike, feeling the pulsing ache in my leg muscles.
The motel in front of us looked sad. The sign blinked erratically, the "O" in "MOTEL" flickering on and off like it was dying in slow motion.

Cassy didn’t answer.

He got off too, slower than usual, his eyes fixed on the asphalt, like he was searching for something.
Or like he was trying to avoid it.

The heat had glued itself to my skin, along with the stink of gasoline and dry earth. My back was stuck to my shirt, my hands still sore from the ride. I was tired.
Tired of running, of waiting for Cassy to talk, of not knowing where we were actually going.

“You want to see her, don’t you?” I asked, quieter now.

He said nothing.

I looked toward the horizon, where the road curved just enough to show the first low shapes of Norgree. We weren’t far. Half an hour away, maybe less. But Cassy still didn’t have the guts to ride the last fifteen miles.
We had stopped.

I wrapped my arms around my chest.

“You think your adoptive mommy will welcome you with open arms?”

“I don’t know.”

A flicker of satisfaction sparked inside me; at least I’d gotten him to speak.

“Why don’t we go to Masao instead? Maybe he still has some money stashed away, and—”

A deep, resigned breath cut me off. Cassy turned to look at me.
He looked tired.
So, so tired...

He didn’t ask me to shut up and follow him, but when he turned his back and walked toward the entrance, that was exactly what he meant.

“Did you forget you’re still wanted? Especially in Norgree? What if they catch us crossing into the city?”

Cassy raised his arms toward the sky, then let them fall again, never slowing his pace.

...

I had two options: let the bedbugs in that mattress chew on me all night, or climb out the window while Cassy snored.

Not that there was much to do out there, but the thought of staying locked up for who knew how long in that mold-scented room turned my stomach. I knew I wouldn’t be able to sleep.

I kept thinking about that woman. With her perfect smiles and sugar-coated words. How had Cassy fallen for such an obvious trap? I still didn’t fully understand why Natalie insisted on helping us, but I knew one thing for sure: she wasn’t one of us.

Masao, on the other hand, was our brother. We should never have left him behind. He would never have done that to us.

A reckless idea popped into my head. Cassy wouldn’t listen to me, but maybe he’d listen to Masao.
All I had to do was go get him.

...

Stealing the keys wasn’t hard.

Cassy always kept them in the side pocket of his pants, even when he slept. Lucky for me, slipping things out of pockets was a skill I’d picked up early in life. The keys we’d fought so hard to get during that bar brawl jingled softly. I froze, held my breath.

Nothing.

Cassy rolled onto his side, mumbled something, but didn’t wake.

I pulled on my boots and climbed out the bathroom window, down onto the long porch that all the motel rooms shared. Then, on tiptoe, I made it to the parking lot. The streetlights barely lit the place, and I had to take each step carefully to avoid stumbling into a pothole.

As I moved through the dark, an image flashed in my mind, a traitorous bastard, white as bone.

Screw Benjamin.
Screw Natalie.
Screw Norgree.

The bike was still warm.

I climbed on, swinging my leg over the seat as smoothly as I could, reaching for the handlebars. My feet barely touched the pedals, I had to stand on tiptoe. I’d never ridden before, but I had a rough idea of what to do.
I slid the key in, twisted the throttle.

The engine coughed and died. I tried again—this time, more gently.

It vibrated beneath me like a wild animal.

Wow.

It felt different being in front.

At the first real push of the throttle, the bike leapt forward, snapping my head back. For the first time since the night of the brawl, my heart beat with something close to excitement.

The night stretched like a dark sheet over the road, the only light coming from the motorcycle’s beams.
The edge of the pavement was filthy, overgrown. I clutched the handlebars, gliding along. With each turn, I gripped the bike tighter, lowered myself further. Each pothole made the handles buck like they wanted to throw me off.

A truck roared past, kicking up a gust of dust and wind that almost knocked me down. I kicked hard, steadied myself. My heart pounded so loudly I could hear it in my temples. But I didn’t stop.

The Pit was the first border of the city, where everything rotted and nothing ever got buried.

When I reached Masao’s house, I stopped in the middle of the road, and the bike tipped, nearly throwing me.

“Sh-shit!”

I barely managed to save my foot, but something delicate had just shattered on the pavement.

Uh-oh.

There was no way I could keep this little nighttime adventure secret now. Well, there had never been any chances anyway, not if I wanted to bring Masao back to Cassy.

My brother would have to deal with it.

I ditched the metal carcass and walked up the crooked path to the door.

“Masao?” I knocked once, and the door creaked open.

I looked down at the busted lock.

I stepped inside.

Silence made more noise than my footsteps.
The windows were closed, no curtains.
Streetlight dripped in, drawing thin lines in the dust.
Everything was... still.
The air was still.
The smell of a house left in a hurry.

No sign of Masao.

Not even a bark from Christopher Walker.

I stopped in the middle of the room, feeling lost.

They’d been taken.
Or maybe they’d run too.
Or worse.

But the thing that hurt most... was that there was nothing. Not even a note.

Just my heart, pounding too loud, in a house that didn’t belong to anyone anymore.

...

I rushed outside and grabbed the bike, pushing, pushing... until I got it upright on the road.

I wasn’t nearly as careful on the way back. Throttle and brakes were out of sync. A car with its headlights off made me swerve, and I barely stayed on the road.

Maybe I wasn’t such a great rider.

Maybe it was the pounding fear chasing me that made me go too fast.

“Cassy!”

Another messy landing. But this time it wasn’t just the bike’s weight that threw me off—it was the panic. That massive black car, parked in front of our door, probably cost more than the whole damn motel.

I ran past the tinted windows and the car door flew open.

I only caught a glimpse of a burly man’s face before I bolted like a flea.

“Cassy!” I raced to the porch.

More men stood outside our room, our door wide open.

The sensible part of me—the part that still wanted to live—screamed for me to turn around, hop on the bike, and twist the throttle until my wrist snapped.

But that was a small part.

The bigger part—the louder part—threw itself into the men, shoving, elbowing, clawing until I made it inside.

“Cassy!” 

There he was.
Standing, awake, his eyes brimming with fear and pupils like pinpricks.

“Miss Coyote.”

I heard his voice before I saw him. Jodi. Sitting on our bed like it was a throne.

I hoped a bedbug was chewing his ass.

“How nice to see you again.” Jodi smiled. The tattoos on his neck slithered out from under his crisp buttoned shirt like snakes.

“Jodi,” I panted, still breathless from running. “King of jack shit. Still haven’t found a ditch to rot in?”

Cassy raised a hand in warning, signaling me to stay quiet. Why was he so scared? Sure, there were only two of us, but we weren’t afraid of anything!

"You showed up at just the right time," said the bastard with the dyed hair. "Your brother and I were peacefully discussing the payment of his debt. Isn’t that right, Jack?"

Cassy turned his head slowly, as if even looking at him took effort. Then he nodded.

"You see, Carli, your brother took something very precious from me. Nothing will ever replace my beloved brother."

"Oh, please. A scarecrow in a hat could replace Luther."

“Carli!” Casper hissed. “Shut up!”

It wasn’t just the reverent fear in his voice that stunned me, it was the man approaching me, kneeling.

“Don’t clip her wings, Coyote. I love that fire of yours, dear Carli. I intend to feed it.”

“What?”

“Jack took a brother from me. It’s only fair he repays me with something of equal value.”

My eyes widened as the meaning sank in. I looked at Cassy, but he turned away.

“The deal’s already done,” Jodi said calmly. “The Coyote gives you to me, in exchange for my full forgiveness.”

“That’s a lie.” I shoved past the snake and grabbed Cassy’s arm, but the moment I touched him, he pulled back.

“It’s a lie!”
He wouldn’t look at me.
Wouldn’t listen.

I swallowed my urge to cry and fed it to the growing flames of rage. “You wouldn’t do this to me!”

“I just... want to live a normal life,” he murmured.

It was a lie. 

It was a nightmare.

Jodi grabbed my shoulders, his forked tongue hissing again, but I shoved him back.

Someone grabbed me from behind.

“Let me go!”

Another man caught my arm.

“CASPER, HELP ME!”

He didn’t look at me.
He didn’t look.
He didn’t look!

“Don’t worry, Carli. I’ll take good care of you.” Jodi waved as his men dragged me out.

I kicked, punched, gritted my teeth. “CASSY! Don’t touch me! Let me go! Let me—AH!” They shoved me into the black car. The man inside grabbed me like a doll and slammed me against the seat. 

Three more men got in, but Jodi wasn’t among them.

The one in the driver’s seat turned the key and started the engine. I struggled, but with the big guy pressing against me, all I could do was look back.

Through the glass, I saw Jodi at the door, smiling. My brother stood nearby. They were talking. Then Jodi held out his hand, and Casper shook it.

The car drove off.