“Shhh,” I whispered. “Be quiet and don’t move.” She tensed beneath me but didn’t make a sound.
“Out, now!” the guard shouted, and I peeked again to find him still aiming at the windshield.
Finn fired his gun. “Go!” he yelled as the guard’s body crumpled in front of our car.
Shouts came from our right as the rest of the cops were recalled from their wild goose chase by the gunfire. Anabelle sat up and stared at the hole in the windshield, and I noticed that the glass around it was cracked like a spiderweb. “What the hell is happening?” she demanded.
Jennings reached for his holster, and I realized that Finn had removed the gun before he’d given up the body.
“Anabelle, go!” I shouldered the back of her seat. “Drive!”
She stepped on the gas. The car bounced once, then twice, jarring us all as the wheels rolled over the fallen guard.
The gate was still moving, but it was too slow. It wouldn’t be open in time. Finn punched the button through the open window in the guard’s shack, but the gate gained no speed.
“Who is that?” Anabelle asked, staring at him as she clutched the wheel.
“It’s Finn,” I told her. The explanation would have to wait.
“Go!” Finn shouted again, and Anabelle stomped on the gas again. The car lurched forward, and I fell against the rear bench seat. We flew past the guard shack as Finn took aim at another one of the guards. Light flashed from the barrel of his gun.
The gate knocked off the passenger’s side-view mirror, then scraped the entire length of the vehicle on the right side as we breached the New Temperance town wall and shot out into the badlands.
Anabelle took a hard right just outside the gate, and I tumbled across the floorboard onto my sister. “Mellie, are you okay?” I asked, lifting myself off her with one hand on the seat.
“Fine,” she said, as I crawled onto the backseat, trying to get a good look at her as the lights from the gate faded. “But totally lost. What happened to Finn?”
More gunfire rang out from behind the wall, and I caught my breath. Was Finn shooting, or being shot at?
“Finn’s human, but he can possess people like a demon,” I explained. Both Mellie and Anabelle started to throw questions at me, but I held up one hand to stop them. “For now, you’ll have to trust me.”
When the squeal of metal told me the gate was closing behind us, I stood on my knees to stare through the window. The gate was almost shut, trapping the guards inside until they could reverse the motor, and I still saw no sign of Finn.
“Anabelle, stop!” I shouted.
She slammed on the brakes. The car skidded on bare dirt and chunks of asphalt from the crumbling road. For several tense seconds, I stared at the gate as the opening narrowed, waiting for Finn even though I might not be able to see or hear him coming. I couldn’t leave him. But we couldn’t wait much longer without putting ourselves—and Melanie—in danger of being recaptured.
And finally, when my chest ached and my nerves were like live wires shooting sparks beneath the surface of my skin, a man slid through the gate just before it slammed shut. He raced toward us, arms and legs pumping, automatic rifle aimed at the ground.
“It’s Finn!” I shouted, though I couldn’t see the guard’s eyes from that distance. “Unlock the doors!”
Anabelle hesitated for a second; then she punched a button in the driver’s door and the locks thunked open. I got out, and Finn threw himself into my arms, gun still aimed at the dirt, new tall, firm body pressed against me as his borrowed heart thumped against my chest.
“Are you okay?” he whispered into my ear, and I nodded against his shirt.
“You?”
“Winded.” He stepped back far enough that I could see moonlight shine in his bright green eyes. Then he kissed me.
“Get in the car!” Melanie snapped, and I pulled away enough to see her head sticking out of the rear driver’s side window.
Finn pushed me toward the front seat, and while I climbed in, he sat next to Melanie, laying his gun across the rear floorboard while she stared at his new face. “We’re in. Go!” he shouted, and Anabelle stomped on the gas again. The tires spun beneath us and gravel sprayed the ground. Finally rubber found purchase on what was left of the road, and our stolen car shot off into the dark, leaving the lights of New Temperance behind.
“Okay, Finn and I have a lot to tell you both,” I said, twisting to stand on my knees in the front seat, facing backward. “And we have more friends for you to meet. But first, say goodbye to everything you’ve ever known.” I pointed out the rear windshield.
Mellie turned to look, and Anabelle stared into the rearview mirror.
It took great effort for me to turn away from the glass. Away from the ruin of my own past. But as Finn’s hand settled over mine on the cracked upholstery of the seat back between us, I understood that my future lay ahead, as uncertain—and possibly as shrouded in darkness—as the black expanse of badlands spread out before us.
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
Thanks to my amazing agent, Merrilee Heifetz, who makes things happen.
Thanks to my new editor, Wendy Loggia at Delacorte Press, who championed this book all the way into print.
Thanks, as always, to my critique partner, Rinda Elliott, who saw several versions of the beginning of this book, only a few passages of which made it into the final text. Your input is invaluable.
Many thanks to the awesome Rachel Clarke for a criticial early read.
A big thank-you to Jennifer Lynn Barnes, for Panera writing days, company, and advice. There is no scene that cannot be conquered with a little caffeine and a bowl of soup.
And finally, thanks to everyone at Random House who has worked on The Stars Never Rise. Your dedication and experience are greatly appreciated.
Rachel Vincent is the New York Times bestselling author of many books for adults and for teens, including the Shifters, Unbound, and Soul Screamer series. A resident of Oklahoma, she has two teenagers, two cats, and a BA in English, each of which contributes in some way to every book she writes. When she’s not working, Rachel can be found curled up with a book or watching movies and playing video games with her husband.
Visit Rachel online at
rachelvincent.com
Follow Rachel Vincent on
Rachel Vincent, The Stars Never Rise
Thank you for reading books on BookFrom.Net Share this book with friends