Chapter One
2097
Somewhere east of the Mississippi
North America
Hell of a raging storm.
Crashing.
Thundering.
Pounding. No…footsteps. Behind them.
Move!
Get her out of here. Get Blue out! Now.
“Fuck,” Devin McCrae swore through his teeth and huffed out a quick breath. How did they find her? Find them?
Doesn’t matter. They did. Got to move. Now!
No time.
He was in no frame of mind for this. Not today. Too tired. Too spent. Too much running the past month.
Thought they were safe.
Shit!
Rain. Pelting. Stinging his face.
Damn!
Can’t see. Too dark. What happened to the moon?
No safe place.
None.
Should have known better.
Zingpht!
Shots? Laser rifle. He ducked, pushed her, slammed into the ground on top of her. Mud oozed around them. She grunted and he was pretty sure he’d knocked the wind out of her. Damn it. He didn’t think they would shoot in the dark. Didn’t think they’d risk hitting her.
Get up. Get up!
He dragged her. Pulled her. Protesting. Scared.
Difficult to run in the mud now. Good. Harder for them, too. Tracks would be sloppy. The creek. Had to get there. A few more miles. All he needed.
Get to Betatakin. Soon. Her father’s words rang in his ears. Over and over.
Tired.
Tired of running.
She was, too. He knew that.
But it was her life.
Now his.
And there was nothing either of them could do about it.
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