Anger and maybe even a touch of fear flashes across his face. “For being an alien. You are not the most accepting lot.”

“Why are you surprised at this?” I ask. Seems I’m not the only naive one around here. “After everything you’ve seen, did you really think they’d let him go? You know how things work around here.”

“I do…but… he hasn’t done anything.”

“Nothing except being non-native to this planet,” says Lir. “Would not be the first instance of the human superiority complex. You have destroyed your planet and much of your race and yet you believe we are the enemy.”

“Aren’t you? You came to our planet—”

“The planet you did not bother to take care of.”

“Our city—”

“That you were no longer able to manage. There is plenty of space here now, why can you not share?” Lir stands face to face with Emily, glaring, his words edged with anger.

Emily doesn’t back down. “Why couldn’t you stay on your own planet? Why are you here?”

Lir breaks her gaze and his eyes shift to the side. “We have our reasons.”

I throw my hands up. “Why the hell are you guys arguing? None of this is helpful. Emily, they’re here and they have Jace, that’s all that matters.” I turn to Lir and poke him in the chest with one finger. “And you… drop it. Seems like you have your own complex. Stop lumping all humans together. Most of us weren’t even alive during the Collapse and had no part in any of it.” Lir smirks and Emily looks at me in surprise. “What?”

Emily’s eyes flick from my face down to my hand— which is once again lingering too long on Lir’s chest. It’s one thing for me to allow others to touch me, a completely different thing for me to touch someone else and, once again, I’ve unconsciously touched Lir. What is wrong with me? Even after… I pull my hand back quickly, like it burns. Maybe it actually does a little because my face heats up.

I direct my gaze to the wall. “Can we just get on with it? We’re wasting time.” The steam of my irritation flows out and my shoulders droop. “Who knows what they’re doing to Jace.”

EIGHT

It ends up that Emily calls the guards down to “help us with the unruly prisoner,” Lir knocks them out and I tie them up. Simple enough really once the two of them stopped arguing and we worked it out. Emily is staying behind. She’s tied up too, better to sell the story that the alien escaped with me as a hostage. That way no one will get in any real trouble, except me— hopefully.

Lir and I slip up the stairs and into the open air. As soon as he’s outside Lir takes a big breath and lets it out slowly. “Smells much better out here,” he says.

There’s really nothing for me to say to that. I’m glad he’s enjoying his freedom, but we don’t have time to waste.

I grab his shirt and pull him in the direction of the packs and the West gate. The moon rests behind a cloud and there’s little light to navigate with, but we manage. He follows close behind me, darting in between buildings, and hiding in doorways. We try to avoid the main street, but are forced to travel the last few blocks on it after making a quick detour to grab the satchel. There aren’t many people, in fact, we’ve only seen six and they were guards on patrol. The festival must still be going on.

An open grassy area stretches between the edge of the last building and the gate. Unfortunately, it’s also well lit by two lampposts on either side of the gate. I scan the surroundings.

No guards in sight. Where are they? There’s always someone on duty. There. A shape to the left of the gate pulls my attention. Only one guard tonight and he’s sitting against the wall, looking in the opposite direction.

The packs are waiting behind a bush along the wall to the right, about twenty feet from the gate and thirty feet from the guard. He may look like he’s not paying much attention, but I’m not going to risk both of us getting caught. I glide to the right, my back pressed against the building. Once I am directly across from where the packs are supposed to be, I take a cautious step forward. Lir steps up behind me and I shake my head, pointing at him and then back at the building. He nods and fades back into the shadows.

Quick and careful steps bring me to the bush and I sit down beside it, out of the sight line of the guard farther down. The rustle of the branches makes me cringe, but I have no choice, I’ve got to get the packs. Not only for the food and water they contain, but I damn sure can’t waltz around in the woods in a dress. I can’t wait to get back into a pair of pants. My wardrobe will have to wait though, at least until we’re well away from here.

The guard is just sitting there, not even scanning the area. What is going on? I’m pretty sure Dane wouldn’t put up with that level of incompetence. Something isn’t right and a twinge of anxiety creeps down my back. Lir slides up to the wall beside me, startling me into nearly screaming. As it is, I jump and then turn to glare at him.

“What are you doing? I told you to wait.” The whisper hisses past my teeth.

“That guy is not going anywhere.” He points toward the guard.

I follow his finger and really study the guard leaning against the wall. He’s not moving and, now that I think about it, he hasn’t moved since I first observed him. Is he sleeping? I shoulder one of the packs and skirt around the bush and press close to the wall on the other side. Slow side steps take me closer to the gate and the guard. Lir mimics my actions behind me, joining me in scooting closer.

The caution isn’t necessary. Ten feet closer and I can already tell the guard is dead, his head tilted at an unnatural angle. I should be relieved. I’m not. Instead my muscles tense up and my eyes move around my surroundings in short, quick movements. Whoever did this might still be here and they aren’t someone I want to run in to. Even more concerning is that the body is going to draw attention to this gate, the one I so carefully planned to take to throw them off our trail.

There’s no time to slink along the wall to the next gate, the festival will be wrapping up soon and people will be headed back to their homes for the night. There really isn’t even time for me to be standing here thinking. No other choice then. I’ll find another way to throw them off. Grabbing Lir’s arm, I run the last few feet to the gate and slip through.

* * * * * * *

We’ve been making fast progress away from Bridgelake for what feels like forever, but in reality is probably only a couple hours or so. There should be plenty of time for us to make our escape. Emily said the guards don’t switch over until morning so our escape won’t be discovered until then. Our westerly direction, away from the city, should help keep them off our tail as long as the dead guard doesn’t give us away. That is, if Dane actually cares about retrieving me. It’s not like he was very concerned about Jace.

The weight of the day’s events is catching up to me and my steps are slowing. We walk in silence, the sound of the forest surrounding us and the occasional twig breaking underfoot. I mumble an apology when a small branch swings back after I push by and hits Lir. He mumbles something in return. Small talk is not my specialty and it doesn’t appear to be his either. The lingering quiet between us unnerves me, sending doubts flooding into my mind.

What have I gotten myself into? Now that I really have time to stop and think, or at least concentrate on thinking, I realize I have no idea what I’m doing, not really. The combination of hope and adrenaline that has been keeping me going is fading, leaving me with nothing but a very vague goal to work towards. Yes, I’m going to get Jace back, but how?

The increased anxiety speeds my steps until Lir falls behind. My feet beat out a steady cadence. Step. Breath. Step. Breath. What if I should have waited for Flint? Step. What if the alien is dangerous? Breath. What if I’m too late? Step. What happened to the dead guard? Breath. What if Jace is dead? What if—