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Back Dark Stars Save as PDF
Chapters (51)
  1. Cover
  2. Dedication
  3. Part One
  4. 1
  5. 2
  6. 3
  7. 4
  8. 5
  9. 6
  10. 7
  11. 8
  12. 9
  13. 10
  14. 11
  15. 12
  16. Part Two
  17. 13
  18. 14
  19. 15
  20. 16
  21. 17
  22. 18
  23. 19
  24. Part Three
  25. 20
  26. 21
  27. 22
  28. 23
  29. 24
  30. 25
  31. 26
  32. 27
  33. 28
  34. 29
  35. 30
  36. Part Four
  37. 31
  38. 32
  39. 33
  40. 34
  41. 35
  42. 36
  43. 37
  44. 38
  45. Part Five
  46. 39
  47. Acknowledgments
  48. About the Author
  49. Books by Danielle Rollins
  50. Back Ad
  51. About the Publisher

Ash moved his eyes away from Mac for a fraction of a second, squinting to find Dorothy in the darkness.

“Wait, please!” She was crouching a few steps below him, a thin line of blood cutting across her face. She fumbled with something in her cloak, and Ash heard a sound like scraping metal. “I have the exotic matter right here. I’m telling you the truth—”

A gunshot cracked through the air, and a bullet caught Ash on the arm, spinning him around. Grimacing, Ash tightened his grip on his gun, firing back. He felt dazed, overwhelmed with disgust and fury.

He pressed a hand to his injured arm, breathing hard through his teeth. He could already feel the blood soaking his shirt.

Bullets whizzed past Ash’s legs and hit the wall behind him. Ping. Ping. Ash managed to crack off a single shot before the third got him in his thumb—bright white burst of pain—and then he was jerking his hand back, and his gun was thwacking into the ground.

He ducked back behind the Fairmont wall, chest rising and falling, heavily. Shit.

“Mac, please,” Dorothy was saying, “Listen to reason!”

Ash thought he heard another gunshot, a thud. Despite everything, horror flooded through him. He peeked around the edge of the wall.

The exotic matter was lying on the ground three feet away. He didn’t see Dorothy anywhere.

He moved his eyes back to the exotic matter. It was too far for him to reach. If he wanted it, he’d have to lunge for it.

It was only three feet away. Not far at all. He could make it. Probably.

The muscles in his leg tensed. His heart beat hard and fast in his chest.

He dived—

The second his hands closed around the EM, he heard a click. He looked up and saw Mac standing on the Fairmont stairs a few feet above him, one hand curled around Dorothy’s shoulders, his gun aimed at her head.

Smiling, Mac said, “Hand that over, son, or your girl dies.”

33

Dorothy

Dorothy held her body perfectly still, trying to breathe despite the cold press of the gun at her temple. The Freaks had stopped shooting. They stood in a loose circle around the three of them, glancing at one another anxiously, eager to see what was going to happen next. Dorothy found Donovan and Bennett in the crowd and was pleased to see that they looked worried. Eliza stood a few feet ahead of them, looking excited by the potential for bloodshed. Dorothy couldn’t stand to look at them, and so she shifted her gaze to the woman in black, who stood still as a shadow, saying nothing.

Everything is a con, she thought. Her fingers twitched.

“What’ll it be, kid?” Mac said gleefully. “You going to hand me that canister nicely? Or do I put a bullet in her pretty little head?”