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Back Fractured Save as PDF
Chapters (42)
  1. TITLE PAGE
  2. COPYRIGHT PAGE
  3. DEDICATION PAGE
  4. CONTENTS
  5. ONE
  6. TWO
  7. THREE
  8. FOUR
  9. FIVE
  10. SIX
  11. SEVEN
  12. EIGHT
  13. NINE
  14. TEN
  15. ELEVEN
  16. TWELVE
  17. THIRTEEN
  18. FOURTEEN
  19. FIFTEEN
  20. SIXTEEN
  21. SEVENTEEN
  22. EIGHTEEN
  23. NINETEEN
  24. TWENTY
  25. TWENTY-ONE
  26. TWENTY-TWO
  27. TWENTY-THREE
  28. TWENTY-FOUR
  29. TWENTY-FIVE
  30. TWENTY-SIX
  31. TWENTY-SEVEN
  32. TWENTY-EIGHT
  33. TWENTY-NINE
  34. THIRTY
  35. THIRTY-ONE
  36. THIRTY-TWO
  37. THIRTY-THREE
  38. THIRTY-FOUR
  39. THIRTY-FIVE
  40. THIRTY-SIX
  41. ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
  42. ABOUT THE AUTHOR

My nostrils flared as I squeezed the steering wheel … much like I wanted to be squeezing Jim’s neck. Malachi touched my arm. “Are you hurt?”

“No.” I had a feeling if I mentioned the way that Jim had shoved me, Malachi would gut him.

My Lieutenant pivoted in his seat. “You violated her orders, didn’t you?” he asked in a deadly calm voice.

“I chased it,” Jim said defensively.

“That’s insubordination,” Malachi snarled. “You might have alerted the Mazikin to our presence in the area. And you endangered our Captain.”

I reached for Malachi’s hand, which was clenched in a tight fist. It loosened slightly at my touch.

“She’s fine,” Jim mumbled.

“No thanks to you, it seems,” said Henry. “Jim, your actions affect more than just yourself. We all have to help each other, or else someone’s going to get killed.”

Jim punched the ceiling of the car. “Shut up!”

“This isn’t the first time you’ve disobeyed orders,” Malachi guessed. “I would bet that it is not the first time you’ve endangered another Guard either.”

“Stop!” Jim shouted, a frantic edge in his voice. “You don’t know anything about me!”

We were slowing down for a red light when Jim threw the door open and jumped out. I slammed on the brakes. Jim was a mess as he stumbled onto the sidewalk, his eyes red-rimmed, his chest heaving. He hesitated for a moment, staring back at me, and then turned on his heel and sprinted away.

“He may be able to outrun us,” Henry said quietly. “But there’s no way that kid can outrun all his demons.”

SIX

SIX

WE SPENT NEARLY FOUR hours driving around town looking for Jim before we gave up and headed back to the Station. Although I’d hoped for some time alone with Malachi, we were all exhausted and down after losing one of our Guards, and I left to go back to Diane’s with nothing but a squeeze of his hand and a lingering stare that made me wish we were regular kids without the weight of the world on our shoulders.

I fell into bed at two and got up at seven even though it was a Saturday, eager to shed my dreams of being locked in a car with Jim, who was driving the wrong way on I-95, steering our car toward the headlights of an oncoming semi. I showered and sat at the breakfast table, letting my cereal get soggy as I scrolled through not one but three texts from Ian that had come in after I’d sunk into a heavy, exhausted sleep.

2:17 a.m.: Got yr number from Teg. Aden ran off. Seen him? Plz lemme no

2:29 a.m.: Still in area? Cant find Aden. Msg me if u have ideas where to look

3:34 a.m.: Found him. Sry for bothering u