BooksBarbecue
Back Rapture
Chapters (55)
  1. Cover
  2. Title Page
  3. Dedication
  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. 13.
  17. 14.
  18. 15.
  19. 16.
  20. 17.
  21. 18.
  22. 19.
  23. 20.
  24. 21.
  25. 22.
  26. 23.
  27. 24.
  28. 25.
  29. 26.
  30. 27.
  31. 28.
  32. 29.
  33. 30.
  34. 31.
  35. 32.
  36. 33.
  37. 34.
  38. 35.
  39. 36.
  40. 37.
  41. 38.
  42. 39.
  43. 40.
  44. 41.
  45. 42.
  46. 43.
  47. 44.
  48. 45.
  49. 46.
  50. 47.
  51. 48.
  52. 49.
  53. 50.
  54. ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
  55. ABOUT THE AUTHOR

“Avengers,” the woman said. “We have come to avenge the lives you took.”

“There has been some mistake.” My God, Rhys thought, I am a thousand miles from Nasheen and they have bloody bel dames out here? Would he never be free of them?

“We don’t pass judgment. We merely collect,” the woman said. “Your fate will be decided by Circle Bavaja.”

“And if I don’t agree to come with you?”

“You will come with us.”

He glanced from one set of dusty desert eyes to another. Their expressions were all shrouded, indecipherable.

He tensed. Then he turned. Tried to break away from their circle.

He wasn’t sure where he was going, what he would do. He just needed to get away. Far away. Back to Elahyiah. His family. He meant to put it all right.

Something heavy thudded into his back before he got three paces. He stumbled. Fell. Pain radiated deeply across his lower back. It was like someone had skewered him with a flaming brand.

He tried to claw forward, but the women were already there, one at each elbow. Black pain bit at his consciousness.

“Elahyiah,” he said, and that was all.

16.

When Kage dreamed, it was of cool, dark spaces. Soft voices. Walls that hemmed her in, close enough for her to reach out and touch. Comforting. Her perfect world was a smooth crevice at the back of a cave. She knew her way around the dark. For her, the nightmare was the desert. Wide-open, unobstructed views. Big, bold sky.

As the road turned to gravel, then hard-packed sand, it was still dark outside, and comforting. But as the sun rose and the way smoothed out she realized they were headed toward a vast expanse of absolute nothingness. It was like being devoured by some great-mouthed monster with an unfathomable appetite. The desert scrub grass and rocky protrusions quickly became hard-baked brown playa. Flat. Limitless. The vast lavender sky met the brown desert in every direction, as far as she could see. It was terrifying and unsettling. She gripped her gun close. After a time, she found that the most comforting thing she could think to do was stare hard at the seat in front of her.

The first time Kage slept under the open air, she was thirteen and still raw and sore from her blooding the day before. It all started happening at once, for girls, after the blooding.