BooksBarbecue
Back Unleashed Save as PDF
Chapters (56)
  1. Front Cover
  2. Title Page
  3. Copyright
  4. Contents
  5. Part One
  6. 1
  7. 2
  8. 3
  9. 4
  10. 5
  11. 6
  12. 7
  13. 8
  14. 9
  15. 10
  16. 11
  17. 12
  18. Part Two
  19. 13
  20. 14
  21. 15
  22. 16
  23. 17
  24. 18
  25. 19
  26. 20
  27. Part Three
  28. 21
  29. 22
  30. 23
  31. 24
  32. 25
  33. 26
  34. Part Four
  35. 27
  36. 28
  37. 29
  38. 30
  39. 31
  40. 32
  41. 33
  42. 34
  43. 35
  44. Part Five
  45. 36
  46. 37
  47. 38
  48. 39
  49. 40
  50. 41
  51. 42
  52. 43
  53. Epilogue
  54. Acknowledgments
  55. About the Author
  56. Back Cover

Mom pulls me close, kissing on the forehead. “No. But he still needs to answer for what his son did. Stealing your baku. If he wanted Jinx back, he should have gone through the proper channels. And his son’s actions ended up with you in the hospital. Plus, the nerve of sending his security team to interrogate us the night I get you back! Parent to parent, he needs to talk to me.”

We both jump as Petal starts shaking and vibrating, a strange sequence of lights flashing up and down her butterfly body.

“Time for an update, it looks like,” says Mom. “I swear, these updates are getting more and more frequent… They keep adding all these new features and apps to Petal. One day I’m worried I won’t be able to keep up.” She gestures to her baku, who connects to the leash that snakes around her ear. Petal settles into a more comfortable position on her shoulder, and the flashing lights change to a single pulsing green to indicate her charge.

“Good night, Lacey. And don’t worry. I’ll get in touch with Eric and talk to him while you’re at school on Monday.”

School. Profectus. I’d almost forgotten. I’m excited to go back and see my friends and get back to normal. It will be different without Jinx, but I hope he’s somewhere safe. I won’t have to worry about him reading my thoughts anymore. I won’t have to hear his voice in my head, disrupting my train of thought. I won’t have to keep getting into trouble because of things he did, not under my command.

I try and convince myself that is a good thing.

Who am I kidding? With Jinx gone, I feel like I’m missing a piece of my heart.

How am I supposed to live without him?

5

When I wake up on Monday morning, it’s still pitch-black outside. “What’s the time, Slick?” I ask my baku.

>>It’s 5:05 a.m.

Oof, that’s early. But I can’t go back to sleep. I lay awake, staring at the ceiling, dwelling on snippets of dreams that seem more like memories. I take myself back to Moncha HQ and the fight with Carter. I can picture that much more clearly now: the large room where Carter was holding a caged Jinx, backed up by the fearsome security panthers. I had backup too: Toby and the rest of my baku battle teammates, Kai, River, and Ashley.

I remember Slick helping me to free Jinx by removing the black mark on his paw. It was a device that disabled Jinx’s movement. I remember holding Jinx in my arms and preparing to run away with Tobias and the rest of the team. But then he wriggles out of my grasp and runs away.