Page 2 of Bones
“Without bones, you’d be nothin’ more than a puddle of muck on the ground, boy,” Juck said, his voice a quiet rebuke.
Vulture flushed and scowled.
“What’s your name, girl?” Juck asked.
She swallowed hard, but her name stuck in her throat like a rock. The girl she’d been was as good as dead, so who was she now? “Don’t got one.”
“How old are you?” Vulture asked, still scowling. “Seven?”
She flashed him a fierce look. “I’m ten, asshole.”
Vulture snorted, and she clenched her fists hard enough to make her nails bite into her palms.
“Don’t got a name, huh?” Juck smiled. “Well, you do now, Bones.”
He moved quickly, just like when he’d drawn his gun and shot Grip. She tensed when he grabbed her around the waist and lifted her, but she didn’t fight. He settled her onto his bike in front of him and gripped his handlebars, his arms closing her in like steel bars.
“Let’s git,” he said, a triumphant smile playing across his face. He revved the bike, then took off with a jerk.
She gripped the seat, clinging to the cracked leather, and didn’t look back.
“The gods sent an angel, all for me,” Juck said reverently in her ear.
She didn’t correct him, but she knew Wolf would have laughed himself sick at the thought of her being an angel. The wind whipped the tears out of her eyes and left them somewhere behind along with her name.
She was Bones, Wolf was gone, and the only kind of angel she could ever possibly be was an angel of death.
1
Twelve Years Later
Unfortunately, I wasn’t going to bleed to death.
The blood trickling down my face for hours from the big gash in my temple had stopped. If it’d been anyone else, I would’ve called that a good sign, but I wasn’t sure what was coming for me. There was a damn good chance I was better off slowly bleeding to death in the dark.
I leaned my head back, letting it thud against the metal wall. I saton the floor of an empty safe, just large enough for me to sit with my legs crossed. Zip ties secured my hands behind my back, the plastic leaving raw welts on my wrists.
If you’re captured, don’t fight ’em. They’ll think you’re weak. Use that against ’em.
I know, Wolf. I panicked, ok?
The mercenaries had snuck up on my sad little camp under cover of the thick trees. I hadn’t seen them until they were on top of me, and instead of playing dumb like I should have, I panicked.
If you’re outnumbered, do not try to fight,Wolf growled.
There'd been six of them and one of me, but I did manage to fling red-hot coals in one asshole’s face and leave my only knife buried in another’s thigh.
Never give up your only weapon!Wolf barked.
Gods, will you shut up already?
If I’d kept my head, they probably would’ve locked me in a regular room, but since I fought and injured them just enough to piss them off, they threw me in this godsforsaken safe.
The worst part was not knowingwhy.Did they know me? Did a bounty for me exist already? Or was I just lucky enough to get picked up by traffickers? I smiled humorlessly. Gods, wouldn’t that be fitting?
The dim light and lack of interaction made it difficult to tell how much time had passed, but I would guess I’d been in here for more than a day. My stomach ached with hunger and my throat burned with thirst. Had they forgotten about me? Had they all been killed in a fight? Had I been left to waste away in a metal coffin?
I’d fallen into a half-asleep daze when a noise by the door startled me. I sat in the pitch black, my heart pounding and adrenaline flooding my veins, but the door didn’t open. The scraping sounds and muffled voices continued for a long time, and dread began to pool in my stomach. The mercs didn’t have any trouble locking it when they threw me in here. My eyes widened in sudden realization. These people weren’tunlockingthe safe, they werepickingit. I strained, trying to hear the conversation, but a soft clicking sound made me freeze and then all the gears turned, and the thick door swung open. I forced myself to slump over with my eyes closed and my heart in my throat.
