She stood in the shadow of the trees, blood dripping from her hand. With cautious steps, she moved into the light toward the small, silent shack. Even though there hadn’t been trouble in years, she was taking no chances. She looked around once more before opening the door and stepping inside.

“Rea?”

Rea rushed over and helped her mother sit up. “Slowly, Momma.” Keeping a hand on her shoulder, she knelt in front of her.

Her mother reached out to lay a gentle hand on her face. “I was worried, you were gone a long while.”

Rea motioned to the table where she’d dropped her kill. “Rabbits are getting scarce here.” She pulled the blanket up and tucked it around her mother’s shoulders. “We may have to move to a new area soon.” Rea moved over to stir the coals in the fireplace. “It’s getting too populated here.” Her mother’s cough had her turning back. It was getting worse by the day. Quickly she moved to ladle out a cup of water from the bucket and bring it to her mother.

Sipping the water, her mother took a few breaths, waiting for the spasm to clear before speaking. “I’m not going to be making any more moves, love.”

Rea looked at the tattered gloves on her hands. “We could go into town with people—or, or I could go into town and get an elixir. If you’d let me help…”

“No, Rea. You’ve been doing that for too many years now.” She shook her head. “I’m tired. I’ve lived lifetimes more than most.”

Unwilling to let her mother see the tears in her eyes, Rea turned away. “Do you regret it?” She glanced over to see her mother sitting on the cot, that faraway look on her face again. She sat down at the table.

“Staying?’ Her voice was shaky, “no, not for a second.”

Her mother’s health had been declining for the last ten years. When she was young, before her ability developed, they’d stayed around people so her mother could feed. Once they realized Rea couldn’t touch people… their lives became a blur, always on the move, never staying anywhere too long. She paused skinning the rabbit to look around the small shack. As dismal as it was, they’d lived in worse places. “Tell me about it again, Momma.” She knew the story by heart, but it always lifted her mother’s spirit to tell her about where she came from, and how she met her father.

“I’d never been to this side before.” She exhaled a loud breath, “we were advised to delay coming over until after the war. We knew we shouldn’t come, but then we would have forfeited our turn and would have to wait for the selection, hoping that our names were drawn again.”

Rea didn’t interrupt when her mother paused, she knew she was reliving the emotions of the past.

“They made certain we’d come out in a safe area…” she made a noise of exasperation, “or as safe as any place could be. Kin fighting kin, it was madness. You know all of this, Rea…”

Rea pulled off her blood-soaked gloves and pulled on clean cotton ones, then got up to add some wood to the fire. “I know it, but I could hear it every day and never tire of it, Momma.” She straightened up and looked at her. “Do you think your friends went back over?” Her mother’s memory didn’t always work lately, so anything Rea could do to help, she did.

Her mother blew out a breath. “I imagine they did.” She shook her head. “I cursed myself for a week when we were separated.”

Rea went back to the table and began to slice the flesh from her kill. “Would you truly have been arrested if someone had seen your devices?”

“Our porters? Yes. The light bulb didn’t exist over here, not for fifteen years after we came over. Technology like our porters would have created chaos and worries of conspiracy…”

“I heard talk they have electricity in the city now.”

Her mother smiled. “That is something I have missed.”

“I hope to see it someday.” Read admitted.

“You will, daughter. You’re going to live long enough to see many amazing changes in this world. Rea—I want you to do what you have to in order to survive and keep going. Never look back.”

Rea picked up the pan, full of cleaned rabbit, and placed it on the fire to brown the meat. She couldn’t listen to her mother speak of when she was no longer there. “Do you think I’ll live as long as you have?”

“You could live much longer than I. Your father was quite a relic when we met.” She chuckled softly, “his words, not mine. I’m not sure how old he was, precisely.”

The sizzling of the meat was the only sound in the small space for a few moments.

“All three of us gave our porters to Synova to keep in her clutch. I hadn’t thought to bring one, or you wouldn’t exist.” She made a soft noise, “I’m glad I forgot.” Another pause. “My only regret was I never did get to see the new kings. Your grandmother said they were blond and beautiful. The whole realm was alight with the promise of the prophecy being realized.”

Using a cloth, Rea took the pan off the heat and set it on the table. Opening the cupboard, she hoped there were enough potatoes to turn the meal into a stew. “Do you think my father is still alive?” Rea knew anything was possible.

Her mother made a soft sound. “I don’t know. Our love was forbidden since time began. When they found out we were together, they took him away. He would have loved you with all of his heart.”

Rea looked over to see her mother laying back down.

“Don’t go near any with eyes as dark as coal, Rea, you are the result of a love that shouldn’t have been.” Her mother closed her eyes. “I don’t know what would happen to you if they found out.”

Rea watched her breathing settle. “I won’t, Momma.” She whispered.

Waiting a few more minutes, until her breathing was the steady rhythm of sleep, Rea pulled the gloves from her hands and went over to her mother. Kneeling down, she placed her hand on her mothers’ neck, as she did each time she slept. Rea knew it wasn’t what her mother wanted, but she wasn’t ready to face the world without her. “I’m sorry, Momma,” she whispered under her breath, “I need you too much to let you go.”

Hugging the bag gently against my chest, I ran up the last few stairs and pulled the door open. Loud voices had me crouching down behind the steel barrier. Why were they up here? No one came up here anymore.

With my chin hovering close to the dirty cement, I looked around to see if I could see where they were. This parking garage was rarely used. Maybe the first level once in a while, not the top two. People in this neighborhood couldn’t afford cars. It was barricaded off for a reason.

Taking off my backpack, I opened it and worked the bag into it. My bread was going to be smushed now, and if the juice carton was punctured, I’d have a backpack of soggy fruit punch flavored bread. Doing up the zip, I put the backpack on, making sure the straps were tight. I wasn’t impressed. At all. It had taken me two days of helping at the clinic to make the money to buy this food and a new pair of gloves. I looked at my new leather gloves. They were almost as important as food to me.

Sighing, I peeked around the barrier again. There was a group of men, a trace of black all around them, so bad men. They were herding six others into the corner of the garage. The same corner I needed to use to get where I lived. The six people were scared, rightly so, judging by the size of a few of those men. Three women, a young girl, a little boy, and a man stood in the corner huddled together. What kind of shake-down was this? Over a dozen douche bags against a few scared people.

I looked the men over, they weren’t from any gang I recognized. There were no colors, logos or symbols showing, and they were carrying barbaric weapons. Seriously, carrying swords in this day and age? It was like a role play group gone wrong. I looked back at the door wondering if I could get out without being spotted? I could just wait it out in the stairwell and sit at the top until they left.

I closed my eyes berated myself—because turning the other cheek and pretending life was sweetly full of roses and pretty rainbows was so not in my DNA. I moved to the other end of the barrier and tried to find somewhere better to hide without being seen. I had no idea of what I could do against that many men, but I hadn’t done anything stupidly heroic in a few months, so why not think about it? YOLO, right? You only live once. As far as I knew, that was true.

If I could move without making a sound, I could get to the large pillar and move into the dark corner behind the stairwell. If, was the key negative word pretending to be hopeful. It always led to thinking things were possible. Rolling my eyes at my own ridiculousness, I held the small pouch at my side, so the chain didn’t jingle. As long as they kept griping at each other, I shouldn’t be heard.

I watched and waited for the best opportunity, mentally psyching myself up to succeed. When the focus turned to the big guy in the middle, I hunched down and hurried toward the pillar. I probably looked like a waddling duck, but I was going to pretend I was moving gracefully and undetected across the floor.

Reaching the pillar, I braced against it before bending down to look around it. No one was looking at me. Good job, Rea. I touched my shoulder and gave it a pat. Another quick look and I made a split-second decision to rush to the dark corner.

As soon as I reached the dark, I ducked down, just about to lean back against the wall before I remembered my bread in my pack. I rested my arm against the wall instead.

A very unhappy looking man waved his hands around.

“Why here?” He demanded.

“In case it has escaped your notice, we’re running out of concealed locations.” The man in the middle replied tersely. “This place is hidden in plain sight.”

The first man snorted, “well, if it’s going to be a regular drop off location, we need to have chairs while we wait.”

“Yes, your comfort will be our top priority. I’ll bring it up at the next meeting.” Was the sarcastic response.

“I think we should call, Nathas, they’re late.” Another man said while holding up his phone.

Nathas, the man in the center of the men, nodded, “message them first, it might be poor timing for a call.” He turned to a man leaning against a pillar, his arms crossed over his chest. “You’re sure about this bunch?”

The man nodded, then turned and looked over the scared people in the corner. “It’s faint, but they have the right genes somewhere in their history.”

Nathas smiled briefly. “Good.”

I looked back at the man watching their captives. His eyes were as dark as coal. I debated about getting out of here, Momma’s warning in my mind. Even if it put me at risk, I knew I couldn’t do it. My shoulders slumped as I sighed silently.

I didn’t know what genes had to do with anything. I did know I was outnumbered, more bad dudes were on the way, and I could see no way I could get all six people away from these men. I didn’t know if they were a family, but there was no harm in romanticizing that it was a family huddled together—the family were about three feet away from my bungee. If I could get through the large men to them, I could grab one child, get over the railing and bungee down to my place. Probably. Hopefully. That half-baked plan left the other five with them and the role-playing failures would know where I lived.

~

Time for a new plan I shook my head. I had no other plan. I pulled out a chain from my pack, slowly to let it pool soundlessly beside me. My wannabe surujin wasn’t going to be enough to get through all six men. I could probably trip up two, maybe three, but then what? Aside from cussing and sticking out my tongue. I had no other skills. I was purely a defensive ‘run away’ type of person, entirely self-taught.

I clenched my teeth together, growling inside my head. All I wanted was a jam sandwich and a glass of juice. Now, I going to be eating squished, misshapen bread and had to skulk around in this corner until they left as I watched them abduct the family/nonfamily they held captive.

The little girl was crying. Dammit.

Noise from loud footfalls coming up the ramp jerked my head around to watch. Their friends had arrived. A blonde woman charged at one of them, growling out a battle cry. Okay. Not friends. I watched for a moment as several more people appeared. They were also carrying barbaric weapons, but they were using them against the original creeps, so I decided that was a better option.

“Nathas Roan, you’re a traitorous bastard.” A large redheaded man bellowed.

Two of the women skidded to a stop and turned to see who the redhead was looking at. The one with the black hair rushed toward him. “I’ve got his feet.” She told the other woman. She stopped a few feet from him and held out her hand toward him.

The blonde woman beside her snarled. “I’ve got his face.” She did this little jump in the air and spun around and kicked him in the face. He went down, just catching himself before his face hit the floor.

“What the Hell?” I whispered, in awe of what she’d done. I needed to learn that.

A tiny redheaded woman came out of the shadows, with bright orange sparks coming off her hands. I looked at my gloved hand, deciding I was in no place to judge. I watched her toss a flaming ball at the one they called Nathas, and he hit the floor.

“Leone.” The tiny redhead said.

“Trying.” One of the new arrivals grunted as he blocked the swing of a sword with his own much larger sword.

“I got him.” The blonde woman that had rushed into the group ran toward Nathas, still being beat on. She slid toward him holding a box in her hand. I thought she was going to shock him, but instead he vanished.

Vanished.

Gone without a trace.

I swallowed. Okay that was a bit freakier than I was comfortable with, and freaky was my very existence.

The women spun toward those fighting.

I noticed two other women standing in front of the abducted family. One was flicking nun-chucks back and forth, the other squatted down with a large blade in her hand. A man rushed for them, sword in hand when an arrow came out of nowhere and hit him. He crumpled to the floor.

I leaned around the corner and looked up. Standing up and leaning over the railing was a woman with a bow. Swords, bows, knives, nun-chucks and flying balls of fire. What the actual F was going on? Usually I was the only oddity in the room.

“Quinton!”

I turned back to see one of the good barbarians crumple to the floor. He was holding his side.

“I’m fine.” He growled. “Get that bastard.”

The man with black hair, nodded and turned to the man holding a blood-soaked sword.

I bit my lip and told myself absolutely not. They had this. It was probably just a small flesh wound. I moved out of the dark to one of the pillars, I saw a man running across the cement toward the one laying on the ground. The injured man shifted, trying to pick up his sword as he held his side.

Without debate, I ran out from my cover, swinging the surujin as I went. When I was close enough, I flung it toward the attacker that was about to impale the injured man. It wrapped around his ankle, I jerked and he fell face-first onto the hard surface. Letting go of the chain’s handle, I ran past him to the injured man.

Jerking my gloves off, I grabbed the leather and tried to pull it away from his bloodied body. “You’ll be fine.” I told him, pulling the knife from its sheath at his side I used it to rip the leather of his vest apart.

He had a large slice in his side. I put both hands on it and pushed. “You’ll be fine.” I told him again, then glanced to his face. Brown eyes stared at me, with fear. “It’s okay.” I nodded. The brown hair hanging in my face started to turn to grey, I jerked my head, flipping it out of the way. I felt the draw, it was strong. Maybe I’d underestimated how bad his injury was. It must have been life-threatening to take this much energy for me to heal it.

“Stop.” He told me, terror in his eyes.

I offered him a brief look, I didn’t want him to see my eyes turning black. The blood stopped flowing out between my fingers. “It’s slowing, you’ll be fine.”

“Stop.” He growled and grabbed my wrists, trying to pull my hands free of him.

“Rafael, blueish-grey hair.” Someone screeched.

“Victor, no.” A blond man slid beside me and put his arm in front of me. “I had a vision of her.”

A pain went through my chest. I couldn’t heal him further. Pulling my hands away, I grabbed my gloves and stood up. I stumbled a few steps. I’d used far too much energy on him. Brushing past the woman kneeling down beside the injured man, I ran for the corner, hoping I had enough energy to get there.

“Stop her!” Someone yelled.

I grabbed the bungee and swung my leg over the railing. Holding on with all I had, I jumped over the edge. I misjudged and released too soon, then fell to my back on the roof below. So much for my bread and juice surviving.

“Where did she go?” I could hear them above me.

Opening my eyes, I saw a few of them looking down over the railing.

I rolled to my knees and stood; my head was spinning. I looked at the small shack at the back of the roof and stumbled toward it. Once I got inside, they wouldn’t be able to follow me.

I was almost there when a man with messy black hair appeared in front of me. His eyes were as dark as coal…

He smiled. “I have so many questions for you.”

I tried to stand without swaying. “Please, just…”

He held up a hand and looked behind me. “Leave her unharmed. I need to know how she came to be.”

“We’re not going to harm her, Bastian, we’re getting her to medical.”

I turned to see the man I’d healed standing there. He was on his feet, leaning against another man, but I’d helped him. He would be fine. They blurred, I took a deep breath trying to stay conscious, but my hair was now white and covered my eyes.

Damn, was my last thought, I wasn’t getting that sandwich.

Everything went black.