Deviation (30 page)
I stare in confusion until another piece flutters onto the windshield. It burns from the edges in and then slowly disintegrates. “What is that?” I ask.
A loud boom sounds and the sky lights up, flashing red and orange before dying away. More pieces of ash fly but they aren’t falling, they’re shooting upward and sideways and in every direction. “Something’s on fire,” I say. My voice catches as I realize—
“No,” I choke out. “No.” I fumble for the door latch but Linc’s hands stop me.
“You can’t, Ven,” he says.
“Please tell me that’s not your safe house,” Daniel says. No one answers him. “Explains why it felt easy,” he mutters.
“Get closer,” Linc says.
“They’ll see us,” Obadiah argues.
“We have to know,” Linc tells him.
Obadiah sighs and eases forward. A right and then another right. We round the last turn and Obadiah stops. I cry out, the sound catching in my throat and coming out strangled.
“Shit,” Daniel says.
“He knew the entire time,” Obadiah breathes.
Linc is silent and, for the moment, so am I as we all take in what’s left of the warehouse. Even with the windows up, the smell of sulfur and burnt wood fills the car.
Do not think for one moment that any of your progress has been your own doing.
The memory of the words Titus spoke is a horrific and startling truth.
Despite the evidence before me, I don’t want to admit what I’m seeing. A soft sob rises in my throat. It escapes in a strangled sound. I press my hand to my mouth in an effort to swallow the rest.
He knew. I have no idea for how long, but he knew. Morton and the others, I’ve betrayed them. And my own chance at true freedom.
Another explosion goes off, this one rocking the car and rattling the glass. The last remaining stretch of wall collapses into the flames. Shards of metal and concrete and glass blow in every direction.
The safe house—or at least the parts of it visible from the street—crumbles and burns. There is nothing left. Nowhere to go. Something inside me breaks. Underneath it, all of the panic rushes in. I let it drown me, not even bothering to fight it. On the outside, my expression crumbles and hands become fists. I suck in a deep breath. Then I scream. And scream and scream and scream.
Book 3 in the Clone Chronicles coming 2015
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Heather Hildenbrand
was born and raised in a small town in northern Virginia where she was homeschooled through high school. Since 2011, she’s published more than eight YA & NA novels including the bestselling Dirty Blood series. She splits her time between coastal Virginia and the island of Guam and loves having a mobile career and outrageous lifestyle of living in two places.
Heather is also a publishing and success coach bent on equipping and educating artists who call themselves authors. She loves teaching fellow writers how to create the same freedom-based lifestyle she enjoys. For more information visit
www.phoenixauthorink.com
and find out how to create your own OutRAGEous Life.
You can find out more about Heather and her books at
www.heatherhildenbrand.blogspot.com
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Other titles by Heather Hildenbrand:
Dirty Blood (book 1, the Dirty Blood series)
Cold Blood (book 2, Dirty Blood series)
Blood Bond (book 3, Dirty Blood series)
Blood Rule, (book 4, Dirty Blood series)
Whisper
Across the Galaxy
Imitation (book 1, Clone Chronicles)
DreamKiller: The Complete Saga (a novella)
A Risk Worth Taking
The Indie Author Guide: A Self-Publisher’s Toolbox