Bethany's Arc

Chapter 1 of 6

Bethany saw the camp gate before Emmy did. A wall of scrap wood and sheet metal rose from the scrub, two lookout towers flanking an open archway. She pulled her bandana down from her mouth and let herself believe, for one breath, that they had made it. Her hair stuck to her neck. Her clothes hung in strips at the hem. Behind her, Julius shifted the heat-masking device on his shoulder and said nothing. Emmy was already running. "Emmy!" A man burst from the archway. Thomas. He caught the girl mid-stride and lifted her off her feet. Then he set her down and gripped her shoulders. "You do not do that again. You hear me? You do not run off." He pulled her back into his chest before she could answer. Over her head, he stared at Bethany like she was a ghost. "You were at the camp. You were at the camp when they came." "I was on a roof," Bethany said. "Julius got me down." Thomas looked at Julius. He did not offer a hand. He nodded once, which from him was a lot. Figures came up the slope from the south. Three of them. A brunette walked at the front, stained glass wings folded tight against her back, the colors dulled by dust. A blonde woman kept pace at her shoulder with a makeshift gun. Behind them came a barefoot man in a dirty tunic, blue shackles glowing at his wrists. Emmy pulled free of her father. "Where's Mendez?" The blonde stopped walking. Riley. She looked at Emmy for a long second. "He didn't make it. The Vael got him at the mine." Emmy did not cry. She just took the fact and held it. "This is Julius," Bethany said, because someone had to say something. "He kept us alive." Elina looked at Julius. Looked at the device on his shoulder. "Does it work moving?" "Some," Julius said. "Not enough," Elina said. She was already turning. Her wings shifted. Bethany followed her gaze past the archway, out to the south ridge they had all just crossed. Shapes came over the crest. Purple. Low to the ground. More than she could count in one look. Tails whipping the dust behind them. Bethany's stomach dropped. "Oh no," she said. "They followed us," Elina said at the same time. They looked at each other. Two women who had never met, saying the same words in the same breath. Thomas grabbed Emmy's wrist. Tevin took one step back and his shackles flared brighter. Riley raised her gun and swore under her breath. "Inside," Elina said. "Now. Close the gate." Bethany ran for the archway with the others. She heard the wooden doors groan shut behind her. She heard the first Vael hit the wall a moment later. The camp was no longer a refuge. It was a box, and they were all inside it together.