Anywhere But Here (The Starborn Ascension) Read Free

I just saw in some kind of vision is actually taking place before my very eyes. I’m tied to the ground with invisible ropes as though a tree’s roots are growing all around my arms and legs. I want, with every fiber of my being, to reach up and pull Lucas down, but Scarecrow’s words slither out like a judge pronouncing a death sentence.  
    “No. It was yours,” Scarecrow says.
    It’s too late. I try to reach up, but the gun blast has already echoed off the walls and blood has sprayed all over my face and the front of my shirt. I can’t even scream as Lucas’ dead body falls to the ground beside me, his eyes wide, staring into the open blue sky. Tears streak down my face as I stare at him. We had been through so much together.  
    I know it’s a dumb thing to do, but we’re dead anyway, so I reach out to him and lean over his body in full view of Scarecrow and the others. I shake him by the shirt as if it will somehow wake him up, but I know that it won’t. Blood has already trickled out the back of his head, forming a small puddle beside him.
    Your promises to me are now pronounced lies. Did they mean nothing? You said we would survive this catastrophe together.  
    As I sit here, weeping over my love, my companion, I can hear the slow chuckle of Scarecrow behind me.
    “I see it now,” he says. “He’s trying to protect you. Probably trying to save your honor. We raiders have a reputation of taking whatever we want from young girls like you.”
    I stare straight ahead with my back to Scarecrow as his words crawl into my ears. No doubt their guns are pointed at me. No doubt I am about to die.
    I turn my head to glare at him. His long, hooked nose and crooked smile add to the evil aura he carries about him. “We were just trying to pass through,” I say through sobs. “He did nothing to you.”  
    “There’s probably a couple o’ more,” Scarecrow says to his men. “Go check it out.” He looks up at me. “Don’t you worry. I’ll take care of you. Why don’t you just come over here? I’ll let you pass.” He and his men snicker at his words.
    My hands are shaking as the two men approach. The hatchet is by my side, but I doubt Scarecrow or any of his men have seen it. Regardless, I doubt I have the strength to swing at them. Somehow I manage to look over at Gilbert and Ethan. Gilbert is red-faced and ready to fight and Ethan just stares at me. I hold his gaze for a long moment. It’s as though he’s trying to keep me focused on him so I don’t look down at Lucas’ body on the ground.  
    I could have stopped it, I think to myself. I saw it before it happened. I could have saved him!
    I turn my head away from Ethan and stare up at the sky. I don’t want to look at the ground. I can’t look at the ground. I reach up to wipe a tear from my cheek only to see that it’s a red, thick liquid. Lucas’ blood.
    “She’s a pretty one, boss,” one of the raiders says as they come closer. “Might want to keep her around!” The other raiders laugh stupidly.  
    I watch as Gilbert tightens his grip on his club. Just as the first one steps next to the dumpster, he jumps up and slams his club into the man’s stomach. The raider doubles over and Gilbert brings the club down on his head, no doubt killing him instantly. The other raider points his gun at Gilbert, but instinct takes over me as I grab my hatchet, let out a scream and swing it into the side of his knee. He falls back, shooting his gun in the air as he yells out in pain. Gilbert rushes toward him and swings his club down on his throat with a loud crunch , grabbing the man’s rifle in the process.
    Bullets whiz past my head and I duck back behind the car as Gilbert scoots in close to me. He lifts the rifle over the trunk of the car and blind-fires three or four rounds. The raiders shout out for the others to take cover. I look at Ethan, and he already has the other dead raider’s gun in his hands. He dares to lift his head above the