Total pages in book: 82
Estimated words: 78507 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 393(@200wpm)___ 314(@250wpm)___ 262(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 78507 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 393(@200wpm)___ 314(@250wpm)___ 262(@300wpm)
I’m making the right decision. I’m doing the right thing. The fact that it’s starting to feel very, very wrong is just how things feel sometimes. I should be used to that. I’m used to a low-level sense of almost constant guilt anyway.
I’m going to go back to the academy and tell them what happened, and I guess I’m going to get detention or whatever.
Weee Ow! Weee Ow!
Flashing lights behind me indicate that an officer of the law is trying to pull me over. Great. That’s all I need. I don’t even have a license. I should, but I missed the driving module. Some of the guys taught me on the side later on, but I never got official approval.
I pull over and I wait for the officer to approach. He’s wearing three insignia: the Cardinal, the Nile, and the King. That gives him authority from all three branches of power. That also means I can be in a lot of trouble.
“Get out of the van.”
I do as I am told. Officers have serious fire power, more than I can outrun. It’s frowned upon to shoot down a drone, but it is a terrible thing to assault an officer. I have to do what he says.
“Mind if I check the van?”
I shake my head and think about running. The street’s too open. Nothing to hide behind. There are a few crowds of people, but I bet they’ll scatter if a cop shouts.
The guy checks the van, then pokes his head back around to look at me with a scowl. He walks up to me with a swagger.
“So you’re a rebel.”
“No, I’m not. I’m a student at the academy.”
“Academy’s for boys. Besides. It is 4.59 a.m., and you’re in a van rife with rebel tech.”
“That’s because I stole the van from them.”
He doesn’t believe me. And even I think that sounds pretty lame. Sounds like an excuse. Sounds like I am a rebel trying to pass myself off as a decent, law-abiding, law-upholding cadet.
“I’m wearing pajamas. Academy pajamas. Would I be wearing these if I wasn’t from the academy?”
“You’re wearing a cloak.”
“Oh, shit. I am.”
“Turn around.”
This is going terribly. The street feels sticky on my feet as I turn around.
“Put your hands behind your back. I’m arresting you on suspicion of rebel activities.”
“I’m sorry, sir. I can’t.”
I didn’t want to do this. It’s dangerous. It’s stupid. It’s probably going to get me killed.
I run.
He grabs me by the cloak, but I shed that like a lizard shedding a tail, and I run for my life. I can’t shift again right now. Last time I did that, I passed out. I can’t risk losing consciousness with an officer of the law chasing me.
This is so stupid. I should outrank this guy. I should be a king’s fucking guard. But I’m not. I’m just a naked woman running for what feels like her life through the streets of Eclipse.
Thank God I am fast, and it seems like the officer isn’t used to chasing. He’s more of a pull people over and give them a ticket sort of an officer. I am used to running through the city, too, so I do what I usually do. The problem is it’s hard not to attract attention when you’re naked. I’m just glad that it’s very early morning and most people are asleep.
I do the usual trick of finding clothes hanging on balconies, dress myself on the run, and swing by a bakery to steal a croissant, before heading not to the academy, but to Jory’s shop. There wasn’t much on the line, so I’m wearing someone’s shirt that comes down just below my ass cheeks and not much else. Hardly appropriate attire for, well, anything.
I know Jory rises earlier than most to stoke the furnace and get things going for the day. He’ll be around.
I startle him as I come through the back door. I haven’t done this in months, so I guess he’s not expecting it.
“Fuck!” He curses out loud and drops something that was probably hot. “Darcy, what the hell are you doing?”
“I think I’m in trouble, Jory.”
“When are you not?” He smirks the question as he recovers from his shock.
“I’m serious. You know how I was here, getting my saber sharpened? And all the duels? Those guys are after me, and now the cops are looking for me, and…”
Anyone else would freak out, but not Jory.
“Do you want some coffee? Maybe a croissant? Or some clothes?”
“Please.”
Jory feeds me and gives me coffee. I’m so fucking tired. It has been a horribly long night, and my head is all over the place.
If those guys who abducted me catch up with me, they’re going to be so fucking mad. Not just because I stole their van, but because I’m pretty sure I got it confiscated by law enforcement as well. It was a pretty fancy van.