ane

ckup gave a long, triumphant blast of its horn before veering left at the county fork. I gav

toward the center

skeletons of abandoned silver min

. The deep, guttural thump of the exhaust echoed off the blackened

ground had burned f

in, heavy and thick. My boots crunched over shattered glass an

ire, the white-and-red outline of the Iron Ghosts emblem remained stubbornly vis

he rough brick. The stone was cold, but beneath my fi

ack, Dad," I whisp

ing behind my eyes, but I swallowed it down har

cket, thumbed the wheel, and watched the ye

ud to the empty desert. "They're going to pay for every drop of blood the

e the stillness. I pulled my phone out.

held the phone to my

ght now! She collapsed on the kitchen floor because of your stunt! We called Doc Sullivan, but the

rantic breath. I knew Judith

d, my voice calm, smooth, and

d you sa

a panic attack because her checkbook is empty. Second, if Doc Sullivan is ignoring

stretch until I heard Brandi

. The next time you see me, y

vigated to the settings, blocked the number permane

running my hand along the

e scraps of real men. The real power in this valley sat five miles so

stroke. I pulled onto the highway, tucked my chin against the