Free Chosen Prey by Cheyenne McCray

before zipping the pocket back up again. Trying to relax was futile as she stood in line waiting for her turn. She casually looked around the lobby of the bus station. No sight of any of The People. She kept her sunglasses on in case.
    Still she felt like something was crawling up her spine.
    When she purchased her ticket to Phoenix, the clerk only casually looked from Lyra's ID to her face before taking her cash and handing her the ticket.
    She left the air-conditioned chill of the bus station lobby to enter the July sunshine and sat on a sun-warmed bench to wait for the bus. The green bench smelled like it had been newly painted. Between that and the exhaust from passing cars, she got a headache.
    Okay, while she waited she could eat her Danish and have time to make the calls she had needed to make since last night. She slipped her hand into her pack, felt around, and grabbed the plastic-wrapped apple Danish. After setting her pack on the bench beside her, she opened the package to eat her breakfast. She managed to keep her fingers from getting sticky and got up to toss the wrapper into a nearby garbage can.
    A droplet of sweat rolled down her neck and between her breasts from the heat, and her hair started to stick to her moist forehead. Sierra Vista was a few degrees warmer than Bisbee.
    She gave a wry smile. But it's a dry heat .
    Lyra plopped back onto the bench and reached into her backpack for her cell phone to make her calls to Becca and her other friends. Her grip on her pack slipped. All of her art tools and the small treasured tin she'd made from her artwork tumbled out and onto the concrete.
    "Crap!" The friggin' Velcro hadn't held on one of the side pockets. Lyra scooted off the bench, bent down to pick up the tin and the few tools she used for her metalwork, and stuffed them back into the pack—this time inside.
    She stood and had started to sling her pack over her shoulder when a large hand caught her by her upper arm.
    Lyra went rigid as she was jerked against a hard, wiry body.
    A sick feeling dropped to her belly as Mark said close to her ear, "It's about fucking time, Lyra."
     

CHAPTER SIX
    " Let. Me. Go ." Lyra punctuated every word while trying to keep her tone controlled.
    "I'll scream so loud everyone on the block will hear me."
    Mark pressed something hard and small against her lower back. Her heart slammed against her breastbone. Chills scrabbled up and down her spine, more intense this time than when she thought she was being watched earlier.
    "I've had men waiting at every bus stop in the county," he continued. "Wouldn't have recognized you if you hadn't dropped that tin out of your backpack." He moved his hand from her arm to slip into her short hair, and his breath wanned her ear as he moved his lips closer. Her skin crawled. "Wonder what Neal will think of your new look. I'm pretty sure he won't be too happy, and you'll probably get your ass whipped for it."
    Heat bubbled up inside her and she started to shake. Not only did fear course through her body, but she felt hot, raging fury at the man behind her, along with anger at her own stupidity.
    "Come on." Adam moved into her line of vision and she saw that he was pretty banged up. Probably from the fight with Dare. Adam's gaze darted from side to side. "We've gotta get her out of here."
    She didn't want to die, but would that be preferable to returning to Neal?
    No. She'd get away from them. She'd change her appearance again. Shave her head even. One way or another, she'd escape and stay out of their reach.
    Mark moved his arm down to her shoulder and kept his body close and what she assumed was a gun between them.
    Heart pounding and mind racing, Lyra clenched the handle of her pack and walked with rigid steps around the corner of the building. The moment they moved into the deserted parking lot and stood beside the van, Lyra kicked her heel against Mark's shin as hard as she could. She caught him by surprise and whirled away from his