Free Divided by Kimberly Montague Page A

the opportunity, and I'll never know when it might be. So keep it close to you, keep it charged, and keep it full of minutes. And don't let anyone outside of this room see it or know about it."
    I nodded and committed his instructions to memory.
    "So we need to prepare to be on the move?" Gary's mom finally spoke up. Gary's dad put his arm around her.
    "No." Gary shook his head. "You guys and Miranda should stay here where you'll be safer."
    "But that's the point, isn't it?" his mom asked. "We're not safe anywhere, are we Devlin?"
    "No, ma'am. It's likely to take out a third of the population without even blinking. Not that we can outrun it or anything, but I think we might be able to hide from it."
    Gabriel stood up. "Well, we don't know what Harm's plan is yet. We'll have to wait until we hear that, then we can start some plans of our own."
    Gary's dad nodded. "Agreed."
    I stood up along with Gary and Sonya as Gabriel walked toward Dev. Dev stood up, but took my hand in his.
    "You need to take care of yourself, son. I need you to come back to our girl here." Then Gabriel turned to me "Should I tell him what you were doing to yourself in his absence?"
    I widened my eyes at that threat and shook my head.
    Dev looked down at me. "What do you mean, 'doing to herself?'"
    I knew Dev wouldn't give up until he got the information, so I decided it would be best if I was the one to tell him. "I'll tell him." I answered Gabriel's raised eyebrow, "Really." I couldn't keep the sadness or embarrassment out of my voice.
    "Okay, well, you've got about four hours before you have to be back. If you think of anything else, let Evie know." He extended his hand to Dev "Really now, take care of yourself."
    "I will, sir."
    With that, I grabbed his hand and pulled him back outside.
    He put his hands on my hips and pushed me toward Chopper. "I have a special place I wanna take you to."
    Chopper saw us and moved in my direction. I still wasn't incredibly comfortable around him, but with Dev with me, I knew I'd be perfectly safe. The intelligence in Chopper's big brown eyes made me think I needed to treat him more like Butcher. "Hi Chopper. How have you been? Gone for any good runs lately?" I patted his neck, and he moved his head against my shoulder.
    The pride in Dev's voice made me so happy. "I've imagined this so many times." He wrapped his arms around me and patted Chopper lovingly. "I knew she'd love you, you big pain."
    "Don't call him a pain," I scolded. "He's very well-behaved."
    "Don't tell me you love my horse more than you love me, now."
    I laughed at that as Butcher nudged me in the leg and looked up at me. If I didn't know better, I'd say he was getting jealous just like Dev, but Butcher knew he was my number one boy. "Butchie, this is Chopper." I patted Chopper again. "Chopper, this is my boy, Butcher. I hope you two will be good friends."
    Dev squatted down in front of Butcher, patting him on the head. "Here's the deal, Butchie. I have a question for you. I really need you to find a way to answer it because I won't go against your wishes."
    I loved that he talked to Butcher like an adult. He leaned forward more and whispered something in Butchie's ear. My boy just looked at him for a minute and tilted his head. Dev stared intently at him for a few minutes. I think he annoyed Butcher because he let out a loud bark. It wasn't really a vicious bark, it was his you're-annoying-me bark. Dev's mouth fell open slightly, and he looked sad, but then Butcher shoved his head under Dev's hand, begging for attention.
    Dev relaxed and even smiled. "I'm so glad you feel that way."
    He rubbed Butcher's ears for a few moments then turned back to me. "Introductions have been made and Butch has given me permission, so now we can go. I don't want to waste a single second with you."

The Tree House
     
    I looked nervously at the saddle. Chopper was huge, how was I supposed to climb up on him?
    Dev chuckled. "You're so cute. He won't hurt you. I