Free The Burn Zone by James K. Decker Page A

that was supposed to be his. I ’ d spent too long waiting for the other shoe to drop, for him to beat me, or touch me like so many other men had done or tried to do. It felt like time wasted now, and I realized that I was starting to get scared, really scared, that I ’ d never see him again.
     
    I swallowed the last of the cake. What would I do without him? Ling kept saying I should be going off on my own, that most people my age couldn ’ t wait to get out of the house. She acted like it wasn ’ t normal not to have any plans to leave, but the truth was I just wasn ’ t ready to go. I didn ’ t want to go. I wanted things to stay the way they were. I just wanted to hang out, bitch about work, and go to Fangwenzhe Festival with him instead of using it as a place to pickpocket. Even when he got on my case, there was a small part of me that kind of liked it. It made me feel like I was his real kid. What was I going to do if —
     
    The tank thumped and the hiss of water ended in a muted dribble. I climbed in and stood under the shower-head, rubbing alcohol gel over my bare skin even when the cuts lit up like fire. The slice from when I ’ d picked up the glass shard burned so bad it made my nose run as I wiped my hands off in my hair, then turned the faucet and let the liter of hot water dribble down over me. I rinsed the cleanser away as best I could and scrubbed the funk out of my hair until the last drops patted down on top of my head. Then I leaned against the wall for a while, looking down my flat chest at the ridges of my ribs and feeling dizzy.
     
    When I stepped back out into the hotel room naked, I saw an arc of blue lightning flash over the top of the skyline through the mist outside. Way off, another building lit up and began to fall as fat drops splashed off the window. I kept the light off and grabbed the bottle of shine from my backpack. I cracked it and took a big gulp, then let out a long breath and crooked my neck to reactivate the 3i feed.
     
    Vamp, it ’ s me.
     
    Sam, are you okay?
     
    Yeah.
     
    I took another swig off the bottle, and fished the pistol out of the backpack.
     
    You ’ re all over the news.
     
    I know. I ’ m okay.
     
    Where are you?
     
    Someplace safe. Don ’ t worry.
     
    Don ’ t worry?
     
    I headed over to the window and sat on the sill with my head against the glass, peering through the rain toward my apartment building. I pointed the gun up toward our balcony, then squinted through the scope, trying to frame it.
     
    They took Dragan, I said.
     
    He paused, his heart icon beating several times before answering, I know. Did you hear what they ’ re saying?
     
    No. What who ’ s saying?
     
    The feeds are already buzzing. Word is he got picked up for smuggling some kind of weapon into Hangfei. Something bad.
     
    I clenched my jaw. That ’ s bullshit.
     
    I ’ m just telling you, that ’ s what they ’ re saying.
     
    What do they mean “ weapon ” ? Like a bomb or something?
     
    No one knows. It sounds like it ’ s worse than that.
     
    It ’ s bullshit.
     
    I know.
     
    You better know.
     
    I found the edge of the shattered glass through the scope and followed it to our balcony, where one of the curtains flapped in the open air like an ugly flag. There were lights on inside, and I could make out movement.
     
    Where are you? I ’ ll come over.
     
    You can ’ t, security ’ s got Tùzi-wō locked down. I ’ m going to hole up for tonight and lie low. I ’ ll message you tomorrow once things have cooled down a little. Another pause.
     
    Okay.
     
    I wanted to tell him what happened, to tell someone what happened, but they might actually be scanning the feeds for keywords and I didn ’ t want to risk it. Not until I was ready to put some distance between me and Tùzi-wō .
     
    I put a call in to Kang. I can trust him. Hopefully he ’ ll get back to me soon.
     
    Isn ’ t he with security? What if he just comes after you instead?
     
    He