Free The Burning City by Megan Morgan

able to nag her again. “I will, Mom.”
    “Have Jason get in touch with me as soon as he’s allowed. I can’t wait to hear his voice too.”
    Though June wanted to stay on with her all night, Sam had limited data on the hotspot. They said good night and June promised to call first thing tomorrow.
    After Sam closed the laptop lid, she slumped against him and cried on his shoulder.
    “Thank you,” she choked out. “I wasn’t ready for that, but I needed it.”
    He stroked her hair. Dipity found them, thumping onto the bed next to June’s leg. June reached out and petted her, sniffing.
    “I thought you deserved more than one nice thing today,” Sam said. “You’re on your way to having a normal life again.”
    She wiped at her face. “I’ll never be normal.”
    Sam reached out and petted Dipity as well. “Well, I guess it’s not so bad being different.”
    She had to rescue Jason and Diego before her mother found out the truth. Lying to her, after all she’d been through, made June’s stomach hurt worse than all the gluten in the universe.
     

Chapter 7
     
    June awoke feeling sick, but that was nothing new. Usually, the queasiness subsided if she could get some food and water in her and keep it down. Every morning, she sank deeper into dread. How long until the debilitating pain? How long until she couldn’t eat at all? How long until she began to rot from the inside out?
    She tried to shake these thoughts as she stood over the bathroom sink, splashing water on her face and trying not to throw up the little bit of water she’d drunk.
    Stepping back, she nearly tripped over her duffel bag on the floor. She kicked it in frustration. Things fell out. She sighed.
    Cramming the items back in, she scowled at her box of tampons. She was due for that too. Soon she’d have cramps on top of everything else. Her morbid line of thinking helped her find the silver lining, though—if she dropped below a certain percentage of body fat, she wouldn’t have a period at all, like those female athletes.
    “Take that,” she muttered. “Point for me, Mother Nature.”
    Too bad she was playing a losing game.
    By noon, the house was full of people: cleaners, assistants, Sam’s friends, and members of his group. June retreated to the back patio, sunglasses on, and sat in a lounge chair, nibbling on an apple. Gardeners were crawling all over the grounds, trimming, mowing, digging.
    She’d already had a long phone conversation with her mother, carefully explaining the events of the past six months while omitting certain details. She hadn’t yet told her she and Sam were together, either.
    Sam eventually found her. “There you are. Hiding?”
    “I’m working on my tan.” She was well under the shade of the awning.
    “You should get naked for that.” He motioned in the house. “Come with me. There’s someone I’d like you to meet.”
    “I’m not a people person.”
    “I know, but I think you’ll find this person interesting.”
    She slipped her glasses down her nose. “Is it another cute assistant?”
    “No. Remember, I said I have a plan to find Occam and Robbie?”
    Now he had her attention. She got up and followed him inside.
    Sam led her through the house, past people vacuuming and scrubbing and dusting. He led her out onto the front porch, which was empty save for one person.
    A young man leaned against the porch railing. He had a heart-shaped face and collar length brown curls. As they walked over to him, something strange seemed to happen to his eyes, as though they caught the light and reflected it like a cat’s eyes. Maybe June had imagined it.
    “This is Anthony,” Sam said. “He’s been a member of my group for several years, but I hadn’t met him until today. Anthony, this is my girlfriend, June. She’s a Siren.”
    “June Coffin.” Recognition lit up Anthony’s features. “It’s nice to meet you.” His voice seemed strangely familiar and unaccountably unnerving.
    “Anthony has been so