Free The Change (Unbounded) by Teyla Branton Page A

I’d finished the meal, I peeked under my sleeves and saw that the rashes on my arms had faded, the tiny smears of dried blood flaking off the skin. I felt a lot better.
    I yawned. “I think I’ll turn in.”
    Ava’s eyes settled on me. “You don’t want to talk?”
    “I’d rather sleep.” Escape.
    She walked me back to my room. “Don’t take offense. I just want to make sure you get there okay. Please stay in your room until I come for you in the morning. I promise to make things right. Trust me.”
    Fat chance of that.
    “Sleep well, Erin.”
    When she was gone, I went to the closet to retrieve the cell phone I’d stolen. My father would be the best to call, but he’d be the most suspicious and probably contact the police. Chris would be angry and think it was a prank. My mother—well, she probably wasn’t answering the phone.
    Tom, I decided. I’ll call Tom. While he’d be spooked, he’d be willing to come and get me—provided I could make it out of the mansion and off the grounds. And provided we could figure out where I was. There had to be a house number down by the gate. Once I told him the story, we could go see my family. Besides, I wanted to see Tom. I needed his arms around me.
    The cell phone wasn’t in the sock drawer. I searched all the other drawers just in case, but I had a sinking feeling I hadn’t fooled anyone. How had they known about it? Anger and fear twined together, paralyzing me for an instant until I managed to push the emotions to the back of my mind. I had to be calm. I had to think.
    Okay, I’d walk to Tom’s. Or hitchhike, if I needed to. I’d wait until later, though. The sun was setting, but there was still too much light coming through the windows to be sneaking around with any stealth. I climbed up on the bed and lay down fully dressed, planning to rest only a few minutes.
    Sleep claimed me immediately. I dreamed I was in the car with Justine’s head lolling toward me. Fire sprang from our clothes. “Help me, Erin,” she pleaded. “Please help me.” I reached toward her, but my arm blackened and crumbled before I could free her from the safety belt.
    I awoke with a start, and I could see by the lack of light in my room that it was much later than when I’d hefted myself onto the bed. The clock on the nightstand told me it was ten-thirty.
    Time to go. I hoped Ritter wasn’t back yet, or I might have blown my chance. Pulling on a pair of black running shoes, I slipped out the door, pressing my body against the wall. I hurried past the first camera. Then the second. Were there more I hadn’t seen? At last I reached the front door and opened it. The moment of truth.
    No alarm sounded. It could send a silent signal, though, and I worried about that as I ran across the yard, keeping to the shadow of the trees. When I arrived at the gate, I saw immediately that the stone fence was high and didn’t offer any footholds and the trees weren’t close enough to use. There was no way out but to climb the metal gate itself. I swallowed hard, hoping I could make it over before whoever monitored the cameras noticed me.
    Using the hinges where the gate attached to the stone fence, I began climbing. It wasn’t as hard as I thought; my reformed muscles were strong and able. Then I reached the top—and almost threw up. Apparently, becoming Unbounded hadn’t removed my deathly fear of heights. I teetered there for dizzying seconds, my heart racing, before my sweaty hands lost their grip and I made it down the other side the hard way.
    Cursing under my breath, I picked myself up from the ground. Nothing seemed broken. Another Unbounded miracle. Behind me at the hidden house, an alarm sounded.
    I started running.
    Now what? I had no money and no cell phone. Think! I told myself.
    Two blocks over, where the houses had shrunk to more normal sizes, I slowed and began to walk. I wasn’t tired but a lot less likely to draw attention that way. Besides, there was a long stretch of