Free Cold Mark by Scarlett Dawn Page A

for me. No one would initially be able to take chase.
    I flicked my finger, taking the bike into first gear. A rush of air shot my vehicle for escape straight up into the air. In a blast of freed exhilaration, I soared higher than the palace was tall. Just as I heard Malik and Leo shouting my name from the ground, my cloak blew out behind me as I shifted gears and hit the accelerator.
    I was getting the hell away from their mind games.
    I would rather live on the street than be played with like a lab rat in a glass maze.
    My eyes were burning from the harsh wind, but I did not stop.
    Not even when I heard sirens blare across the city I was flying over.
    I headed east. Toward my one ally on this planet.

I had made friends with a bug. My, how my life had altered since I escaped the west of Triaz. Though, to be specific, I wasn't entirely sure that it was a bug. As long as I looked past the facts that it was as long as I was tall, had razor sharp teeth, had twenty beady eyes, had twelve long legs with webbed feet, and had black scales that were as soft as feathers ... well, then it reminded me of a bug that I had once seen in a picture book of Earth. The author had called it Spider.
    I called my new bug friend Charlie.
    Of course, he didn't speak back, but he did watch the entrance to the sewer I now resided in.
    I had officially gone from being a lab rat living in grandeur, to a street rat living in hiding.
    It was still better than being played with by my Vaq.
    Plus, I had Charlie.
    I glanced in his—Charlie was definitely a he —direction. Charlie's hind end was facing toward me. Not exactly the prettiest of sights, but he was still keeping his many eyes on the alleyways outside of our alcove. The damp, rank air had first been stifling when I had found this hiding spot a week ago, but now, it was a sad circumstance that I no longer smelled the putrid air that filtered in through my new home.
    When I had first met Charlie, I had been frightened. Scared silly. It had become apparent that I had trespassed on his property, his home. But when I had thrown a piece of meat, one I had stolen from a vendor's cart, in defense, he had stopped advancing on me. Taking my offering. Ever since then, as long as I brought him 'treats' every night, he allowed me to sleep here.
    Though, it would be much better if the meat didn't give him gas.
    Now, that I could still smell.
    I pulled my stained cloak around me tighter as I got comfortable on the molded hay that lay on the mud floor. My hands shook with a zapping needle-like pain, as they had been for the past two weeks. Ever since I had crossed the border from the west to the east. My Vaq had stopped giving chase at that point, and the pull to be near them had turned into a magnetic agony that my brain was only gradually numbing itself to—thanks to the pain-relieving pills I had stolen from a nearby pharmacy. I fisted my hands and shoved them under my cheek for a makeshift pillow. The sun was setting, so the Mian would soon be awake and traveling the streets of the city, Vlymun.
    I had made it to the capital of the east. My scouting missions for the past week—while the Mian slept during the day—had finally become fruitful. I now knew where to find Jax.
    Tomorrow. Tomorrow I would see my best friend again.
    Closing my eyes, I whispered, "Good night, Charlie."
    He made a noise that sounded much like a grunt. At least he hadn't farted.
    I inhaled deeply, trying to relax ... and coughed on foulness.
    Perhaps he had. "That's just gross, Charlie."

    During my reconnaissance missions of the past week, I had overheard that the Plumas of the east enjoyed their 'games.' They loved watching warriors battle each other. It wasn't much different than what I had faced when I arrived on Triaz, the 'arrival ritual,' but it was on a much smaller scale. Whereas the coliseum had been glass and flash, their killing area of choice was the Crank Pit.
    After restlessly scouring the city of Vlymun, I had