A Flicker of Steel by Steve McHugh

Author:Steve McHugh [McHugh, Steve]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781542047081
Publisher: 47North
Published: 2018-07-02T16:00:00+00:00

16

Layla and Caleb were already in Winterborn when the explosion happened. It felt like the street itself rocked, but the sound, fire, and smoke made sure they knew it could have only been one thing.

“I told you this was a bad idea,” Caleb said. He’d been against them going into Winterborn from the beginning, and his arguments hadn’t lessened in the hour since they’d arrived.

“We need transport,” Layla said. “We needed clean clothes, considering we both had blood on ours. And now we need to figure out a way around the border guards, because there’s no way they’re not working for Nergal.”

“So we need a tank,” Caleb said.

“Going around the checkpoint is out. I can’t imagine swimming across the river is going to do anything but get us both killed. Umbra or not, we both still need oxygen to breathe. We can’t fly, and we don’t have a boat to go around. Going through is our only option. And yes, you’ve mentioned several times that this is Nergal’s territory, which is why I told you to behave.”

“We’re not getting through this town without a fight.”

“A fight I’m okay with. A fight after walking through rough terrain is something I’d rather avoid.”

They were in an alley behind a row of houses with wooden fences that were easily a dozen feet tall. When they’d first arrived in the town, they’d managed to break into a clothes shop and steal clean clothes and some backpacks to carry supplies when they finally found some. Layla had tried to use the phone in the office, but it hadn’t worked, leaving her to wonder if the whole town’s communication network had been shut down.

The pair made their way through the early morning streets, as more and more people streamed out of their homes trying to figure out what had caused the explosion. Layla listened to their words of concern, of fear, and more than a few hopes that no one had been caught in the blast.

A crowd had gathered at the end of the street that the diner had been on, and the sheriff and his deputies had placed a cordon around the area so the fire department could do their job. Layla fought the urge to pull up her hood; she didn’t want to look suspicious.

They moved around the crowd until they reached the alley on the other side of the street. They ducked down it and jogged toward the end.

“Okay, we need to figure out where to go from here,” Caleb said. “Getting out of town isn’t going to be as simple as stealing a car.”

“This town has the compound where my friends were taken,” Layla said.

“You want to go find them? Because that will get us killed.” Caleb spoke with real anger. “I raised you to be smarter than that.”

Layla stared at her father for several seconds. “Have you always been like this? Were you like this when I was a child? I don’t remember. Were you like this when Mom died?”

Caleb’s expression grew dark.

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