Beyond Ecstasy (Beyond #8) by Kit Rocha Read Free Book Online Page B

looked closer and saw that they were flare guns, the simple kind that were nothing more than large tubes and triggers.
    He whistled as he lifted one from the crate. “Where'd you get your hands on these?”
    “A man's gotta have his secrets,” Shipp answered flatly. “If city forces breach the sector, we need a way to warn the others. We'll distribute these to the farmers and settlers, make sure they know how to use them.”
    It was a clever solution, one Eden couldn't thwart. And Shipp wouldn't just be distributing them. By the time he was done, everyone would have an evacuation plan in place. They'd know what to grab, where to go, how to get out.
    If only that was enough. Hawk set the tube back in the crate and made himself say the damn words. “If it comes to that, you know what you have to do. The whole damn sector has to burn.”
    “What do you think these are for?” Shipp thumped a jug, then grabbed the bottle from Big John's hand and swirled it around, one eyebrow raised. “Least this shit's good for something.”
    “I was drinking that,” John said mildly.
    Shipp relinquished the rotgut with a snort. “It's your liver, old man.”
    They were still cracking jokes, and Hawk couldn't tell if they didn't believe the danger was real, or if they'd skated past horror and straight into laughing in the face of the inevitable. He was still stuck in between, having to imagine Shipp hauling a screaming Alya away from her burning farm.
    It was gonna take a while for that mental image to stop hurting.
    Shipp sobered, his morbid humor fading. “Go,” he told him quietly. “Enjoy the rest of the party.”
    Hawk squeezed his shoulder again, then turned toward Jeni. She still stood in a tight knot with two of his sisters. Not even that far away, but getting to her…
    In Sector Four, folks melted out of his path. It only took one glance at the O'Kane ink on his wrists to clear the way. Here, the crowd contracted. People were eager to see him, to ask questions about the world beyond the farm, about the O'Kanes, about him . It was a welcome that warmed his heart and tried his patience at the same time.
    He broke free of the final circle—three of his youngest brothers begging him to come look at the car they were working on—after promising a longer visit in the morning. Then it was just Bethany and Luna, and he braced himself for whatever stories they had to be telling Jeni. Especially Bethany—she'd been born the week before him, to their father's second wife, and had witnessed the most spectacular embarrassments of his childhood.
    “—is amazing,” Bethany was saying as Hawk slid up next to Jeni. “Where did you find it?”
    “The city has a ton of old books in their files,” Jeni answered. “I can get you a copy.”
    “We'd owe you big.” Bethany grinned at Hawk. “You brought us a smart one. She's going to cure your mama's horse.”
    Of all the conversations he'd been imagining… He quirked an eyebrow at Jeni. “You know about horses?”
    “God, no.” She laughed and shook her head. “I read a book.”
    And clearly remembered it well enough to impress Bethany, which was its own miracle. Bethany might not be Alya's daughter by blood, but she was heir apparent to Alya's empire and took the farm seriously.
    Luna bumped her shoulder against his. “If you're thinking about stealing your girl away, forget it. We're having a discussion here.”
    His girl . No matter what he said to Shipp, the words felt right. Hawk looped his arm around Jeni's waist. “She'll still be here tomorrow, but the dancing won't be. You gonna spoil her first rally?”
    Luna dropped her head back with a disgusted noise. “Ugh, fine. Still plenty of time to tell stories, I guess.”
    Hawk made a mental note to keep Jeni far away from his sisters for the rest of the night. Maybe for the rest of the trip. “Behave,” he shot back, already tugging Jeni toward the shadows. “I know stories, too. Stories I could tell a certain