Glimmer by Anya Monroe Read Free Book Online

against the cool metal fence. I push away all the thoughts of the past and the future and just focus on right now. Calming Colton down so he doesn't do something drastic. Like take our lives.
    "I'm Lucy, Colton. And I don't want to fight you," I tell him calmly; with a sense of courage I've rarely felt. The naïve girl who left the compound, the one paralyzed by fear when watching her mother walk outside without a Hazmat suit, eating an apple and doing cartwheels in the grass, that girl is half-buried under the apple tree.
    That girl is not here anymore.
    That girl is dead.
    A stronger girl has taken her place. Because that is the only choice left. Be brave or die. I don't want to end up like my mother.
    "What do you want then? How did you get here?" He yells at me, his face crowded with fury. "I know you didn't get here on your own. That's impossible."
    He looks me up and down, taking in my dirty hands and feet, tangled hair, dusty dress. But I know he sees something else when he looks at me. I know he does because I feel it too.
    Strength.
    And looking at him, I see tired eyes and greasy hair falling across his forehead; shoulders you can tell are only straight because he's using all his willpower to keep them up after a night patrolling for people who were never there. A flicker of fear crosses his face as he takes me in.
    Lucky for him I know all about flickers, and I know all about fears. This boy can be my ally.
    Sucking in a deep breath, my head wraps around what I want to say as fast as the words come spilling out. Telling the whole story will only confuse them. This explanation will work better, without revealing our whole truth.
    "We came alone. I swear to you. We stole a boat and left last night. Things are dangerous at The Light. Charlie tried to warn me before I went there, but until they killed my mom, I didn't understand. I got scared I'd be next. So we ran away and came back looking for Charlie. He told me he'd help me."
    "And you expect me to believe that?" Colton is up to the fence now, just inches from me. He shakes his head, as if disgusted with my explanation. "No one has ever escaped The Light. Ever. I have been here doing Reagan's dirty work long enough to know this is not something you could have done on your own. The water is too difficult to cross in that boat for starters, and the gasoline tank was bone dry, we looked. This isn't the whole truth and we all know it."
    "I need to find Charlie," I whisper to Colton. "Help me."
    His eyes lock with mine and he doesn't say no.
    That might mean yes.
    "What the hell is going on out here?" Reagan steps out of a baby blue trailer and into the courtyard. "Are you questioning a prisoner without me present?"
    Colton steps away from the fence and me, turning to Reagan.
    "I just walked around for eight hours in the woods, patrolling for you, while you slept in your trailer, probably drinking moonshine all night. I'm done doing your job, old man."
    Reagan surveys the scene as he slowly, and with wobbly legs, makes his way past the fire pit. Steadying himself with the fence he stands squarely in front of Colton. He says, with a husky voice, "You best be packing your bags, boy. Come nightfall I don't want to see you here. This is not your Safe House anymore."
    "Screw you." Colton takes a long look at me before walking away. He crosses the courtyard and opens a brown trailer, stepping inside. He holds the door open with his back turned, pausing.
    My eyes dart, not knowing what he is waiting for. Then I see a girl, short brown hair and a fierce look on her face. She steps away from the fire and walks to the open door. She pulls the door shut and doesn't look back.
    I don't know these people, what they might do next. I've never felt so far from home. Timid is crunched in a tight ball, tears brimming in her little blue eyes. I hoped Colton might be someone who could help us. But I was wrong. And I'm never wrong about those things.
    "I'm coming back for you," Reagan says