Chapter 1

The scream died in my throat, swallowed by the thick, coppery taste of my own blood. Mike's face, twisted with a rage I'd never seen, loomed over me. His boot slammed into my stomach, again. The world dissolved into a red haze, then black.

I gasped, bolting upright in bed, clutching my belly.

My small cabin. The faded quilt. Sunlight streamed through the dusty windowpane.

My belly. Still round. The baby was still there.

It wasn't a dream. It was a memory. A memory of how I died.

Last time.

My breath hitched. Today. It was today. The day the Vultures MC descended on Red Rock. The day everything burned.

I threw off the quilt, my bare feet hitting the cold wooden floor. My heart hammered against my ribs.

Mike. He'd killed me. For her. For Lila. Because I'd "let" her die.

No. Not this time.

I scrambled into my jeans and a shirt, my hands shaking.

The town alarm. I had to sound the alarm.

I burst out of my cabin. The air was still cool, the desert sunrise painting the sky in pale oranges and pinks. Deceptively peaceful.

The siren was mounted on a tall pole in the center of our small, dusty town. I ran, ignoring the sharp stones under my feet.

I reached the crank and pulled, hard.

The wail of the siren cut through the morning quiet, a piercing shriek that echoed off the red rock cliffs surrounding us.

Windows opened. Doors creaked. Sleepy, confused faces appeared.

"What's going on, Sarah?" Mrs. Henderson called from her porch, clutching her robe.

"The Vultures! They're coming!" I yelled, my voice hoarse. "We have to get the women and children out!"

The school bus. Our only real chance for a mass evacuation. It was always parked by the old general store, keys hidden in the supervisor's office.

I ran towards it.

It wasn't there.

The dusty patch of ground where it always sat was empty.

Panic, cold and sharp, clawed at my throat.

"Sarah!"

Emily, my closest friend in this town, stumbled towards me, her face pale, eyes wide with terror.

"The bus... it's gone! Mike took it!"

"What?"

"He took it early this morning! Him, and Jake, and most of the Vigilance Committee men. They took all the good rifles too!"

Her words hit me like physical blows.

"Where did they go?" I managed to ask, dread coiling in my gut.

Emily was crying now. "Lila's birthday. He's throwing her a party. Out at the old Devil's Canyon mine. He said... he said you were just being jealous, Sarah. That you'd make up stories to ruin it."

Devil's Canyon. Miles out. No reception.

He'd left us. He'd left us all to die, for her.

Just like last time, but worse. Last time, he was just out on a joyride. This time, he'd actively disarmed us and taken our escape.

I looked at the terrified faces gathering around me – women, children, a few old men.

My fault. I hadn't been convincing enough last time. This time, he'd made sure I couldn't even try to bring them back.

The siren wailed on. Somewhere, in the distance, I thought I heard the low rumble of motorcycles.

Or maybe it was just the blood pounding in my ears.