The Glass Man - Lila Gray Book 1

Chapter Three

"What, so I spill my guts, but you tell me squat? Hardly seems fair."

I stared until he squirmed and dropped his gaze to his beige work boots. "Do you miss it?"

"What? Bein' a cop?"

"No, home—Arkansas."

He nodded. "Some parts, I suppose. Friends, some family, but here I don't have to fish babies out of the bathtub after their momma drowned them thinkin' the end of the world was comin', or draw chalk lines on the floors of folks shootin' neighbors over stupid shit like stolen weed whackers. I don't have to deal with the constant paranoia that the government's gonna drop the big one and send us to kingdom come the way Russia, North Korea, and the middle east blew themselves off the map six years ago."

"You don't know that's what happened," I said, my hands rising with my frustration. "Why would the leaders bomb each other on the same day for no reason whatsoever? And where did they get weapons that could cause craters a mile deep? There's nothing left now but rubble and bones, leaders and all."

His eyes turned cold and hard as stone. Not easy for brown eyes to get that way. "Maybe they figured out the human race is what's wrong with things and decided to take their theory to the extreme." A disgruntled laugh spilled out of him. "Frankly, that sounds like a damn good idea to me."

"Am I hearing you right?" I hugged myself so I wouldn't come apart. "So all of the countries whose economy folded after the bombs fell, all of their people starving to death day after day—are you telling me you don't feel anything for them? People are dying by the thousands, shot in their own front yards for a few bottles of water, raped and beaten to death by some sick bastard for the sheer entertainment of it—" I closed my eyes, concentrating to block memories that threatened to drown me, before opening them again.

"Of course I feel for them." He sighed and looked everywhere but at me. "I'm not heartless, but I've seen enough horrible shit to stain the soul. Maybe when most of us are gone, we'll live off the land again like we're supposed to. The whole world's gone to shit, but I figure I can survive out here even when the American cities start to burn."

"When they start to burn? You don't get out much, do you?" A growl burned in my throat. "So you'll shove the whole mess under the carpet. You could have helped people if you were still a cop. Did you run up here because you're afraid?" My internal pot simmered again. Hot tendrils of power surged down my arms.

Eyes narrowing to slits, he thrust a finger at me. "What I am is a survivor, like you. If the rest of the savages want to shoot each other full of holes and sack their towns, then who am I to stand in their way? Good riddance."

"That's a piss-poor attitude to have."

"This from the one runnin' across country with her tail between her legs. You don't strike me as the kind to help anyone but yourself. What the hell could you do, anyway? You're just a girl."

My mouth dropped open, and I launched words at him like cannonballs. "Just a—you don't know shit about me. I'm not running because I'm scared, you ass, I'm running because I made a promise to my mother."

With my unintentional admission, my heart fell into my shoes.

Fuck.

I straightened and rolled my head until my neck cracked. "At least I try to help when I can, instead of turning a blind eye to the problem." I gestured to the shed where Garret went with the psycho douche.

Liam squinted at me. "What promise did you make to your mother?"

I launched myself past him, walked up to the grey shed, and threw the slat door open. "Is this where I'll be staying?"