Chapter 22 · Tamer of the Ash Wilds - Chapter 22: Dead Man's Shortcut

Lin didn't ask where they were going. He just followed Vira through the wreckage of Zone Three's eastern slag quarter, Crunch tucked against his ribs, still shaking.

The furball hadn't stopped trembling since he'd torn the net off. Lin could feel the rabbit-fast heartbeat through his shirt, the way Crunch's claws dug in every time a shadow moved. The little guy was scared. Really scared. And Lin didn't blame him.

Vira moved fast. Too fast for someone who'd just blown up half a bounty crew with homemade charges. She didn't look back, didn't slow down, just kept weaving through collapsed storefronts and burned-out husks of pre-collapse buildings like she'd walked this route a hundred times.

Maybe she had.

"Where are we going?" Lin finally asked. His voice came out rough. He was still tasting smoke.

Vira glanced over her shoulder. Her face was smudged with ash, her braid half-undone, but her eyes were sharp. "Somewhere they won't look."

"That's not an answer."

"It's the only one you're getting right now."

Lin bit down on the next question. He didn't have leverage here. She'd saved him. Saved Crunch. He owed her that much. But the bounty posters were everywhere now—