Read From Burning Ashes (Collector Series #4) for Free Online

shook his head, his features
darkening.
    “Can you guys see me?” Croygen asked,
cuddling Lexie close to his chest. Sprig curled on her stomach.
    “Yeah? Aren’t we supposed to?”
    “No,” he growled. Croygen was a chameleon
type of fae. He should have been able to blend so well into the
background he would disappear. It made him an excellent thief and
pirate. Several bullets whizzed by us. Croygen swore. “Why can’t we
use our powers? We’re out.”
    Escape was the first item on our agenda. We’d
worry about everything else later.
    “We need to get off the streets and find a
place to hide,” Ryker called over his shoulder as he ran
faster.
    “This way. I know a place.” Croygen made a
sharp turn. We ran, twisting and turning through lanes, alleys,
streets, and vacated buildings. I knew we had lost the soldiers,
but we kept up our speed, wanting to put as much distance between
us and DMG as we could.
    We had done it. We’d escaped. Croygen, Sprig,
and I had gotten Lexie and Ryker out. I knew we had a long, hard
journey ahead, but right then I let my heart feel the happiness,
the relief. Even if Ryker still wanted to kill me, he was alive,
and Lexie was here. We were all okay, though my gut sensed a
catastrophe coming, like it wouldn’t be long before danger came
calling, smashing us into little pieces.

 
     
THREE

     
    Croygen led us to a gutted storage warehouse
under the bridge in the Fremont area, a rough-around-the-edges
place. Before the big electrical storm, the region was being
transformed by the twenty-something artists and computer geeks and,
like in so many expanding cities, it had started to show signs of
becoming hip. Now it was back in the hands of the homeless
reclaiming their territory. All were fighting for space under the
bridge next to the famous Fremont Troll, a stone carving, which
once brought tourists to the spot by the droves.
    Now people left us alone as we ran through
the streets covered in blood, holding what probably appeared to be
a dead girl wrapped in a blanket with a monkey sleeping on her
chest. You know, pretty normal stuff. Sadly, they had probably seen
worse. Everyone kept to themselves, as though too scared to get
involved.
    When we finally stopped, Croygen walked
around to a side door, Lexie still sound asleep in his arms. Sprig
curled up, snoring. “It’s a safe house I used a while ago. Lots of
room to hold any money or loot you want to hide until you can
launder it.”
    “How long ago was awhile?” I asked.
    “Uh…when was dropping acid the rage?”
    “The sixties.”
    “Then somewhere around there.”
    My mouth gaped. “How do you know it’s even a
safe house anymore and not used by humans or other fae?”
    “Because there’s a spell on it. Humans will
look past it. Other fae will feel a spell on it and move on.”
Handing Lexie to Ryker, Croygen went to the door and typed a code
into the access buttons. “Hope this still works.”
    I moved closer to Croygen, watching his
fingers move over the buttons. “It’s been over fifty years, you
really think they are going to have the same code?”
    The door released from its hold, swinging
open. “You were saying?” Croygen’s lips turned up in a smug grin.
“Remember, fifty years to a fae is like a few weeks to humans.” He
opened the door wider, allowing Ryker and Lexie through, then
motioned for me to enter. “My lady.”
    I stepped inside. The two-story,
rectangular-shaped building stood mostly empty except for two
chairs, a table, and bare storage racks, which dotted the vast
space. A filthy mattress with bunched-up blankets sat by itself
like an island against one long blank wall. There were a few doors
off the main room, but all opened to vacant offices, holding no
more than unoccupied shelving.
    No bathroom. No kitchen.
    “Nice.” I rubbed my arms, goosebumps rippling
over my skin. “Very homey.”
    “Someone’s a bit of a snob,” Croygen
mocked.
    Ryker moved straight for the bed, set