Read The Vault (A Farm Novel) for Free Online Page A

one corner. Cabinets lined three walls. Boxes of paper reams lined the other. There was no furniture, but Ely had stacked a couple of boxes near the copier and he was sitting on them, legs sprawled in front of him, head tipped back.
    Some tiny part of me knew that I had to be logical about this, but when I saw him—in that split second that I first laid eyes on him—there was nothing in my brain except Lily. The fear in her voice when she’d first called to tell me he was working for Roberto, that he’d tranqed her and left baby Josie to die. The quiet desperation after she’d been exposed to the virus. The way her voice quavered when she asked me to kill her. To make it quick. Because she didn’t want to become a monster.
    What the hell was I supposed to do with that?
    My girl, asking me to kill her quickly, because of this guy. How was I supposed to be logical?
    Ely barely opened an eye in the time it took me to get across the room and haul his ass to his feet. I whirled him around and slammed his back into the wall and held him there.
    In that instant, logic didn’t matter. None of it mattered. Because Lily was sick. Lily was dying. Maybe lost forever. Because of this guy. This worthless sack of shit. This traitor who was supposed to keep her safe and didn’t.
    I hauled back and punched him square in the jaw just once, then dragged him back up. There was nothing I couldn’t do to this guy that wouldn’t be fair. That wouldn’t be reasonable. I wanted to take him apart. Every instinct I had yelled at me to destroy him.
    Instead, I just held him there, seething for a moment before I could even speak.
    “I am going to kill you,” I said slowly. He made a strangled choking sound, but didn’t struggle to get free. He was shorter than I was, stockier, and I held him dangling several inches off the floor. “I am going to tear you apart with my bare hands. Whatever Roberto threatened you with to coerce you into betraying us, I will do worse.” Then I let go of him and he crumpled. “But I’m not going to do it today.”
    He sat sprawled on the ground and brought his thumb up to wipe away a single drop of blood. “Why not just kill me now?”
    “Because I’m going to go save Lily’s life and I don’t have time for you.”
    And with that, I turned and walked away. I would make him pay, but not right now. Now I had more important things to do.

CHAPTER SIX
    MEL
    Sebastian writhes in agony as I thrust the stake back into his heart. I’ve killed him again, in hopes of saving him.
    “I’m sorry,” I whisper once more. He’s deadweight against me and I struggle to get my arms around him. I heft him up so he’s leaning on me and his face is inches from mine. “You’re bleeding too much.”
    “So you stabbed me again?” he gasps out.
    “We have to get out of here. I don’t have time to bandage your wounds here. We have to get out of here before the Ticks wake up and—”
    I break off when I hear a desperate howl rend the air. From behind me, Chuy lets out a panicked yelp. I glance over my shoulder. He has stayed precisely where I told him to, but he’s standing now, tense and poised to attack, staring off into the distance.
    Sebastian nods toward the town. “Those Ticks?”
    I turn and look out across the green. In the half-light of dusk, dark shapes loom at the edge of the square. Hulking, clumsy shapes. And they’re moving toward us.
    The Ticks. Those lazy, sleeping beasts I was sure were too blood drunk to notice my arrival. Sebastian’s screams have woken them and they are clearly not morning people. Or dusk people as the case may be.
    My gaze scans the town square. A dozen. No, two dozen. Maybe more. Chuy clacks his teeth together, too nervous to be still.
    “You think we can take them?” I ask.
    Sebastian laughs. “Ah, I have missed your wide-eyed optimism, dear Kit.”
    “I’ve seen you take out a dozen Ticks.”
    “I’m humbled by your high opinion of me, but I’m not prepared to die