Page 2 of Beg the Night

Sick bastards.

The birds didn’t know the world was ending. They didn’t know we were killing each other one by one, fighting for something that didn’t exist.

A cool breeze brushed my dirt-brown hair over my shoulder. I wouldn’t normally risk sitting outside like this, but my ability to give a shit was dwindling with every passing second.

Jasmine.

She was the last good thing left in my life. The final hope I had that we might actually survive this war.Hold yourself together,she would say.We need you to stay strong, so when this is all over you can put our family back together.

A sharp laugh racked through me, painfully piercing the silence. What family? What life?

Gunshots rang out in the distance. I’d stopped flinching at the sound months ago. What was the use? My family and I had been hiding from the Ministry since the war had started two years ago.

But I’d only fought as hard as I did in order to keep my family safe. Now, I had no family. If I was right about Katherine, then there wasn’t a soul alive I cared for. No reason to keep going.

I dropped my head back as I took in the bright blue sky above me.Forgive me, Jasmine. I’m not nearly as tough as I pretended to be.

The truth was, my sister’s death took all the strength and determination I possessed, and I feared I would never get it back. I no longer cared enough to fight.

To run.

To hide.

If the Ministry wanted me, they could damn well come find me. I was too tired to keep fighting. I was too—too?—

A single tear fell from my eye, rolling down my dirt-covered skin and lingering on my chin before dripping to my tattered shirt.

Though I wasn’t a mystic, it didn’t matter. I was a woman. And in the depths of this war, the Ministry was gathering all the women they could find.

In some ways, I envied Jasmine. She would not have to endure what came next.

The voices and gunshots grew louder, but I didn’t even have the strength to stand. They wouldn’t shoot me. My long, wavy locks and womanly figure would be a dead giveaway. They’d want to take me alive. Not that I’d stay that way for long.

More silent tears fell.

The birds scattered, launching themselves from the trees noisily, evading the horror that approached.

I didn’t turn around, didn’t even bother to move from the spot near my family’s graves as the footsteps approached.

A deep voice shouted unintelligibly. More male voices followed, disturbing and harsh. The ground vibrated with footsteps.

A sharp needle pierced the side of my neck, and in seconds, it felt as though I was flying.

It was nice.

And then it was all over.

TWO

athena

We were moving.

My consciousness faded in and out, accompanied by a sharp pain in my temple.

I didn’t flinch. Didn’t move. Not when the familiar buzz in my palms warned me that I wasn’t alone.

The Ministry.

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