Page 1 of Condemned

Chapter One

Peering down from herhiding spot behind the steeple of the temple, Avalon figured she had little chance of being seen. The mauleons patrolling below were of the usual mindset, as in they rarely looked up. They’d searched the building from crumbling top to rubble-strewn bottom and that was all.

She was safe. Probably.

Since they were prone to being over-muscled and heavy of body, she’d long ago figured they disliked climbing. Well, too much muscle as far as she was concerned. If she had a male partner, she’d choose one who wasn’t as preoccupied with the rippling of his chest as he was with being clever and talkative, and kind.

Kindness got bonus points from her.

They’d pass by, leave her with the prize, their silly Claw of Truth. She squeezed the cloth-wrapped artifact, reassuring herself she still possessed it and it hadn’t rolled off the tiled roof and smashed into fragments of gold, steel, and horn. There were no gemstones. Which did not compute, according to her Avalon definition of regal artifacts.

Their old royalty had claimed this to be some special war trophy, passed on for thousands of years. Until that laughable day two hundred or so years ago when Quarantine began on this planet and the mauleon Remargien dynasty of royals were left stranded off-planet attending some la-de-dah event, while their Claw of Silliness was still here.

Sucked for them.

For her? It meant a bonus from her uncle when she handed it to him. That and no prison sentence, with her criminal record wiped clean.

Just wait this patrol out. Her binocs had revealed them to be a bunch of wounded soldiers, not battle-ready mauleons. They must have happened on her team’s track by accident.

She would wait and let her two team members, Darva and Junis, lead them astray.

So went the plan.

Until someone tossed a flare onto the roof beside her. It rolled and fell into a hole in the roof. That someone had shot it up actually, judging by the flat trajectory. This was a human-made flare. Standard issue for the army. Not at all standard for mauleons. One of her team’s.

Avalon pinched her lips together.

Her team was meant to use it once they reached the border.

“Fuck!”

Betrayal sucked too.

She rolled behind the steeple and prayed.

Why would they do that?

It’s a distraction, of course, her ever-present analytical brain told her. I am the distraction. They want to get away and are happy to let me be the bunny in the glare.

Some mauleon soldier had probably spooked them.

If she were caught, the mauleon idea of justice might get her killed. Yeah. Not nice. She’d kinda sorta bonded with those two. For all three of them, volunteering for this mission had been close to asking for death.

She knew her reasons for saying yes: Uncle and a disgusting need for his approval despite everything—and how she hated herself for that. And then of course there was also her curious need to escape a prison sentence in the Kingdom of Montague.

Summed up that way, she’d been insane to say yes.

Maybe she did have a death wish.

“Fuck them!” She banged her palm into her forehead a few times, felt her hood shift on the spikes of her hair.

Stop.She wriggled the hood back into place, tried to settle herself. Red hair in a flare light would be far too striking. Calmness was the blessing of the thief.

Shading her eyes from the flare, she ducked her head out far enough to see what was going on below. The patrol had left their florses in the care of one male. Four soldiers in total? She catalogued them by the characteristics she’d spotted.

One. Multiple braids, fair hair, with the broadest shoulders.

Two. Lean, black hair, ponytail at the back of his head, and loped like a predator. Slinky. She should watch him.