by Abi Ketner
This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are either products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, business establishments, events, or locales is entirely coincidental. The author makes no claims to, but instead acknowledges the trademarked status and trademark owners of the word marks mentioned in this work of fiction.
Copyright © 2015 Abi Ketner and Missy Kalicicki
HUNTED by Abi Ketner and Missy Kalicicki
All rights reserved. Published in the United States of America by Month9Books, LLC.
No part of this book may be used or reproduced in any manner whatsoever without written permission of the publisher, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews.
Published by Month9Books for Georgia McBride Media Group
Cover by Kimberly Marsot
Typography and title design by Regina Wamba of Mai I Design
Cover Copyright © 2015 Month9Books
PRAISE FOR BRANDED
“Dark, intense, dangerous. We fell head over heels with the forbidden romance between brave heroine Lexi and swoon-worthy hero Cole. And Zeus? Best dog EVER. A must read for fans of the adrenaline intensity of Shatter Me and the totally hot guys of Jen Armentrout.” — Justine Magazine
“A riveting and exciting dystopian read that will have you at the edge of your seat. I could not put it down and was entranced by this dark and unique world!” — Ben Alderson, Booktuber at BenjaminofTomes
“Branded is a fast paced, heart pounding, and swoon-worthy read that will make you fall in love with this dark and twisted world.” — Sasha Alsberg, Booktuber at ABookUtopia
“It was page-turning, intense, emotional, and so much more! This is one dystopian filled with so much you just want and need in a book! I loved that Ketner & Kalicicki had me hooked from the start making me climb more and more into this book with each page. I really felt like I was taking to a whole other world and sometime got lost in what was going on around me!” — Bella, Blogger at Paranormal Book Club
“The concept of this book was amazing. From the very first page, I was on edge. I read this book in one day, it just wouldn’t stop being exciting.” — Amy, Blogger at Reading Teen
“I just can’t stress how much I love this book! Branded will DEFINITELY go into my TOP FIVE FAVORITE BOOKS OF ALL TIMES!!! If you haven’t read Branded, then stop what you’re doing NOW and READ IT!!!!” — Alicia, Blogger at Addicted Readers
“Wow! What a story! What a set of characters! What an ending! Now I’m ready for the next book!” — Lisa, Blogger at A Life Bound By Books
“WOW! I want more. And I want it now. There are several revelations at the end of the story that leaves the reader hungry for more. Take it from me, you will enjoy this book so much, that you won’t be able to it out of your head. It’s just an amazing story that will blow you away.” — Savannah, Blogger at Books With Bite
“This story is emotional and scary. This book literally brought the saying ‘on the edge of my’ seat to life. My heart was pounding with almost every chapter. I loved that feeling! I haven’t read a book in a long time that left me feeling nervous and twitchy. I was dying to know how things would go for Lexi in the HOLE. And the ending was O-M-G! — Damaris, Blogger at Good Choice Reading
“Fast paced and fun, Branded has something everyone will love. Abi Ketner and Missy Kalicicki have created a unique dystopian romance that’s sure to stand out in today’s market!” — Lindsay Cummings, Author of The Murder Complex
“I read until my eyes shut, and couldn’t wait to get back to find out what was going to happen next. The battle scenes were AMAZING!!! It was a story beautifully told, and described, and has you straight front-and-center with the characters. All I can say is…add this to your lists!!! You won’t be sorry!!! Oh… and HURRY WITH BOOK #2, Abi and Missy!!!” — Cameo Renae, bestselling author of the HIDDEN WINGS Series
“I LOVED this book! I went back and forth between biting my nails and swooning. Yes, quite the combination of emotions but it was awesome! This is one messed up society that I just couldn’t get enough of. And the romance, oh man oh man oh man. Cole is something else, ladies. RAWR.” — Celeste, Blogger at The Book Hookup
“It isn’t often that a book can completely engage me from the start but right from the very first paragraph this book held me within its pages and did not release me from its clutches until the very last word. BOOM! I highly recommend this book to anyone that loves a nail biting read with constant twists and turns, a lead kick-ass female that you would gladly call your friend and a lead male that you want spider monkey because he is that amazing.” — Nancy, Blogger at Tales of A Ravenous Reader
“The writing was strong, I fell in love with the characters and was totally wrapped up in the world. There was a swoon-worthy hero, a strong heroine, a forbidden romance (and I mean REALLY forbidden) and a super evil bad guy. Now, I don’t normally read Dystopians but this one had me HOOKED!!!” — Aesta, Blogger at Aestas’s Book Blog
Abi
My mom, Lisa.
My second mom, Sally.
My Mamie, June.
Missy
My mom, Jennifer.
My mom, Denise, gone too soon.
“The air is thick with dust and death.” — Lexi Hamilton
The rusted gray car is a luxury we haven’t had in some time. I smooth its faded red upholstery and sink into Cole’s body beside me as the chatter of the 2044 engine lulls me deep into thought.
A breeze blows through the window, whipping my hair around my face. I indulge myself in a smile, enjoying the smell of ocean spray, forgetting where I am momentarily. To imagine sun-kissed beaches, long summer days, and happier times. But something inside won’t quite let me be.
I know this road like I know the curves and edged places of Cole’s body. The dark gravel lines of the road, fading into smooth sand with occasional palm trees dotting the horizon, reminds me of the few photos my mother possessed in her bureau. It’s familiar, comforting, and makes me smile as I close my eyes, trying to shake the uneasy feeling.
I remember how it looked years ago when my parents used to vacation here. Vibrant, full of laughter and life with rows of waterfront houses, people, and clear blue water as far as the eye can see. Now, it’s empty, desolate, a shell of its former self, and half-covered by sand. Neglected and abandoned by people who know better than to return. I sit up and rest my elbow on the window ledge, while inhaling deeply. Despite the wars, there’s an inherent beauty here, one I refuse to let go of.
Cole’s right hand moves to my knee, and I tense under his warm touch. He squeezes, forcing me to jump as a giggle escapes from my lips.
“You okay?” He steals a glance and then returns his eyes to the road.
“Just thinking about how much has happened in the past few months,” I say, feeling my face heat up as I turn toward him.
“Everything that’s happened?” I see the corners of his mouth curving upward. His dimples make me lightheaded. I can’t stop the blush that spreads over my cheeks.
“Not just that. I mean, we’ve been through so much in the past few months. I couldn’t even hold a gun when we first met, let alone shoot one.”
“Or boost a car.”
“And what kind of person can sleep standing up?” I half-expect him to respond, but when he doesn’t, I continue on. “It shouldn’t have to be this way.” My voice trails off, worried I may have ruined the moment. “Cole?”
He doesn’t acknowledge me right away. His eyes are distant, focused on the horizon. Maybe he can feel it too, the dread in the pit of my st
omach. That feeling you get when you know the moment won’t last. I stretch out my left arm, wrapping it around his neck while I gently kiss his jawline. “You’re amazing.” Immediately, I feel his body relax. He turns his head, and the same gorgeous smile plays at his lips.
“You’re pretty amazing yourself. A total badass with a gun and a great kisser.” Cole’s intense look is somewhere between satisfied and troubled. Holding his gaze, I smile back, hoping he can’t see how sad and lost I feel.
Compliments are hard to come by nowadays, so when Cole offers one, I savor it. I want him to be proud of how much I’ve changed, how well I can handle myself. I need him to see that I’m not the same girl he rescued from the Hole.
Hair gets caught in my mouth. I push it away from my face and look out the window, watching the sand dunes flip past. Anything’s better than the Hole. I can’t go back to that place. I won’t.
Now we rely on Sutton’s underground resistance members to shelter, feed, and hide us. On occasions like this, we might almost get a break from living like animals, if we can determine whether a possible safe house is actually safe. But even if this safe house turns out to be useful, we can never let our guard down, get too comfortable.
The face of a former revolt member named Molly flashes through my memory as I grip the handle of the car door, turning my knuckles white. At nineteen and only a year older than me, Molly survived being branded orange and living in the Hole for two years on her own, only to be murdered in a safe house that wasn’t secure. When one of her friends found us, he told us she had failed to clear one closet in the house, the only time she’d ever missed one, and was promptly shot by a guard hiding inside. So despite riding in a car with beautiful and soft upholstery, snuggling up to Cole, I cannot become complacent. Complacency can get you killed.
I exhale, letting my thoughts drift away as I examine Cole’s newly buzzed head, glistening from sweat. Just last night, he asked me to chop off his long, dark, greasy hair, grown out of control without the aid of a razor. Now, he looks like the Cole I met on my first day in the Hole—minus the spotless uniform and bossy attitude. But he’s still just as intense.
“I miss Zeus, even though he can be a royal pain in my ass,” he says, raising an eyebrow in my direction before planting a kiss on my cheek.
“How can you say that about Zeus? He was protecting me.”
“I miss him, but it’ll be good for us to be alone without any interruptions, don’t you think?” Cole chuckles and squeezes my leg again, quickly taking a moment to look me over.
“What’s so funny?”
“I just pictured him, sitting next to our bed, resting his head on the mattress, with his head cocked staring at us.” He leans back into his seat with that mouth-watering dimple dented in his cheek.
I feel my face warm. My mind replays the night before, when Zeus interrupted us by licking Cole’s back in the middle of a highly charged make-out session. Yes, time alone will be good. I laugh to myself.
I give Cole a coy smile, but he doesn’t notice. He’s turned his attention back to the road.
After a check of the rearview mirror, his lips seal into a thin line. He squints to get a better look and tightens his grip on the steering wheel.
“Damn it.” His body tenses. “We’ve got company.”
The hair on my neck rises. “What?” I glance behind us. A fast-moving, sleek, black vehicle trails a mile or so behind. One day, I’ll learn to trust my instincts. I knew this was too good to last. I flip back around and face Cole.
“I’m gonna grab the guns.” I can feel my heart begin galloping as adrenaline starts to pour into my veins.
“Yeah, we’re gonna need ’em,” he says.
I pull out his Glock and my SIG Sauer P229 compact that one of the resistance members gave me. Sweat trickles down my back as I place the guns on my lap and wipe my clammy hands on my pants.
“Hold tight. Don’t shoot till I say.” His voice is low and calm, but his rigid posture tells me he is just as nervous as me. Fear makes us better fighters, Keegan used to say. “Get ready.” He checks the rearview again.
Cole slams the gas pedal into the floor. My head jerks back, hitting the headrest. The car bucks against his demand, protesting his urgency with an engine that has seen better days.
I grip the guns, willing myself to be calm and breathe like he taught me. Here we go.
Cole clenches his jaw. “Crap.”
“What?” I glance over my shoulder again.
“They’re gaining on us!” He unbuckles his seatbelt.
The speedometer ticks up past eighty, but it feels like we’re moving at a snail’s pace compared to the approaching car. I shake my head. I check Cole’s Glock one last time, cocking it before handing it to him. Then I unbuckle my seatbelt too.
Cole raises an eyebrow at me, and I nod while pushing the seatbelt off to my right.
“Let’s do this,” I say.
“Remember, shoot to kill, don’t hesitate, not even for a second.”
“Got it.”
I scan my own hand, wrapped around my two-toned silver and black SIG. I double-check the extra magazines I have strapped around my waist. It amazes me that just before he died, Keegan showed me how to use a gun. Now he’s gone, and handling guns feels like second nature. I’ve become a killer.
My eyes focus on the vehicle closing in, though thoughts of Keegan bring me to tears.
The pounding in my chest gets louder. Just then, the sun disappears, and dark clouds, pregnant with rain, loom over us. I exhale while fingering the trigger of the cold metal weapon in my lap. I lick my dry lips and bite down in anticipation.
I hope we’re ready for them.
“Holy sh—” Cole yells.
I grasp the door handle as a dark Charger swings onto the road with a flash of black paint.
Cole swerves left, narrowly missing the oncoming car by a hair. Gunfire erupts from the other car. We’re so close I can see the green eyes of the driver and the black uniform he’s wearing.
“Ahhhhh!” I scream as the passenger side window behind me shatters into the backseat. They’re shooting at us.
Adrenaline bursts through me like fire, burning my veins. I lean out my open window and fire, pummeling the driver’s door with puncture holes. “All right, bastards. Let’s see what you got.”
The guard steers his car into ours, slamming us into the left-hand shoulder. Our car thumps over God knows what along the edge, bouncing me all over the place. I struggle to hold on. Cole’s shouting. Squealing tires and torrents of gunfire echo all around me as I’m thrown into him.
“Dammit!” I scream as I struggle back up and fire more rounds.
Click.
I’m empty. I eject the empty mag and slam another one in. Gripping the inside of the car with one hand, I try to aim with my right. But everything’s going too fast. My hair blows in front of my face, and my hand slips off the ledge. A knife of panic slices through me as I try to brace myself back up.
Cole’s cussing becomes background noise as he fights to keep the car on the road. “Shoot out their tires!” he yells. “Now!”
“I’m trying.” It comes out whinier than I expected.
Cole keeps swerving the car, making it impossible to get a shot off. I don’t want to waste bullets if I don’t have to. This is damn near impossible.
“Shoot, Lexi.” Cole jerks the wheel right, bashing our car into the guard’s door. I don’t think I’m even breathing as I take a few more shots. My ears are ringing, and my body’s on overdrive.
The cars are locked together in a mass of spraying bullets. All around me, glass is exploding. I feel it slice across my face in a million little pieces, and I blink furiously as pain jabs my eyes like miniature needles. My hands fiddle for another magazine, and as I slam it in, I focus through the watery film of my eyes and meet the gaze of the guard. His neck’s corded. He’s screaming something at me. But I can’t focus on his mouth. And I can’t hear anything he’s saying t
o me. All that matters is putting him away.
He raises his gun at the same time. And as we’re staring down one another’s barrels, he flinches, and without hesitation, I squeeze a shot off.
Blood gushes from his face as his body slumps over the wheel. Abruptly, his car banks right and slows down. A cloud of dust rises as it rolls off the road into an embankment. I watch as it rebounds over the sand dunes and smashes to a stop.
Cole brings our beater back onto the road. His chest’s heaving up and down, and he glances over at me.
“You were unbelievable.”
Just as I start to respond, the other vehicle rams us from the back. Crash! Crunching metal and more shots split the air as I slam into the dashboard. I throw my elbows up to block my head. Beside me, I see Cole’s head snap back into his headrest.
“What the hell!” he’s shouting.
I grip the dashboard and try getting up, but my hands are slick with sweat. Cole floors it again, and this time, there’s nothing. My head feels like someone took a mallet to it. I crawl halfway onto my seat, looking in the rear windshield before I realize what’s about to happen. A black Charger has backed off, but suddenly, it zooms onto our bumper.
“Brace yourself for another hit, Lexi.”
It rams us from behind again. A horrific crunching reaches my ears as I slam forward into the dashboard and slither onto the floor. For a moment, I’m disoriented. Warm liquid drips down my face. Blood. All I hear is the groaning, straining engine of our car. I’m wiggling my fingers in front of me, trying to focus, when I hear a thump.
“Lexi, are you all right? Come on, get up. Please.” Cole’s panicked voice rips through my fog.
I grip my head as splitting pain pulses through every nerve ending in my body. I’ve got to pull myself together. Dropping my hands, I move slowly up and onto the seat, looking for my gun. Oh crap, where the hell is it? I panic when the guard leaps onto the trunk of our car, threatening to get inside.