Chapter Five

Juno

He steered them away from the border, his strides light and quick as they passed a small warehouse she longed to search for scraps. But just like everywhere else, she probably wouldn’t find much.

Juno had spent her entire life—at least, the life she remembered—in her community by the beach. Her only enemies were lack of food and the people across the border. But she often forgot that the people over by the bridge contended with the same things. No supplies, no food, no clothes. Things they seemed to be trying to take back from the Light District.

If she came to live here, if she finally took that leap and left her community, there would still be hardships.

Juno swallowed and lifted her chin. She could deal with hardships, though. It was the complete lack of support and no sense of family that seemed to stab her in the heart every day.

She ventured a look at Maddox. He didn’t seem to care that she didn’t belong. Maddox knew nothing about her. In fact, he should hate her like the rest of his community. But instead, he seemed interested in her company.

“You’re going the wrong way,” she said, clearing her throat. Still, she couldn’t get too comfortable. “I mean, this isn’t—it’s not the way back to our communities.”

He glanced over, eyebrow lifted. Amusement graced his lips, and she had to pretend she didn’t envy his carefree attitude, like life didn’t faze him at all. Either that, or he just enjoyed messing with her.

And she was enjoying it, too. Just a little. It didn’t hurt that he kept smiling in a way that made her body tingle.

“This is exactly where we want to go,” he said, pointing to Victor Bridge. “That’s where the rat traps are.”

Her stomach grumbled. Mortified, she pressed a hand to it, hoping Maddox hadn’t heard. Then he chuckled under his breath, making her cheeks burn.

“I can’t blame you,” he said, no judgment in his voice. “You cook ’em just right, it makes for a pretty good meal. Add some salt and pepper and you’ve practically got a feast.”

Salt and pepper. Where’d he get salt and pepper? She opened her mouth to ask and then snapped it shut again. She didn’t need to know anything more about him or his community. They needed to stick to doing what they were supposed to do—find the thief.

Even if she was kind of enjoying his company. And, she had to admit, he wasn’t bad to look at. The quirk of his lip, the ease of his walk, even the solid line of muscle she saw in each arm. He worked hard, and it showed.

As they got closer to Victor Bridge, the sun flickered behind the metal beams that rose up around them. It had been years since Juno had been this close to the bridge. It went right into the edge of the city. She heard it used to be named something else. In fact, her entire country used to be named something else. Angleland? England? Something like that.

But it didn’t really matter much to the people on this side of the city—the Darkside. History books and stories from the past had gotten lost over time. Most of the history she’d heard was about the other community and the wars they’d waged against each other over the years.

There had been death. And even though things had been relatively quiet the last several months, it seemed like it might not be for much longer. Not if there was a thief out there.

“How about you?” Maddox asked.

Juno jerked her attention to his and barely missed tripping over a pile of wood scattered on the side of the road. “W–what?”

Amusement flashed on his face again, causing his lips to quirk, his eyes to squint with that tiny grin.

She swallowed. She wasn’t supposed to be making friends with him.

She was supposed to have turned him in, too.

Apparently Juno wanted change more than she’d realized.

“How about you?” Maddox asked again. “We eat lots of rats and vegetables. You eat fish, right? And crab?”

Juno lifted her chin to the sky and let the sun warm her cheeks, giving in to the pleasure of walking next to someone who wasn’t judging her. Who seemed interested in what she had to say.

“Fish. Yes,” she said with a nod. “No salt or pepper, but if you cook ’em just right, they’re not too bad. And crab…all we need is hot water. You guys have that whole south area past the dock. Why don’t you ever fish?”

He stopped and turned to look at her, so many thoughts running across his face she couldn’t tell where one stopped and the other ended.

“Never mind,” she said, shaking her head, reminding herself again that she wasn’t supposed to be making friends. “It’s none of my business what you guys do, anyway. Where are these traps?”

Maddox angled his head, eyes narrowing. Questions. That’s what she saw there. But he didn’t ask any of them, only pointed. Maybe he figured, as she did, that the less they knew about each other and their communities, the better.

“I’ve got them all set up along the back here,” he said, ducking under a beam.

She followed him past broken wooden crates and rat droppings, her stomach twisting instead of rumbling now. Maybe sticking to fish was a good idea. But that was the problem—right now she didn’t have any fish.

So maybe she’d get some tips from Maddox on how to cook rat. And if she had some of his salt and pepper…

She realized suddenly that’s what she needed. If she didn’t belong back in her community, she belonged out here, where Stef said she’d come from in the first place. If she was out here, she wouldn’t have to worry about disappointing anyone. She didn’t have to wrap her arms around herself in hugs she wouldn’t get from someone else every night.

She might be on her own, but she wouldn’t be lonely because she wouldn’t be looking for a relationship with someone who lived with her but didn’t care.

But if she moved here…she had to learn how to take care of herself better.

Juno shifted her attention to Maddox. Maybe he’d come into her life at the perfect time. He could help her learn how to catch rats. How to find other food. How to scavenge, even. Any knowledge he had on how to survive might be helpful.

And his companionship wouldn’t hurt, either. Just until she figured out what to do.

“See.” Maddox ducked low amongst six small crates, all holding a few rats each. “They’re metal. And they work every time.”

The rats scurried back and forth in their cages. They were puny things, probably no better fed than her and her people. But they were food.

“How did you build these?” She eyed the construction of the cages.

Maddox swiveled in the shadows under the bridge, his shoes crunching on gravel and glass. “They weren’t always like this. I had the metal structure, the outline of it, but I couldn’t get the door to swing shut right. These hinges here?” He pointed, and she nodded. “They weren’t my idea.”

She blinked, surprised he’d admitted it. “Whose idea were they?”

His lips curved again, like he had secrets he didn’t plan on telling her. “A girl. One who lives close to the bridge here.”

“So…what?” Juno asked, easing back on her heels and making the rats squeak with the movement. “You found her one day and asked her how to catch more rats? Or did you follow her, too?”

He rolled his eyes. “She saw my traps when I came for them. I thought she was going to steal them.” He grinned. “You know how that goes.”

Juno snorted. “Yeah, well…don’t think I’m completely convinced you’re not the thief. You could be a brilliant liar.”

“I am a brilliant liar.”

Her heart skipped. At the look of danger on his face. At the way his eyes held hers.

Then he chuckled. “But no sense in lying about that when the truth will get me a lot further.”

She released a breath. “So, she didn’t steal your traps. Then what?”

“We talked. She showed me her traps, and mine were almost identical. But she had hinges on hers, and I had this latch on mine. We shared ideas, built a better trap, and now we share the bridge sometimes, too. I set my traps back here and don’t bother hers, which are on the other side.”

Juno averted her eyes. Well, Maddox sure made friends easy, didn’t he? “You ever see her?”

“Who?”

“The rat-trap girl. Do you ever see her around here?”

Maddox shrugged. “I haven’t seen her again since then.”

Why did that surprise her? It wasn’t like anyone around here had time for girlfriends or boyfriends, anyway, when they had so many bigger things to worry about.

“Now what do we do with them?” Juno asked, quickly changing the direction of her thoughts.

“This is the part you’re not going to like. But it’s necessary. Unless you want to bring them back alive and kill them when you get home. Fresher that way.”

Juno’s stomach twisted again. “No thanks. I’m good.”

He laughed, the low sound warm to her ears, echoing off the beams of the bridge and inside of her.

“Tell me one thing,” he said, leaning against one of the metal posts.

A flicker of worry traveled through her before she answered. “What?”

“How long has someone been stealing your fish?”

“Just…” She shifted into a crouch, embarrassed. “A few days. I mean, I don’t even know if it’s been that long because I only started—”

She broke off. He didn’t need to know that she’d just started fishing and that she barely knew what she was doing.

“They steal the crab, too?”

She gritted her teeth. “So? That’s why I’m here, right? So we can figure it out.”

He only stared at her, and the echo of the words in her head suddenly sounded harsh. Why did he make her feel so defensive?

“You should take half,” Maddox said, shifting toward the traps.

“Half of what?”

“The rats.”

Juno narrowed her eyes. “I don’t need—”

“Yeah, I get it. You don’t need anything from me.” Maddox didn’t even look at her when he dismissed her protest. “This isn’t charity, Juno. It’s a trade, remember? I help you, you help me.”

She swallowed more arguments. He was right. This was how they did things around here. You helped someone out, they helped you out. Aside from that, you minded your own business.

“Fine. Half,” she said.

“Good. Now tell me about this thief.”

She ignored her discomfort. She had to be open with him if he was going to help. He’d already held up his end of the bargain.

“You know what he looks like—anything about him?” he prompted. His amusement returned. “Or her?”

“I don’t know what they look like. No.”

“And that’s why you thought it was me.”

“You were there in the middle of the night. It’s not your territory. What would you think?”

“Same thing. So…” He scratched his chin. “We don’t have much to go on.”

Juno grumbled a frustrated insult before shuffling out from under the bridge and standing in the sunlight, her legs aching from crouching.

Maddox followed her, laughter in his eyes. “What? I’m just stating the facts.”

She folded her arms. “You’re a jerk. A big one. A huge one—”

“Probably.” He sighed. “But facts are facts. We need more information.”

“And how are we going get that?”

“The same way you were planning to,” Maddox said.

She stepped back, suddenly aware of how close he stood. How tall he was. How sure he was. “Meaning?”

“A stakeout.”

“What?”

“We’ll watch your pots and your nets just like you were doing before,” he said. “If he comes for them again, we’ll see. And we’ll know who it is.”

“But…” Her mouth hung open. She wasn’t sure why she was arguing. Maybe because she knew deep down how wrong it was to be with him, this forbidden boy from the other side of their border.

“Don’t you want to figure this out?” Maddox asked.

“I do.”

“Doesn’t sound very convincing,” he said with a grin. “Are you scared of seeing me again?”

She reached out and shoved his shoulder. He made a show of stumbling backward, embarrassing her even further. “I’m not scared.”

“Then we start the stakeout tonight.”

“Good.” Juno squared her shoulders. “The sooner we figure this out, the better.”

“It’s a plan, then.” He gestured to the beams under the bridge. “Now, let’s go get your dinner.”