Waking the Beast by Lacey Thorn

with a dart to even get in and rescue him. I hate the people who kept him like that. A cage much too small and filled with the filth of his body’s waste. No wonder he was angry and untrusting.
    Still, I ached for him. I wanted to touch him for just a moment, just to feel the warmth of his skin on mine and know he breathed, just to offer him a comforting touch. He’d been out for so long from the dart. I slipped away and went to him, feeling drawn like a magnet.
    His head lifted when I touched his side. But not in anger, not in rage. He was just as curious about me as I was about him. We had a connection. I could feel it humming between us. Then Harlan screamed and grabbed at me.
    I know the lion swiped his paw at Harlan. No matter what they say. I know he did. But he was slow and weak and it hit me instead, as Harlan grabbed my arm and tried to jerk me away. The paw caught the right side of my chest, and I felt the burn as my pale skin tore beneath the pajama top I wore.
    I didn’t mean to cry out, but the arm Harlan was jerking on was screaming as it separated from the socket. And that’s when all hell broke loose. My parents came running. And the lion roared.
    Those are the last memories I have before I blacked out from the pain. I’ll have a scar where the lion’s paw caught me. Grandmother says I bear the mark of the beast that killed my parents, and I know it hurts her. I hear her cry when she thinks I’m sleeping. I heard her tell Harlan to stay away, that he would never be welcome in her home.
    I know something more happened after I passed out. But no one will tell me. I’m young, and they are afraid of how this will affect me.
    But I bear the mark of the beast, and I swear it has made me stronger.
    * * * *
    It had taken Abby over an hour to get Tah to agree to what she needed. The stop at the bank the day before had been so he could clear his account out. She couldn’t empty her own because she had no purse or identification, except for one card she always kept hidden in the sole of her shoe. It was a trick her grandmother had taught her. The woman had always been afraid someone would try to take Abby from her, and she’d made sure Abby would have the means to get back if she could escape.
    So after arguing with Tah that they needed supplies and more clothes than what they were currently living in, she finally ripped her shoe apart and pulled the card free. It was an account set up a long time ago by her grandmother. The name on the account didn’t really exist, though Abby had the needed identification tucked away in a lock box. It contained all the money left to her by her parents and her grandmother. It was a fortune.
    Abby used the card all the time, just as her grandmother had taught her. That way if and when she needed it, there would be nothing to set alarms off like there would be if a suddenly dormant account was accessed. Abby moved thousands of dollars in and out of it every month, and she kept the ATM card hidden in her shoe. Always.
    She and Tah needed clothes, toiletries, a laptop, and something other than fast food. It wouldn’t be the same as having her personal computer with all her favorites and her contact lists, but it would have to do. It might take her a little longer to access what she needed, but she could do it.
    Their first stop was the ATM, where Abby took out her limit for the day. They’d have to be frugal and make it last for a few days before she could hit the ATM again. They’d also need a disposable phone as a contact number. As she worried about how they were going to get everything, she saw the library.
    That had led to another long argument. She wanted to cut costs by accessing the computer at the library, instead of buying a laptop, while he did their shopping, took it to the room, and then came back to pick her up before the library closed. But Utah didn’t want to leave her alone. He’d even growled at her. Growled at her!
    She’d been no better, stomping her