Chapter 2

I brought the giant beast back to my basement.

The space was tiny, containing only a worn-out mattress and a few rusted metal cabinets.

I took a clean rag, dampened it with a bit of water, and gently wiped the grime from his wounds.

The beast lay on the mattress, letting out a deep, rumbling purr.

"You're pretty handy, kid. But this place is a dump. No climate control? We’ll freeze to death tonight."

So, he was a black panther, not a cat.

I sat beside him and pulled the last two tubes of nutrient gel from the cabinet.

This was the food my parents had left me. Toby had thrown them in the corner because he hated the flavor.

I popped the cap off one and held it to his mouth.

"Eat this."

He sniffed it with disgust.

"Eat it yourself. I don't eat garbage."

He paused. "So, you said your parents went to Neo-Haven? Why didn't they take you?"

I lowered my head, staring at my dirty toes.

"The airship was overweight. Toby's school supplies couldn't be left behind, and Chloe's custom lyre was too important. Dad said I was the most understanding one, so he told me to wait here for a month."

The basement fell dead silent.

Suddenly, the black panther bolted upright, his tail slamming against the floor with a loud crack.

"That's complete bull! If a ship is overweight, you throw away the luggage! Who throws away their kid?!"

"Are you sure they're your actual parents? They literally treated you like a piece of used tissue—wiped their hands and threw you away!"

"And 'understanding'? Being 'understanding' is just a euphemism for being disposable! They saw you as a burden!"

His roaring voice echoed in my head, making me dizzy.

My eyes stung. In truth, I had always known the answer. I had just been too terrified to admit it.

Whenever there was only one piece of meat on the table, Mom always gave it to Toby.

Whenever tuition was due, Dad always said Chloe’s music lessons were too expensive, so I had to drop out of school for a year.

They always praised me for being "understanding."

Did being understanding just mean being unloved?

Right then, a violent pounding rattled the heavy iron door of the basement.

BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!

"Amber! Open the door! I know you're in there!"

It was One-Eyed Jack, the most brutal scavenger boss in the Dustlands.

His raspy, vicious voice seeped through the cracks of the door.

"Your parents went to Neo-Haven to live the high life and left you here to rot. Keeping that filtered water is a waste. Hand it over to your Uncle Jack!"

"If you don't open up, I'll blow this door open, drag you out, and sell you to the deep-space mines!"

I started shaking violently.

Jack was a monster. Even my dad used to bow and scrape whenever he crossed Jack's path.

The iron door began to warp inward, screeching under the pressure.

The lock was about to snap.

The black panther's eyes turned lethal. He slowly stood up, placing his massive body right in front of me.

"So noisy. A low-life insect dares to bark in front of me."

"Kid, cover your ears."

I instinctively clamped my hands over my ears.

The next second, a deafening CRASH shook the room.

The heavy iron door was blasted off its hinges by a single swipe of the panther’s paw!

The metal door flew ten yards through the air, smashing violently into the opposite corridor wall.

One-Eyed Jack, who was holding a heavy hydraulic ram, froze in shock.

He stared at the massive black panther standing in the doorway, radiating a suffocating, terrifying pressure. The tool slipped from his hands, clattering onto the concrete.

The panther bared his razor-sharp fangs, letting out a low, vibrating growl.

Jack’s knees buckled, and he hit the ground. He scrambled backward like a crab, screaming in terror.

"Monster! There's a monster!"

The panther snorted with disdain.

"Lucky bastard ran fast. If I weren't injured, I would have swallowed him whole."

He turned back to look at me, still trembling in the corner.

"Alright, trash has been cleared. This place isn't safe anymore. I'm calling my ride."