Читать книгу The Barkuu - Lauren Wright - Страница 3

Crap. Holy crap. He's going to kill me. He's going to kill me and bury me right here in this forest. It's so dark that no one would see. The ground is soft; you could easily dig a hole in just a few minutes, which is nice because he'd probably make me do it.

I can picture it now: "Why, no officer, I haven't seen him. He probably ran away to Hollywood." That would make sense – Emma Dinkle did it.

One day, she disappeared with her boyfriend, and no one heard from her again. Until late one night, she showed up on a pantyhose commercial. Ended up changing her name to "Emma Waters." I guess it has a certain flow to it.

Okay, Evo, concentrate. How did Furly know you were here? Forget it; just focus on getting out of here. Which way do I go?

In haste, Evo had sprinted out the backyard, across the field, and straight into the forest. There was nothing this way for hundreds of miles – just national forest scattered with hiking trails and wild animals.

At seventeen, Evo was five feet, eight inches, and weighed one hundred and sixty pounds. He was by no means massive. His actual name was Zeus, named after some burly god from a time before technology. Evo had looked it up once; he held a thunderbolt, had white hair, and hated wearing a shirt. Nothing like Evo.

His parents hadn't referred to him as "Zeus" since he was a child. His mother always said it was because "Evo" fit him so much better. "Like the next generation," she used to say. Though he suspected it was because he didn't live up to the name, unlike his brother, Bronze Adonis.

It wasn't fair; "Bronze" wasn't even his name – it was "Adonis." Named after some handsome god who wore the envy of all.

Everyone called him Bronze because of his inexplicable, natural tan. Bronze, at six feet, two inches, was as stocky as he was tall. Bronze the football star, the athlete, the favorite of everyone. Evo, by comparison, was quiet, quite pale, and much thinner. They could not have been more different.

Evo's parents weren't well educated – just simple farmer folk with good hearts. His father had taken some botany classes at the local college. It was an education that included among its electives, a Greek mythology class.

It was a class that he referred to on all available occasions, which was essentially all the time. No one was surprised when he insisted on naming his children after his favorite mythological entities.

It wouldn't be fair to call Evo "lanky," as he didn't have the stature for such a label, but "clumsy" definitely fit the description.

He never liked sports and couldn't catch a ball to save his life. Should such a scenario arise, he needed to remember to plead for a more plausible challenge.

To that extent, he had never joined an after-school club or even considered an extracurricular activity. If there is anything worse than being named after someone you can never live up to, it's being overshadowed by someone who actually does.

Bronze had the attention and admiration of cheerleaders, teachers, and parents alike. He received showers of praise from everyone, all because he could run and catch a ball (everyone, except for the one person who mattered to Evo).

The one person Evo had always had an eye for was Lily Jean Furly. He had loved LJ since they were children. For as long as he could remember, she was all he cared about.

His life had become a constant endeavor to steal a gaze, to see her smile.

The day she finally did changed his life forever. He knew then that he would someday marry this girl.

They were ten at the time, and they have been in love ever since — there was the soft look in her eye when she met his gaze. The few hairs that fell over her left eye, defiantly resisting conformity. Like them.

Everyone wanted to keep them apart. But Evo had committed to her; he was willing to risk everything for her. At a moment’s notice, he would give his life for hers, if he must. He didn't think this pledge would be put to the test.