A Reason to Hope Excerpt

    Alarms blared through the darkened compound, and seconds later three searchlights switched on, exposing the intruder.
    Preeah Neyshal threw her hand up to block the light and zigzagged through the manicured lawn in the hopes the lights couldn’t keep up with her. Blinded, she used her memory of the property layout and hoped she headed toward the delivery entrance of the governor’s mansion.
    She ran into a thick line of bushes, and she cried out in surprise. Thorns scraped her face and hands as she fell through. She stiffened against the sharp pain and brushed aside the drops of blood trickling down her cheeks. Laying on her stomach, she squinted her eyes shut until the dark spots disappeared.
    After a few seconds she opened her eyes. The black spots had turned gray, but at least she could see again. She lifted her head just enough to determine her location.    The meter-tall bushes paralleled the tallest section of granite wall that bordered the property – more than a hundred meters from where she thought she was. No way could she reach the gate without being spotted.
    She breathed a small sigh of relief when the searchlights meandered away from her. Perhaps she could make the gate after all—  
    Deep barks and shouts of men stopped her relief short.
     Preeah recognized those sounds. They belonged to wrenths, four-legged, sharp-quilled animals with long, razored teeth. People used them to protect themselves and their property, loyal to their masters alone. Once on the scent of their pray, they could not be deterred short of death or their master’s call.
    Water trickled nearby. She glanced around and spied a small culvert built into the thick wall. She slithered toward it and smiled. It was large enough for her broad form to crawl through.
    Trying to ignore the hungry growls coming ever closer, Preeah pushed on the thick, steel grate. It refused to budge. She swallowed her panic and studied its construction. It swiveled from the top and was set in place with a pin on both sides.
    She removed the small, black-handled dagger from a sheath hooked to her belt. The rusted pins protested with a screech, but after a few grueling seconds, they popped out.
    Before she could move the grate, a wrenth yelped and bit into her left foot. She cried out as the sharp teeth pierced through her shoe and deep into her foot. She flipped onto her back when another wrenth grabbed her other foot, and they both tried to drag her away from the wall.
    “He’s over here!” a guard yelled.
    Gritting her teeth, she pulled out her sidearm and fired two shots. The wrenths released her, both dropped dead from gaping head wounds. She shot a third in the shoulder, and it limped away, whimpering.
    “Shots fired, shots fired!”
    The other three wrenths slunk back, but continued to growl, their hungry orange eyes gleaming in the dark.
    Taking advantage of the guards’ hesitation, Preeah heaved her shoulder against the grate and it swiveled open with a screech. She crawled through on her stomach, but almost stopped when the grate tore her shirt and dug into her back. Wincing against the pain, she pushed through the rest of the way.
    She glanced back when her feet cleared, and a wrenth jumped forward to grab her. The grate slammed shut and smacked its muzzle. Unfazed, the wrenth gnawed on the bars and growled in frustration.
    Preeah didn’t wait to see if the animal was smart enough to push the grate open, so she stood and ran through a neighbor’s property. She didn’t care where her stinging feet carried her, as long as no human or animal caught her.