wasn' t just land or

ique line of genetically superior c

th, and prime breeding stock. It was a family quirk, a skill they taught

iled me. It led me to Ethan Sc

ell of my own blood pooling around me. I remember Ethan'

his frail girlfriend, Jennifer. He took it, along with t

leb Hughes, the broken outcast, who found my body, c

ther and old money thick in the air. My parents are beaming. Before me stand six men, the han

ok at them. The finest young men in Texas. And Ethan," he gestures to the m

me man who watched me die. The memory is so clear, so sharp, it feels like

soft, insistent push. "It's time to

y gaze travels over their heads, towards the window that looks out onto the distant, rugged bad

breath. "I've

han' s smile widens, confident

g not at him, but towards the win

ts' smil

he badlands," I say, my voice clear an