The Benders (32 page)

When she’d proposed a study on brain manipulation, specifically on the centers of the brain that controlled compliance and memory, Director Bashees had raised one white eyebrow. He’d called the idea genius and sent her off with a supply van full of equipment and two assistants.

Now she would return with a hole in her chest, one functioning lung, and her tail between her legs.

Now two of her test subjects are gone, headed west so she hears. Someone picked them up yesterday morning, and since then there’s been no word. Not that she could go after them in this state. She can barely breathe.

Nessa finishes the last stitch and hands it to the medic to clean up. She lies back on the exam table and stares at the crack in the ceiling as the medic ties the thread and cuts it. It’s painful, but pain brings clarity. And it’s clarity she needs to decide what to do with Clay and Riley and that little pissant Ethan. And Betsy? Ha. What could she do to Betsy that she hasn’t done already?

Her eyes follow the plaster crack above her like a road map as she thinks. They’ll go south, to the Free Colonies. They’ll think it’ll solve all their problems.

But they’ll be wrong.

If you enjoyed this story,
please pick up a copy of the first novel, THE BREEDERS.

Sixteen-year-old Riley Meemick is one of the world's last free girls. When Riley was born, her mother escaped the Breeders, the group of doctors using cruel experiments to bolster the dwindling human race. Her parents do everything possible to keep her from their clutches— moving from one desolate farm after another to escape the Breeders' long reach. The Breeders control everything- the local war lords, the remaining factories, the fuel. They have unchecked power in this lawless society. And they're hunting Riley.

If you’ve enjoyed this series, I’d love it if you would help others enjoy it too.

LEND IT – This book is lending enabled so you can share with your B.F.F., your cool grandma, or anyone you think will get a kick out of it.

RECOMMEND IT – Reviews on Amazon or GoodReads help others take chances on new authors. I’d be happy to email or skype with book clubs or classrooms if you pass the word along to them. Just visit my website for contact info or email
[email protected]
.

Sign up and get a FREE copy of my paranormal romance novel,
Eyes Ever to the Sky,
and learn about new releases, sales, updates and cool stuff. Visit
http://www.katiefrenchbooks.com/contact
to sign up.

Katie French imagined herself an author when her poem caught the eye of her second grade teacher. It was about birds and frankly, it wasn't very good, but it sparked a love of literature. In middle school she spent her free time locked in her room, writing her first young adult novel. This thoroughly solidifying her status as a class-A nerd. She currently works as a high school English teacher, a job that she loves even when it exhausts her. In her free time she writes, reads great books, and takes care of her two beautiful and crazy children. She is represented by Amanda Luedeke of MacGregor Literary.

I love to live inside the world of the Breeders. In fact, I may never leave. Long after my readers have grown tired of Riley and Clay and their dusty, but thrilling escapades, I may still be here tooling about like a child locked in a toy store after hours.

This third book was a joy to write, so I hope it is a joy to read. Somehow this story found me and continue its suction-cup hold all through the summer of 2014. I am sure I will look back on that summer as one of the best in my life, due to the fact that my children were happy, my family was healthy, and, also, that this novel was born.

But here I am inflating the book like a fit-to-burst pool toy before the jury returns and hands me their sentence. In the end, the reviews do matter to me. I want to please you, dear reader, but in this book I pleased myself. (Oh, my students would have a good laugh at that one.) And, as always, I was never alone. My team is amazing. Without them, none of this work would be possible.

Much props and virtual fist-bumps go out to my first readers, Kimberly Shursen, Amy Biddle, and S. K. Falls. A better set of writers and friends does not exist. Thanks to Kimberly for never letting me be lazy and for always telling it like it is. Thanks to S.K. Falls on being way better at grammar than me (than I? See. She would know). Thanks to Amy Biddle for her amazing attention to detail. The book would never be as polished if you three hadn’t had your hands on it.

Thanks goes out to my Underground Book Reviews team, Amy Biddle and Brian Braden. Along with Kimberly, you were the ones that helped me believe I could make this happen. Read their books. You won't be sorry.

Thanks to my cover artist, Andrew Pavlik, who put up with my constantly changing mind. Thank you to my agent, Amanda Luedeke, who told me to go for it. Thanks for all your sage advice. Thanks again to Lindsey Alexander, editor extraordinaire. You are a real professional and I value your advice immensely.

To my family and friends, you hit me with love the size of a Mack truck and I am thoroughly bowled over by it. I'm so blessed to have dozens of people who have my back no matter what. How did I ever get so lucky?

To my children, I love you to the moon and back. Always. And to Ryan, this and every book is for you, my one and only love.