Teaser of Blacktop and Bone

The roar of an engine shattered the night. Headlights blazed through the corn, bright and blinding, and Nova threw up an arm to shield her eyes. The engine was loud, powerful, American muscle, and it was coming fast.

She dove to the side as a black-and-chrome 1967 Pontiac GTO exploded out of the corn rows. Tires churned dirt and dead stalks as it skidded to a stop exactly where she’d been standing three seconds earlier.

The driver’s door opened. A man stepped out carrying a shotgun. He was tall and broad-

shouldered. Dark hair falling into his eyes. Canvas jacket over a faded band shirt, like he’d walked straight out of a bad decision and somehow survived it.

The shotgun was pointed directly at her. “Don’t move,” he said. “I don’t know what the hell you are, but you picked the wrong night to—”

Nova’s scythe was at his throat before he finished the sentence. They froze there in the dark between the corn rows. Her blade against his neck and his shotgun aimed at her chest. The GTO ticked as it cooled behind him. Somewhere in the distance, a coyote howled.

“You want to rethink that?” Nova asked flatly.

The stranger glanced at the scythe, then back at her face and grinned. “Nice blade,” he said. “Custom work?”