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buildings on either side of the wide street, the pale moon was waking from its slumber. Ana stared enviously at the lit windows along the upper floors of the apartments across the street, wondering if she’d ever see the inside of something so nice.
    Of course, not. Girls of my station can only dream…or marry into that kind of life.
    The City’s upper floors were reserved for the powerful and the wealthy, never the commoners. And now that she was the daughter of a convict, no man of wealth, power, or even a decent reputation would ever be seen with a girl such as her. Hell, she was surprised that Michael still spoke to her, though she suspected he was nursing a crush and was too shy to admit it. Like her, too unsure of her feelings to ever do so herself.
    When her father was arrested, her friends suddenly distanced themselves as if her condition were contagious. All but Michael had left her side. She couldn’t risk her last remaining friendship by introducing romance into the equation.
    Ana was so caught up in staring above and thinking about Michael that she never saw the crash coming until they were both spilling toward the ground in opposite directions. Ana was startled, but even more surprised when she realized that her collision was with one of the older men from the bar — the one with the light-red beard who had been standing beside Liam and had given Michael a helping hand up.
    Red Beard offered his hands and helped Ana to her feet. She accepted, a cool confusion through her body as she felt him slip something that felt like folded paper — maybe a message? — inside her hand before closing her fist around it.
    He whispered, “Wait until you’re out of sight.”
    He then fell a step back, cleared his throat, tipped his head, and in a louder voice said, “Sorry, Miss, all my fault. I should really watch where I’m going.”
    “Oh…OK,” Ana said, slowly shaking her head, confused, wondering what he’d slipped into her hand, but also hyper aware of the orb 20 feet above, humming, watching, and likely recording their every move and word.
    She tucked the folded paper into her pocket and briskly walked away, eager to find a spot far from the prying eyes of City Watch so she could read the message.

CHAPTER 3 — Anastasia Lovecraft
    A na raced home, though she could never, and would never, consider Chimney Rock home .
    Her home — the one she grew up in, an apartment on a middle floor just uptown — was seized by The City when her father was found guilty. She’d been staying with her little brother, Adam, thinking that she’d be allowed to raise him until they were both of age. She was close enough to 18 that Ana believed she’d be allowed to stay, or at least be given the chance to find a cheaper place.
    The City Court decided otherwise.
    She and Adam were shipped to the orphanage, where they would stay until she was 18, at which point she could petition for custody, provided she was able to care for him in full. If not, Adam would stay at the orphanage until he was 18, unless he joined City Watch, which he could do a minute after his 15th birthday. For a kid like Adam, on the painfully shy side, with a slight learning disability, a City Watch career was a long shot, and a painful life of misery a near certainty.
    Watchers came into their house the day after the trial and said it was time to go.
    Just like that, The Watchers started stripping stuff from their house, starting with their paintings — the ones Ana’s mom made when she was little. Even though they got to keep every memory, of which there were many, City Watch tore the paintings from their hooks and carried them into the hallway, handing them to a waiting line of police, who moved them to the elevator.
    “What are you doing?” Ana cried. “Those are ours!”
    The Watcher closest to her explained that they could each take two personal items. Everything else belonged to The City and would be auctioned to pay for the trial and their care at the Orphanage.
    Though Ana would have loved to keep something from her mother, or one of her few childhood toys, she took nothing. She wasn’t sure what the orphanage would be like, but if it was as bad as the kids in school whispered it was, she wanted no weakness to enter the walls with her. Her something of value was a bull’s-eye for another.
    Ana would never give anyone that sort of power over her.
    Adam was different, though. A sensitive kid even before their lives went to hell, he