Homeless and hiding from his mother's abusive boyfriend, Davie -- along with his friend Grey -- accept an offer to move to a safe haven called the Encampment. Owned by Slade, and overseen by Maddox, and Ran, it's a well-protected site in the mountains for endangered street kids. Among the present residents is the very taciturn loner, Vin. To everyone's surprise, Davie and Vin become friends of a sort.<br><br>Soon after arriving, Davie discovers there is more to the Encampment than it appears at first glance when Ran, with Vin's help, begins training him in various forms of self-defense.<br><br>Davie finds out why when Slade sends him and Vin on an assignment to stop a vicious gang of slavers preying on homeless teens. From there things get interesting, to say the least, as the two young men try to survive while dealing with their growing attraction for each other.

The Encampment

After supper, everyone helped clean up, at which point Vin said to Davie, “We need to get rid of the coals before we put the grill away,” startling him, since he didn’t realize he was there.


“Where do we dump them out?” Davie asked, trying to sound casual even though he was surprised Vin was talking—and to him.


“Over there, but it’ll take two of us,” Vin replied, gesturing to a small area of dirt at one side of the clearing. “Once I get the shovel.” He went into the laundry cabin, returning with one, and dug a hole. Then he and Davie moved the grill over and dumped the coals, which Vin covered with dirt. They carried the grill back to the cabin, at which point Vin took the cooking grate to the sink beside the dryer and began scrubbing it down.


“You don’t talk much, do you,” Davie said as he watched him.


“Nothing to talk about,” Vin replied succinctly.


Davie chuckled. “That doesn’t seem to stop anyone else.”


Chapter 9