Inheriting the Storm (Tularosa #1)

Chapter 1

Camila

Some heats scorch until they brand you, and they don’t fade. They come back in quick flashes: my palm on a car hood at noon, the slap of sun the second I step out of a building in July, sweat slick on skin, the taste of salt on my mouth.

New Mexico in August hits harder. It lands open-handed.

When I get to the law office, I have to blink a few times to make sure I’m in the right place. Mariscal she left me a battlefield, nothing like anything I’m used to.

“Mom?”

“Where are you? Did you get there? Listen, just... don’t go in until you see Liz or the Hendersons. Who knows who your grandmother hired in these last years? They could be dangerous.”

A jackrabbit darts in front of the car, and I drop my phone in fright. The call is still active, and my mother’s voice spikes with panic.

“Camila? Camila, are you okay? Say something, please...”

But the line drops; nothing else comes through. It’s like the whole universe is laughing at me.

“This is your inheritance,” I remind myself. “This is what you have to survive for sixty days.”