Spirits of the Earth: The Complete Series: (A Post-Apocalyptic Series Box Set: Books 1-3) by Milo Fowler (paper ebook reader .TXT) 📕

He flinches suddenly, grimacing as though he's tasted something terrible. "Kiss her? What the hell? You never said anything about—!"

He's arguing with the spirit he carries, that much is clear. All eyes are fixed on him. None of us have ever witnessed anything like the spectacle playing out before us, as uncanny as it is humorous.

His voice returns to its earlier cadence as he explains to Hawthorne, "If we maintain a tight seal, mouth to mouth, I would be able to enter your body and, via the particulate matter already ensconced in your lungs, activate your gift. Permanently." Then he cringes, avoiding eye contact with the Chancellor as he turns toward me to whisper, "I never signed up for this!"

I give him a shrug. Whatever we have to do.

That was the agreement we made days ago. At the time, when I learned from Milton what the spirits intended, I balked at the idea of someone as despicable as Persephone Hawthorne receiving a superhuman gift. But then I recalled that Cain, vile as he was, had also been gifted by the spirits of the earth. It is true, at least in a metaphorical sense, that the Creator causes rain to fall upon the just and the unjust.

"What would you want from me in return?" She doesn't seem turned off by the prospect of kissing Milton.

Victoria would obviously have something to say about it, but she is with Daiyna and the others hiding out in Dome 10, ready to flee at the first sign of trouble. Captain Mutegi waits aboard the Argonaus, docked nearby, and Samson and Shechara should be headed that way from Dome 6. But if all goes according to plan, then everyone will meet us here in Dome 1.

"You tell us where you've taken the Twenty," James says.

She smirks at him as only a self-satisfied, lifelong politician can. The most powerful woman in the world. "What makes you think I've taken them anywhere?"

"We have it on good authority that your security clones are rounding them up and escorting them to a safe location." I hold her gaze. "We would like to know where that is."

She shakes her head at me. "And what makes you think I would share that information with a group of terrorists—" She glances at Mara and Emmanuel. "—and traitors?"

"We're not terrorists. As I told you, we're from the North American Sectors—"

"Impossible." It's as though she has turned a sharp corner in her mind, convincing herself that nothing she's seen or heard is true. "There's no way in hell you could have entered the Domes undetected. We have strict measures in place, analysts in each dome who track the movements of every citizen, day and night. The only people without implants reside in Dome 6, and very few are allowed transit privileges outside that dome. Every other citizen is traceable every moment of their lives."

"Until a massive EMP burst disabled every system in your building, including the neural implants of every citizen inside." Milton shrugs, again sounding like someone else. "While your law enforcers scrambled to contain that situation—and while a few citizens on the fringes of society took it upon themselves to create disturbances in the streets, seeming to think the attack was instigated by the people you call terrorists—Luther and his friends entered Dome 10 and made their way here, right before martial law went into effect. It timed out perfectly."

She narrows her eyes at him, baring her teeth, but not in a smile. "So you're saying it was not the terrorists who attacked my tower?"

"A well-organized group of so-called freedom fighters intent on disrupting Eurasian society in an effort to bring down the rule of law and destroy the rigid class structure currently in place?" Milton shakes his head. "Not this time."

I lean forward. "Those people exist, of course. They call themselves patriots, resurrecting the same moniker used by the dangerous radicals who released bioweapons onto North America four decades ago. But the current incarnation had nothing to do with the EMP strike on Hawthorne Tower." I pause. "That was us."

She laughs bitterly. "You really should get your story straight. Didn't you just say you entered Dome 10 after the EMP attack?"

"That's right," Milton says, sounding like himself, "but I snuck in early." He holds up the snuff box he stole from her in a blur of speed. "I'm fast like that."

"You must have had some help." Mara studies Milton like the law enforcer she is. "I don't care how fast you are. You couldn't have smuggled in the equipment necessary to knock out Hawthorne Tower without being detected."

"We have had a contact in Eurasia for many years," I reply. "He procured what we needed, and Milton set it up inside your building. The equipment was masked as upgraded Linkstream relays, and Milton's superspeed registered as a momentary glitch on your surveillance cameras."

The Chancellor scowls at Emmanuel. "How can this be possible?" she hisses. "Don't we have analysts plugged into the Link, constantly monitoring every corner of the building?"

He nods, perplexed. "I should have been informed of any anomalies..."

"You're both fired." She glares at Mara. "You'll be reassigned to waste management in Dome 10. Enjoy the demotion."

"Assuming you still have any power when you leave this room," James says.

"Is that a threat?" Seething, Hawthorne turns her full attention on him.

"The situation as I see it."

She curses under her breath. "I believe we are through here, Sergeant. Am I free to leave?"

"As soon as you tell us where the Twenty have been taken."

"Why do you care?"

"I know what it's like to lose your family. Your kids." He clenches his jaw. "Half of the Twenty are Luther's children."

Hawthorne raises her chin, pivoting slowly to face me. "So that's what this is all about." Her voice is low, as if none of us are sitting here with her. She's gone back in time to relive a memory. "He said the embryos were from willing donors. I assumed he meant his own people in Eden. But Arthur