Day One by Kelly deVos

Author:Kelly deVos
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Harlequin Teen
Published: 2020-10-16T19:56:40+00:00

The masses are moved by the marvelous. The unlikely. The unprovable. The conspiracy theory. A crowd might follow a hero. But a society needs an icon. And an icon needs magic.

—AMELIA AOKI

Report: The Image of the Second Civil War

Stamped: Top Secret

JINX

It’s early in the morning when I wake up, crowded with Navarro on the small bunk. Curled up in the space between his chest and the wall.

My neck is cramped. Also, he snores. Still, it’s the safest and most secure I’ve felt since, well, a long time.

I wonder if Charles is alone. If anyone is taking care of him.

That thought jolts me awake.

Navarro is already awake too.

“I’ll wake up MacKenna.” I scoot to the foot of the bed and crawl out, falling onto the floor. “We should decide what to do.”

Navarro nods but he reaches out and grabs my hand. “Susan, there’s something else,” he says in a hoarse whisper. “When we get to Oregon...if we have a chance to destroy that thing... I have to take it. My father died because...”

Because he didn’t want that cold fusion bomb to fall into the wrong hands. I give his hand the most reassuring squeeze I can muster. He closes his eyes as I pull the ugly jumpsuit up around my shoulders. Then, I creep into MacKenna’s room.

It’s perfectly quiet.

The room is sparse and dark with a short, square night table that has an alarm clock with a blue display. According to the clock, it’s 6:03 a.m.

But.

Something’s wrong.

MacKenna doesn’t move or snore or...

Breathe.

I hit the light switch. A cheerful, yellow glow spreads across the room.

The form in Mac’s bed has a lumpy rectangular shape. I rip back the scratchy wool blanket to find her pillows arranged in a long mass. Someone put them there to make it look like MacKenna was asleep in her bed.

I race back into Navarro’s room.

Poking him several times in the ribs, I say, “MacKenna’s gone!”

He yawns and mutters, “What are you talking about?”

I shake him. Hard. “MacKenna’s bed is empty.”

In a panic, I make a run for the dormitory door. The access panel hangs off like it did when we used the e-tablet to hack the locking mechanism.

I’m ransacking the tiny kitchenette searching for the e-tablet when Navarro emerges, buttoning up his jumpsuit. “Terminus is gone too.”

Perfect.

My hands shake. “Someone’s taken them.”

Navarro takes my hands in his. “No one’s taken them. They left, Susan.”

Hot anger floods my insides. “How can you say that? We agreed that...”

That we’d stay together.

Navarro takes my hand and guides me to the sofa in the common room. “We’re in a secret underwater base at the bottom of the ocean. Where would they have taken Terminus and MacKenna? And why?”

Rosenthal and Copeland hadn’t wanted Terminus or MacKenna to be a part of the next phase of our mission. But they didn’t seem particularly bothered by the idea either. Still, they aren’t being honest, and there is more happening here than we understand.

We have to find MacKenna.

Now.

I’m about to jump up from the sofa when Navarro grips both my hands in his.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.