The Light Thief by David Webb

Author:David Webb
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781734351118
Publisher: Lux Publishing
Published: 2019-12-04T22:00:00+00:00

27

Aniya froze.

Even in the dark alleyway, she felt incredibly exposed, as if the Silvers’ lights were all pointing directly at her. In reality, Aniya was safe, several hundred feet away from the Lightbringers. But as the Operative turned around slowly, surveying the market, she could have sworn that he made eye contact with her.

Kira looked at her and whispered, “How did they find you?”

“I don’t know,” she said.

“Your presence is requested in the town square, Ms. Lyons,” the voice boomed again, the volume amplified by a megaphone in the Operative’s hand. “We know you’re here. I will grant you that you hid yourself well. We searched each sector top to bottom, but we now have it on good authority that you’re here in Shyvale.”

How? It wasn’t like she had spent much time out in public. Only a few people saw her on the first day, and she had stayed inside for most of the last two weeks.

“You’ll make it much easier on all of us if you turn yourself in. There are people who would love to see you again. Your brother. Your boyfriend.”

Aniya’s heart ached. She knew she couldn’t trust the Operative, but she wanted to believe William and Nicholas were both alive.

And Roland? What happened in the tunnels?

“If it makes you feel better, I have very strict orders to bring you in alive. You will be unharmed, untouched. I can promise you that.”

It didn’t make her feel any better.

“If you won’t do it for your family, do it for these poor people. You know better than most the punishment that awaits those who harbor enemies of the Lightbringers.”

The Operative waited.

“Fine.”

The volume increased.

“I now speak to the citizens of Shyvale. In case you’ve forgotten, sheltering fugitives carries the penalty of death. If any of you who have information of this girl’s whereabouts, speak now and you will be forgiven.”

Aniya’s face suddenly appeared on the sky ceiling. For a moment, it seemed like the power had been restored, but she looked down and saw that the image was being projected from a device the Operative held.

She looked back up and clenched her fists as she realized the image, taken from her Assembly identification, had been altered drastically. Her eyes were narrowed, accompanied by eyebrows that had been thickened and tilted, giving the impression that she was angry. Her skin was tinted a pale, sickly color. Her cracked lips were spread open in a spiteful grin, revealing yellowed, slightly pointed teeth.

“She is an enemy of the Lightbringers, and she is an enemy to you as well. She and her family are directly responsible for the power outage. They are the reason you have no light, no heat, no power.”

The crowd lit up for the first time, a buzz arising from Shyvale as people began to whisper to each other and grumble in anger.

“With your help, we can restore order and electricity. But we must have the girl before that’s possible. So, I ask you—not as a superior, but as a friend who wants the power back as much as you do—please, help us find the girl.

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