Numbers Collide (Numbers Game Saga Book 5)
Page 23
“I didn’t think you knew,” she whispered. “You didn’t see, you didn’t understand . . . ”
“What life is really like here?” Millian finished for her. She crossed the room and threw her arms around her mother. “I always knew. Nadia just protected me from the worst of it. Now I’m going to protect her. And you too, if you’ll let me. I’ll make sure everything is different, for us and everyone else.”
The woman pulled away just as Millian’s own words registered in her mind. Had she just told them that she would fix some of the problems that people in the Shadows faced?
“Lab director is a position,” Mom said. “You’ll create new technology, yes, but you won’t change the world. Not in the ways that matter. You’re destined for greater things, my Amelia.”
Greater things. Millian had spent her life with Virgil in her sights, his life and accomplishments front and center. She loved the purity of science, the very right and wrong-ness of it, black and white and predictable and glorious. Politics meant a hundred shades of gray that had no absolute and a hundred degrees of right and wrong, and it terrified her. But if she won…if she actually won . . .
Deep inside, a little thrill shot through her at the very possibility.
She shook her head firmly. That would never happen. “I’ll tell Legacy what needs to be done when she wins. She’ll listen. I know she will.”
“She might.” Mom shrugged. “Or she’ll cave to the pressures of her family, just like every other Hawking.”
Not this again. “Mom—”
Foster cleared his throat loudly. “I hate to interrupt, but there’s something you should know. I checked with the Copper Office yesterday. It wasn’t one person who nominated you, Millian. It was hundreds. The Copper Office reported nominations from all over the country. These aren’t people who liked a speech and then moved on. These are people who saw what they wanted in a leader and decided to make it happen, people who see a need and know you’ll be the best person to fill that. People like you and me and most of the country who understand that imperfection is simply an opportunity for growth. No matter what happens with this election, I hope you’ll use your fame to bring about change. You’ve already begun. All you have to do is keep moving.”
Keep moving.
Don’t settle.
That hole deep within her began to fill, the writhing in her chest calming for the first time in weeks.
No wonder the island hadn’t felt like home. She didn’t belong there. She never had.
Millian Commondor had risen from the Shadows, and she wouldn’t stop until the Shadows were no more. Not because her mother wanted it, and certainly not because a boy she felt strangely attracted to wanted it, but because she wanted this—and she deserved this. Nadia and her mother and her neighbors and even NORA deserved this.
The lab could wait. There would always be the lab and its neurotechnology, but NORA and its people couldn’t wait.
A shout rose from outside. A pounding sound shook the entire room. Millian stepped closer to Foster before realizing the pounding came from the apartment overhead. Someone jumping up and down. Had something bad happened?
Legacy. Was she all right?
Foster shook his head. “I don’t have access to the IM-NET anymore. Can you pull up the news stations and tell us what’s going on, Madam Commondor?”
News stations.
The election.
Millian looked down to find Foster’s hand gripping her own. He looked as unsteady as she felt.
This moment determined everything for him as well, she realized. If Legacy won, his own position would be cemented in place. He could rise the ranks like he’d always dreamed. But if one of the other four candidates won, he’d have to start all over again. She remembered how it felt to have the warehouse burned down and everything inside along with it, then stroked his arm with her free hand. His gaze met hers and he managed a tiny smile.
“My daughter,” Mom said. She squealed, threw her hands into the air, and began to bounce up and down, likely making the same pounding noise for their neighbors below but not caring one bit. “My own, sweet daughter!”
Foster’s eyes lit up.
Then she understood.
“No,” she said softly. It wasn’t disappointment or anger, like she’d expected. It was awe, disbelief. Shock.
This couldn’t be happening.
“Yes,” Mom said.
“Yes, Your Honor,” Foster repeated with a wide grin. There was no disappointment on his face at all.
“Okay,” Millian whispered, her voice full of wonder.
It was time.
Gimme the free stuff!
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Coming Sep 7th, 2021: Tides of Mutiny
In a world where female sailors are executed, sixteen-year-old Lane's dream of being a ship's captain seems impossible. Sea life is all she knows, and she wouldn't give it up for anything, even if it means she has to hide as a captain's boy to avoid being killed. But Lane's carefully constructed world begins to crumble when an old pirate enemy comes after her father. And she begins hearing rumors that her father was once a pirate as well.
Lane doesn't want to believe her father could have a dark past, but she can't help questioning everything she's known. After all, Lane's life at sea is built on lies—why couldn't her father's be, too?
Then a mysterious prince shows up, and Lane finds her very survival tied to a boy who could destroy everything. With pirates, betrayal, and death threatening Lane and those she loves, she must now decide between the future she always expected and a prince with an unknown agenda who she finds herself falling for. Lane must either protect herself and find a way to live her dream, or risk everything for a world where her very existence is a death sentence.
Maybe there's a third option. After all, she's never played by the rules before. Why start now?
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About the Author
REBECCA RODE is a USA Today and Wall Street Journal bestselling author. Her published fiction includes the Numbers Game Saga, the Ember in Space trilogy, and the forthcoming TIDES OF MUTINY YA fantasy (Little, Brown Young Readers). She has also published nonfiction and online news articles for several publications, but she prefers writing for teens and the young at heart.
Rebecca has five children, two cats, one husband, and a ridiculous number of books. She is represented by Kelly Peterson at Rees Literary. Visit Rebecca at AuthorRebeccaRode.com.