I nod against his broad chest and mumble, “Uh-huh.”
I tell him everything on the way back to the city center. A thought strikes me as we return the ACV to the rental kiosk and begin walking toward the Capitol, swinging our linked hands. “They named her Jaxine. It’s so weird. I mean, ‘Jax’ was a made-up name, and when I learned about it, I was upset that it wasn’t a ‘real’ name, a name that connected me to a family. And now . . .” I trail off, not sure how to say what I mean.
“And now the name means more, it’s a connector,” Saben says.
I nod, touched by his ready understanding. We’re in front of the MSFP now, and I stretch up to kiss him goodbye. Dr. Ronan will be waiting for me, and I know I can expect an extra-testy greeting when I come in late. “Doing anything special for Minister Vestor?” I ask Saben.
He grimaces. “There’s never any telling, not with Vestor,” he says. “Lunch?”
Almost before I nod, he’s trotting away, hustling up the stairs of the Capitol. He’s been Minister Vestor’s “aide” for two months now, a service he accepted with trepidation when Vestor tapped him for it. His tasks include everything from vetting former Defiance members who want to serve in the new government, to coming up with art concepts for new communications campaigns in concert with Ministry of Information experts, to playing devil’s advocate whenever Vestor wants to bat around off-the-wall new ideas. I know Saben finds it stimulating, but he insists he wants to stick with our plan of serving the new government for a year and then heading west to an outpost, to a life we build for ourselves. And maybe our children? I shy away from that thought. Too soon. Maybe Wyck will be back by then and will want to go with us. We’ll see.
If I’ve learned anything in the past year and a half, it’s that a year is a really long time. Time enough to set off on a search for my real identity, find myself, lose myself, and realize I was the real me, the whole me, all along, no matter if I called myself Everly or Derrika or Rose, or what I looked like. I’ve found family and friends along the way, and lost some of each, too. Idris’s image pops into my head as I step into the elevator that will take me to the lab. I greet a colleague in the hallway as I hurry toward the lab, pulling my hair back into a ponytail as I go, happy that it’s long enough again.
I push through the doors and inhale the familiar odors: formaldehyde, autoclaved cultures, and charred organic matter—someone warmed their dinner on a Bunsen burner again. I had hoped to slip in unnoticed since I’m late, but Dr. Ronan spots me and glares from beneath bristled brows.
“Where the hell have you been, Jax?”
THE END
A Note from the Author
Dear Reader,
Thank you so much for reading Regeneration. I hope you enjoyed reading it as much as I enjoyed writing it! If you have five or ten minutes to spare, it would be hugely helpful if you were to write a brief, honest review on Amazon.
Gratefully,
Laura
Acknowledgements
This trilogy has been a long time in the making—my whole life, probably. It grew from my varied life experiences; the teachers, mentors, editors and friends who nourished me along the way; the books and articles that fired my imagination and gave me a lifelong love of reading, and the time I spent practicing the craft of writing. I could not have written this trilogy any sooner. I am a bit melancholy as I type “The End” and leave this world and these characters behind.
In particular, I want to thank my agent, Paige Wheeler, for everything she’s done for my writing and publishing career; Glenn Miller, friend and social media guru who shepherded these three books through the publishing process; Rachel Greene for her beautiful interior design and formatting; Carlos Roberto Becerril for the stunning covers; my family and friends for their encouragement and support; and my “brain trust” of teens who read drafts of these books and gave me crucial feedback—Lily and Ellen DiSilverio, Caili Downs, Gretchen Gaebler, Jake Hullings, and Daniel Moody (who gave me the wonderful idea of having Everly’s brother rescue her from drowning as a counterpoint to the attempted drowning by her foster brother, Keegan). I am blessed in so many ways.
About the Author
Laura DiSilverio is the national bestselling author of 17 mystery and suspense novels, and a retired Air Force intelligence officer. Her first standalone novel, The Reckoning Stones, was a Library Journal Pick of the Month and won the Colorado Book Award for Mystery. A past president of Sisters in Crime, she pens articles for Writer’s Digest, and teaches writing in various fora. She plots murders and parents teens in Colorado, trying to keep the two tasks separate. The Incubation Trilogy is her first science fiction series.
Laura DiSilverio
Regeneration (The Incubation Trilogy Book 3) Page 26
