Nox jumped a little and spun on me with wide eyes. “I hate when you dothat!”
I just held out my hand. Maxine and Josephine were looking at me curiously, while Jeremy stared at my leg cast with his head cocked to theside.
“You didn’t die. That’s good,” Jeremy saidrandomly.
I’d forgotten he was willing to talk while in the real world. His social filter was broken, but I kind of dug his brutal honesty. I nodded. “Thanks.”
Nox pulled out the burner from his duffel and handed it to me. I looked up at him, and so much went through our gaze. He wanted to know why I wanted it, and I wanted to tell him, but it would have towait.
“Catch you up later.” I grabbed the phone and then started to hobble down thestairs.
I was starting to think Damien might be right. My rosy outlook of the government was suddenly not looking sorosy.
After shuffling down the stairs and through the main floor, I made my way to the back double doors that led out to a huge garden. Wrestling the door open with my crutch in one hand and the phone in the other, I finally made it outside. Trying to ignore the throbbing in my arm, I limped a good ways into the backyard just in case the back patio was bugged, and then I dialed Kevin’snumber.
He picked up on the first ring. “Are you on aburner?”
“Yes. What’s goingon?”
“Are yououtside?”
“Yes. Kevin, come on. What the hell? Over half a dozen FBI just held a gun to my client’s head and took all of his prototypestuff.”
Kevin sighed. “Things have changed here, Kit. I suggest you ditch this client and lie low. I can get you and your team the plasma cuffs as soon as they’reproduced.”
I nearly fell over my crutch. He knew about the plasma cuff. “What? Produced? He was going to give them out for free. Why are they doingthis?”
My mind wasreeling.
“They know that, Kit. That’s why they took it. They don’t want everyone to havethem.”
His words were like a punch in the gut, and I nearly fell over. “What do you mean?” I guess I was naive, because even now I didn’t want to believe it. I was a military woman, proud of my country, stood for my government no matter what. His words killedme.
Kevin sighed. “Kit, the world works a certain way, has for the last ten years. The people in power don’t want things to go back to the way they were. Overpopulation, pollution, and food shortages. They like it this way, and they have a deal with theghouls.”
A deal with the ghouls.My mouth opened and closed like a fish out of water. I couldn’t even process what he’d justsaid.
A deal… with the flesh-eatingaliens.
“No.” I shook my head even though he couldn’t see it. I knew Kevin was the president’s right-hand man, that he stood in on all of her meetings with her. He wouldn’t lie to me, but I still couldn’t believeit.
“I gotta go,” hemumbled.
“Wait. Why are you telling me?” He would get fired and dishonorably discharged from the military if he wascaught.
He was quiet a long time. “Because I like you. I always have. And it’s total bullshit what they’re doing. It’s not Buckley, she’s just a puppet. It’s too dangerous to say any more. I gottago.”
Then the line wentdead.
Holy mother freakingshit.
The sound of a slamming door pulled my attention up to the back of the house. Damien was outside now, picking up a chair and tossing it across thelawn.
Damn, boy had some rageissues.
He looked up then as if sensing me, and I waved him over.Might as well rip this Band-Aid right off.I hated being wrong, but the government had screwedus.
He sulked across the yard, coming to stand before me. Looking down at my leg in the cast and then at my wrist, he frowned. “Are you okay?” he asked, for the first time since we’dwoken.
