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Chapters (79)
  1. Cover
  2. Dedication
  3. Epigraph
  4. One
  5. Two
  6. Three
  7. Four
  8. Five
  9. Six
  10. Seven
  11. Eight
  12. Nine
  13. Ten
  14. Eleven
  15. Twelve
  16. Thirteen
  17. Fourteen
  18. Fifteen
  19. Sixteen
  20. Seventeen
  21. Eighteen
  22. Nineteen
  23. Twenty
  24. Twenty-One
  25. Twenty-Two
  26. Twenty-Three
  27. Twenty-Four
  28. Twenty-Five
  29. Twenty-Six
  30. Twenty-Seven
  31. Twenty-Eight
  32. Twenty-Nine
  33. Thirty
  34. Thirty-One
  35. Thirty-Two
  36. Thirty-Three
  37. Thirty-Four
  38. Thirty-Five
  39. Thirty-Six
  40. Thirty-Seven
  41. Thirty-Eight
  42. Thirty-Nine
  43. Forty
  44. Forty-One
  45. Forty-Two
  46. Forty-Three
  47. Forty-Four
  48. Forty-Five
  49. Forty-Six
  50. Forty-Seven
  51. Forty-Eight
  52. Forty-Nine
  53. Fifty
  54. Fifty-One
  55. Fifty-Two
  56. Fifty-Three
  57. Fifty-Four
  58. Fifty-Five
  59. Fifty-Six
  60. Fifty-Seven
  61. Fifty-Eight
  62. Fifty-Nine
  63. Sixty
  64. Sixty-One
  65. Sixty-Two
  66. Sixty-Three
  67. Sixty-Four
  68. Sixty-Five
  69. Sixty-Six
  70. Sixty-Seven
  71. Sixty-Eight
  72. Sixty-Nine
  73. Seventy
  74. Acknowledgments
  75. About the Author
  76. Praise for Destroy All Monsters
  77. Books by Sam J. Miller
  78. Back Ad
  79. About the Publisher

I had to do something. I shut my eyes, reached out for the Shield. Took hold of my anger, my fear. Tried to magnify it. I fumbled with the rush of my emotions, sprayed hatred in his general direction, felt a few drops of it land, a stream, a trickle, strengthening, connecting . . . I saw his twisted smile widen—

But no. Hate was what had gotten us into this problem. Hate had only made him stronger, meaner, more dangerous.

“Now I will reveal the truth,” the Shield said, and took a gun from his nearest soldier’s hand. I looked around the inside of my mind for a weapon, and found it.

Of course.

I had to dig deep. Burrow down into myself, as far as I could.

Fear was obvious.

Rage was easy.

But love . . . love was hard.

What did I love? I loved Ash. I loved Radha, and Connor. I loved Maraud. I loved Cass, and the Clarion. I loved my city, and the way the sunset lit the riversea up, and the taste of roasted chestnuts from the street vendors in Raptor Heights. I loved Niv, in a very weird and conflicted kind of way.

Fear and anger felt so strong, I’d come to rely on them. So I’d never noticed before how full of love I was. How it filled up my spine with a shivering so strong it made my whole body shake.

It was him, I knew it. The Solomon on the other side. The one who had been hurt so badly but was still so full of love. I felt it leaking into me. I let it fill me up.

“The Refugee Princess is a monster,” the Shield shouted, and took the safety off his gun. Pressed it to the back of her head. Screams resounded through the crowd. So did cheers. Ash’s face was fearless, defiant.

Love. I focused on that, and not the horror before me. Love filled me up, and overflowed. My spine was electric, alive, a conduit for lightning. It had always been there; I’d just been too blind to see it. Too focused on my anger, and my fear. My teeth chattered with the surging energy in my backbone. It poured through my bones, down my arms, out my fingertips. I felt the feeling leak into the soldiers who held me; felt their grips weaken. And I saw it reach the Shield. Saw his smile tighten, vanish. His mouth opened in a silent cry. Tears began to flow down his face. He shut his eyes, and accepted it. Embraced it. For just a split second.

He smiled. Had he felt love at all, in the years since the Night of Red Diamonds took his mother away from him? But he felt it now. And he let himself feel it.