BooksBarbecue
Back Fragments Save as PDF
Chapters (58)
  1. DEDICATION
  2. PART 1
  3. CHAPTER ONE
  4. CHAPTER TWO
  5. CHAPTER THREE
  6. CHAPTER FOUR
  7. CHAPTER FIVE
  8. CHAPTER SIX
  9. CHAPTER SEVEN
  10. CHAPTER EIGHT
  11. CHAPTER NINE
  12. CHAPTER TEN
  13. CHAPTER ELEVEN
  14. CHAPTER TWELVE
  15. CHAPTER THIRTEEN
  16. PART 2
  17. CHAPTER FOURTEEN
  18. CHAPTER FIFTEEN
  19. CHAPTER SIXTEEN
  20. CHAPTER SEVENTEEN
  21. CHAPTER EIGHTEEN
  22. CHAPTER NINETEEN
  23. CHAPTER TWENTY
  24. CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE
  25. CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO
  26. CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE
  27. CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR
  28. CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE
  29. CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX
  30. CHAPTER TWENTY-SEVEN
  31. CHAPTER TWENTY-EIGHT
  32. CHAPTER TWENTY-NINE
  33. CHAPTER THIRTY
  34. PART 3
  35. CHAPTER THIRTY-ONE
  36. CHAPTER THIRTY-TWO
  37. CHAPTER THIRTY-THREE
  38. CHAPTER THIRTY-FOUR
  39. CHAPTER THIRTY-FIVE
  40. CHAPTER THIRTY-SIX
  41. CHAPTER THIRTY-SEVEN
  42. PART 4
  43. CHAPTER THIRTY-EIGHT
  44. CHAPTER THIRTY-NINE
  45. CHAPTER FORTY
  46. CHAPTER FORTY-ONE
  47. CHAPTER FORTY-TWO
  48. CHAPTER FORTY-THREE
  49. CHAPTER FORTY-FOUR
  50. CHAPTER FORTY-FIVE
  51. CHAPTER FORTY-SIX
  52. CHAPTER FORTY-SEVEN
  53. CHAPTER FORTY-EIGHT
  54. CHAPTER FORTY-NINE
  55. CHAPTER FIFTY
  56. ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
  57. ABOUT THE AUTHOR
  58. ABOUT THE PUBLISHER

“You can’t know that,” said Samm.

“Of course I can,” said Calix. “Not everyone’s as bad at this as you are, Samm. Anyone with eyes to see can tell she’s got a thing for you.”

Samm stood stock-still, but any Partial linking with him would have been stopped short by the intensity of his emotions. He wondered if it was true—if Kira really had feelings for him, a Partial, one who’d attacked her people, betrayed her to a madwoman, and caused her more trouble than he cared to think about. A man with barely a year left to live before the Partial expiration date erased his life and his future in a single stroke. He didn’t think it was possible.

“She has a boyfriend,” said Samm. “Another medic, back in New York.”

“New York’s pretty far away.”

“But we’re going back.”

“And if you get all the way back there without saying anything, you deserve to lose her,” said Calix.

Samm couldn’t help but agree with that. “Marcus makes her laugh,” he said. “I can’t do that.”

“You could always try just lunging in for a kiss,” said Calix with a wry smile. “Didn’t work so hot for me, but you never know.”

“I don’t think that’s my style.”

“Your style is silent celibacy,” said Calix, “and I can guarantee that won’t work either. Just talk to her.”

“I talk to her all the time.”

“Then start saying the right things,” said Calix.

CHAPTER FORTY-THREE

“Vale still won’t see us,” said Kira. They were sitting in a small park—a cluster of picnic tables in a small grove of trees in the Preserve. Samm and Calix had returned in time for lunch, and Calix had abandoned them almost immediately to play a game of football with a larger group of teens on the field nearby. Phan was playing with them as well, and paused every few plays to cajole Kira and Samm into joining them, but Kira had too much to discuss, and welcomed the relative privacy. Samm, for his part, seemed even more quiet than normal, but Kira took this as a renewed focus on the task at hand. He insisted that Calix wasn’t hiding any secret motives, but said little else about their trip into the ruins.