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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

Isolde’s baby was born two days later, in her bedroom in Nandita’s house. The Partial raiders had long ago pillaged the hospital for gear and meds, and so they had nothing to help her other than themselves. Madison held Isolde’s hand, coaching and encouraging her; Senator Kessler caught the baby, and Nandita watched both mother and child for signs of trauma. It was a boy, and Isolde named him Mohammad Khan. Within hours he was sick. His skin broke out in a scaly rash, hardening in patches as tough as cowhide, and then swelling into blisters. Isolde watched in tears, cradling her baby with no hope of saving him.

But this was not RM.

Senator Kessler studied the blisters from behind a paper breath mask. “This has never happened before.” She shook her head, trying to force away the fear. “Tens of thousands of RM cases, and nothing ever like this.”

“The first human/Partial hybrid,” said Nandita. “This is the first Partial to ever contract RM. We don’t know how it will affect him—or how he will affect it.” Nandita stared at the squalling child, lost in thought. “‘What rough beast, its hour come round at last . . .’” She turned and walked away.

Ariel watched the child, and trembled.

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

I love writing these acknowledgments because I have so many people who help me, and they deserve all the credit I can give them. At the same time, I hate writing these because I’m terrified I’m going to leave somebody out. I’ll keep it brief this time. Thank you to my editor, Jordan Brown, my agent, Sara Crowe, my publicist, Caroline Sun, and everyone else at HarperCollins and Balzer + Bray. You’re amazing.

Thank you to all of the authors who let me join them for awesome book tours and events, and thank you to the many amazing booksellers who organize those events and have become, over time, good friends. Most of all, thank you to the readers who come to all of these events. You’re what makes them great.

On a personal level, this book would not exist without my wife, Dawn, who is the most wonderful person I know. This book would exist, but would not be very good, without the input of my brother, Rob, and my friend Ben Olsen, who both contributed valuable bits of storytelling gold. I’d tell you which bits, but it’s kind of a spoiler.

Last of all, I want to thank the human race for being stupid and painful and wonderful and inspiring. People are the most amazing things the universe has ever created. Embrace your complexity, stretch your creativity, and live up to your potential. You are what makes the world great.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR