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Back Truth of the Divine Save as PDF
Chapters (70)
  1. Also By Lindsay Ellis and Available From Titan Books
  2. Title Page
  3. Copyright
  4. Dedication
  5. Contents
  6. Author’s Note
  7. Part 1: It’s A Fool Who Plays It Cool
  8. 1
  9. 2
  10. 3
  11. 4
  12. 5
  13. 6
  14. Part 2: Love Has A Nasty Habit Of Disappearing Overnight
  15. 7
  16. 8
  17. 9
  18. 10
  19. 11
  20. 12
  21. 13
  22. 14
  23. 15
  24. 16
  25. 17
  26. 18
  27. 19
  28. 20
  29. 21
  30. 22
  31. 23
  32. 24
  33. 25
  34. Part 3: A Crowd Of People Stood And Stared
  35. 26
  36. 27
  37. 28
  38. 29
  39. 30
  40. 31
  41. 32
  42. 33
  43. 34
  44. 35
  45. 36
  46. 37
  47. 38
  48. 39
  49. 40
  50. 41
  51. 42
  52. 43
  53. 44
  54. 45
  55. 46
  56. Part 4: Happiness Is A Warm Gun
  57. 47
  58. 48
  59. 49
  60. 50
  61. 51
  62. 52
  63. 53
  64. 54
  65. 55
  66. 56
  67. 57
  68. A Fiction Agreed Upon
  69. Acknowledgments
  70. About the Author

“I HAVE RESPECTED YOUR WISHES.” Nikola looked at him, that gleeful sparkle, something that universally felt like madness. “BUT THIS IS MY WISH. IF YOU DO NOT WISH TO TAKE ME THERE, THEN YOU DO NOT NEED TO.”

A cloak of invisibility washed over his body like a waterfall, and he disappeared.

“Nik?” said Kaveh, eyes bugging out as he spun around, looking for a sign that Nikola had not actually just done this thing, that he was not about to go for a Ringo Starr–style parade in downtown LA. “Nikola?”

But he got no answer. Kaveh slapped his hands into his jacket pockets, into his pants pockets. Then, that dread in his chest blossomed into terror as he checked them. His cell phone wasn’t there. He had left it at home.

He had no way to contact Cora.

“Nikola!”

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“Why did you do it?”

A nightmare didn’t wake her, but it might as well have. It was the feeling of a four-hundred-pound machine at her back, its limbs surrounding her, entwining her, and she instinctively balled herself into a fetal position, covering her face with her hands. She was still on the living room floor, having fallen asleep right next to Ampersand. She peeked through her fingers as he jammed his hand into the floor to raise himself up, balancing on his knuckles like a gorilla trying to steady himself.

“Why did you do it?”

Her eyes pricked with exhaustion. “Because he said he’d tell me the truth!” She pushed herself away from him, backing across the room toward the windows. “Was Čefo your symphyle?”

Ampersand stopped moving, and the focus of his eyes fluctuated like his entire system was restarting. Then he seemed to remember how to move normally, and pulled his arms and legs underneath his body, half on his side and half upright.

“He was Obelus’s. He was Enola’s. Was he yours?”

“No.”

She sneered at him, shaking her head incredulously. How many, how many times were they going to go through this? “Why lie to me about that?”

“I had to serve you a rationale I believed you would respect.”

“You are never going to stop lying to me, are you?”

“What information I withhold and what information I impart has always been with your best interest in mind.”

“My best interest?” she coughed. She got on her feet, backed away from him until she was almost against the window that opened into the backyard. “Is ‘suppressing memories’ to prevent me from talking to Sol my ‘best interest’?”

His focus was still hazy, still focused on nothing, and his head swayed like he was drunk.