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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

He looked down and saw at his feet a plate of liquid metal that looked like a pool of mercury. He started to do as he was told, but then glanced back up into the van with the Tesla coil on top, at the skinhead in the driver’s seat who was fumbling to get his detonator to work.

By the time Kaveh saw him, it was too late. He only managed to shout, “Stop him!” before the man hit the detonator again. It seemed like Ampersand realized what was going on, as he sent another one of those force field blasts, but not before the pulse went off. The blast this time seemed weaker than the first, but it was enough to make Ampersand collapse right where he stood, right on top of Nikola.

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This had to be a bad dream. There was no way this was actually happening. The people Ampersand had knocked down were back on their feet, preparing to fight or flee. The Gadsden Line men were on their knees trying to repair the guns that Ampersand had destroyed. The skinhead in the van was glaring at her, a thin line of blood draping his nose to one side.

Then the violence began, with someone in the crowd ripping the driver out of the black van, wrestling him to the ground. Another man began kicking him, and another started to beat him down. One of the militiamen tried to pry the angry crowd off the skinhead from the van, but this only caused more violence. The van had hurt people, possibly killed people in its mad dash. The crowd didn’t care about eliminating the alien threat like the militia did; they wanted revenge.

She didn’t have the pill bug. Why hadn’t she brought the pill bug? She was useless. She’d promised to protect him; not five minutes ago, she had promised to protect him. She might as well be a newborn kitten, eyes sealed shut and mewling for its mother, for all the good she could do right now.

“What do we do?”

Kaveh’s voice. She turned to him, still dazed, still helpless. Why would he ask her what to do? He was the adult here. He should know what to do.

“Where are the police?” she asked.

Kaveh looked around frantically, spotted something, and ran off in that direction. It looked like the police had diverted their attention to the riot that was breaking out, none of them eager to get anywhere near Enola or Ampersand. But they weren’t getting any directions, she realized. Their walkie-talkies and phones were shorted, so the police couldn’t communicate with each other or coordinate a response.