Total pages in book: 116
Estimated words: 110809 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 554(@200wpm)___ 443(@250wpm)___ 369(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 110809 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 554(@200wpm)___ 443(@250wpm)___ 369(@300wpm)
I shake my head. “We won’t lose anything by telling people the truth.”
“You remember how you reacted when I told you we’re working with a race of superhumans to save the human race? How you reacted to the truth?”
I grumble. “That’s different.”
“Is it? I don’t think so. And I also don’t think that telling this fractured nation that the very ones responsible for ‘Juno’s Miracle’ are the same ones who attacked my inauguration is what we need to move forward. We need unity, not suspicion or worry. Valen said he handled the problem. We have to trust in that and keep going to end this crisis.”
I roll my eyes. “Spoken like a true politician.”
“Look.” She sighs. “There’s a reason you’re here. You’re going to find the cure, Georgia. I know it. I felt it the moment I learned about Valen’s blood, about what it can do. The rest of it is just noise.” She lays her head on my shoulder. “I need you to support me on this. On all of it. I need you, sis. More now than ever before. Do you understand?”
I take a deep breath and let it out. “Yes. You’ve always been there for me. Always protected me. I’m not trying to be naïve, but—”
“That’s not a flaw. It’s one of the things I admire about you.”
I look at her sidelong. “Buttering me up?”
“Maybe.” She squeezes me tighter for a moment. “Is it working?”
Juno would never do anything to hurt me, to hurt others. I need to remember that. This is probably the first of many tough decisions she’s going to have to make if she wants to unify the country and bring it back from the brink of collapse. She’s made a million hard choices since she became governor, and those are going to be even more agonizing, more highly scrutinized now. She needs me. I have to remember the big picture, the reason why I’m here.
“A little.” I shrug.
“This whole thing is going to get easier. I promise.” She raises her head and looks at me.
I meet her gaze. “Except for that part where you think Valen’s a superhuman with never-before-analyzed DNA and promised the country a cure in a year.”
“One thing at a time.” She smooths a hand down my arm. “It’s going to happen. With you working alongside the other top minds at the CDC, it’s a done deal.”
“I can’t tell if that’s optimism or delusion.”
“The first one.”
“Hmmph.” I can’t think about the work. About tomorrow. About Valen and superhumans and what Juno said concerning me working with him. It’s all too heavy. I can’t take another bit of straw on my spine, one more morsel on my tongue. Not until I digest today, swallow it down and keep it somewhere dark and dusty.
“You still trust me?” she asks.
I can feel her hold her breath, as if the world is riding on my answer. It comes easily. “Yes.” And it’s the truth.
She gives me a half smile. “Good.” Standing, she takes my hand and pulls me to my feet. “Now get to bed. You have a long day tomorrow at the lab.”
“Okay.” I hesitate.
“What?” She yawns.
“I don’t know where my bedroom is.”
“We’ll go together. Come on.” Linking her arm through mine, we stroll across the White House, Secret Service lurking in corners and doorways as she points out the different rooms and what they hold. I shouldn’t be surprised she knows every square inch of the layout. Juno’s not the sort of person to leave anything to chance. By the time we get to the bedroom wing, I’m almost asleep on my feet. “Why is one entire room blue? Seems Willy Wonka-ish, right?”
“There’s a green room and a red room, too. And I didn’t even show you the China room.”
“What color is China?”
“It’s plates. That kind of China. Not a color.”
“Huh?”
“You’re hopeless. Sleep with me tonight?” she asks.
“Yes.” I agree easily. When I was still little, I’d crawl into her bed and snuggle close whenever I had nightmares. They were frequent right after my adoption though I never remembered them. The child therapist said I blocked out my memories right along with my dreams. Whatever trauma they hold can’t hurt me. Unlike bullets and sky-high expectations.
Juno crawls into a king-sized bed in an unfamiliar room, and I sink down on the other side, sliding between the cool covers. “Whose room is this?”
“Mine, I’m pretty sure,” she mumbles against her pillow, then laughs a little. “Does it matter? I’m the president. Whichever room I say is mine, is mine.”
“Fair point.” I snuggle deeper into the duvet.
“Get some sleep.”
“Love you, sis,” I whisper.
“Love you, too.”
I close my eyes and wish away any bad dreams.
But wishing has never once stopped terrible things from happening.
7
“I have it.” I fumble around in my backpack. “I swear, it’s in here somewhere. Um.” I keep digging as the two soldiers in front of the grand hotel on Pennsylvania Avenue exchange amused expressions. “Seriously, my sister just gave it to me. I know I put it in here.”