“Jasper has vouched for him,” Kitty reveals.
“What do you mean?”
“I mean, if the lieutenant wants to stay, I’d allow it.”
I stare at her in shock. “When did you even talk to Jasper about this?”
“We linked this morning.”
It takes me a second to realize she means telepathically.
Jasper Reed is aMod?
And if he’s using telepathy with Kitty, that means she, the leader of this Faithful camp, is also a Mod.
Kitty looks amused as she pours coffee. “What is it?”
“You and Jasper are Modified?”
She shrugs as if to say,So what?
“I had no idea,” I admit.
“We don’t hide it,” she says, giving me a funny look. “There’s no difference between me or someone who isn’t Modified. We’re all the same here.”
“So there are PrimesandMods living in this camp?” For some reason, that didn’t even occur to me. I just assumed they would all be Primes.
“Existence isn’t some sort of blood fight for us, Darlington. The General and his Company, they’re scared of our blood, and that drives them to try to crush us. Kallister and his Uprising, well, they like to say they’re fighting for equality, but make no mistake—they feel superior to all those ‘piss-veins.’ That’s not what unites us here. TheFaithful don’t care about that nonsense. We reject the New Era. We don’t want it. We just want freedom.”
“How is that a sustainable lifestyle?” I ask, because as appealing as it sounds, as intoxicating as it can be, it also feels very naïve.
Freedom is as fleeting as the wind, blowing through the trees and leaving no traces after it’s gone. It’s a nice concept, but I’m not sure ifanyoneis ever truly free.
“I can see how you might think that,” Kitty says. “But you’re conflating freedom with lawlessness. Ours isn’t a life without rules. Even the Old Era had rules. We don’t steal from each other. We don’t kill each other. But weareequal here, regardless of whether our veins glow silver, or whether I can use my mind to speak to Jasper but not to your lieutenant. It doesn’t matter. Not here.”
I digest her words. I have so many more questions, but the conversation ends when we hear Gray shuffling in the other room. He joins us a moment later, running a hand through blond hair that’s rumpled from sleep.
“Morning,” he says, nodding in gratitude when I hand him a coffee. He looks at Kitty. “I don’t suppose you’ve changed your mind about helping us unite all the Faithful in the wards?”
Her smile is a tad patronizing. “I think I’ll leave the war to you, Blake.”
At that, she strides off, leaving us alone in the kitchen.
Gray and I eye each other, the memory of last night dangling between us.
All the sensations flood back, too. The warmth flushing through my body. The buzzing in my veins. The way my lips tingled to taste his. The way my core throbbed.
Seraphis root is really something.
“I’m sorry about last night,” he says.
“It’s fine,” I reply.
And that’s the end of it. He changes the subject so swiftly, I’m almost impressed.
“Can you contact the Dagger?” he asks, which reminds me that we ditched our comms in the city, and he doesn’t have telepathy.
I check in with Adrienne, who says they can’t risk a pickup for usuntil after dark and asks if we can stay in the Hollow until then. Fortunately, Kitty agrees to let us stay, and I’m excited to see the Hollow in the daylight.
