Page 59 of The Godhead Complex
“We didn’t kill her,” Frypan said.
“No. We didn’t kill her.” Isaac was more than alarmed that the Villa even knew Kletter was dead. He’d hoped to use it as leverage to get out of there, but instead the walls were closing in on him. He had nothing left but the truth to use as a weapon. “A guy named Timon and a woman named Letti did. . . . I don’t know which one actually slit her throat because I had a bag over my head before they kidnapped me, buttheykilled her.” He was rambling, hating the memory.
“Where’s the rest of the crew?” The assistant moved her left hand to her back pocket, where her knife was.
“The rest of our group is on their way to Alaska. I swear. We didn’t kill her.”
“Where’s the rest ofKletter’screw?” Her voice had gone from demanding to desperate. “I need to know where they are.”
“Kletter’s crew from her ship?” Isaac asked, trying to think of something, anything to say about the eight people that arrived on the deck of theMaze Cutter,dead and beginning to rot. “Why?”
“Because my mom was with them.”
CHAPTERTWENTY-TWO
Flaring Justice
What a day. She wore her mustard-yellow cloak to match the endless crowd of Pilgrims before her, reminding them once again that they would all be Gods someday if they chose the Evolution alongside her.What other choice did they have?By furthering society, she would be placing Alaska back online. Not on the internet of old, but a new human-wired system that allowed humankind to accomplish things never dreamed before. Alaska, the site of the Maze, would be the leader of the future.
Flint worked to calm the crowd in front of her.
The Evolutionary Guards flanked her tighter than ever.
Alexandra searched the crowd for Pilgrims she might recognize from the six devout who, like Mannus and like the crazed woman in the streets, knew her secrets. She should have better committed their names and faces to memory, but she had other ways of flushing them out.
Her vision flashed red again with fire. Red and orange flames as if her mind itself was the very thing ablaze and she couldn’t escape her own madness. The stress of the Evolution was getting to her, that was all. The stress of Nicholasstillhaving control over her from beyond. His death had become a smothering blanket of wool, scratchier than the cheapest Pilgrim’s cloak, and she was ready to be free of it already. Her ears buzzed a tone so high-pitched that she almost let out a scream. The Flaring Discipline be damned, she needed to control her mind. She recited the digits, a thing she was doing more frequently with every passing day.
“Goddess Romanov, they’re ready for you.” Flint directed her to the front of the stage, but she wasn’t yet ready to address this Sunday crowd of Pilgrims, not without Mannus. He was her social experiment, her proof against any stigma or whispers that Evolution was anything but good.Where was that horned human?
“Goddess!” A man with long, matted hair screamed from the front of the crowd. “What of the murder? Who’ll be charged for the death of our God?!” Others grumbled in agreement with his outburst.
“We need justice!”
“Send them to the Guardroom!”
Alexandra would calm them today, but in due time she needed a scapegoat or the Pilgrims would never settle. She looked over at Flint who voraciously tried to hush the Sunday chants,Flare above, Maze below.
The crowd finally settled.
She’d keep silly Flint around. He was good for some things.
There was commotion behind her as her Evolutionary Guard barricade let someone onto the stage, but it wasn’t Mannus. It was a man in a dark robe, similar to what Nicholas wore. For just a moment Alexandra felt the scream of betrayal from her guards, as though Nicholas’ ghost had whispered to them of her guilt. Her neck muscles seized with tension.
“How do I look?” The figure asked as it came closer.
Relief flooded through her. “You look . . .” She searched for the words but the only one that came to mind was “hornless.”
Mannus, missing his ratty beard along with the horns, looked softer, more human than ever. He winked and gave a chuckle that made Alexandra feel violated.Did he just read her thoughts?
“Indeed. Impressive, isn’t it?” he said. “That Cure gave me some fun gifts.”
Her jaw tightened. His lips hadn’t moved.
Just as she had gotten rid of Nicholas’ telepathy she had now apparently inherited Mannus’, but she had to embrace the fact that some gifts of evolving would be like those of the Maze Trials. It was inevitable. Neural networks were a part of the Evolution.
But unlike Nicholas, she hadcontrolover Mannus.
You look like Nicholas in that cloak, but don’t be an idiot. Follow suit and you can keep your head.She made sure to think the words loud and clear before stepping forward and addressing the people.
