Silver Elite

by Dani Francis

I wonder how many abilities she has. Three? Four? Uncle Jim told me only the most powerful Mods bear a mark, and that he’d never known a marked Mod to possess any less than three abilities. I have four myself. That I know of, anyway.

“Always making me chase you.”

“If I’m supposed to build any sort of life in this city, I need credits. I need allies.” “That’s an interesting word to use.” “I think you can have friends in the wards. I don’t know if that’s possible here.”

There’s reckless. And then there’s this.

“Travis is very practical. Calculated. He does shit to test you, to see if you’ll be of use to him. He’s got a scientific mind. He doesn’t rely on emotion like Cross.”

There’s nothing more dangerous than a person whose loyalties shift like the wind.

Our gifts aren’t always a gift, little bird. Sometimes they’re a curse.

I am all out of allies. I am all alone.

Memories of eternal snow. When the wind turns against you. A single second.

This is the most romantic thing a man has ever done for me. I close the short distance between us. “I don’t need flowers.” “I know you don’t. You have no expectations, and you always keep people at arm’s length. But that only makes me want to impress you.”

I cry for my friend. I don’t care if it’s wrong. I don’t care that six months ago, I would’ve secretly been cheering for the deaths of three Primes.

Noah’s father stands next to Travis Redden, who seems to be having trouble maintaining a composed expression. Flashes of barely restrained fury keep breaking through the mask. With a sinking feeling, I realize that heads will roll for this.

“I love you, too.” He stops, a grin playing on his lips. “I know.”

For someone who works in Intelligence, Lyddie has a big mouth. It’s the one dangerous trait of hers that she was unable to conquer during our training. For once, though, I appreciate her gossipy tendencies. I waste no time reaching out to Cross right under her nose. “Your brother might be looking to replace you as leader of Elite.”

Seeing him now, without knowing what came before, I would assume he was a fragmented Mod. But I do know what came before. I literally saw it happen, right now, right here. In warp speed. I watched his mind fragmenting in front of me, as if someone was— Corrupting it.

They’re unnatural. They’re corrupting minds.

To the Uprising, your parents are known as the Tin Block Traitors. They are responsible for the loss of countless Modified lives. Your mother betrayed her people, and your father helped her do it.