Silver Elite

by Dani Francis

To the women who kick ass in this world. This is for every battle you’ve fought and every barrier you’ve shattered.

I was only five years old when my uncle smuggled me out of the city and took me to live in the Blacklands, the place of children’s nightmares. A forest of perpetual darkness.

When you’re petrified on a daily basis as a child, there aren’t many things left to fear as an adult. Except, perhaps, awkward conversations. I would rather fight a cougar barehanded than subject myself to an uncomfortable exchange. Truly.

They’re dedicated to wiping out people like me. The Aberrant, as they call us. Or silverbloods, when they’re feeling nice.

The only aberration around here is General Redden and his irrational hatred for Mods.

Some thoughtless war a hundred and fifty years ago released the toxin t...

I wish they’d go back to the city and leave us the hellfuck alone.

Whatever the reason for the anomaly, I can’t deny it makes me…well, not to be cocky, but… Invaluable.

A Mod who can wield her powers without transmitting her actions to her enemies is a major asset for the Uprising.

I’ve witnessed so many women bending to a man’s every whim. I don’t bend.

No, if our esteemed leader had his way, telepathy would be outlawed because we’d all be dead. He almost succeeded in wiping us out in the Silverblood Purge twenty-five years ago, before he took over the Continent. His men dragged tens of thousands of Mods out of their homes to be executed. That’s how much he hates us.

Three years of fighting for survival…so simple! My subconscious laughs at me.

Valence is indisputably the most powerful mind reader on the Continent.

“Nah, Daisy. We have each other. We’ll keep each other strong.”

“You look like you want to go to bed with that rifle.” “Shut up.” “Seriously. You’re panting.”

“You don’t have to be good at the things you love, Sutler. Sort of like how I imagine you love sex, but are terrible at it.”

They’re no better and no worse. We all live on this godforsaken Continent together, and we’re all equally fucked.

“She didn’t seem very promising when her face was under my fist.”

“Maybe our choices are the catalysts that set the course of events in motion. Maybe our fate isn’t so much predetermined as it is influenced by the decisions we make.”

And while I’m not an Old Era girl myself by any stretch of the imagination, I think it would be incredible to own a paper book. Flip through real, tangible pages.

“Oh, waterboarding. Just basic stuff.”

“You’re a real quat, Darlington.”

I’ll probably skip dinner. Stabbing someone in the femoral artery and watching them bleed out in seconds really kills your appetite.

The ones who have willingly submitted to the General’s way of life. Accepted every part of it—the checkpoints, the broadcasts, the rules. They’re all in for the greater good, and by surrendering to it, they take drives like this out in the country and allow themselves to enjoy it.

“You’re in my soul, Wren. I take a breath and feel you in my chest. You’re inside of me. You have been since I was a kid, and the thought of losing you…”

Yours is the only life that matters. I will rip anyone’s throat out, burn the entire fucking world down, if it means keeping you safe and—”