Gods of Anthem by Logan Keys Read Free Book Online Page A

at life after leaving the US, after having to walk away from my own home. And later, when they’d experimented, my own fury fed whatever it was so that it sprang to life.
    It’s hard to imagine what gave Joelle this new reality she bears, so I simply say, “No, Jo-Jo, we’re not evil.”



Nineteen
    My mother was terrified of trains, and some of her fear rubbed off on me. Whenever we traveled, my father would shout at her, making it doubly scary from both his yelling and my mother’s tears.
    This fear remained, and after strapping into my seat for the trip to the mainland, my hands grip the armrests like I’m going to crash, even before we start moving.
    “Well, gel … did I not tell you dat dis be the place where little ones get better?” Desi stands in the aisle like a mirage.
    I’m out of my buckle in an instant and hugging him to me like a lifeline. He’s dressed in regular clothes and smells like cheap cologne.
    “What are you doing here?” My voice is light just seeing his face.
    Desi takes a seat across from mine, dreads pulled back into a ponytail. “I thought I’d take a ride on dis here tin can wich ya.” He laughs. “Close your mouth, gel, before you catch dem flies.”
    “Are you going to the mainland?” I ask. “To live…?” I’m on the edge of my seat, itching to hug him again to make sure he’s real.
    “Just for a visit,” Desi says, dark eyes softening. “My family works in some of dem rich houses, cleanin’. Thought it’d be a good time to see dem, and maybe help you, too. I have a cousin in Section, and he’ll see dat you get settled. It’s not every day when someone raises from the dead, Leeza.” He draws my name out and winks at me as I blink in bewilderment at his offer.
    The train starts to move. Seat belt snapped back on, I grip the armrests again, and then … everything flies past. The compound’s momentarily alongside in a blur, before it slides away into the distance, fading fast.
    This part of the track rides high above the ocean on a bridge, before diving into a tunnel through the water. Tough to decide what’s scarier: the darkness, or the heights.
    It’s not a long trip back to what used to be known as Florida. We’ve always been very close to home, yet so far away.
    Desi’s watching me with a knowing twinkle in his eye. “Gel,” he says, “you be thinking about your friends?”
    Facing the window and the never-ending green water, I say, “Mimi.”
    Desi nods wisely. “You leave dat Miss Mimi to me. I give all da little ones my special treatment.”
    He points into the distance. Some of the clouds this high are still as pale as I’ve ever seen them; dingy cotton balls, and not the dark, ominous bulges I’m used to.
    “I’ll keep an eye on Miss Mimi,” Desi says. “She’s a lot like you was, when you first came. Tough.”
    The train hits a bump, and my knuckles turn white. Desi finds something humorous in this, and his laugh’s a donkey bray, but all the funnier for that reason. He continues until his eyes water.
    We hit the tunnels at high speed, producing a suction noise as we’re submerged. Desi turns into a swaying shadowed outline.
    “A gel who dies and comes back,” he says through his laughter, “and leaves dat place where dhere’s no coming out of, yet here she is, scared of a choo-choo.” Desi wheezes. “Trust me, Miss Leeza, if you dat gel who beats da grim reaper dis many times, nothing as simple as dis bucket gonna finish you, boss.”
    All the same, my grip stays tight. “It’s irrational, I know. But I can’t help it. I’ve been scared of trains since I was a little girl.”
    Desi’s voice drops, subdued. “Little gels, dey grow up. A mon like me, we see tings, up in the sky. We see dat change. Someday, you is gonna see what I do.”
    “And what’s that?”
    “A gel who took a walk in da clouds and came back down. She’s not like dem others no more. She touched. Dis might be a blessing or a curse, Miss Leeza; a half