Nemesis by Emma L. Adams Read Free Book Online Page A

was not a word anyone would use to describe her if they wanted to keep all their teeth. As a survivor of the Empire, she was the bravest person I knew. And she hadn’t told me all the details, what she’d really sacrificed for me.
    As she’d told me over and over, some things were better forgotten.
    “We will not, however, entitle you to special circumstances.”
    Huh?
    “It goes without saying that you’ll have to follow our rules. You’ve signed several confidentiality agreements. That means what you used to do—travel through the Passages at will, talk openly about dangerous magic sources like bloodrock in public—will have to stop.”
    “Of course.” I gripped one hand with the other to hide the fact that they were shaking with sudden anger. Did she think we’d go gallivanting off through the hidden Passage again after we’d nearly died there? As for the bloodrock, I could count the people who actually knew the name on one hand. Nell and I were careful, always. “Skyla’s dead,” I said, the slightest tremble in my voice. “No one else here would… would they?”
    Ms Weston’s eyes flashed. “Central is secure, but I’d advise you to be incredibly careful discussing anything related to magic sources outside of the Alliance, especially amongst offworlders.”
    Anger flared, and I had to bite my tongue to keep from saying something stupid. Of course I knew the Alliance was, for all its good intentions, neck-deep in old prejudices, but could she really forget so easily the person who’d murdered people here had been from Earth?
    “You are twenty-one, aren’t you?”
    I nodded.
    “That’s our minimum age requirement, but age doesn’t matter to the Alliance as much as your ability to do the job. Most novices go through at least a year of training first, but your experience gives you an advantage. Not as much as an Academy graduate, of course. They tend to skip the first two years and climb the ranks quicker.”
    I’d figured that much, since Kay had got promoted within only a few weeks of joining, but then again, he was a Walker. Related to the organisation’s founders and one of the council members. Not to mention he’d helped save Central.
    “You know Kay Walker, don’t you?” she asked, like she’d read my mind.
    “He helped me. And my family.” Well, that was the simplest way of putting it.
    “I know.” Her stare cut right into me. “Given what the two of you experienced, it’s only natural that you’d form an attachment. But I want to make it clear that in this office, you will conduct yourself as a professional. It’s none of my business, of course, what happens outside. And there is no preferential treatment here, regardless of what you may have accomplished.”
    Anger flooded me. If she thought I could quietly forget about how we’d survived hell, then she was sadly mistaken. And “preferential treatment”? I hadn’t expected to be treated as a celebrity. I just wanted a freaking job.
    I forced out the words. “I understand.”
    “Good.”
    More paperwork later and she handed me over to a young woman who smiled at me, to my astonishment. First friendly face I’d seen in Central.
    “I’m Amanda,” she said, tucking a blond strand behind her ear. “I’ll be overseeing your training here. You’ve met my sister Danica already–Ms Weston.”
    They were related? Wow. “I’m Ada,” I said.
    The training complex was two streets down from Central. From the outside, it might have been any generic building, but the high fence surrounding it kept out curious onlookers, and had the Alliance’s logo imprinted on the gate. Unlike Central, it succeeded in averting the attention of the tourists, though I’d spotted a group of rainbow-haired, camera-carrying individuals hanging about near the road alongside Central. Possibly trying to snap a picture of the trail of devastation a wyvern had left there when it had attacked Kay and me.
    “So what’ll I be doing?” Behind the