Free The Reckoning: Quantum Prophecy Book 3 by Michael Carroll

‘Please don’t steal our crops’?”
    “There’ll always be someone who can find a way past the fence.”
    “Perhaps. But we don’t have to make it easy for them.”
    “Suppose you do manage to persuade the whole world to join? What then? Will you really dismantle your armies and trust that everyone will remain peaceful?”
    “What would
you
do, in that circumstance?”
    “I’m not the one trying to change the world.”
    “Well, you should be. Everyone should be trying to change the world. I’m just doing it on a large scale.”
    Stephanie Cord waited until her mother was out of the house before telling her twin sister, Alia, what had happened.
    They sat in the kitchen, at the breakfast bar. Alia was meticulously picking the peel off an orange. “God, Steph…. If Mom finds out she’ll be so mad.”
    “I had to do
something,
Al! The guy was way out of his depth. They would have killed him.”
    “What about your friend? What if she talks?”
    “She said she wouldn’t, but…” Stephanie shrugged.
    “You didn’t tell her Dad was Paragon, did you?”
    Stephanie made a face. “How stupid do you think I am? Of course I didn’t tell her! Look, I’m not worried about Karen. I’m more worried about the guy.”
    “You’re going to have to find him and talk to him.”
    “I know. And that’s why I’m telling you—if he sees you, he’ll think you’re me.”
    “So what do you know about him?”
    “He’s about six feet tall, big build. Not much older than us—sixteen, maybe. He was wearing faded black jeans, frayed around the left ankle. Old Reeboks with a blue stripe across the toes—the left one has a crack across the stripe.”
    Alia split the orange into segments, and popped one in her mouth. “His voice?”
    “I didn’t hear enough to pick up an accent, but the skin around his eyes was very dark. He could be Indian.”
    “You’re sure he’s not a superhuman?”
    “If he is, he hid it well. But the thing is, he was wearing a blue T-shirt with a lightning bolt across it.”
    “So?”
    “So he clearly wants to be a superhero. And you know whose fault that is?”
    Alia rolled her eyes. “Here we go again. God, Steph. You have to let it go. Colin Wagner isn’t responsible for
everything
in the world.”
    “He killed our father.”
    “No he did
not
! Victor Cross killed him. He was going to killeither Dad or Renata’s entire family. He forced Colin to choose between them.”
    Stephanie said, “He made the wrong choice.”
    “God, you are so…Damn it, Steph! What if he’d chosen the other way around? Renata’s family would be dead. What would you think of him then?”
    Stephanie glared at her sister. “You’re starting to sound just like Mom.”
    “And you’re starting to sound like a complete idiot. You’re not the only one who lost him, you know. He was
my
father too.”
    “Colin promised us he’d get Dad back. Instead, he got him killed. And now, because of him, more people are going to die. That guy in the ski mask…If I hadn’t been there they’d have smashed his skull in. All because he saw Colin on TV and he thinks he can be a superhero too.”
    “You don’t know that’s why he did it. Maybe he did it because he was inspired by Dad, did you think of that? Dad was a superhero who didn’t have any powers.”
    “That guy is an idiot. Dad was a genius. And he was trained how to fight.”
    “Just like he was training
us
.”
    Stephanie sneered. “Us? You almost never showed up for the sessions! You were too scared that Mom would find out. You never even practiced with the armor and the jetpack.”
    Then a voice from the doorway said, “But
you
did, Stephanie?”
    Vienna Cord stepped into the room, glaring at them.
    “Mom. I…”
    She put her bag of groceries down on the kitchen table. “When did this all start?”
    Stephanie looked away from her mother, and stared down at the floor.
    “When, Stephanie? When we moved to Sakkara?”
    Alia hesitated, then said,