Free Heightened: The Federation Series by Miria Masdan

accepts his fate and smiles at me. I always know that he gave himself to save me because he loves me. But right now I am looking at him, and he is lost. There are no last words, no undying declaration of love; he is gone.
    I lean down and kiss his lips and then rest my head on his shoulder.
    I can feel his breath on my neck and feel his heart beat against my chest. He is strong. I don’t want to forget him.
    I jump up and charge towards Adam. I catch him off guard. He stumbles back, but he doesn’t fall. He rights himself and laughs.
    “Always with the spunk,” he says. “I love it.”
    “I hate you,” I lash out at him. He grabs my wrist and yanks. I slam into him. He grabs my face and kisses me hard. I push away from him, and he pushes me at the same time. I lose my balance and fall next to Quinn.
    “What do you want Emma?” Adam snarls. “I always win.”
    “You’re not going to get away with this,” I warn.
    “You always say that,” he says. “And I always get away with it, over and over, and again.”
    He is standing over me. I try to move, but I can’t. He pins me with his body. He grabs me, holding my arms down. My head is resting on Quinn’s chest. He grabs at my shirt, pulling it up, exposing my abdomen. I try to fight. I turn my head. I can see Quinn. I think I see him move, hear him grunt. Is he fighting?
    “Quinn,” I cry.
    Adam kisses my face, my mouth. My tears fall. I try to push him away, but he is too strong.
    A noise from beyond the room breaks the chaos. It’s the warning bell. The ceremony will be starting in 30 minutes.
    He pushes me aside. I’m lying next to Quinn; I’m looking at him. He’s looking at me. His warm brown eyes; I think of home. He reminds me of home. I don’t want to forget him.
    And then there is nothing.

CHAPTER THIRTEEN
Quinn
     
    “Calder,” Max voice echoes, “what the Hell are you doing?”
    He punches my shoulder. I open my eyes and glare up at him. “What?”
    “The ceremony starts in ten minutes,” he says.
    “What,” I ask? “I haven’t finished prepping.”
    “You did,” he looks at me for a second. “Are you okay? I know last night was rough, no sleep, and it was your home, but there’s some serious shit going on right now.”
    “The guy did you find him?”
    No,” he says. “We’ve searched the entire building. Did you find anything? It was a good call to use the old monitors, a little low tech, but the thermal should be useful.”
    “I have no idea,” I say. “I fell asleep.”
    “How are you going to make it through tonight,” he says. “Smith has some serious plans for us. Now get your ass up, and let’s go.”
    “Hang on,” I look around the room. “I feel like I forget something.”
    “There’s no time,” he says. “Come back later.”
    We head to the lower levels of the forum for a quick debriefing. My head is aching, and I only pay half attention to Max as he talks about what they’ve done to locate the suspect.
    I take my position at the back of the forum. The seats are full with family, staff, and representatives from all Federation components. If someone is planning an attack, today would be a good day. It is the one day in the Federation that the government doesn’t have complete control over its citizens.
    My head is still pounding. I look around the forum, and I have no idea, or recollection of preparing for the ceremony. I access my program.
    “Video and data log.”
    REPORT: unavailable
    “Video and data log.”
    REPORT: unavailable
    “Audio and data log.”
    REPORT: unavailable
    What the Hell is going on? How can my files be unavailable? I’m sure it has to do with the energy spikes and the off-line life force. I decide to have Smith check out my system, as soon as the ceremony is over.
    I scan the forum; all life forces are on-line and within protocol. I think about what Max said about the older monitors. If I had a thermal device, I could scan everyone, and it wouldn’t matter if they were