happy people trying to live our lives, just like humans. I’m not interested in blocking anyone from having a better life. I’m certainly not interested in killing little human babies.”
“No, and most Variants would agree with you. But then you see more and more of them joining Variant Valor, and not shy about talking about it. You see people using the word Dime with abandon. It would be pretty hard not to feel attacked.”
“Yeah, I get that.” Dot flopped back against the back of the booth.
“Variant Valor aren’t the only ones getting louder,” Ethan grumbled. “I’m seeing more and more mentions of the Human Empowerment Network too.”
“Yeah.” Kyo drew Dot to his side. “Both the boutique and that café had big posters in the windows—‘Human Safe Space’ in big bold letters with HEN’s branding all over it. They’re taking the safety-in-numbers approach, and they’re not being subtle about it.”
“It’s just creating more division,” Ethan agreed.
“The most frustrating thing”—I clenched my hands into fists—“is that none of these people, Variant or human, realize they’re pawns and playing right into that asshole’s hand. Davis is behind all of this. It’s no coincidence that this divisive rhetoric got more intense after he did his press conference. This is what he wants. He wants the Variants scared of the humans so they’ll spend all their money on his sick invention. He wants the humans scared so the division continues to breed.”
“I wish we could just hunt him down and lock him in a dark hole where he can’t touch or hurt anyone,” Ethan muttered. He was such a sweetheart. Davis may have been my biological father, but I wanted him dead, not locked up.
“Do that, and he becomes a martyr. Even harder to fight against a legacy than a man,” Kyo argued. “Toppling Dictatorships 101—discredit and besmirch the charismatic leader. Then take him out.”
I wondered just how many governments Kyo and Alec’s team had been involved in tearing down, but I had a feeling even my new clearance level wouldn’t be high enough to gain me access to that information.
“I. Hate. Him.” My voice was clear and level as my eyes narrowed on the table, not seeing our half-empty plates or the condiment bottles. Only his ugly face.
My friends watched me warily.
Eleven
The late afternoon sun bathed the yard in a golden glow. I put in one earring and watched from my window as Ethan got out of the pool, his lean muscles effortlessly lifting his heavy frame out of the water.
The mid-May weather still wasn’t warm enough for most of us. Other than that one blissfully hot day a few weeks back, it had been too cold for swimming. But Ethan never felt the cold. As he dried his hair off with a towel, all that muscle glistened in the sun, making me want to go down there and lick the water droplets off his smooth chest.
I shook myself out of it and put my other earing in, then turned and paused.
Josh was at my door, leaning on the frame and watching me as I’d been watching Ethan.
“You are so beautiful,” he stated, his boyish face full of sincerity.
“Thanks. This dress is stunning.” He was in sweats and a Queen T-shirt, and I was in eveningwear, my feet tucked into bright red heels. The strapless dress tapered in at the waist and stopped at about midcalf. Black tulle surrounded my legs, but a red lace top layer popped against the black. Dot had painstakingly braided my hair into a pattern almost as intricate as the bold design of the lace.
The dress had appeared on my bed a few hours earlier when I emerged from the shower, just as I’d started to panic about what to wear.
When Tyler had first told me about the event, I’d groaned. But he never asked me for anything, and after he explained why he needed the extra Light boost, I agreed quickly.
The formal evening had been organized under a cloak of secrecy; it brought together security, law enforcement, and intelligence bigwigs from all over the world. The situation with Variant Valor and the Human Empowerment Network was continuing to escalate, and some leaders wanted to increase their efforts to work together, hoping more cooperation would help. They were holding a massive meeting, hosted by Melior Group, but it wouldn’t take place until the next day. This evening was a welcome cocktail event with a formal dress code. Because we couldn’t possibly solve the world’s problems in smart casual.