“…Are you being serious right now?” demanded Jester.“If I am?”“That’s absurd!”“It is, isn’t it?” the old lady said. Then she cackled loudly, and Jester felt like an idiot for believing her, even if it was just for a moment.“It is quite a ridiculous notion. To think that the well-being of all three worlds would depend on the love between two people. It’s like a romance novel.”“It’s not a funny joke, Commander.”“Oh, let an old lady have her fun. In such troubled times, we can’t forget to have a laugh now and then.”Jester just sighed, rubbing the back of his neck. “Try not to drag other people into your jokes, please.” He glanced at the time, did some quick calculations in his mind. He decided it would be a good opportunity to excuse himself. “If there’s nothing urgent you want from me, C

Traffic was bad for a weekday night. Alisa searched for a better route on the display on her dash, and she didn’t answer right away. Maybe she was gathering her thoughts, and Freya wondered if what she had asked was something a little too personal. Maybe she shouldn’t pry—“I think the answer to your question…isn’t just one thing. I had a pretty hard time growing up because of my Gift and my family. Don’t get me wrong—I am very much the spoiled little princess you think I am,” said Alisa with a small smile. “I grew up with plenty of love. I have a great relationship with my dad and siblings and even our extended family. But it wasn’t always like that. When my Gift was discovered, and the details were disclosed, people began to treat me…differently. Among the Vegas, there are quite a few of the Gifted. But I’m the only one who was ever included among the TWMO’s Most Dangerous, and that became

“What many people do not know,” Jester continued, and the way he spoke caught my attention, made me curious. He brought up a short video clip that had my mouth dropping to the floor. “Is that Anomalies are not naturally created. They are…manufactured. Well, the ones in Gaia, at the beginning, were.”The video was crisp and clear, and though there was no sound, it wasn’t hard to imagine the grisly noise accompanying those vicious claws and teeth. It was a horde of lizard-like Anomalies rampaging through something that looked like a city street (though it didn’t resemble any city I knew, but then, all the smoke and chaos made it difficult to be sure). They clashed against silver leopard-like creatures and huge black bears in an all-out brawl. One odd thing was that the Anomalies seemed to be wearing some sort of collar, and they had black patterns on their bodies that reminded me very much of the symbols of the Border System Grandpa Al

I am so happy I could cry.Well, okay, I did cry—just a little. And Jester was so cute making a joke out of it while wiping away my tears.It all feels so unreal. I never expected that Jester and I would reconcile this way.I didn’t think he’d run after me at all. And in the slightest chance that he did, all I was expecting was another apology at best, and getting scolded for walking out in the middle of a meeting at worst.The way that Jester spoke about his past and his identity had sounded like he was trying to build an insurmountable wall between us. Like he was making himself into some untouchable creature that I shouldn’t even consider approaching, because we were too different and I could never measure up to his lofty standards. I’m sure he wanted me to think of him that way, so that I would give up and leave him alone.I admit that it hurt. After spending so much time with him, after putting in so much effort t

This must be what Jester meant when he said that I should think about what I was getting into by dating him.I suppose, for most people, learning that your boyfriend’s father was some evil overlord who was responsible for the universe-altering disaster that had caused so much carnage that six hundred-odd years into the future, everyone is still suffering from the consequences, would be sensible grounds for breaking up with him. And Jester is expecting—or hoping?—I would choose to do that. Probably for some reason like it being safer for me or some similar shit.Yeah, fat chance.I became his girlfriend barely three hours ago. I’m not letting go so easily.I told him as much.“Alisa,” he said, giving me one of his signature scowls. It’s been getting easier for me to decipher what those minute changes in his scowling face mean—to the usual observer, they would all look the same, but for someone who&rsqu