by Wendi Wilson
Anger bubbles up inside me, and I harness it, pushing it down into my gut and letting it build. My body starts to tremble, and I grit my teeth as flames of fury burn my cheeks.
Christine Worth must be stopped. And I’m the one who will stop her.
I suck in a deep breath and shout into the microphone, “You don’t want to quit! I break the persuasion! You are free to make your own choice!”
The room becomes a vacuum, a silence so still it sucks all the air from the space. Then it shatters as the room explodes with shouts and chairs sliding backward. Men and women advancing on the Alts still surrounding them. The Alts manage to persuade a few to back off, but they’re soon overwhelmed by sheer numbers.
Suddenly, Slade and Silas are at my side, taking my hands and dragging me from the room.
“You did it, Lizzie!” Slade shouts. “I knew you had it in you.”
I laugh as he noisily smacks his lips against my cheek. Silas, not to be outdone, kisses the other one. I give him a wide smile.
We keep walking, all the way out the door to the front steps of the building. A group of reporters is assembled, cameras and microphones and voice recorders all ready to go as soon as Worth steps behind the wooden podium set up at the front.
I spot Jett leaning against the limo, his eyes focused on me and the Madsens. I smile and give him a thumbs up. He smiles back, one of those genuine ones he doesn’t give out very often, and turns around, pulling the car door open.
President Worth steps out, and the press cheers. God, he’s turned them into sheep. They’re going to be so pissed when they realize they’ve been persuaded to agree with him over and over again.
Next comes Christine, standing docile by her father’s side, thanks to Savanna’s persuasion. Wyatt and Beckett climb out after her, followed by Savanna. She looks a little pale but, as I watch, Jett hands her a flask and she takes a long swig. Color blooms in her cheeks as she nods her thanks and hands it back to him.
The president strides to the front, the cheering and clapping fading out as he takes his place behind the podium.
“Hello, everyone,” he says.
Then silence. He looks around, his eyebrows drawn down low over his eyes. He glances at Christine, his eyes widening like he can’t believe she’s here with him.
“I called this conference because, uh…”
I smirk. He has no fucking idea why he called this press conference. That little stroke of genius was mine. I thought it a fitting punishment to make the man look like a total idiot before outing him. His daughter may have been pulling most of the strings, but he’s used Alts for his own insidious purposes, too.
“You’re here to tell us how you use Alts to further your own agenda,” Savanna shouts, her voice ringing loud and clear and, I know, filled with persuasion.
“Ah, yes,” he says. “My youth outreach program is a cover for the Alt army I’ve been building to bring myself the ultimate power. I’ve had them persuade my cabinet, Congress, the Supreme Court, the press and the American people to agree with me at all times and celebrate me as an excellent leader and overall human being.”
“Tell them about the girls,” Savanna shouts.
“I used to use my security agents, all Alts, to persuade underage girls to sleep with me and enjoy it, then forget all about the encounter later. But…I don’t do that anymore.”
Of course, he doesn’t. Savanna took care of that. But that does not change the fact that he did it. And he’s going to be crucified for it.
“Let Christine speak,” Savanna calls out.
“My daughter, Christine,” Worth says, moving away from the microphone and motioning for his daughter to move in.
She steps forward, her lips pressed together like she thinks she can refuse to speak. She doesn’t stand a chance against Savanna, but this is where it gets tricky. Once Savanna persuades her to out herself as an Alt, it won’t take long for the press to put two and two together and realize that Savanna has the power to persuade other Alts. Her anonymity will be gone, but she swears it doesn’t matter. She’ll do what she has to do and deal with the fallout later.
“Take out your contacts, Christine,” Savanna orders, her voice ringing out over the crowd.
Christine’s fingers move to her eyes, pulling out first one contact, then the other, and flicking them to the ground. A collective gasp comes from the crowd, and I hear reporters ordering camera operators to zoom in on Christine Worth’s silver-rimmed eyes.
“Tell them what you are and what you’ve done, starting with Carl Evers,” Savanna shouts.
“I am an Alt, and I persuaded Carl Evers to shoot James Ford so my dad would win the election. I needed him to become president.” She pauses like she’s trying to fight the words but, thanks to Savanna’s persuasion, they come tumbling out anyway. “I’ve been using persuasion on my father for years. I made him gather his army of Alts, I made him use them against you, to make you love him. I made him order them to persuade Congress to quit, today, so he would become the sole source of power in this country. He would be king.”
“Why?” Savanna asks, still infusing her voice with the power, then taking another drink from Jett’s flask.
“Because he,” she spits, flinging a finger toward Worth, “hid me away like a freak. He kept me isolated, made me wear those stupid brown contacts, and belittled me every chance he got. He made me feel like a freak. I hate him.”
Before Savanna can open her mouth to ask another question, the doors to the capitol building burst open. Congress members pour from the opening, shouting while striding right for the president. It’s like a lynch mob waiting to happen.
A congressman I recognize from television throws out his arms to hold back the crowd. He yells something about doing things the right way, then steps up to the microphone. He starts talking about what happened inside, how the entire room was persuaded and the persuasion was broken by a young girl.
That’s my cue to leave. I spent all this time worrying about Savanna’s anonymity, I didn’t even consider my own. Silas, Slade and I move around behind the crowd of senators and representatives. I see Savanna approach Worth and his daughter, and I know from our planning session that she’s persuading them to stay where they are and wait for the police.
She’s also ordering them to tell the truth when they’re questioned. That puts us at risk, since some of the questions could be about the blonde girl making them confess at the press conference…or the girl who saved Congress.
But we decided to take that chance because it would take too long to persuade them to tell the truth only about certain aspects and lie about others. And we might miss something crucial.
Besides, soon it won’t matter. The whole world will have immunity at its fingertips when Dr. Sang finishes her formula for the synthetic version of Savanna’s blood.
Everything is going to change. The world will be a better place for Alts and Norms alike. Sure, Alts will still need blood to survive and have superior hearing, but they won’t have the power to control the Norms. And the Norms will have no reason to fear them anymore. To persecute and ostracize them.
We’ll all just be humans again.
Epilogue
One Year Later…
“So, how are you doing, really?”
I look up at Dr. Levinson and smile. “Great, actually. I haven’t had any episodes in six months, and I haven’t taken any of the anxiety medication in four. I think I’m cured.”
She smiles back at me, and says, “Well, cured is a strong word, but I’m glad to hear you’re doing so well.”
This is the first time I’ve seen her in months. After everything went down with president, she took a leave of absence to take care of her girls. According to Gabe and Rafe, the Levinson twins were supposed to have been at the capitol that day, helping persuade Congress. But, thanks to my request, the Davilas intercepted them and explained what was happening.
Apparently, Christine Worth admitted in the police interrogation tha
t she got really creative with her plan for total world domination. She put sedatives in the Alts nightly ration of blood to make them sleep. Then she pumped recorded announcements into their rooms at night, using subliminal messages to make them do whatever the president told them to do, no questions asked.
The messages were clear—he saved you, now you serve him. Most of the newer recruits had no idea what he supposedly saved them from. They applied to join the program and got accepted…like the Levinson twins. But it didn’t matter, they still felt obligated to serve him.
Speaking of…
“How are Harlow and Evie?” I ask, my smile growing.
Dr. Levinson shakes her head at me. I know exactly how the girls are doing. They are good, happy, and deliriously in love with the Davila twins. Rafe and Gabe checked on them, a lot, after everything happened and it didn’t take long for Rafe to take a liking to Harlow and Gabe fell head over heels for Evie.
The four of them hang out with us at our house pretty often, and Dr. Levinson knows it, so she doesn’t even answer my question. I laugh.
“Well, I’m glad you’re back at work. Dr. John is okay, but he’s not you.”
She smiles. “I’m glad I’m back, too.”
“Anything else you’d like to share?” she asks.
“No, I’m actually really good. The guys and I are happy. They can touch me and I don’t flip out, which is a really good thing.”
“Yes, that is good.”
“Grace is doing great,” I say. “She started high school, has a great group of friends, and is pulling straight A’s. Oh, and Dr. Sang finished the vaccine.”
Her head jerks back in surprise. “She did?”
“Yep,” I say nodding. “Testing is complete and the drug has one hundred percent effectiveness with zero side effects. She’s a genius. It will be ready for distribution next month.”
“And the whole world will be immune.”
She falls silent for a moment, staring blankly at her notepad as she thinks about a world with no persuasion. A world where her daughters can live without fear of being used or manipulated, or feared and castigated by people like the Purists. Where they can live semi-normal lives.
“Oh,” I say, breaking the silence, “and Savanna had her first ultrasound. She’s having twins!”
“Wow, tell her I said congratulations,” she replies.
Her timer dings, signaling the end of our session. We say goodbye and I walk out, thinking about Savanna and the precious lives she’s growing inside her.
The guys are over the moon. Even though they are all only nineteen, and still in school, they are so excited to be dads, to have children with their one true love.
I feel like everything has come full circle. Back at the beginning, when I was first indoctrinated into the Divine Church of Purity, the greatest and worst fear shared by members and leaders alike was that Alts would procreate and those children would destroy the Earth.
Now, my genetically altered Alt best friend is having twin babies with her three Alt soulmates, and I couldn’t be happier.
Well, maybe I could, if it were me that was having babies with my Alt soulmates.
But that’ll come later. Much, much later.
Thank You
Thank you for reading and following Lizzie’s journey. If you have a moment, please leave a review. I’d really appreciate it!
Acknowledgments
Thank you to my family for rooting me on as a cross-country move put me way behind with this one. Your understanding and support made finishing this possible.
Thank you to the girls at Starbucks for feeding me coffee and allowing me to hang out with them for hours and hours.
Thank you to Molly Phipps at We Got You Covered Book Design for yet another beautiful cover. You’re amazeballs.
Also by Wendi Wilson
The Shadowed Series
Shadowed Strength
Shadowed Instincts
Shadowed Ascension
Shadowed Truth: A Novella
The Suppressed Series
Suppressed
Resurfaced
Blood Persuasion
Persuade
Purify
Prevail
Unpersuadable
Atone