J. Souders: Revelations

I smile back. “Thank you,” I mouth, and he nods again, then tips his head toward the door, gesturing for me to exit while everyone is preoccupied.

Then he stands and enters the fight, while I slip quietly to my room to contemplate how to take Mother down.

My daughter has returned to me, as I knew she would. After all, she is my creation. And like anything that requires programming by an outside influence, it is inevitable that she should return to her creator.

Especially when programmed to do so.

—EXCERPT FROM MOTHER’S JOURNAL

Mother

I watch the monitor and smile. They actually believe they got into Elysium without me knowing. I didn’t become the Governess by being a fool. I am Evelyn’s Mother. Everyone’s Mother. And nothing escapes me.

I turn to Dr. Friar behind me. “You made sure he got everything he needed?”

“Yes. I made sure the staff was otherwise entertained so all he had to do was ‘sneak’ in and grab it.” He tips his head to the side, that sly smile twinkling in his eyes. “Poor man. Seemed in such a hurry. Didn’t even notice it was unusually quiet in the Medical Sector. I do hope nothing is wrong.”

I laugh and lean against the back of my chair. “Fantastic.” Then a thought occurs to me. “How much of her memory will he be able to recover?”

“Not much, I’m afraid. With the reactivation she may get them all back eventually, but it will be very slow. You’d probably have more success planting new ones.”

I nod and lean into my mirror, checking the line of my eyeliner. I press a light finger to the small wrinkles to the side. “Make sure you have everything you need to make that happen.” I look at him through the mirror. “She’s probably already said yes. They won’t wait long. And I’m eager to continue Evelyn’s training now that she’s passed her test. I must say, I’m pleased that she’s brought these fabulous new specimens with her.” The side of my mouth lifts. “Such a lovely surprise.”

There’s a soft knock on the door. “Come,” I say.

One of my Maids pokes her head through the opening. “Enforcer Lydia here to see you, ma’am.”

I clap my hands. “Wonderful. Send her in.”

The Maid quickly disappears to be replaced with the girl Evelyn’s age who has taken over as lead Enforcer since Evelyn and that Surface Dweller killed my last leader. She stands just inside the door, staring over my head with her trained gaze. I know she sees everything, even when it looks like she sees nothing.

“The situation is under control,” she says, her voice as flat as the floor my chair is sitting on.

“The girl?”

“She’s been relocated to Enforcer training.”

“And her poor mother?”

“Eliminated.”

My smile creeps across my face. “Very good. You may go.” I waggle my fingers at the door and spin back around in my seat to look in the mirror again.

“Problems?” Dr. Friar asks.

“None. Everything is going exactly according to plan.”

As always, turning a manuscript into a novel takes many more people than just the lonely author, writing in her garret. I will never be able to thank everyone who’s helped make the mess of words that was originally Revelations into the book it is now without making this a novel itself, so I’m not even going to try. *smiles*

A huge thanks to my wonderful agent, Natalie Lakosil, for being in my corner when I needed her the most. And to my editor, Mel, for her awesome insight and for seeing once again the story I was trying to tell and helping me pull it out. And as always, a huge thanks to the cover artist, Eithne, and Tor’s art director Seth for yet another beautiful cover.

I definitely couldn’t have done this without the support of my family, specifically, my husband, for all those late nights helping me see the simple solutions to the problems I was trying to make more complicated than they needed to be, and for my children for putting up with all the time my imaginary friends took all my attention.

And to my crit partner Liz Czukas for all the brainstorming sessions and for talking me down from all the last-minute freak-outs. Thank you so, so much.

And to my crit partner Larissa Hardesty for making sure my story had heart and soul and wasn’t just a mess of words.

A special shout-out and thank-you to Ryan Campbell and his daughter Cordelia for being my first “outside” readers. Your excitement and enthusiasm for my characters and writing gave me the courage to persevere through the dark until I saw the light. You both rock!

And, of course, thank you to God for giving me the talent and perseverance to make my dream a career.

And last but not least, a huge thank-you to all my fabulous readers that loved Renegade and loved and rooted for Evie and Gavin. I hope you enjoy the new chapter of their story. I couldn’t do this without you. XOXO.

J. A. Souders is the author of the Elysium Chronicles and lives with her husband and two children in the land of sunshine and palm trees, where she spends her time writing about the monsters under the bed, daydreaming about living in an underwater colony, and failing miserably at playing video games. She can usually be found wandering around the Internet at www.jasouders.com.