Author:
M.J. Swenson has been writing stories since elementary school and earned a B.A. in Creative Writing from the University of St. Thomas, Minnesota. Besides writing and reading, M.J. also enjoys playing music and video games.

I woke up feeling that something had changed.

I blinked twice, waiting for my eyes to adjust, and glanced at the clock beside my bed. It read 6:38, as it did every morning. I slid out of bed and moved to my dresser, where I opened the third drawer and pulled out a dark blue V-necked shirt with short sleeves and a dark blue pair of pants. I changed in front of the mirror and examined myself. I looked just as I had the last time I’d looked in the mirror: long, straight, dark brown hair; blue eyes; an absurdly straight and narrow nose; the slight scar at the edge of my eyebrow. The scar whose origin I still couldn’t remember.

Familiar Assassins

Amabel stood against the wall, glancing suspiciously down at me, while Dalton closed and locked the door behind Cedric.


"What on Terminus happened to you?" Amabel asked.


"What do you think happened?" Dalton hissed. "Leave her alone, Am. At least we know she's with us now."


Dalton turned to me. "The System most definitely erased you. Thane had to remind us who you were."


"Did Thane forget?" I pressed. "Or was he immune?"


"I have no idea," Dalton said, holding up his hands and shaking his head. "Thane doesn't tell us anything."


I shifted against the wooden wall, wincing when pain ripped between my shoulder blades again. "Where is he?"


Dalton shrugged. "Like I said, he doesn't tell us anything."


Amabel, who had apparently disappeared from the room, reemerged with a woman wearing a red shirt and black pants. Her hair was tied back into a bun, in the style of the Omri, but she couldn't have been Omri, not with her outfit.


Chapter 42