Brighid's Flame by Cate Morgan Page B

like that anymore. I don’t have it in me, after…after.”
    Gwen switched to her other side, her arms cradling her. Lavender and freesia flooded Tara’s senses, offering her a modicum of comfort. “My poor, brave girl. You are capable of so much more than you realize. Why do you think I pushed you so hard? I had to make sure you were ready. I won’t abandon you, I promise.”
    â€œMe either,” Stephen promised. “I didn’t come all this way with you to give up now.”
    And that was Stephen, at his very core. Here she was, reeling, struggling to come to terms with being told she was…what, exactly? Gwen made it sound as though Tara was something of a hero, something other than human. Yet Stephen’s first response was a firm show of support. The hand holding hers was steady, his soft voice calm.
    â€œVincent and I worked hard to get you here—sending you to the Park to confront Nick, intercepting Stephen when he came after you, getting you underground to a point where you couldn’t be tracked. By now, Julien will know he’s been caught, and that you know. This city won’t be safe if he comes to power. You’ll have to stop him.”
    The idea numbed her. Just that morning, she’d woken in his arms, warm and comfortable. She blushed to think what might have happened had he not been injured, that they might have—
    â€œI don’t know if I can. You taught me much, I might be able to hold my own for a while, but I’ve sparred with him, Gwen.”
    â€œAll you have to do is try, and trust,” Gwen assured her. “The rest will take care of itself. Don’t worry, you won’t be alone.”
    â€œPaying to have himself shot was his way of tying you to him, to ensure your unquestioning loyalty to him when he finally turned on Vincent,” Paul added. “He’s dangerous, to Vincent and to us. You’re the only one who can stop him. Even if you…even if you lose, there’s still a chance it may be enough.”
    Tara shook her head. “How could he possibly think I would ever turn on Vincent?”
    â€œHe is corrupt,” Stephen explained. “Therefore everyone is corruptible.”
    It occurred to Tara that Stephen had seen Julien far more clearly than she ever had. Stephen certainly seemed to understand Vincent’s heir more than she. And yet, best friend that he was, he’d never come to Tara with his concerns. She wondered why.
    â€œLiberty Island,” Gwen told her, interrupting Tara’s tumbling rush of thoughts. “We can get you as far as that. Paul’s right. Even if you lose against Julien, it may still be enough to unite the city.” Her mentor leaned still closer, her eyes shining with the need to make Tara understand. “If Julien gains control of Vincent’s empire, there will be no more Dante Foundation, no aid getting to the people who so desperately need it. Julien will bleed what’s left of this city’s resources until there won’t be anything left. He will, in essence, build a new Dreamtech.”
    Tara tried to imagine it, and shuddered. At the outset, the government conglomerate had used the Seven-Year War to extort lucrative defense contracts from those cities that could afford it. Next thing anyone knew, Dreamtech and their cronies were the government: in addition to the biospheres that shielded cities from further bombardment that never came, there were the birth chips, the centralized financial system that tracked everything from payroll and taxes to utility usage to the purchase of a pack of gum.
    Those suffering from the post-math of the war were either grateful for the biospheres protecting their cities, or wanted one over their own city. New York had been one of the first cities hit in the war. No one could get into or out of the city once the biosphere was in place—and that was exactly how Dreamtech had wanted it, according to