Ashfall Prophecy, page 29
But I couldn’t shake the dread that the worst was yet to come.
I flopped into a couch on the observation deck, once again staring out at the bright blue marble where I’d been born. It took me a second to realize that I wasn’t alone. Darcy sat in a chair in the back of the room, gazing out at the planet, too.
“Oh, hey,” I said. “You were just leaving, right?”
I had thought that Darcy and I had buried the hatchet back on Little Earth, but ever since the Senate she had been cold to me. When I came into a room, she made a habit of clearing out. I’d tried to talk to her about her experience with Goldy—the effects of which were still evident from the streaks in her hair, which, of course, she kept hidden under her hood—but she said she couldn’t remember anything. I swore he spoke to her. She told me he hadn’t.
Darcy did get up. But, to my surprise, she didn’t leave the room. Instead, she came over to sit next to me.
“That’s where you grew up, huh?” She pointed her chin at the Earth.
“That’s it,” I said with a sigh. “Home sweet home.”
“You don’t sound very excited to be back.”
I sighed, trying to put my thoughts in order. “The Earth doesn’t really feel like home anymore, I guess. I mean, I never really had a home there to begin with. We were always running. I never got attached. The humans there . . . my mom, the ones Rafe wants to save . . . they aren’t even really my people, I don’t think. Not anymore. I can’t stop thinking about Reno and those others. How she looked at me. I think I’m a little afraid of what we’re doing here, Darcy.”
Darcy was staring at me, and I realized I was babbling.
“Sorry,” I said. “Didn’t mean to unload on you.”
“It’s okay,” she said. “I never really felt at home on Denza either. I never fit in. Or maybe I never allowed myself to fit in. I don’t know. Anyway, I get what you’re saying. We don’t belong anywhere. And yet we’re needed everywhere.”
I nodded in agreement. “We’ve got each other, at least. We hybrids have to stick together, right?”
“Right,” Darcy said, her voice quiet at first, then firmer when she continued. “Right. Let’s stick together. Although I’m not too sure about that Jamdora guy.”
I chuckled. “Yeah. Me neither.”
We sat there in silence for a while and, slowly, our orbital position shifted so that the sun was behind the Earth. The flare of orange put what looked like a halo of fire around the planet. I shivered, and I’m pretty sure Darcy did, too.
“Do you ever worry about the future?” I asked her. “About what we might have to do?”
Darcy shrugged. “I don’t know. Sometimes.”
“My dad thought he was right when he trapped himself on Ashfall. Reno thought she was right when she tried to stage her coup. I wonder about how they got to those points. All the things that happened during their lives that twisted them up and made them into . . .” I trailed off for a moment, then steeled myself. “If I ever get like that, Darcy, promise you’ll stop me. Okay?”
Darcy turned to lock eyes with me. For a moment, I thought I saw a flare of fire in her pupils, like I was an explosion and I was expanding in her direction, but it must have just been a trick of the light.
“I swear,” Darcy said. “I swear I’ll stop you.”
About the Author
PITTACUS LORE finished recounting the story of the invasion of Earth in the I Am Number Four series and is now ready to tell another story. His whereabouts are unknown.
Discover great authors, exclusive offers, and more at hc.com.
Books by Pittacus Lore
THE LORIEN LEGACIES
NOVELS
I AM NUMBER FOUR
THE POWER OF SIX
THE RISE OF NINE
THE FALL OF FIVE
THE REVENGE OF SEVEN
THE FATE OF TEN
UNITED AS ONE
THE LOST FILES NOVELLAS
#1: SIX’S LEGACY
#2: NINE’S LEGACY
#3: THE FALLEN LEGACIES
#4: THE SEARCH FOR SAM
#5: THE LAST DAYS OF LORIEN
#6: THE FORGOTTEN ONES
#7: FIVE’S LEGACY
#8: RETURN TO PARADISE
#9: FIVE’S BETRAYAL
#10: THE FUGITIVE
#11: THE NAVIGATOR
#12: THE GUARD
#13: LEGACIES REBORN
#14: LAST DEFENSE
#15: HUNT FOR THE GARDE
THE LOST FILES NOVELLA COLLECTIONS
THE FALLEN LEGACIES (Contains novellas #1–#3)
SECRET HISTORIES (Contains novellas #4–#6)
HIDDEN ENEMY (Contains novellas #7–#9)
REBEL ALLIES (Contains novellas #10–#12)
ZERO HOUR (Contains novellas #13–#15)
THE LORIEN LEGACIES REBORN
NOVELS
GENERATION ONE
FUGITIVE SIX
RETURN TO ZERO
THE LEGACY CHRONICLES NOVELLAS
#1: OUT OF THE ASHES
#2: INTO THE FIRE
#3: UP IN SMOKE
#4: CHASING GHOSTS
#5: RAISING MONSTERS
#6: KILLING GIANTS
THE LEGACY CHRONICLES NOVELLA COLLECTIONS
TRIAL BY FIRE (Contains novellas #1–#3)
OUT OF THE SHADOWS (Contains novellas #4–#6)
ASHFALL LEGACY
ASHFALL LEGACY
ASHFALL PROPHECY
Back Ad
DISCOVER
your next favorite read
MEET
new authors to love
WIN
free books
SHARE
infographics, playlists, quizzes, and more
WATCH
the latest videos
www.epicreads.com
Copyright
ASHFALL PROPHECY. Copyright © 2022 by Full Fathom Five, LLC. All rights reserved under International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions. By payment of the required fees, you have been granted the nonexclusive, nontransferable right to access and read the text of this e-book on-screen. No part of this text may be reproduced, transmitted, downloaded, decompiled, reverse-engineered, or stored in or introduced into any information storage and retrieval system, in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereafter invented, without the express written permission of HarperCollins e-books.
www.epicreads.com
Cover art © 2022 by Jade Merien
Cover design by Chris Kwon
* * *
Digital Edition AUGUST 2022 ISBN: 978-0-06-284541-2
Print ISBN: 978-0-06-284539-9
* * *
2223242526PC/LSCH10987654321
FIRST EDITION
About the Publisher
Australia
HarperCollins Publishers Australia Pty. Ltd.
Level 13, 201 Elizabeth Street
Sydney, NSW 2000, Australia
www.harpercollins.com.au
Canada
HarperCollins Publishers Ltd
Bay Adelaide Centre, East Tower
22 Adelaide Street West, 41st Floor
Toronto, Ontario, M5H 4E3
www.harpercollins.ca
India
HarperCollins India
A 75, Sector 57
Noida
Uttar Pradesh 201 301
www.harpercollins.co.in
New Zealand
HarperCollins Publishers New Zealand
Unit D1, 63 Apollo Drive
Rosedale 0632
Auckland, New Zealand
www.harpercollins.co.nz
United Kingdom
HarperCollins Publishers Ltd.
1 London Bridge Street
London SE1 9GF, UK
www.harpercollins.co.uk
United States
HarperCollins Publishers Inc.
195 Broadway
New York, NY 10007
www.harpercollins.com
Pittacus Lore, Ashfall Prophecy
