Nemesis by Emma L. Adams Page B

Nell’s wrath or got freaked that I kept knives in my boots in case of an impromptu monster attack. My last boyfriend had ditched me when I’d showed up at his house covered in slime that wouldn’t clean off, thanks to a close encounter with a swamp monster in the Passages.
    Hmm. Maybe this wasn’t the worst way I’d screwed up a potential relationship. It hurt a lot more, though.
    Our house door was open, and Nell waited in the hallway, wearing her stoniest expression. My heart sank.
    “Um,” I said. “I got the job.”
    I didn’t expect a congratulations, and I didn’t get one. Nell merely made a “huh” sound and moved aside to let us pass.
    “Hey, Ada!” Alber came out of his room. “Good news?”
    “Yeah.” I forced a smile. “I got the job.”
    Snap. I jumped, but it was only Nell shutting the front door. She turned around, and I felt like I was ten years old again, in trouble for climbing on the roof.
    “Epic,” said Alber. “When’re you taking me to Valeria, then?”
    “Patience,” I said, in a mock-adult voice. “I don’t get to go offworld until I get my permit. Just help out in the office and run patrols.”
    “Holy hell, Ada. You’re a legit Alliance guard now.”
    “I know, right?”
    “Criminals the world over should cower in fear.” Jeth grinned at me.
    “Awesome,” said Alber. “What’re you doing now?”
    I shrugged. “Jeth and I are going out later, with some of the Alliance guys, right?”
    “Yeah,” said Jeth, “but it’s over-eighteens only.”
    “Not fair.” Alber had turned seventeen four months ago.
    “You’re going with them ?” said Nell, who had been watching me throughout our exchange.
    “Yes,” I said, warily. “I work there now. I want to.”
    “Nell,” Jeth began, and Nell glared at him.
    “I’m gonna back out of here,” said Alber, literally backing into his room again. Jeth, too, made for his room, giving me an encouraging nod which said, talk to her.
    I folded my arms, turning to Nell. “I know how you feel about the Alliance, but this–it’s a good thing. Honestly.”
    “Adamantine,” said Nell, all but spitting out the word.
    I flinched. “Yes?”
    “I named you so you wouldn’t forget who you really are. Earth is not your real homeworld, and the Alliance have nothing to do with Enzar.”
    “You’re the one who always goes on about putting it all behind us!” I snapped. “You wouldn’t teach me my own language. You say we have to pretend it never happened. We live here now. This is the only life I’ve ever known. How can I remember a world I left when I was a baby?”
    “I don’t expect you to remember Enzar, but every time you put yourself at risk, there’s far more at stake than your own life. The Royals would have used you as a warrior. As soon as the Alliance found you, what almost happened?”
    I couldn’t breathe. She was right. As long as we’d stayed under the radar, we’d been safe. Soon as the Alliance had caught me, word had got out and Earth had almost paid the price.
    “Adamantine has another meaning: it was meant to be unbreakable. You were meant to be unbreakable. But the Alliance has the power to break you. And they will. They have no mercy.”
    I shook my head. “No…”
    “They can and they will, whether they intend to or not. The reason they want you is because you’re valuable to them. A commodity. Like those poor kids they experimented on.”
    The sharp sensation in my throat dug deeper. “That wasn’t everyone in the Alliance.”
    “It was a council member,” said Nell. “I spoke to Skyla’s last adoptive family. They didn’t believe her when she told them what the Alliance did. It was one of the reasons she left home. The Alliance injected human beings with pure magic they didn’t even understand themselves.”
    Kay. My heart sank.
    “And,” Nell went on, “this council member–Walker–was the same as the man who issued the noninterference directive against Enzar. Odd