"The course of true love never did run smooth." ~ William Shakespeare
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Kailani Hummel, an innocent small-town genderfluid teenager, gets sucked into a world that seems like only they can navigate in an attempt to save everyone they love. Will Qu...
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Q walked down the busy streets into their city's market with her hands clasped in both her daughter's hands. Not her twenty-year-old daughters, nor the thirty-year-old ones, but her thirteen-year-old innocent babies that were only brought to this horrific future to hopefully avoid being activated as weapons.
She hoped with all her heart that August was safe with Nemo — Brittany's perfect creation of protection pets before she was kidnapped into the revolution's vicious faction.
"Where are we going?" Juniper asked, not letting go of Q's hand as they walked with their group.
She pulled the black bandana further up her dirt-smeared face to hide any identification the drones could use to identify her. The older version of her mother had told them to look down if they flew by, but that was only the beginning of their long list of rules to step out of their camp in lower the lower city.
"We're meeting with some friends." Q fixed the heavy jackets she had given the twins, ensuring they didn't look uncomfortable in the clothing most in their sector could wear. "Fellow warriors against the Rs."
"Everyone looks so depressed." Vaughn observed, eyeing a few people as they walked by. "Sick too."
"Well, doctors are difficult to come by. They're for the upperclass. The privileged."
"What happened to all our money?" Vaughn spun toward Q and gasped when the woman pressed her lips together. "Oh, my god! We're poor!"
Q rolled her eyes and turned Vaughn back to face forward by the crown of her head. She smacked the back of her daughter's head and tugged her along, holding the back collar of her jacket.
"Don't use the lord's name in vain." Q hissed as Vaughn looked at her in confusion. "You'll do a lot of bad here. The least you can do is respect our beliefs."
"Do you respect the wind?" Juniper asked.
Q looked down and watched Juniper look up at her with hopeful eyes. She could see her partner in her daughter's eyes. She always could from the moment they were babies. She'd never forget Kailani's eyes. No matter how hard she tried, it wasn't possible.
She let go of Juniper's hand and reached up to hold her chin, tilting it up to look her in the eyes. Q absorbed her daughter's hazel-blue eyes and the inherited softness that once held her soul in a tight grasp — still, she chained by her soul to those beautiful eyes Kailani gifted their children.
"The wind doesn't blow much here. Not anymore." Q pulled the hoodies under the jackets she gave her children over their heads to cover most of their faces. She returned her hands to her daughter's and pulled them along without another word. "It's right up here. Now both of you keep your heads down."
