Sunset Rising

“When Taylor discovered the betrayal, she was going to have Holt formally charged. She had already confided in Vice President Ke

What Jack was saying was a lot to take in—especially after the day I’d had. I was exhausted. How was I supposed to react to all of this information? He seemed so self-righteous in his confession, yet I saw another side to his story. If the Dome had been built right in our own valley, why hadn’t the president and her entourage invited us in when the bombs were launched in the first place? Why did the civilians have to fight their way in at all? It sounded like there should have been more than enough room, if they were driving vehicles in…

“Considering the amount of time and effort the ruling class put into building a secret shelter to protect themselves from a nuclear holocaust, it seems to me they had damned us long before they launched the bombs,” I said. Jack looked surprised at my words. I wondered if he was going to hit me, but I pressed on. “So the Ke

Jack looked at me thoughtfully. I wasn’t sure if he was mad or not. “I’ll try to explain, if I can. By right, Vice President Ke

“The codes get passed to each president when he’s sworn in and only the Holts have held that office since the begi

“I don’t understand why General Holt wasn’t exposed back then. I mean if he had the president’s codes, then the only way he could’ve gotten them was from Taylor herself. But if he found her already murdered…” I shook my head. If I could see the flaws in Edward Holt’s story, couldn’t the people back then see them too? “Maybe he doesn’t have the codes. Maybe the Holts have been lying all along in order to stay in control.”

“That’s a really astute observation, Mrs. Ke

It a

“We have medical evidence that President Taylor’s husband was badly tortured before he was killed; however, there are two different stories to explain this indisputable fact. Holt’s explanation, which is in the official report, claims that the civilians tortured President Taylor’s husband in front of her. This was supposed to be an attempt to manipulate her into giving the order for all officials to leave the Dome to the civilians. But VP Ke

“It doesn’t change anything, though, does it?” I asked. “I mean, knowing the horrible history of how everything came to be doesn’t change it. People in the Pit will continue to live as slaves, you and I will be executed as traitors, and the bourge will continue to win.”

“That’s not true. The Ke

“If the Holts dislike the Ke

“Because there is no one else. When Edward Holt claimed the presidency, he made it law that the title can’t be passed to a woman. And they’ve been lucky because every generation has produced at least one son, except this generation. Usually the Holts choose their spouses from the West, Powell, or Forbes families, but right now there’s a generation gap. The only boys in those families are under the age of twelve. It’s the first time in the history of the Dome that this has happened. My mother noticed last year that Leisel was showing interest in me and told me to pursue her. When I asked the president if I could marry his daughter, I promised she would keep her last name and all our children would carry the name Holt as well. He liked that. It also helped that Leisel said I was what she wanted, and the president always gives his daughter what she wants.”

“So you were prepared to spend the rest of your life with someone you didn’t love in order to restore democracy?”

Jack nodded. “I just wanted to be honest with you. After all that’s happened, you were owed an explanation. I am truly sorry you got caught up in all of this.” He reached for my hand and held it in both of his. Slowly he brought it up to his lips and tenderly kissed it, then placed my hand back on my lap. “Time’s up,” he said.

And he went back out into the living room.

Chapter Ten

I kept my hand in my lap exactly where Jack had put it down. A tingling sensation lingered where he had pressed his lips against my skin. I stared at my hand, but it didn’t look any different. I never expected kindness from a bourge, especially one so aristocratic. If he thought I had anything to do with Leisel’s betrayal, why didn’t he just beat me? Or kill me? No one would care. But instead of hurting me, he confided in me. In fact, his ope

I didn’t know what to think of Jack Ke