HarbingerNova Online #3
Alex Knight
Editor: Brook Aspden-Li
Copyeditor: Laura Hughes
Contents
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
Chapter 17
Chapter 18
Chapter 19
Chapter 20
Chapter 21
Chapter 22
Chapter 23
Chapter 24
Chapter 25
Chapter 26
Chapter 27
Chapter 28
Chapter 29
Chapter 30
Chapter 31
Chapter 32
Chapter 33
Chapter 34
Chapter 35
Chapter 36
Chapter 37
Chapter 38
Chapter 39
Chapter 40
Chapter 41
Chapter 42
Chapter 43
Chapter 44
Chapter 45
Chapter 46
Chapter 47
Chapter 48
Chapter 49
Chapter 50
Chapter 51
Chapter 52
Chapter 53
Chapter 54
Chapter 55
Chapter 56
Chapter 57
Chapter 58
Chapter 59
Chapter 60
Chapter 61
Chapter 62
Chapter 63
Chapter 64
Chapter 65
Epilogue
Afterword
More LitRPG from Portal Books
Acknowledgments
About the Author
Join the Group
Chapter One
“So, let’s talk.”
Thorne spoke the words but Kaiden still didn’t believe they weren’t some sort of trick. How could they not be when they came from the very woman who’d hounded them all this time? The Party agent who’d hunted them in Nova and in the real world. Who’d gone after their families. Who’d nearly caught them in that fateful raid on the resistance bunker. She’d been their greatest enemy from day one. A direct manifestation of everything that was wrong with the Party.
Kaiden looked over to Zelda. She was frowning, still angry, but something else too. Confusion, maybe? Or suspicion?
Titus’ feelings were clear. Fists balled and eyes wide, he looked like he was about to step into a boxing ring, about to fight for his life. Which, considering the circumstances, he probably was. They all were, seeing as they were trapped in a van with Captain Ava Thorne herself.
This is a trick. It has to be.
“You expect us to believe you’re here to switch sides? Just like that?” He shook his head. “No way.”
Thorne sighed.
“This looks crazy to you. Believe me, I know. But if I weren't genuine, why haven't I arrested you already? Why play games?” She nodded to the database behind Zelda. “The Party’s willing to kill for that. Do you really think you’d still be holding it if I'd come with them?”
“She... has a point?” Kaiden said, none too happy to admit it.
“I don’t care if she has a point. She’s with the Party,” Titus growled. “There’s nothing complicated about this. Either she has police waiting outside to take us in or she’s bluffing to buy time until they get here.”
“Time. Right,” Thorne said as if she’d just remembered something. “This van is barely shielded. My handheld console picked up your signature as soon as I was within a mile. The police have much better equipment. We need to turn off those VR headsets, disconnect from the internet, and get moving. We need to get somewhere safe and somewhere rural.”
‘We’? What ‘we’?
“There’s no ‘we’ about this,” Kaiden said. “There’s us and there’s you.”
“We don’t have time for this.” A hint of anger crept into Thorne’s voice. “A friend tipped me off that you were here but information like that doesn’t stay quiet for long. The police are likely already on their way. It’d be best not to be here when they arrive.”
Kaiden peered out one of the front windows, but saw nothing out of place.
This doesn’t make any sense.
“What are you playing at?”
Thorne let out an exasperated groan, then started talking rapidly.
“While hunting you three, I’ve seen a side of the Party that I didn’t know existed – wouldn’t have believed existed had I not seen it for myself. Commander Moran, Agent Werner, and I don’t know how many others, are running things behind the scenes. A shadow government, a secret oligarchy – call it what you will, but they’re in control and I’m worried there’s no line they won’t cross to keep things that way. We already saw what they’re capable of when they took your parents,” she said with a quick nod toward Zelda. “And that’s hardly the worst of it. That’s why we have to move. You three can’t get caught. That database can’t fall into Party hands. There’s so much more at stake than I ever realized.”
“My parents?” Zelda said, speaking up for the first time. Her expression was pained, suspicious.
“They’re dead,” Titus growled. “Because of the Party.”
“No,” Thorne cut him off. “They were taken into custody just before the bombing. They’re in prison, but I don’t know which one.”
Hold up – what? Kaiden recoiled at the news. Zelda visibly balked.
“Playing games with my emotions isn’t helping your case,” she said, her words dripping with venom.
“You don’t trust me. I get it, and I don’t blame you. But we do not have time for this.” Thorne reached for her pistol.
This was a trick! She’s attacking!
Kaiden made to lunge forward, but the weapon was already drawn. Except she wasn’t pointing it at him, nor at Titus or Zelda. Instead, it was pointed down at the floor. As Kaiden watched in disbelief, she reversed her hold on it, then held it out toward him, grip first.
Titus lunged forward and snatched it up. He flicked the safety off and the pistol came to life with a high-pitched whine as he turned it on Thorne.
She held up her now-empty hands. “You have the database. Now you have my weapon too. I have no leverage over you anymore. I won’t ask that you trust me right now, but I will ask that you listen. For your sake as well as mine, we need to move.”
A knock on the van’s back door made Kaiden near jump out of his skin.
“Police! Open up!”
Titus cursed and jerked the gun toward the door. “That’ll be her backup.”
“No, no!” Thorne whispered, then waved for everyone to stay quiet. “I got this.”
“I’ll get us out of here,” Kaiden said, then crept toward the driver’s seat. How many police were outside? How long could Titus hold them off? Could he hold them off? And what about the database? They had to hide it before—
The groan of the rear door opening echoed through the van. Light flooded in, but only a crack as Thorne kept the door mostly closed. She pressed her face to the gap.
“Metro police, ma’am. I need to search this
