Never Forgotten by Stacey Nash
(Collective #3)
Published by: HarperCollins
Publication date: September 1st 2015
Genres: Fantasy, Young Adult
Synopsis:
Continuing on from Forget Me Not and Remember Me, this is the thrilling third novel in Stacey Nash’s unforgettable series.
Since the strike on Collective territory during Anamae’s rescue, things have taken a turn for the worse. Unprovoked attacks on innocent people have Anamae and her friends fighting day and night to minimize the damage. With hundreds of lives lost, morale amongst the resistance fighters has plummeted. But that’s the least of her worries.
Manvyke still has Anamae’s mom, Annie, secreted away somewhere and after the way they parted, Anamae worries it’s not at her mother’s bidding. Maybe Annie’s disappearance all those years ago wasn’t her choice. But with Manvyke scouring the world, there’s something far more pressing than the need to find Anamae’s mother …
It’s a fight against time to find the other keys before Manvyke. In his hands, the three relics could unlock enough power to reek a much worse havoc than the current issues at hand. If the councillor gets his hands on those keys, civilization will bow down.
THE RACE IS ON.
Excerpt:
We’re too late.
The minute I step out of the alley with my crew of
resistance fighters I can tell. Blood, so much blood everywhere. And the
silence. You’d think in the midst of such horror it’d be loud: people
screaming, wailing, crying even. But it’s not. The silence is almost deafening.
My heart constricts like someone tugged at its
laces.
We’re too late.
We can only help the survivors now and that’s the
horrid truth. On autopilot, I walk then run to the closest victim. A woman
sprawled on the ground, blood covering every inch of her, so I can barely make
out the color of her blouse. She moans when I hold my fingers to her neck,
checking for a pulse.
Not too late for her, thank god.
“I’ve called
911.” Will’s voice echoes through my mind. Even with the
lack of inflection due to the telcom I can hear the sorrow in his words.
“Damn it,” Jax says through the same tech device, “we’re getting later each time.”
And he’s right, we are. More people perish with
each attack and all because we can’t reach them in time to intercept the
Collective. I’ve never felt so useless.
The woman groans—a long drawn-out noise like no
other I’ve ever heard—and slowly sound returns to the scene. Moaning,
whimpering, noises of pain, and my friends’ voices pitched low and soothing as
we reassure the wounded it’s okay. They’ll be okay. Even though sometimes we
know that they won’t. Like this woman. Each ragged breath now comes a little
shorter and sharper than her last. I hate the damn Collective for stealing
people’s lives, but she doesn’t need to see that.
“I’m here. You’re okay.” I rest my hand on her
sticky arm.
Her breath hitches, she gives a last weak heave and
she’s gone, her head rolling to the side.
We are
too late.
The saddest thing in this whole mess is that I
can’t cry. I’ve seen so much it’s like nothing’s left in me but hatred. My
compassion is drained. I glance around trying to decide where I’m needed most,
but too many dead and wounded lay in the open-air amphitheater that it’s
impossible to know where to turn next. In places, the bodies pile on top of
each other, just lying where they fell.
So much loss and devastation and for what? Because
the Collective want to send a message to us; that they’re in control, that the
resistance is hurting more people, not helping. Somehow I don’t think us backing
off will help.
A guy walks toward me, his T-shirt—an advertisement
for the main band—a tattered mess with his bloody shoulder peeking through a
gaping hole. His eyes lock on me, but they’re unseeing, glassed over like he’s
retreated inside his mind. He steps over and around those on the ground as if
he knows right where they are without looking.
Hate isn’t a strong enough word for how I feel
about the Collective.
I dread the day we might turn up to find one of my
friends, like Cynnie or Xane. I’m not sure how I’d react, but I like to think I
won’t see them. That neither of my free-thinking friends would be involved in
something like this, regardless of agent duty.
It doesn’t take long before the wail of sirens fills
the air and as the paramedics arrive on the scene, we’re no longer needed. Jax
and Will both appear at my side looking as somber as I feel. Today we have
another person who’s seen too much, left with too little, and has no choice but
to port with us. We can’t leave him for the Collective’s clean up.
Jax takes a look at the ragged, zombie-like guy and
says, “I’ll catch a ride with one of the others.”
I nod, any
words I might have had stolen by this day’s horror, then grab my charge and
Will to port us out.
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AUTHOR BIO:
Writing for the young and new adult market, Stacey's books all hold a lot of adventure, a good dose of danger, a smattering of romance, and plenty of KISSING! Hailing from the Hunter Valley in New South Wales, she loves nothing more than immersing herself in the beauty and culture of the local area.
Author of the Collective Series; Forget Me Not, Remember Me, Never Forgotten. And the Oxley College Saga; Shh! and Wait!
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