Isle of After

Her first trip back into the vreal opened Cindira's eyes to her own power, but can she master it in time to save her father and defeat the shadowy figure threatening all she holds dear?
The code holds the key to survival, and no one knows that better than Cindira. For years, she's used it to keep Gaia safe from the hackers and members of her own family who would burn it down to the source. But when her own stepmother enlists her help to find Rex Tieg, Cindira soon discovers the vreal's greatest potential, one which may put her square in a killer's path. New allies emerge to aid her quest, but could they be part of the forces she seeks to defeat?

Meanwhile, a frustrated prince demands resolution. Francisco knows he could secure Gaia's future if he were to embrace the very corruption he once swore to stamp out. Power is security, however, and all he has to do is grab it. But a vreal nation cannot rise on its own. He needs the help of a coding genius. He needs the bandit. Luckily, Francisco also holds the key to her identity: a mysterious glass shoe which only responds to his touch. Finding the woman who haunts his dreams means finding the woman who can wear the shoe. She is Gaia's future. But could she also be someone from his devastating past?

THEY RODE DOWN THE elevator in awkward silence: Johanna, staring straight forward, Cindira, and Laporte — rescued from her desk when no one was looking and nested in her jacket pocket. She hadn’t needed an entire box to gather her things. A lunch sack, a few datapads of schematics, one with a romance novel she’d never admit to anyone she’d read, and a little golden statue designed to look like a spool of thread and a needle slid from side to side as she shifted her weight.
Johanna spared a sideways glance at the box. “Is that a Stitcher?”
The award was given to the best design each year, for coders by coders. It was the only thing connected to her “secret” work for Kaylie that meant something.
“Yes, it is.”
That answer was as simple as it was sharp.
“You won it?”
Oh, so that was Johanna’s angle, open hostility.
“Does that surprise you?”
Johanna took a moment to give Cindira a diagnosing look before turning her eyes back to the elevator doors. “I’m surprised that you have only one. Jealousy among the Kitchens staff, though I don’t know if that’s because you’re Rex’s daughter or because you’re so much better than them. They know they could never compete.”
There was kindness somewhere in those words. Suspicion immediately scratched at the back of Cindira’s brain. Johanna Tieg was not a woman who gave compliments freely. They were only down payments on favors forthcoming.
But before Cindira could say thank you, her stepmother went on.
“I’m sorry for that scene upstairs just now. It wasn’t my intention to embarrass you in front of your colleagues.”
“You really mean that?”
Johanna’s shoulders twitched. “It’s not good for employee morale to see someone they respect let go, and so publicly. It’s going to affect productivity.”
Ah, so it wasn’t about any kind of sympathy. For a moment, Cindira had fooled herself into thinking that somewhere under the reptilian shell of her soul, Johanna had culled an iota of compassion. But would she really want her to? Wouldn’t that require some level or reciprocity? The last thing Cindira intended to do was find a connection with the woman who’d murdered her mother.
She pulled a long breath, taming her instincts. The time to force Johanna to settle up for her sins would come, but now wasn’t the time. Status quo. The term was becoming her mantra. What would the Cindira Tieg version from two months ago say?
“Maybe you could tell me why you did it,” Cindira worked to keep her tone even. A shaky voice might give her away. Was there any way Johanna had found out the truth: that the woman who confronted her in the Kingdom disguised as Omala Grover was, in fact, the daughter they shared? “When we discussed working together on locating Dad, you never said anything about firing me.”
“It’s a ruse, and I didn’t have a choice. You’ll need time and resources to find Rex. I couldn’t give you those unless I told Kaylie why she was no longer allowed to exploit your time.” Johanna looked directly at her for the first time since they got into the elevator. “This work needs to be done discreetly. We have no idea who’s working against us, and what connections they might have.”