The Enlightened Read Online Free PDF Page A

Caleb says and walks off. If it’s possible to express anger through one’s gait, he’s doing an extremely good job of it. It sounds as though he misunderstood their reason for having me brought here, and I wonder what the actual reason is.
    Rose and Paul walk over to two other white-robed figures. She touches a bald man on the head, and Paul goes for the neck of a heavyset woman who’s sitting on the other side of the circle.
    The moving versions of the two new people appear. I’m still digesting having grandparents—grandparents who are among the Enlightened, no less.
    “Darren, this is Edward, my husband,” Rose says, introducing the bald man.
    “And this is my wife, Marsha,” Paul says.
    Both newcomers look at me with varying levels of fascination.
    “I can see it,” the bald one, Edward, says.
    The chubby lady, Marsha, nods.
    When the introductions sink in—and though it’s not the weirdest thing I’ve heard today—I can’t help but say, “Wait, you two aren’t married?”
    “No,” Rose says, giving her husband a reassuring squeeze on the arm. “Paul and I had Mark because it was genetically advantageous, but when it came to choosing life partners, each of us married for love.”
    Okay, so fact one: I have grandparents. Fact two: they’re swingers. It just gets better and better.
    “Rose and I are the most powerful of our kind,” Paul says. He must’ve interpreted the expression on my face as incredulity about the ‘genetically advantageous’ reference, when my astonishment was in regards to their sex life.
    “Yes,” Rose chimes in. “We were bred, through generations, for our Depth. Our ancestors have been trying to—”
    “I’m sorry to interrupt, hon,” Edward says to her, “but shouldn’t we do the Joining first? Before we tell him everything?”
    “That’s a great idea,” Paul says. “We can only fully confide in him after the Joining.”
    “Joining?” I ask, slowly regaining my scattered wits. “Like when I joined my mind with Caleb’s to read the fighter’s thoughts?”
    “Something like that, yes,” Rose says, “but on a bigger scale.”
    “Caleb gave us the report on your experience,” Paul says. “He gleaned your guilt about your Pusher nature without fully understanding the situation. Since you obviously can Read and all.”
    “He did? I was so afraid he’d find out I was a Pusher and kill me like he did that guy in his memories,” I blurt out. “I can’t believe he saw my biggest fear and didn’t confront me about it.”
    “The man Caleb killed was one of the Pushers allied with the Orthodoxy,” Paul says. “You witnessed the event out of context. The explosion Caleb prevented was meant to put a deeper wedge between Readers and Pushers. It was also how we began suspecting Jacob of being in league with the Orthodoxy. He wasn’t at the community when the explosion was supposed to happen.” His voice hardens. “Believe me, he won’t be missed.”
    “You mean to tell me that Readers don’t kill Pushers just for being what they are?” I give him a dubious look. “What about the genocides?”
    “That’s in the past. Modern Readers don’t kill Pushers for being born as they are. Or better to say, anyone we have influence over doesn’t, not since we’ve learned of the good that Pushers have done in the world,” Rose says.
    “Good?” I blink at her. “What kind of good?”
    “Well, for starters, during the Cold War, we know a powerful Pusher prevented nuclear war,” Rose says.
    “Possibly more than once, hon,” Edward corrects.
    “Wow.” I’m surprised Hillary and the others never told me about such a feat.
    “Yes. We have been fascinated by our Pusher cousins for some time now, and any enmity between us is a direct result of the Orthodoxy’s efforts,” Rose says with a touch of regret. “They want things to be like they were in antiquity, and their strategies are succeeding so far. In Russia, our people are still at each other’s