Page 3 of Dissent (The Dissenter Saga #1)

C hase lowered his lips to mine—the briefest brush. The excitement that welled up within me was something fierce. My hands drew upwards around his neck, pulling him down towards me. But as quickly as it began, it was over. He pulled back. It was never anything more than a graze.

Disappointment washed over me as I opened my eyes. I was hoping for so much more. At least, I assumed it would be more. “Chase? Is everything okay? Did I do something wrong?”

He looked at me, giving me a hesitant smile before glancing around the park. “We just have an audience, is all.”

I sat up, scanning around, and instantly understood his meaning. Telvian cameras. Privacy in Telvia wasn’t a thing, and one misstep could mean a lot of problems for a person.

“I don’t want to upset Raúl. Besides, if I’m going to get permission to be a potential match for you, I want to keep myself in his good graces.”

What? Did he seriously just say…?

My expression must have given me away, because Chase laughed before planting another kiss on my cheek. “I told you I liked you. I wouldn’t have been so stubborn about getting you to like me if I wasn’t attracted to you.”

“I don’t know,” I teased. “Are you sure it’s that you like me ? Or is it that you like my title as the First Daughter of Telvia, hmm?”

He slapped his hand to his chest, covering his heart.

“Ouch! How could you think so low of me?” he bantered back before scooping my hand into his.

“Last time I checked, having Raúl inspect my record that closely is something most Noble Class citizens would want to avoid. I, on the other hand, will risk it if it means I get a chance at getting to know you better.”

Everything within me tingled at his intentions. At eighteen, I would be eligible to be courted, but all potential prospects would need to apply for permission from the Council. If the Council thought the match was appropriate, we could date. And that idea lit me up from the inside out.

My skin prickled with excitement. Maybe I could leave that house and start a new life. Get away from all the crap that was my reality. Maybe…maybe I could actually be happy.

“Come on, I’ll walk you home.” He lifted himself up and offered me a hand.

I took it, a dorky smile plastered across my face as he pulled me up and against his firm chest, the space between us disappearing.

His left hand circled around my back while his right laced our fingers together.

I tipped my head upward, meeting his light green eyes as my cheeks flushed.

Then we both heard it.

A scream.

We both turned toward the cry coming from across the artificial grass and within the entanglement of concrete buildings.

“Stop it! Please!” Another yell rang out. It was clearly a child. I felt Chase let me go as he took off toward it, and I followed closely behind.

“Stand still, you little maggot!”

Another scream.

We crossed the lawn in seconds, running through the street and onto the sidewalk. Chase whipped around the corner of the first building and came to an abrupt halt. I nearly ran into him, but stopped in time, feeling the momentum push me forward onto my toes before I rocked back onto my heels.

Chase stood rigid like stone, solid and unwavering, his focus down the alley. About midway down stood a Telvian Enforcement Officer, dressed in his white and black plated armor, towering over a young boy crumpled on the ground. The boy stretched his hand out toward the officer.

“Stop it!”

“ Shut up ,” the man sneered as he lifted his assault rifle into the air and then slammed the butt end down on the boy. The child screamed out again.

My whole body jumped at the sickening smack of the gun making contact with the lump of flesh, and I didn’t think. My body reacted out of its own volition. I hustled around Chase and yelled, “Stop!”

The officer lifted his weapon again and then rammed it down once more. Before I knew what was happening, my hands were on him, yanking on his arms and pulling him away from the boy.

“I said, stop !”

The man whipped around, shoving me back while throwing his right arm across his chest. Right as he swung it back toward me in a back-handed assault, Chase dove in front of me, pushing me back with his left hand while holding out his right to block the blow.

But it never came.

The officer froze as he took us in, confused. I knew he’d never had someone step in like this before. Hell, I couldn’t believe I had just done what I did. He gave a scathing glare at Chase before setting his eyes on me.

“How dare you interfere with Enforcement?” he growled through gritted teeth.

My heart pounded, threatening to break through my ribcage. Chase turned his body to stand directly in front of me, putting both his hands up in surrender. “Hey, we’re not here to interfere. We heard screaming and thought someone needed help.”

“No one needs you here, so scram . This is none of your concern.”

I placed my hand over my heart, pushing against the violent beats, letting out a breath.

“Please forgive us,” I said. “I’m Mara de la Puente.

” Chase kept his stare firmly on the officer, but slowly lowered his arms. The man brought his rifle down in response, and I took it as a sign that the drama was over.

Trying to settle my nerves, I took in deep, full breaths.

Stepping out from around Chase, I tried to gather my courage and spoke.

“Tell me,” I began, pulling myself up to my full height, which isn’t much when you’re only five foot five.

“What happened here? What did this boy do to deserve this?” I chanced a glance at the child, and my heart seized.

His lip was split open, one eye swollen shut, and I suspected the other eye wasn’t far behind.

The officer rolled his shoulders back. “You’re the president’s daughter? I don’t recognize you.”

I gulped. “Yeah, I get that a lot, but I’m his daughter. My Citizen ID is 1311. You can perform a retinal scan if you need to.”

He eyed me up and down and then shifted his gaze to Chase.

He hesitated, calculating, and then he looked back at me.

With narrowed eyes, he cleared his throat.

“I think you’ll agree, Miss de la Puente, that this little shit deserved what he got and more.

” He pointed at the alley wall, guiding my vision to a huge reelection campaign poster.

I recognized this one. It was the same one my father used in his past several elections, since the very beginning. The poster was life-sized, showing Raúl standing tall, decorated with his medals, looking straight at you. Behind him were trees, flowing water, laughing children and families.

Raúl de la Puente

A vote for Raúl is a vote for a sustainable future.

It was a good one. A gentle reminder that our very existence depended on water, a resource that the earth could give plentifully or just as easily take away.

The Great Drought had been hard on us all, leaving only extreme choices as our options for survival.

And when Raúl became president, he made those tough calls, carrying the weight for the rest of us.

It meant extreme rationing of water and food and the development of a caste system.

Those who were determined to be of high value to the preservation of humanity’s future were placed in the Noble Class and given access to more of those needed resources.

Those who were thought to be problematic, defective, or just coming from bad stock , were placed in the Subclass.

The Administration still took care of them, but what they received was… well, not as much.

The poster was definitely a brilliant piece of propaganda, but that wasn’t what the officer was pointing at. It was the giant, red graffiti painted across it.

Dissent

Resist

Rise

My jaw hit the floor. “Oh my god…” I covered my mouth with my hands. This wasn’t good. This was bad… really bad.

Chase stepped forward, putting a hand on my shoulder. “The boy did this?”

“That’s what I suspect. I came around the corner and noticed there was a Subclass citizen out of his district in the alleyway.

I was planning on escorting him back into District 3 when I noticed this.

” The man tipped his head toward the defiled poster.

“As you can see, miss, the boy clearly deserved what he got.”

I looked at him and then at the boy, fear huge in his eyes.

How would I get him out of this? I looked back at the poster, reading the words again.

Raúl was going to be livid. There had been no one bold enough to engage in this kind of rebel activity.

Not in the Noble Class District, anyway.

Movement caught my eye, and I turned to watch Chase.

He stepped up to the poster, eyeing it up and down before running a finger across the paint.

Rubbing his fingers together, he turned to face me.

“It’s dry.”

“What?” I didn’t get it. So what if it was dry?

Chase held up his finger so I could see it. Clean . “It’s dry. If that kid did this, it wouldn’t be dry already. There’s no way it was him.” He turned and faced the poster again. “This has been up here for at least an hour.”

The officer shifted on his feet. “Rubbish! This little shit was here, and I caught him right-handed.”

I looked back at the man. “You saw him paint this?”

His brows furrowed. “No, but the brat was here.”

Chase turned back toward us. “Circumstantial evidence.”

The sneer returned to the officer’s face as he pointed down at the kid. “He’s out of his district.”

I gulped. He was right. The child shouldn’t have been here. I faced the boy again as he laid crumpled on the floor. He couldn’t have been over eight, maybe seven. The realization caused a memory to flood me. A memory of myself in a loose heap on the floor of a cold, damp basement.

Hungry…

In the dark…

Bloodied…

For days.

My heart ached. Though this boy was a member of the Subclass, in so many ways, I saw myself.

I took another deep breath. “Did you do this?”

The boy looked at me and vigorously shook his head.

I pointed at the poster. “You swear to me you didn’t do this?”

“N-no. No, ma’am,” he stuttered, eyes wide.

“Why are you in District 1?”

He looked at the officer, fear clear in his eyes.

“Don’t worry about him, look at me. Why are you in District 1?” I felt for him, I really did. But I needed something— anything —to help me absolve him.

The child swung his gaze back to me. “I-I was looking in the trash for nourishment pills.”

“Why?”

“We’re starving in District 3.”

“Lies,” the officer spat out.

“Hey!” Chase warned, his voice deep and gruff. “The First Daughter of the Presidential Family is asking the boy a question.” Chase emphasized my title, making sure it sunk in real deep with this man. “Show her your respect and allow the boy to answer her.”

The officer glared, but he kept his mouth shut.

I returned my attention to the child. “Nothing in the trash would be useful to you.”

“I’m sorry, miss.” He looked away from me then. There was more. So much was being left unsaid, but I didn’t want to sit around and dig for answers. I looked at Chase.

“If he did it, where are the paint cans?” Chase motioned around us, and my gaze followed him. He was right. There were no cans, brushes, or anything to be seen.

I nodded. “Officer, thank you for your diligent duty in maintaining peace and order. The boy has received enough punishment for being in the wrong district. I suggest you put in a work order immediately to have this mess cleaned up, and be sure you notify the REG as soon as possible about this rebel activity.”

The man narrowed his eyes, piercing me with a look that screamed he was pissed. My stomach turned, making me feel sick, and just as I thought I was going to cave under his unforgiving gaze, he finally nodded in agreement.

“What about him?” he motioned toward the boy.

“We’ll take care of the kid,” Chase offered. I looked at him before returning my attention to the officer. The look he gave us was pure venom, and somewhere deep within me, fear trickled in. I knew this wasn’t over. It was only just the beginning…and I was going to pay dearly for it.