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 couldunlock 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!
Buy Links ~
Amazon | iBooks | Google Play | B&N | Kobo
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 thenrun 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.
Book Trailer ~
Meet the Author ~
Stacey Nash writes adventure filled stories for Young Adults in the Science Fiction and Fantasy
genres. She loves to read and write books that have a lot of adventure, a good dose of danger, asmattering of romance, and 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 and the Oxley College Saga.
Author Links:
Giveaway ~
Do you have to read the first two to know what's going on?
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