Chapter 1713
Debra had wondered what kind of monster could do such awful things. Now she saw him.
This was the guy who had wiped out the last generation of the Frazier, the Houston, and the Potter families. The bad blood between them ran like an open wound.
"You guys are quick," Enoch said, lounging in the top chair condescendingly.
"Let Oscar and the others go, like we agreed," Debra said, cutting to the chase.
"Sure," Enoch said, surprisingly chill.
"I promised the gemstone. You didn't need to grab Erica."
"I wasn't planning to. Truth is, I don't need much effort to make you kids hand it over."
"Then why..."
"Because the Potter family produced a sharp one. Since you've figured it all out, I'll let you in on the good news." He twirled a ring on his finger and continued, "100 years ago, the four families found a mine loaded with gold and silver. It was chaos back then, so they wanted to use it to help people and fight off invaders. They held the line at Seamar City and stumbled onto a miracle."
"You mean the rebirth thing Jeffery chased his whole life?"
Most folks wouldn't buy that rebirth was real or that someone would wreck families over it.
But Debra had lived it. She'd had a past life and this one. Rebirth was no fairy tale.
Enoch's eyes bore into hers, like he could see right through her mind.
"Earth's had millions of civilizations," he said. "We're just the latest. We think we're hot stuff, but compared to what came before, we're way behind." ɴᴇᴡ ɴᴏᴠᴇʟ ᴄʜᴀᴘᴛᴇʀs ᴀʀᴇ ᴘᴜʙʟɪsʜᴇᴅ ᴏɴ find·novel·net
He leaned forward. "Ever wonder why, out of all the planets, only Earth works for us? If the Sun was a bit farther, we'd freeze. A bit closer, and we'd burn. No life either way."
He grinned and continued, "Humans aren't some random flukes. We've got no predators, and we keep growing. But no one knows where we started. Evolution? Tigers are still just tigers after millions of years. Us? We've got cities and even space travel. Earth is built for us, or maybe it's the other way around. There is a creator out there."