Species Traitor: A Science Fiction Dystopian Novel by Kate Mary (universal ebook reader .TXT) 📗

“Today or after the election?” I muttered. “After the election it will be Veronica Waters, and she’ll do everything she can to destroy everyone inside these walls.”

Brentwood sighed again, his focus now on someone behind me. “She’s okay. Get her some water and let her rest a minute.” He turned his gaze back to me. “You need to stay away from here. Understand?”

“My cousin lives here.”

“She won’t be your cousin much longer,” Brentwood said. “After the election, she’ll be a species traitor. That’s all she’ll ever be. Waters is going to make sure of it.”

He said it with enough certainty to make me think he knew something I didn’t.

“What are you saying?”

“Nothing.” Brentwood looked past me again, this time not because he was talking to someone else, but because he was trying to avoid my gaze. “You didn’t hear anything from me. Got it?” When I didn’t answer, he looked back. “Do you understand?”

There was genuine fear in his eyes.

“Yeah,” I finally said.

“Good.” Brentwood got to his feet. “Rest up. Then go say goodbye to your cousin.”

One guard scanned my chip while another handed me a cup of water, which I sipped slowly until I was sure I’d be able to get to my feet. My head was still throbbing when I stood, and I swayed slightly, but there was no one to grab hold of. The guards had returned to the street outside the wall, and none of the nearby Veilorians would even look at me. The atmosphere was different than it used to be. So much colder.

I took a couple deep breaths until I was sure I wouldn’t fall over then headed through the city. For the first time in a while, I found it difficult to remember how to get to Rye’s house, but I knew it wasn’t from my head injury. It was because my thoughts were too jumbled. Because I was too focused on trying to decide what to do.

Somehow, I made it to Rye and Ione’s house without getting lost, and I only had to knock twice before the door was ripped open. My cousin stood in front of me wearing a worried expression, but it morphed into one of horror the second she laid eyes on me.

“Ava!” she gasped. “Oh, my God, what happened?”

She wrapped her arms around my waist as she helped me inside.

I didn’t notice anyone else was in the room until a pair of strong arms lifted me into the air and Rye said, “Hang on.”

I wasn’t nearly as dizzy as I’d been, but being carried made me feel weightless and disoriented, and I had to close my eyes until he’d laid me on the couch. Once he had and I was sure I wouldn’t pass out or throw up, I opened my eyes to find Finn staring at me.

He was sitting in a chair, poised on the edge of the seat, his eyes filled with worry. “Are you okay?”

“Yeah,” I said as I lifted my hand to the back of my head.

I was once again met with moisture, but before I’d even had a chance to pull my fingers away, Ione was there, grabbing my hand and wiping the blood away.

“Hold on,” she said. “I know how much you hate seeing that.”

I almost laughed, but it was cut off when she moved from cleaning my hand to wiping at the cut. A hiss of pain broke out of me, and Finn winced.

Something about that gesture, about the pure empathy in his expression, made me want to reach out to comfort him. It was crazy because I was the one in pain and we’d barely exchanged more than two cordial sentences. At the same time, though, it made sense. We liked each other, and we both knew it.

“It doesn’t look too bad,” Ione was saying from behind me. “I doubt you’ll need stitches.”

I tore my gaze from Finn and focused on my cousin. “Thanks, Mom.”

She rewarded me with a smile, but it was strained. “Speaking of moms, mine called today.”

“Why?” I grabbed her wrist, stopping her from wiping my cut. “What did she want?”

“She wants me to come home before Veronica Waters is elected. I guess she can stand the thought of disowning me, just not the thought of me being imprisoned or put to death.”

So, Ione had heard the rumors, too.

“What did you say?”

My cousin ripped her wrist from my grasp. “I said no, of course. I’m not leaving Rye.”

“That’s not what I meant.”

I shifted so I was sitting, turning to face my cousin and wincing when my head throbbed. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Finn reach out but stop himself. It made everything in me constrict in a way not even one of the fiery kisses Dean and I had shared could.

I stayed focused on Ione since I didn’t want to even try to interpret that feeling or Finn’s reaction to me.

“I meant,” I began, “did you ask if she forgives you?”

“No. I couldn’t.” Ione’s hand tightened on the bloody cloth. “I was too afraid to hear her response.”

No one spoke for a bit, and I knew we were all thinking about the same things. The election and what the future would bring. About what it would mean for everyone living in the District.

“Come to the bathroom,” Ione said finally breaking the heavy silence. “Let me get that cut cleaned up.”

I stood, venturing a glance at Finn as I did. His citrine eyes grabbed mine, capturing them and taking my breath away with that one look. For a moment that felt like an eternity, I was trapped by his gaze.

But I forced myself to look away and follow Ione, not even acknowledging Finn was staring at me.

In the bathroom, she was silent as she cleaned the cut on my head, and despite the throbbing pain, I was as well. Only a few minutes went by before we were back in the living room, but I wasn’t the least bit surprised to find Rye alone.