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

but after a second realized it should have been obvious. Guns had been old-fashioned looking before the Veilorians arrived, and the chips had been implanted and currency done away with only a few years after Landing Day. There were probably other differences as well, but I’d been young, only three years old, and wouldn’t have noticed the changes the way an older human would have.

Knowing the advancement in weaponry came from Veilorians had me thinking about the supposed radical group again. About what might be going on inside these walls that I knew nothing about, as well as what Finn might have to do with them.

Were there weapons in the District? It was illegal and punishable by death, but if Veilorian technology really was that good, and if a radical group was determined to overthrow the humans, it was possible.

“Do Veilorians still invent things?” I asked, watching him carefully.

“No,” Finn said, sounding almost sad. “The humans confiscated all the technology from our ship.”

“Everything? But I thought you were allowed to go back to your ship and get anything useful.”

“They let us go back, but they didn’t allow us to keep everything.” Finn shook his head. “Other than the communicator we used to keep tabs on the rest of our people, none of our old technology made it into the District. The humans wouldn’t let us have it. Both because they wanted to use it for themselves, and because they were afraid of what we’d do with it.”

“Afraid you’d make weapons that would destroy them.”

“Yeah.” He exhaled and looked down, his expression dark the way it had been when we first met. “They managed to figure some things out on their own, which is why the guards now have the pulse rifles, but we could have done so much more for the planet and the survival of both our species if we’d spent the last two decades working together.”

“I’ve thought the same thing dozens of times,” I replied.

Finn lifted his head, his citrine eyes looking me over, and reached out to take my hand. There was surprise in his expression, something I couldn’t quite account for until he said, “Sometimes, even when I’m with you, I can feel that old bitterness still inside me. Like it’s so deep in my bones I’ll never be able to get rid of it. Then you do or say something that pushes it away, and I remember how far I’ve come. How different you’ve made me view the world.”

“You’re a much softer person now.”

“It’s all because of you,” he replied and gave me a crooked smile. “Which I still sometimes find unbelievable. Never in a million years would I have thought I could fall for a human.”

I laughed despite the unease still weighing me down. “I definitely never thought I’d fall for a Veilorian, let alone a half-Veilorian.”

“Then I guess we’ve both gone down paths we didn’t expect.”

“I’m glad,” I said, “I really am, but thinking about everything that’s happened, I find it impossible not to ask you something. Because I have to know what I’m getting involved with.”

Finn tilted his head, watching me. “What is it?”

“I need to know if Mayor Waters is right. Is there an anti-human extremist group? Are you part of it? Is that why you won’t tell me what your job is?”

Finn visibly started. “Is that what you think? That I’m a terrorist?”

“I don’t know,” I admitted. “I don’t want to believe the man I know, the one sitting next to me, is capable of that, but you were so angry and bitter before, and it has me wondering if you’re part of something you can’t get out of. I can’t help it. And thinking about that terrifies me, Finn, and not just because of what could happen to you. But because I’ve already lost so much, and I can’t stomach losing anything else.”

I wanted to say more, but the words stuck in my throat. All I could think about was the mayor getting her hands on Finn, and of me having to watch him be put to death like Arch was.

“There are certain things I can’t tell you,” he said, his words gentle, “but I’m not a part of anything like that. I promise.”

My relief was minimal because he hadn’t answered my first question. “So, the group doesn’t exist?”

He hesitated before saying, “I didn’t say that.”

“There is one?” My head spun from this new information.

“It’s not exactly like that.” He exhaled and shook his head like he wasn’t sure what to say or how to explain it. “I can’t go into detail, but I can promise they aren’t plotting to kill every human.”

The comfort of his promise was marginal, because I couldn’t imagine what they’d be doing if they weren’t trying to destroy my species. It made no sense. Especially considering they were facing their own annihilation.

After a second, Finn exhaled. “I need to say this, but I don’t want you to take it the wrong way. Okay?”

“What?” My back straightened like I was bracing myself for an impact.

“It’s not too late to leave the District. I know your mom kicked you out, I know trying to talk her into letting you move back in wouldn’t be easy, but maybe you should try. We both know Waters is going to do everything she can to punish the humans living here.”

“I won’t leave,” I said, lifting my chin. “I won’t turn my back on Veilorians or pretend to be something I’m not, and I won’t leave Ione to deal with the fallout on her own. What’s more,” I paused and held his gaze, “I won’t leave you. I don’t know why I feel this way, but from the moment we met, there was something between us. We both knew it. I’ve never felt anything like this, Finn, and even if it leads to my destruction, I can’t walk away now.”

He moved, slipping from the couch so he was on his knees in front of me, his face less than six