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

“What else?” Anara asked when the silence stretched out too long.

Finn tore his gaze from mine. “She knows we aren’t the only Veilorians on the planet.”

A murmur moved through the crowd.

Anara barely reacted to the news, choosing to focus on me. “Did you learn anything during your time in captivity?”

“I didn’t.” The image of my father kneeling as he waited to be put to death popped into my head. “She had a video from the day my father was killed. She made me watch it.”

Unlike before, my words visibly shook Anara. She pressed her hand to her chest, over her heart, and closed her eyes. It almost seemed like she was saying a silent prayer, but I didn’t know if Veilorians believed in God, so I wasn’t positive.

No one spoke as they waited for her to recover, and it was only a moment before she blew out a long breath and opened her eyes. “I am sorry, Ava.”

“So am I,” I said.

Anara looked toward Finn once more. “What else do you know?”

He repeated what he’d already told his mother and me, and like before, the council leader seemed to take it all in stride. She was so cool and collected. No wonder she was in charge.

When Finn had finished, Anara nodded in a way that made it clear we were being dismissed and said, “Thank you.”

Finn returned the gesture then took my hand and headed for the door. He’d only made it two steps when someone called his name, and we turned back to find Indrina, Rye’s mother, moving toward us.

“My son’s wife?”

“She’s okay,” Finn said.

“Thanks be to the heavens.” His aunt let out a relieved sigh, but in seconds the tension returned to her expression. “Does she know the things you just told us?”

Finn gave a small shake of his head. “She doesn’t.”

“Perhaps it is best if she does not,” Indrina said. “There is so much to worry about already, and she is such a delicate thing.”

Under normal circumstances I never would have described my cousin as delicate. Ione was boisterous and loud, and brave and strong—something she proved when she left her family for Rye. In this instance, however, I had to agree with the description.

Finn glanced at me, and I nodded, grateful to have my own instincts backed up by someone older and wiser.

Indrina put her hand on Finn’s arm. “Thank you.”

“You’re welcome,” he said in a quiet voice.

When her hand had fallen away, we once again turned to leave, and this time, no one tried to stop us.

Finn and I were silent as we headed through the city, but the second we got inside and the door was shut, I grabbed the hem of his shirt.

“Let me see,” I said when he gave me a questioning look. “I want to make sure you’re okay.”

“I’m half-Veilorian,” Finn replied even as he pulled his shirt over his head. “I heal fast, remember?”

“I know, but I still want to see what they did to you.”

He tossed his shirt aside, and I urged him to sit, standing over him as I looked at the damage the mayor’s goons had inflicted. His chest was riddled with purplish bruises, and there were burn marks as well. I ran my hand over his injuries, gently so as not to hurt him, first on his chest and then on his face. Then his wrists, and finally the chip in his hand.

“They can track us,” I said as I traced the scar. “Using these.”

“It doesn’t matter,” Finn replied with a small shake of his head. “I’m not going anywhere, and if I wanted to, I could just deactivate it.”

My gaze shot up, focusing on his face. “What?”

“They got this technology from us, remember.” He gave me a ghost of a grin. “We know how to turn the chips off.”

“How?” I asked, amazed by this news.

Finn nodded to the small rock on the table. “When our people left Veil, they took a large chunk of Veilorian stone with them. It’s sacred to our people, said to be a gift from the gods.”

My gaze snapped back to him. “Your people believe in gods?”

He shrugged, and his lips twitched in amusement, causing the small cut on the bottom one to open slightly. “Some of the older Veilorians do. Those of us born on Earth are less convinced. It’s kind of difficult to imagine a higher power when your planet was obliterated and you’ve spent your entire life as a prisoner.”

“I can imagine.” I lowered myself to the table so I was sitting in front of him. “Tell me more about this rock.”

“It’s not that complicated, really,” he said. “Every house in the District has a piece of rock chipped off from the original stone. It’s for luck or maybe even protection, although so far it doesn’t seem to be working. Anyway, the stone has magnetic properties, which is why you can use it to deactivate the chip. Just hold the rock over it, and like magic, it stops working. It’s temporary, maybe only three hours at the most, but it will do the trick.”

“That’s incredible,” I said, my gaze still on the small rock. It was no bigger than my fist but seemed to hold so much promise.

“If only the group that tried to escape had thought to do it,” Finn said, his voice low. “They should have known the chips would be able to track people. I don’t know how they couldn’t have.”

The memory of the energy pulses and screams echoed through my head, and I closed my eyes as if trying to block them out. It didn’t work, though, because in the darkness I was confronted not just with the sounds, but with the images of the bloodied bodies as well.

“If they’d known, they might still be alive,” I whispered.

“They might be in a safe place right now,” Finn replied.

I opened my eyes.

“Do you think it’s possible? I mean, could there actually be another group of Veilorians close enough for us to reach