Read Online Mind Over Psyche by Karina L. Fabian - Free Book Online Page A

Otherwise, it looked like a typical cafeteria. About a dozen large round tables dotted the area, half of them full of diners, most of whom wore red uniforms. Servers flowed in and out through a door in the back, bringing plates of steaming dishes or platters of exotic fruit, which they set in the middle of the tables. Now that he’d had some reassurance that he could safely eat, Joshua’s stomach grow led again.
    One of the servers noticed them and stopped in her tracks. Everyone turned toward them. Caught under the stare of forty-odd warriors, Joshua wondered if he shouldn’t have remained in his cell, after all.

Chapter 6
    Deryl set his face in a neutral, almost haughty, expression, but he held himself as tightly as a guitar string about to snap. His pupils contracted and twitched in a way that worried Joshua. Their appearance had apparently caused some kind of psychic ruckus, and Deryl was caught in the midst of it.
    â€œYou okay?” Joshua didn’t want to think what would have happened had Deryl not checked his shields beforehand. He’d seen the young psychic react with everything from hysteria to self-induced coma, and he could not afford to lose his only friend, ally, and, for that matter, interpreter. “We could come ba ck later.”
    Then, from further down the room, Tasmae stood and made her way to them. As she did, others rose in their places. Today, she wore a sleeveless black tunic that tied kimono-like on the sides over loose black pants. Her slippered feet made a swishing noise as she moved smoothly toward them. Deryl turned his focus on her, and his expression gentled. She stopped in front of him, and, including Joshua with a glance from her obsidian-black eyes, brought her fist first to her heart, then to her forehead. Around the room, others repeated th e gesture.
    Deryl returned the salute, Joshua a half step behind. With a nod and a smile to them, Tasmae led them to her table.
    â€œWant to tell me what that was all about?” Joshua muttered to Deryl through the side of his mouth. People still stared at them, most without the veiled hostility of before, but with enough with suspicion to make hi m nervous.
    Deryl he kept his aloof smile firmly in place. “Tell you later. Don’t worry. Tasmae’s got it under control.”
    Tasmae, who once dropped a building on her enemies’ hea ds. Great.
    Nonetheless, once they sat down at her table, Joshua’s extreme hunger overcame his milder suspicions, and he concentrated on filling his plate and his stomach. The table held fruits and vegetables cooked in several ways, plus breads, but no meat. They hadn’t given him any meat earlier, either, but he’d thought that was because he was a prisoner. What I wouldn’t do for a steak. Are the Kanaans vegetarians or h erbivores?
    â€œVegan,” D eryl said.
    Joshua gave a start—had he been thinking that loudly?—but devoted his attention to his meal. He couldn’t do much else, really. The telepathic conversation excluded him more effectively than that of Rique’s relatives before he’d learned Spanish. At least then, he had the chance of picking up a word or two. Here, he heard some laughter—apparently, some things were universal, literally—and he might be able to guess at the emotions playing across people’s faces, but he didn’t know who was speaking when. He concentrated on his delicious, if unfamil iar, food.
    When Tasmae spoke to him, he almost jumped again. “Pardon?”
    â€œI asked if you are all right.” She spoke English with a New England accent, which made sense, since she would have picked it up from Deryl. She seemed to be asking about his well-being in general, so he replie d in kind.
    â€œYeah, I’m fine. Be better if I knew I was going back home to Earth soon , though.”
    She nodded seriously, her head tilting first one way, then the other. “The ways of God are not always