Read Online Summer Ruins by Trisha Leigh - Free Book Online Page A
Authors: Trisha Leigh
Tags: Young Adult
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the implications of his questions to sink in.
They penetrate my mind immediately. We’ve been taught our whole lives that the Elements are marked, four per generation. No more, no less. While my friends and I don’t bear black star marks on our necks, we are their children.
If no more are marked, and the Elements die, so do the Others.
It’s brilliant in that it will save our lives. It’s not so great in that the Prime will surely realize very quickly that not only can he not kill us, but that he’s going to need to keep us on a tighter leash than ever—and when they leave Earth, we’re going to have to go with them.
That can’t happen. I won’t do this to another planet.
The Prime remains silent for several minutes, drumming his fingers on the railing in front of him. Kendaja slides off Lucas’s lap, silent for once in her horrible life, and climbs back to her father’s side. She whispers something in his ear, and I watch with disgust as a string of drool lands on his shoulder. He either doesn’t notice or doesn’t care.
“You may have a point, son of Earth. A tenuous one, and one that may be resolved should any of the embryos currently awaiting processing emerge marked as an Element. The question is, what do we do with the three of them for now?” He pins Deshi with a cold black gaze. It’s so contemptuous that I expect Deshi’s body to contort in pain any second, but it doesn’t. “And once again, are you with us or with them ?”
“He’s proven himself many times, Father,” Zakej interrupts, an urgency in his voice that I’ve never heard before tonight. “There’s no reason for him to suffer their fate. Deshi has chosen a side. The right side.”
After a moment, the Prime nods. He seems reluctant to me. “They cannot stay here. I don’t want to worry about feeding them until we leave this forsaken planet. They’ll be banished to the Harvest Site with the rest of the troublemakers, and we’ll decide whether they are indeed necessary to our survival at a later time.”
He points at his son. “You will escort them there immediately, along with a Goblert.” The Prime then flicks a finger at Deshi. “And you will accompany them.”
Everyone in the room seems to sense that the meeting has been adjourned. The Others that were seated get up, some talking quietly under their breath as they file toward the exit. I notice for the first time that there are women mixed in with the men. I’ve never seen women in the hive version of this chamber.
I’m stunned to still be alive, but even if I weren’t, it’s not as if escaping is any more an option now than it was five minutes ago. It reminds me of the night they took the Morgans and I to be refreshed, and I followed like a docile, mind-controlled human because there wasn’t another choice.
It chafed that night, and it’s going to chafe now. But going to the Harvest Site to work is better than being dead. As long as we’re alive, there’s still a chance to figure out how to turn the tables in our favor. To make the dead man’s hand the winning one, for once.
The Prime doesn’t even spare us a glance as he leaves the bench, disappearing through a door behind him that I didn’t see until now. Kendaja follows, casting a last longing look toward Pax that rolls a shudder down my spine.
Zakej steps toward the three of us, followed at a respectful distance by Deshi. I try to catch our fourth’s eye, try to glimpse whether he went to the cabin and that’s what changed his mind about trying to save us or if the story he gave the Prime is the real one. He studiously avoids my attempts and I give up, not wanting to call any unwanted attention to myself.
“Untie them,” Zakej commands.
Deshi does as he’s told, and the sharp ache in my shoulders when I’m released makes me bite my swollen, bloodied lip, which makes me cry out. Lucas reaches out for me as soon as his hands are free, but the gloves make it impossible to feel him.
“Can
They penetrate my mind immediately. We’ve been taught our whole lives that the Elements are marked, four per generation. No more, no less. While my friends and I don’t bear black star marks on our necks, we are their children.
If no more are marked, and the Elements die, so do the Others.
It’s brilliant in that it will save our lives. It’s not so great in that the Prime will surely realize very quickly that not only can he not kill us, but that he’s going to need to keep us on a tighter leash than ever—and when they leave Earth, we’re going to have to go with them.
That can’t happen. I won’t do this to another planet.
The Prime remains silent for several minutes, drumming his fingers on the railing in front of him. Kendaja slides off Lucas’s lap, silent for once in her horrible life, and climbs back to her father’s side. She whispers something in his ear, and I watch with disgust as a string of drool lands on his shoulder. He either doesn’t notice or doesn’t care.
“You may have a point, son of Earth. A tenuous one, and one that may be resolved should any of the embryos currently awaiting processing emerge marked as an Element. The question is, what do we do with the three of them for now?” He pins Deshi with a cold black gaze. It’s so contemptuous that I expect Deshi’s body to contort in pain any second, but it doesn’t. “And once again, are you with us or with them ?”
“He’s proven himself many times, Father,” Zakej interrupts, an urgency in his voice that I’ve never heard before tonight. “There’s no reason for him to suffer their fate. Deshi has chosen a side. The right side.”
After a moment, the Prime nods. He seems reluctant to me. “They cannot stay here. I don’t want to worry about feeding them until we leave this forsaken planet. They’ll be banished to the Harvest Site with the rest of the troublemakers, and we’ll decide whether they are indeed necessary to our survival at a later time.”
He points at his son. “You will escort them there immediately, along with a Goblert.” The Prime then flicks a finger at Deshi. “And you will accompany them.”
Everyone in the room seems to sense that the meeting has been adjourned. The Others that were seated get up, some talking quietly under their breath as they file toward the exit. I notice for the first time that there are women mixed in with the men. I’ve never seen women in the hive version of this chamber.
I’m stunned to still be alive, but even if I weren’t, it’s not as if escaping is any more an option now than it was five minutes ago. It reminds me of the night they took the Morgans and I to be refreshed, and I followed like a docile, mind-controlled human because there wasn’t another choice.
It chafed that night, and it’s going to chafe now. But going to the Harvest Site to work is better than being dead. As long as we’re alive, there’s still a chance to figure out how to turn the tables in our favor. To make the dead man’s hand the winning one, for once.
The Prime doesn’t even spare us a glance as he leaves the bench, disappearing through a door behind him that I didn’t see until now. Kendaja follows, casting a last longing look toward Pax that rolls a shudder down my spine.
Zakej steps toward the three of us, followed at a respectful distance by Deshi. I try to catch our fourth’s eye, try to glimpse whether he went to the cabin and that’s what changed his mind about trying to save us or if the story he gave the Prime is the real one. He studiously avoids my attempts and I give up, not wanting to call any unwanted attention to myself.
“Untie them,” Zakej commands.
Deshi does as he’s told, and the sharp ache in my shoulders when I’m released makes me bite my swollen, bloodied lip, which makes me cry out. Lucas reaches out for me as soon as his hands are free, but the gloves make it impossible to feel him.
“Can
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