Read Online The Unspoken: Book One in the Keres Trilogy by A. E. Waller - Free Book Online

says and scratches the back of his head, not sure what to say next.
    I start moving toward the elevator and Zink follows. As we wait for the car to come back down, I get a good look at him in the reflection of the glossy walls. He is significantly younger than the other Unspoken I have seen so far- he would have to be in his early twenties. There are only two visible tattoos in his reflection, one just coming out of his shirt and up his neck and one around his left wrist under his Banded cuff.
    “ How long have you been on the hall? ” I ask him to break the awkward silence.
    “ I just started my seventh year, ” he says. Then this is the boy I remember, the one who looked as perplexed as I felt, the one who didn ’ t receive applause from the crowd either. And I feel closer to him immediately because of this. The elevator arrives and we step on.
    “ How long did it take you to get to the back of the book? ” I ask.
    “ Oh, I really couldn ’ t say. ”
    “ Well, how long did it take you to get used to talking to other Play Group members? I mean everyone on the hall so far has been so much older. ”
    “ That didn ’ t take me long at all. Once I figured out we were all in the same boat so to speak, it became second nature to be at ease here. ”
    “ In the same boat? ”
    Zink curls his shoulders in as if he is trying to retract the words, “ Well, I mean we are all in the same line of Service. ”
    “ And what line is that? ” I ask as the elevator comes to a stop.
    “ That is something for which you are not yet ready to know, ” he says in exactly the same tone as Abbot did yesterday. He gives me a sly smile, jumps out of the elevator and runs out of the building. I assume he ’ s going to meet his Banded partner and their Play Group. Seven years since he was assigned to the Unspoken, means that he was Banded just three years ago.
    It ’ s unnerving how nice, if a little maddening, everyone on the hall is. At least, it ’ s unnerving how not intimidating they are. I almost wish they were ferocious. It would give me something to grab onto. Something I could be angry about. Something that would encourage the Heavy to push me under where I don ’ t care what happens. Instead of wanting to crawl back to my round bed and wallow, I am wishing lunch was already over so I can go back to my den and finish reading that book. Maybe that ’ s why Zink was running, he wanted to eat fast and get back on the hall.
    What a change from the dread I felt this morning. My everyday clothes actually feel stiff after wearing my suit all morning. I find PG3456 already assembled on the Quad and we go into lunch. Doe tells us she has been given her first lesson in medicinal plants. Frehn spent the morning in a safety lecture and practicing emergency evacuations from the mines. “ Turns out it ’ s not Chelon orange on our uniforms, it ’ s glow in the dark orange to make us easy to spot under a collapse or when the power goes out, ” he says.
    They all look at me once their information is spent, and I can say nothing. Not even a noncommittal grunt.
    “ Well? ” asks Harc with a note of impatience.
    “ I- can ’ t- ” I can feel the pressure from the smoke black fingers on my chest and gasp for air. Frehn whacks me on the back.
    “ Don ’ t, ” says Doe, looking not at me, but at my chest. I ’ ve neglected to fasten the top button of my shirt. When I hunched in my shoulders trying to catch my breath, the top half of my tattoo was visible. I snatch at my collar and secure the button closed. Doe ’ s eyes are wide with recognition, “ Don ’ t ask her anymore, ” she says in a high-pitched unnatural voice, “ they could kill her. ”

Chapter Seven
     
     
    I can hear my heartbeat in my ears and it drowns out everything else around me. I push myself away from the table, mumble something about excusing myself and start walking back to the Gratis Building. My tattoo is radiating heat but it isn ’ t pushing the