Read Online Wired (Skinned, Book 3) by Robin Wasserman - Free Book Online
Authors: Robin Wasserman
Tags: Fiction, General, Family & Relationships, Science-Fiction, All Ages, Children's Books, Juvenile Fiction, Fantasy & Magic, Science Fiction; Fantasy; & Magic, Children: Young Adult (Gr. 10-12), Social Issues, Friendship, Mysteries & Detective Stories, Social Issues - Friendship, Mysteries; Espionage; & Detective Stories
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shopping, giggling like it was a fifth-grade sleepover. "Or Riley has some space, and I know he'd--"
"I'm going back to the Brotherhood."
"What?"
She spoke slowly, enunciating for my benefit. "When I leave here, I'm going back to the Brotherhood of Man. Auden has agreed to take me back."
"You've talked to--" I stopped myself. Auden was beside the point. "You can't."
"Actually, I can."
"They hate us," I told her. "They're against our very existence. They're trapped in an archaic, delusional, Dark Ages philosophy and can't accept the fact that consciousness is transferable, humanity is fluid, that life isn't defined by flesh and blood, it's defined by our nature , and our nature is human. They think--"
"Spare me the speech," Ani said. "I've seen you on the network. I get it. But you don't understand what the Brotherhood is about."
"Oh, really? It's not about ripping your head open and trying to find a way to get rid of us? Because I was there, and I know what I saw. What they did to you."
72
"That was Savona," Ani said. "Auden's in charge now, and he's different. You, of all people, should know that."
"He was different," I agreed. " You, of all people, should know that things change."
"And the Brotherhood has," she said, with a serenity I could only assume masked insanity, or at least severe delusion. "So have I."
"Okay, tell me. What does this new and improved Brotherhood have to offer, besides self-hatred?"
"The Brotherhood of Man celebrates humanity in all its forms and services those who have been overlooked or forgotten by--"
"Spare me the speech. I've seen the press release. What's it got for you ?"
"I don't know." Ani wouldn't look at me. "Maybe ... absolution."
"Ani--"
"Everyone belongs somewhere," she said. "They have to."
I didn't know what to say.
"So when is this joyous reunion taking place?" I asked finally.
"They say I can get out of here in another week." She smiled. "You should go. I don't want to fight. Not with you."
I stood up. "Fine. But I'm coming back."
"I'll believe it when I see it," she said, but she didn't tell me not to, and that was at least a start.
73
I was almost out the door when she called my name, so softly that I almost thought I'd imagined it.
"I lied," she said, louder. "Jude's been texting. Once a day. I don't write back."
"Oh."
"But I don't delete them."
"Okay."
I waited.
"One of the texts was for you," she said. "If you ever showed up. I don't know what made him think I would even read it."
Maybe because he knows you, as much as you know him.
"It's a zone," she said, then scribbled something on a scrap of paper and gave it to me. It was nothing but a random scramble of letters and digits. "He says when you're ready to see him, drop a text and he'll meet you there."
"Where?"
"'Where the sky meets the sky.' He said you'd understand."
Another riddle. Just as useless. "That's it?"
"That's it," Ani said. "Sorry." She didn't sound it. "If you ask me, you should forget the whole thing. Let him come to you. After what I saw ..." She was talking about the kiss. I willed her not to make it real by saying it out loud. "... he will. Probably at the worst possible time."
It's exactly what I was afraid of.
* * *
74
Where the sky meets the sky.
A mile past human sorrow.
Where nature rises again.
They meant something; they meant something to me . Jude wouldn't have left a clue I didn't know how to follow. I repeated the words, over and over, an unending litany, waiting for something to click. There was an echo of memory, enough to convince me that I had the answer, buried somewhere in my mind. But not enough to dig it up.
Remember , I willed myself, knowing that if I didn't track him down soon, he would come for me again, at the worst possible time--or he would come for Riley, and I needed to get to him first.
Remember.
Remember.
When I finally did, it wasn't Jude's clue--it was that word. Remember.
The place itself was a memory. The Windows of Memory,
"I'm going back to the Brotherhood."
"What?"
She spoke slowly, enunciating for my benefit. "When I leave here, I'm going back to the Brotherhood of Man. Auden has agreed to take me back."
"You've talked to--" I stopped myself. Auden was beside the point. "You can't."
"Actually, I can."
"They hate us," I told her. "They're against our very existence. They're trapped in an archaic, delusional, Dark Ages philosophy and can't accept the fact that consciousness is transferable, humanity is fluid, that life isn't defined by flesh and blood, it's defined by our nature , and our nature is human. They think--"
"Spare me the speech," Ani said. "I've seen you on the network. I get it. But you don't understand what the Brotherhood is about."
"Oh, really? It's not about ripping your head open and trying to find a way to get rid of us? Because I was there, and I know what I saw. What they did to you."
72
"That was Savona," Ani said. "Auden's in charge now, and he's different. You, of all people, should know that."
"He was different," I agreed. " You, of all people, should know that things change."
"And the Brotherhood has," she said, with a serenity I could only assume masked insanity, or at least severe delusion. "So have I."
"Okay, tell me. What does this new and improved Brotherhood have to offer, besides self-hatred?"
"The Brotherhood of Man celebrates humanity in all its forms and services those who have been overlooked or forgotten by--"
"Spare me the speech. I've seen the press release. What's it got for you ?"
"I don't know." Ani wouldn't look at me. "Maybe ... absolution."
"Ani--"
"Everyone belongs somewhere," she said. "They have to."
I didn't know what to say.
"So when is this joyous reunion taking place?" I asked finally.
"They say I can get out of here in another week." She smiled. "You should go. I don't want to fight. Not with you."
I stood up. "Fine. But I'm coming back."
"I'll believe it when I see it," she said, but she didn't tell me not to, and that was at least a start.
73
I was almost out the door when she called my name, so softly that I almost thought I'd imagined it.
"I lied," she said, louder. "Jude's been texting. Once a day. I don't write back."
"Oh."
"But I don't delete them."
"Okay."
I waited.
"One of the texts was for you," she said. "If you ever showed up. I don't know what made him think I would even read it."
Maybe because he knows you, as much as you know him.
"It's a zone," she said, then scribbled something on a scrap of paper and gave it to me. It was nothing but a random scramble of letters and digits. "He says when you're ready to see him, drop a text and he'll meet you there."
"Where?"
"'Where the sky meets the sky.' He said you'd understand."
Another riddle. Just as useless. "That's it?"
"That's it," Ani said. "Sorry." She didn't sound it. "If you ask me, you should forget the whole thing. Let him come to you. After what I saw ..." She was talking about the kiss. I willed her not to make it real by saying it out loud. "... he will. Probably at the worst possible time."
It's exactly what I was afraid of.
* * *
74
Where the sky meets the sky.
A mile past human sorrow.
Where nature rises again.
They meant something; they meant something to me . Jude wouldn't have left a clue I didn't know how to follow. I repeated the words, over and over, an unending litany, waiting for something to click. There was an echo of memory, enough to convince me that I had the answer, buried somewhere in my mind. But not enough to dig it up.
Remember , I willed myself, knowing that if I didn't track him down soon, he would come for me again, at the worst possible time--or he would come for Riley, and I needed to get to him first.
Remember.
Remember.
When I finally did, it wasn't Jude's clue--it was that word. Remember.
The place itself was a memory. The Windows of Memory,
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