Betrayals in Spring (7 page)

Lucas raises his eyebrows at me. “You two know each other?”

“Pax introduced us, in a manner of speaking.” I give Lucas a smile in an attempt to make light of this situation, which seems to have gone too easily in our favor. “The question is, what do we do with him now?”

The plan was to disable the Others guarding my alcove, but I don’t have it in me to hurt this one since he’s not an immediate threat.

“
His
name is Natej,” the Other interjects, sticking out a hand toward me like he’s offering to shake as part of the introduction.

It’s brave of him to be willing to touch any of us, and for a moment I consider being polite. I decide against it, in the end, mostly because I’m unwilling to drop either Pax’s or Lucas’s hand to do so. Instead I squint at him, avoiding direct contact with his black gaze in case he’s trying to trick me long enough to dig claws of pain into my mind.

“Why aren’t you fighting us?” I demand.

“Because I’d lose.”

“Because you’ve already mentally summoned the rest of your race of locusts, you mean,” Pax spits at his former captive.

Natej shrugs. “Believe what you’d like.”

“Shut up,” I tell the Warden again.

The four of us listen in silence. The sounds of pounding boots and shouted orders don’t come after several minutes and I decide he’s telling the truth. I don’t know why he’s helping us, or if he actually is, but we don’t have time to figure it out right now. I drop the boys’ hands and stand in front of my little sinum. The trunk with our secret—the knowledge that we can unveil humans—tucked inside catches my eye, and for a moment I think it would be better to move it to Lucas’s or Pax’s alcove. Then I realize that’s silly. It’s not actually in a trunk in this hive, it’s in my head, and I can’t remove it. It’s mine to bear, and Pax’s and Lucas’s. We can’t pass it off.

Pax may not be at full strength, but he’s better than the last time we built a barrier. Since he nearly blew that Other into pieces, I’m worried he might be depleted, but when he catches my glance, Pax smirks. “I’ve got as much as you need, Summer.”

Instead of imagining desks or other metal objects, I try something new. At first, nothing but sweat materializes—all over my forehead, down the back of my neck, oozing from my palms—but after a minute or two of concentration, flames sputter to life out of nothing. It doesn’t take long to fill the opening of my alcove with a wall of flickering orange, red, and white fire.

Pride, an unfamiliar sensation, pastes a smile on my face. Pax and Lucas step forward together; a layer of swirling air goes on next to continually feed the flames, then a waterfall spills from above the doorway, freezing solid as it hits the floor.

Potent relief trembles through my limbs. My mind, and our secret, is safe for now.

“Let’s go,” Lucas demands.

“Wait.” Pax’s voice commands our attention, and even though the plan was to escape as quickly as possible, I’m curious. “Don’t you wonder where they all are?”

“Who?”

Pax rolls his eyes. “Don’t be dense on purpose, Winter. The Others. Why are there only two here guarding Althea’s sinum?”

“They are attending a rather unprecedented emergency,” Natej interrupts, still on his rear with the back of his tan-and-black Warden uniform pressed up against the tunnel wall. His voice caresses my ears, tickling like a pleasant low hum. It urges me to trust him, to say okay to whatever he proposes, but good sense snaps me out of the trance after a second. I frown at him. “It’s a trap, right? Why would you help us or tell us anything?”

Natej’s arrogant grin slips at the corners, turning into something haunting and edged with lament. “Greer can be very persuasive.”

“Who is Greer?” Lucas demands, obviously more than a little annoyed to be in the dark.

It’s not the Other’s answer but the sorrow etching lines on his face that stops me. For the first time in my almost seventeen years, individuality emerges from inside these alien beings and tugs not on my fear, but my empathy. Without taking my eyes off Natej, I answer Lucas. “I’ll tell you later.”

“Let’s have him take us where the Others are gathered so we can find out what’s going on.” Pax, always impatient, shifts from foot to foot.

“That’s the dumbest idea I’ve ever heard. That’s probably what they’re telling him to do, to convince us he wants to help so he can deliver us like dinner,” Lucas shoots back.

I wave my hand at them both and they fall silent, still shooting disgusted looks at each other. I narrow my gaze on Natej. “No, we’re not going anywhere. You’re just going to show me.”

Without a protest, Natej offers his arm. Before either boy can stop me, I grab it, and the tunnel, Pax, and Lucas all disappear. It’s a little bit like traveling, at first, being one place and then another with no way to get my bearings in between, and wisps of panic curl into my muscles. Then the darkness recedes and, even though I’m alone, I get a handle on my rising alarm.

I’m inside the room where they tortured me the first time. The pain had been unbearable, but now I know the mental pain is nothing compared to what they can inflict in person.

Nevertheless, the sight of this place pounds terror into my heart. I force myself to calm down, to remember that I’m not here, I’m inside Natej’s mind and he’s linked in to these proceedings.

The Prime sits at the front of the room, his despicable children on his right and left. The sight of three of the Elements surprises me; Apa, Lucas’s father, is missing, but the rest huddle in separate cages behind the Prime’s seat, looking miserable and shocked. For the first time, my mother appears wan and too thin, no longer the blazing beauty that nearly blinds me when she smiles.

The sight of their stunned features is enough to make me wonder if I want to know what’s happened. Others pack the bleachers, each situated in their own seat, but some of the spaces are empty. The last time I was here it didn’t occur to me to spend much time studying the audience, but now that I’m not focused on pain, they interest me. They’re not solid but kind of glimmering, and it looks as though they’re separated by something more than a seat. Perhaps since this is a mental meeting, their likenesses are projected from their own alcoves.

The Prime’s voice distracts me from my musing. Worry snags his normally pleasant tenor. “We’ve encountered an issue that may prevent us from staying on Earth much longer.”

My heart lifts. If they’re going to leave then all of this could be over.

Then Cadi’s warning rings in my mind, and I remember that when the Others abandon Earth, they’ll leave behind an atmosphere so out of balance that the planet won’t be able to survive. I think about Deshi, about Griffin and Greer and Cadi.

As much as I’d like to be free of my pursuers, this is not the way. They aren’t supposed to go yet, not before we’ve devised a way to get back the people—beings—we love. Not before we’ve learned to nurture our powers into abilities we can use to set the planet back to right.

Behind the Prime, the Elements keep their eyes trained obediently on the ground. Are they saddened by what has happened? Have they failed somehow?

“One of the traitorous Elements has taken another step away from us, his people, in favor of the weak-minded human beings that inhabit this planet. Earlier tonight, Apa attempted to take his own life.”

The statement doesn’t make any more sense to the Others in the room than it does to my ears. At least, that’s what I’m guessing based on the loud murmurs that tumble through the air as haphazardly as little kids rolling down a grassy hill.

Silence returns as the Prime lifts a hand, looking more tired than I’ve ever seen him. “The conditions on Earth will deteriorate rapidly without his assistance at the Harvest Site. We’ll have to leave within the week if he does not regain consciousness.”

I’ve never heard the term
Harvest Site
, and he gives no further explanation. The word harvest isn’t new, though. Could it be where they’re extracting their life-sustaining substance from Earth?

“Why would he do such a thing?” The question comes from the back, from a male Other who looks like all the rest. Kendaja is the lone female in the room, besides my mother, but I know more exist.

Fire’s eyebrows raise slightly at the question, as though she’s wondering whether or not the Prime will give an honest answer.

He pauses, then presses his lips into a thin line. “We don’t know for sure, since he has not woken since the incident, but we believe he did it in order to save his son.”

Black clouds press into the edges of my vision. Apa’s suicide attempt has something to do with Lucas?

“Apa believes that if he is gone, we will be forced to accept his son into our ranks in his place, which will prevent us from disposing of the unauthorized child.”

“Go get the boy Water, let me daddy I’ll be nice so nice, just play nice, Kendaja,” the girl whispers as she twirls toward her father, fingers outstretched in a
give me
motion like a small child begging for candy.

But she’s begging for Lucas.

The Prime gives only the smallest frown indicating he has heard her, then places a steely gaze on his son. “You will take your sister and go to Rapid City. We can’t risk losing Pamant’s boy, not now. The rest of us will go to the Harvest Site and see what can be done about the situation.” He slides a glance toward his still trembling daughter. “She may have a point. Not for the first time.”

Before I can find out what they’re going to decide about Apa and Lucas, I’m yanked out of the meeting room and back into the dark corridor. Pax and Lucas are each holding one of my forearms, matching concern crinkling their brows.

“Why did you do that?” I need to hear more, to figure out what to tell Lucas, or if we can use their problem to our advantage.

“You looked like you were going to pass out.” Lucas reaches toward my face but stops, snatching his hand back to his side.

“He’s right.” For once, Pax and Lucas agree.

Only Natej appears unconcerned. He peers at me with those bottomless eyes, as though he’s expecting to find some kind of answer in the depths of my blue ones. Even though the ache in my brain urges me to look away, reminds me he could cause me massive pain should he suddenly change his mind about helping, I stare back. After a moment he stands up and walks across the corridor, toeing the still unconscious guard.

“You all should get going.”

“But you never told us exactly what’s going on, why no one but you two were guarding Althea.” Lucas crosses his arms with the unspoken demand for answers, even though he was the one who wanted to leave without asking any additional questions.

Natej glances at me again but doesn’t reveal what the two of us heard. I appreciate his discretion, even though the ability to trust him remains as hard to grasp as a handful of water. He may have been on our side today, but history says the next time we run into him it could be a different story.

It occurs to me that it might not even be his decision.

Even though I can come here, infiltrate their minds in a way, how the Others’ brains work remains mostly a mystery. Will they be able to find out that Natej didn’t try to stop us today? If he’s not alone the next time, will he not have the strength to resist?

“Let’s go. I’ll tell you later.” I’m exhausted now, ready to collapse and deal with the problems of the world tomorrow.

Pax doesn’t hesitate, just slides his hand into mine. Lucas joins us, and as Natej drags the Other guard into a sitting position against the wall, we return to the cabin.

The boys ask me what happened when I touched Natej, where I went and what I saw, but I can’t answer them. It’s insane that Apa would think Lucas could—
would
—take his place among the Others, suck the Earth dry of whatever it is they’re taking from this Harvest Site, and then leave the entire planet full of humans to perish, move on to destroy another world.

Isn’t it?

The way Lucas seems less sure about choosing humanity over the Others, how he’s been spending time with his father, churns uncertainty. Part of me knows it’s not my decision to make, that he’s going to be angry with me for not telling him what’s going on with his father this instant, but I just need more time to sort it all out.

What it means. What it might mean.

They back off when I burst into tears quite by accident, although it’s true enough that I’m beyond tired. I flop on the couch, pull a scratchy, woolen blanket up to my chin, and pat the sliver of space at my side. With Wolf curled over my feet, I close my eyes without fear for the first time in days, letting the knowledge from the last couple of hours slide off me and onto the floor. It feels a little like dropping heavy bags after a long trip. Even though I know I’ll have to pick them up first thing in the morning, for now I can rest.

CHAPTER 6.

The next morning, the three of us revisit plans to get Deshi after I tell them he’s being held in a place called Rapid City. Cadi said only the four of us together can make a difference, and I’m clinging to the idea that if we can get Deshi in the next couple of hours, I won’t have to tell them the rest of what I heard in the hive.