Sea of Stars Read Online Free PDF Page A

girl with a small star embossed above the arch of her eyebrow yells to me, “Fay Kricket, is it true you knew about the Alameeda attack before the event last night?” The camera drone swoops near to my face, blink-click ing as the black lens focuses in. “Whose side are you on, Rafe or Alameeda?” I drop my chin, confused by the frenzy that surrounds me. “Do you know what the Alameeda are planning?” “Is it true you tried to kill the Regent at the swank last night?” “Is that why you’re being restrained?”
    The Brigadets are funneling me ahead toward a niche in the wall. It contains a larger overup than the others. This lift is also different because whereas the other overups have embedded video screens in their smaller doors that stream the same newsreels we saw in the holograms, these much larger doors are inlayed with iridescent mother-of-pearl. Etched within the double doors are two Art Deco saers. The saber-toothed tigers are on their hind legs, breathing shiny gray, lavender, and blue flames as they face each other in mirrored symmetry.
    I’m pulled away from Trey’s side by a yank on my arm and herded toward the enormous elevator with the saers on the front of it. Trey, Wayra, and Jax are taken in the opposite direction, toward the smaller overup doors.
    “Trey!” I call his name, twisting as I try to see him being led away from me.
    Trey fights the soldiers pulling us apart. “I need to stay with her! We have to stay together.” He head-butts the soldier holding his arm. Camera drones hover above him, capturing the fight as Trey roundhouse kicks another soldier who tries to grasp his arm. Wayra and Jax fight the soldiers near them too. Wayra lowers his head and uses it rampaging-bull style as he forces it into a soldier’s stomach. The crowd around us begins screaming, as soldiers try to push them back by force. The AFA arms again, focusing its lethal gun barrels on Trey.
    I wrench my arm away from the soldier holding me. The cracks that have formed in the foam shackles shatter the restraint, allowing my hands to go free. I stumble into the middle of the fight. Pushing past Raspin with an elbow to his face, the Comantre Brigadet holds his bloody mouth. I run to Trey, throwing myself against him. My arms wrap around his neck as I plead near his ear, “Don’t fight them! They’ll kill you! I’ll be okay; I’m stone, remember? Nothing touches me.” It’s not true. I have a paper heart and he has written notes all over it.
    “Kricket,” Trey whispers against my neck. I tilt my face so I can see him. He kisses me hard on the lips. It’s a desperate kiss—a last kiss.
    My arm is seized and I’m forced away from Trey once more. Behind me, I hear them beating on him. I stumble and try to tear myself away from the soldier holding me again, but he forces me into the ornate conveyance in front of us.
    Inside, the chamber is much larger and grander than a standard elevator. A low-lit crystal chandelier hangs down from the center of the twenty-foot-high ceiling. High-back cushioned benches line three walls with dove gray velvet upholstery. The large velvet-covered buttons in the benches make diamond patterns in the fabric. The glass above the benches is antiqued and smoky, reflecting our images in blurred impressions.
    When the doors slide closed, I feel the overup move laterally before it begins to rise at a stomach-dropping rate. I’m still panting from the struggle. The soldier beside me lets go of my arm, since there’s nowhere for me to run in here. Every part of me wants to sink onto one of the soft gray benches, rest my cheek against the cushion, and cry my heart out, but I refuse to give in to it. Instead, I stand among the handful of soldiers, watch the doors in front of me, and wait.

C HAPTER 2
    D ON’T MESS WITH ME
    N one of us move when the doors glide open. I stare ahead into the dim room. The sliver of light from the overup’s chandelier falls on a round, dark wood table ahead.