Summer Ruins Read Online Free PDF Page B

know about your note, then how have they let you watch the movie? Didn’t they ask you where you got it?”
    “They let me watch whatever’s lying around. No one asks what I’m doing. They trust me.” The defensive tone returns to his voice, and it scrapes across my skin like the rough bark of a tree.
    “Oh. Have you read books not for Cell? Made-up ones?”
    “No. Why would you read a book that’s not for learning?”
    The annoyance in the question, the dismissive nature of it, raises the hair on the back of my neck but instead of snapping at him I try another smile. “It’s hard to explain, I guess. The people in them—actually most of the ones we’ve read are about kids—make me feel less alone. Like the things I’ve experienced aren’t new or harder than the things people before me went through.”
    “There are books about being half-alien and dealing with the consequences of an occupying invasion of Earth?” The skepticism on his face reminds me of Pax for a moment, and it almost brings tears to my eyes.
    I’d give anything to see Pax’s slow smile and kiss Lucas’s dimples right now. “No. Not specifically. But when you boil down the individual struggles and emotions of our situation, the stories can get closer than you think.” I step forward, surprising him by reaching out a hand and sliding my palm against his. “I really, really hope you get to read one someday. Even if Lucas, Pax, and I aren’t around to be there when you do.”
    He pulls away but not immediately, then looks at his watch. “If you want to go say good-bye, now’s the time. We’ll have to use the hive. Less chance of being seen.”
    “Aren’t there Wardens guarding our sinums?”
    “Why would you assume that?”
    The stiffness in his posture says he’s not pleased, not that it matters one way or another. They can’t get through my barrier and he can’t report me without getting in trouble, too. “Because I’ve been there, looking for a way out on my own. I thought you were never coming back after last time.”
    “I said I would take you to say good-bye. Anyway, we’ll go to my sinum; it’s unguarded. I’ll get the boys and bring them there, too.”
    “Why are you doing this, Deshi? If you don’t care about us?” I’m not trying to be rude; it’s simply the question in the forefront of my mind.
    He doesn’t answer for a while, and it makes me wonder if he even knows. Finally he meets my eyes and I do see uncertainty there this time before he frowns. “When you told me you care about them—that you love them—I believe you. Even if you don’t care about me, I know how it feels. And I’d want to say good-bye.”
    Before I can ask who he cares about or what happened to them, he grabs my hand and pulls me into the hive. My head spins without anything to focus on, and Deshi does it all with his own power instead of borrowing some of mine. I’ve never entered the hive that way unless I’ve been asleep, and technically that doesn’t mean I was unwilling, only unconscious.
    I didn’t know we could be forced, which was probably a good thing; it would have made every confrontation with the Others even scarier, and that’s not optimal while trying to convince myself we can beat them. It’s disconcerting being dragged along instead of going willingly, and my body feels jostled and sore.
    We land in a strange sinum, the first one I’ve entered in weeks that’s unprotected by a barrier. Worry snakes into my stomach. If this is a trap, I’m a sitting duck. If Deshi can bring me here, can he keep me here?
    “Wait here. I’ll be back.”
    “Deshi how do you know they’re not going to find us? This isn’t safe, with no barrier.” I try to force a confrontational tone, but even I hear the terror rushing through my question.
    “Althea, it’s fine. The Wardens are in a briefing about the Summer Celebration, followed by a training session for their assigned jobs. We have at least three hours.” He pauses.