The Taking 02: Hover Read Online Free PDF Page A

bait.”
    I lunge forward. “You sick, piece of—”
    “Don’t.” Jackson grabs me.
    I glare at him, fighting to free myself from his grasp. “Do you even know what it means to tell the truth? So much for honesty. Let me go. Now.”
    Zeus tsks. “Testy, testy. We shall see how long it takes to remove the wild within you.”
    I can’t find the will to say anything in return. Because this means everything is orchestrated, everything a lie. Zeus intentionally had the Ancients heal humans, so when the neurotoxin released it would backfire on us, killing our own kind. I may be safe, but what about my family and friends? How will they survive when the enemy is always one step ahead? They won’t, unless…
    Jackson gives me a knowing look, his face otherwise blank, but in that brief glance, that brief moment, I read his intent. This war has just begun. He doesn’t agree with Zeus. He plans to fight. But after everything he’s done, how can I trust him? I can’t, I won’t. For now, I’m on my own.
    I wait as Zeus studies me, his head tilted to the side as though he’s trying to puncture through my thoughts. “If nothing else, then step forward for the assignation.”
    I hesitate, sure that if I edge any closer to Zeus I’ll attack him and end up dead.
    “Not now, Ari,” Jackson whispers.
    I dip my head and draw a long breath, then step forward. The female healer seated at the furthest right side stands, motioning for me to come to her first. She is younger than Emmy, much younger. Her eyes are sharp and her face is free of wrinkles. Her hair is a deep red that is almost blinding to the eye.
    I stand before her, my head higher than I feel, and wait for instruction. She looks at me, and I look back, and for a moment I fear that I’ve missed something important. Maybe I’m un-assignationable. Then she reaches out her hand to me, and I extend my own. She takes my hand in hers, as Emmy often does, and suddenly I know this must be how they “read” us. All those times Emmy took my hand I had assumed she was just being motherly. Now I know she was checking for herself what I refused to say—how I was feeling, what I was thinking. Emmy has held my hand every day of the twenty-one days that I have been on Loge, and all the while I felt I was shadowing my true intentions. I underestimated her, and for whatever reason, this makes me appreciate her all the more.
    The female healer doesn’t speak as she holds my hand. She doesn’t introduce herself or smile or even hint that we are in close proximity. Instead, she stares into my eyes and I hers, and then she nods to me. “Thank you,” she says, before returning to her seat, and the next healer beside her stands. I move from healer to healer, each holding my hand for all of five minutes before sitting, and when I’m done I return to my place beside Jackson, feeling confused and exposed. What did they see within me? Back home, I would have liked to be a Chemist, like my mom, if I weren’t set to become the commander of Engineers, like Dad. But here, I’m not sure. Maybe school work.
    The healers each pass a sheet of paper down to Zeus, who reads them in turn, then stacks them and sets the pile in front of him. His eyes find mine and I can tell that he isn’t happy with their consensus. “It is a majority decision that you, Ari Alexander, will become an RES upon completion of internal analysis and implantation. Gildan will escort you,” he says, pointing to a male Ancient to his left.
    I release a shaky breath. RES. Of course I would be an RES. And now I’m going to train to kill humans. An overwhelming feeling of nausea swirls through my stomach, and I have to swallow several times to keep myself from getting sick. My eyes find Zeus and I’m surprised to see he looks as disappointed with this assessment as I am. If he doesn’t want me to become an RES, why not just say so? I start to ask him as much, when my thoughts stop on what he just said.