Freedom, Humanity, and Other Delusions (Death's Handmaiden Book 3) by Niall Teasdale (best summer reads txt) 📕

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‘You’re serious?’ Carina asked, blinking at Nava over the dinner table. ‘You’re going to follow me around looking for the Key to Darkness’s watchers?’

‘I’m going to tag along with you whenever I can,’ Nava replied, ‘and if I happen to see one of these people, I intend to ask them what they’re up to. If they do happen to belong to a dark cult of some kind… We’ll deal with that issue when it’s confirmed.’

Carina’s shoulders sagged. ‘So, you don’t really believe me.’

‘I believe you’re being followed. Let’s leave it at that until there’s more evidence one way or another.’

‘Well, you’re the first person to believe that much…’

‘I’ve issued orders to my patrol officers,’ Courtney said. ‘They’re going to be looking out for possible intruders too. Not all of them can keep See Invisible going for long periods, but they may see something.’

‘It adds pressure,’ Nava said. ‘The more people looking, the more chance of success and the more careful the intruders need to be. Did you talk to the administration about that hacking matter?’

‘Yeah. They’re doing some forensic checks. They haven’t told me about any unauthorised accesses so far, but that kind of task can take a lot of time.’

‘You really think they might have tried hacking the school’s servers too?’ Melissa asked.

Rochester answered. ‘If they were willing to try the ASF, I doubt they would think twice about doing the same here.’

‘Precisely,’ Nava said. ‘Not that they’ll find anything interesting anyway.’

‘You’re going to a lot of trouble to help me,’ Carina said. ‘Thank you. Though, I suppose if you’re destined to be–’

Nava held up a hand. ‘I don’t believe in destiny. I do, however, believe in keeping myself and my friends safe. Intruders on campus could be bad, but then they went and made this personal. Whoever these people are, they’re going to regret that.’

236/1/20.

Carina slotted her ketcom into her desk, waited for the display to change, and then reached for the virtual keyboard to type in her password. She had been told on several occasions that passwords were paranoid; biometric identification was quite enough to keep people out of your account. In the past day, she had discovered that Nava also used a password. She had tried not to feel smug.

She paused before hitting any of the keys as a shadow fell across her. Looking up, she found herself under the gaze of three young women her age who still managed to look like they were her seniors by several years. That was attitude, plain and simple: Yaeko Himura and her partners in crime were the unofficial student council for class 14D. The school had no system of class representation, but you crossed Yaeko at your peril. Yaeko’s arms were crossed under her ample breasts. Not a good sign.

‘Getting above ourselves, are we?’ Yaeko asked. It helped her self-appointed status that she was a very attractive girl in the classic, Japanese-beauty mould. Pale skin and long jet-black hair. Not at all tall. Her bust did not, perhaps, follow the stereotype, but it did help to endear her to the class’s male population. ‘Endear’ might not have been precisely the right word.

Carina stared at the other girl for a second, trying to work out what she was talking about. Eventually, staying silent started to seem rude, so Carina went with the only thing she could think of. ‘Huh?’

‘Sommer saw you arrive at class, Carina Schwartz. Nava Greyling Sonkei walked you here.’

‘Yes. She’s–’

‘She’s so far above you socially that you shouldn’t be allowed to say her name,’ Sommer said. She was an attractive girl with a somewhat nasal voice which tended to make her sound snide or whiny. She was also a Chevalier Garavain, which tended to make her exceptionally sensitive when it came to social position.

‘Our destinies are intertwined,’ Carina said, defaulting to her preferred view of the world even if, deep down, she knew that was a mistake.

‘Not that again,’ Dove snapped. Dove Harris Daison was, in fact, a rung down the social ladder compared to the other two, but she made up for it by being – counter to her pacific name – the biggest bully of the three. She was good-looking but not especially memorable. Dark-brown hair, dark-brown eyes, lighter-brown skin. Her face had very good structure with high cheekbones, a straight nose, and hollowed cheeks, but she was ordinary when placed beside Yaeko. ‘There’s no secret organisation watching you, so–’

‘Nava is escorting me to class because she and Courtney Martell Garavain are concerned about sightings of intruders on the campus. Intruders watching me. The SSF are looking into it, and the principal has people looking into hacking attempts on the school’s computers.’

Sommer waved an absent hand in dismissal. ‘Courtney Martell has been all but kicked out of the clan. I wouldn’t trust–’

‘A Greyling believes you?’ Yaeko said. Sommer looked surprised at being interrupted. Or maybe at how she had been interrupted.

‘Yes,’ Carina said. Then a small part of her mind decided that discretion might be the better part of valour here. ‘She believes there are people watching me.’

‘What does that matter?’ Sommer asked. ‘She’s managed to persuade someone else that her idiocy might be real. So what?’

Yaeko gave Sommer a rather stiff smile. ‘I’m a little surprised you’ve never heard of the Greylings, Sommer. They do not entertain fantasies. If one of them believes a story such as the one Carina spins, then they have evidence to back it up. Nava Greyling was only adopted by them last year, but they don’t take people in unless those people have a lot of talent. My aunt, Misaki Himura, Secretary General of the Clan Council, personally signed her adoption papers.’

‘We’re supposed to start believing her crazy ideas?’ Dove asked, incredulous.

‘I think…’ Yaeko paused, considering. ‘I think we’ll have to give her the benefit of the doubt. For now.’

236/1/21.

‘Is there some reason one of your classmates is staring at me as though she wants to attack me?’