Fathom by L. Standage (spanish books to read .TXT) 📕

the plate beside her. I turned to her and hesitated a minute, biting my lip.

“I don’t know. I guess I was afraid you’d get scared and want to leave.”

She stared at me, her brows knit. “How could you not tell me?”

Didn’t I just answer that? “I didn’t want to go home. I didn’t know something would happen.”

She looked down and scowled.

“What, are you mad at me now?” I asked.

“You’ve been lying to me,” she said. “You knew there was something going on. We’ve had these creeps watching us this whole time, then you ran off and left me in the middle of that stupid theme park. Did you really want to complain to that man about all your precious little fish, or did you just want to go after the seashell?”

My stomach tightened in anger. How could she think that?

“I didn’t know it was the same guy when I first followed him. You think I’m on some weird quest or something?”

She shook her head and lay on her air mattress. I looked down at my food, my appetite gone. Sam was mad at me, we were trapped up in this bedroom for who-knows-how-long, and nobody in this place had the decency to explain why. All I knew now was I couldn’t live through this without Samantha backing me up. I sighed in reluctant surrender.

“I’m sorry I didn’t tell you,” I said again. “I’m sorry all this happened.”

She sighed too. “Why are we trusting them?”

“They did save my life,” I replied, grateful she was talking to me. I moved my shoulder a little bit. It didn’t hurt anymore. Though I was grateful to Eamon for healing it, I knew he only did it because he thought I was someone else. If he had known I was just Olivia Owens from Glendale, Arizona, he might have just let Samantha call 911 or something.

“Should we tell our parents?”

“No. They don’t need the extra worry. We’re in enough trouble as it is.”

Sam didn’t talk much after that. Other than sit on our beds and wonder what tomorrow was going to bring, we did little else to pass the time. Through the window, the sun had gone. The clock on Samantha’s cell phone read a little after ten p.m. when Natasha poked her head in.

“Samantha, Uther says I can take you back to your house to get your things.”

“Okay.”

“Can I come too?” I asked.

“I’m afraid not. It isn’t safe for you to go back there. You’re more easily recognized.”

“So it’s okay for me to get shot at?” Sam asked with a scowl.

She chuckled. “You won’t get shot at. I’d go on my own, but I need you to help me so I don’t leave any of your things behind.”

Sam sighed and nodded.

“All right. We’ll go in a few minutes.” Natasha turned to go but stopped with her hand on the doorknob. She looked back at me. “Did you really follow Doran Linnaeus into his office?”

I frowned down at my feet crisscrossed beneath me. “I wish I hadn’t now.”

“I think it was very brave of you. Right crazy, but brave.” She smiled in a reassuring way and for the first time, I noticed a dimple appear in one of her cheeks.

“You’re a marine botanist?” I asked.

“I am. I provided the flower beside your bed when you were recovering from your wound. It promotes healing.”

“Oh. Thanks.”

She nodded. “I’ll be back in a few minutes to take Samantha.” She closed the door and left us alone.

“I should be the one going,” I said. “All this is my fault.”

“It’s fine,” she replied. “Just promise me you won’t do anything else stupid.”

“I promise.”

Natasha came back a few minutes later.

“You ready to go?” she asked.

Samantha nodded and stood. “How long will we be?”

“Not too long. We have to take an unusual route to make sure we aren’t being followed. We have to be inconspicuous.”

I thought two women entering a house late at night would look more suspicious than in the middle of the day, but I kept quiet.

“Okay.” Samantha looked at me over her shoulder. “See you in a bit.”

She walked out with Natasha. After their muffled steps disappeared down the staircase, I lay down and waited for sleep to come. But it didn’t, just like it never does when you have a lot on your mind. I stood and paced for a while.

I needed to use the restroom. But I didn’t want to wake anyone up. Going pee in a strange house with a strange group of people felt weird. But my bladder wouldn’t relent, so I opened the door to my room. I tiptoed over the carpet, passed closed doors along the hall, and reached for the first doorknob on the landing. The sound of quiet voices drifted up from downstairs and I stopped. I couldn’t tell what they said, so I crept closer to the staircase and listened.

“… should tell them everything.” It sounded like Walter.

“We don’t know anything about them.”

Staying out of sight, I went a few steps down the stairs and sat down.

“We know enough,” said Walter. “She brought us the vessel.”

“Calder was going to bring it back anyway.”

“She’s been through so much though, Eamon. They both have. Don’t they deserve to know why?”

“What’ll the others think?”

Others? What others?

“It’s the same as when we brought in Natasha and Uther.”

“They were adults willing to take the risk. These girls are just kids.”

“Yes, but they’re old enough. Olivia especially has a right to know why this happened.”

“Walt, I’ve been doing this a long time. We’ve never seen fit to inform the victims before. Why now?”

“Other victims haven’t stuck out their own necks to help us.”

Doing what? And what victims? Holy crap, who were these people?

“Maybe. But I really think you ought to let this go. We can send them back to their home in Arizona and monitor any movements.”

“I would rather put them on their guard before sending them off.”

One of them sighed.

“I appreciate your advice. But this time I have to say no. It