The Lofties (The Echelon Book 2) by Ramona Finn (no david read aloud .txt) 📕

“I’m almost twenty. And I’ve seen enough to know—” He hesitated, fingers stilling in my hair. “I’ve seen enough of the world to know it’s a cold place.”

I shivered against him, hid my face in his shirt.

“I’m with you,” he said. He was playing with my hair again, twirling it around his fingers. “That Reyland—didn’t he say something about a meeting?”

I nodded. “In two days’ time.”

“I’m coming to that meeting,” said Lock. “And I’ll be with you every step of the way. Ona doesn’t have to believe us for us to save her skin.”

Lock’s voice was comforting, his tone as much as his words. I drew strength from his calm, and from his solid presence at my back. I had one more ally, and someday, Ona would forgive me. We’d rebuild what was broken, once we’d saved her, once she saw.

“Thank you,” I said, voice steady at last. I sat back and wiped my eyes, and Lock helped me to my feet.

Chapter Sixteen

“Oh, no. No, no, no.” Reyland descended on Lock, crowding him back toward the door. Lock let him, baffled, like a dog cornered by a kitten. His dopey confusion only seemed to incense Reyland further, and he planted his hands on his hips. “I don’t know who gave you the impression you were invited, but this is a private meeting.”

“Really? ‘Cause the sign says public library.”

“He’s with me,” I said.

“With you, if you say so, but he’s not one of us.” Reyland raked his fingers through his hair. “A dyed-in-the-wool Decemite, sworn, Ascended—no. No. He can’t be trusted.”

“I trust him.” I grabbed Lock’s hand and squeezed it. “He went up against his own for us, when Ben’s base was under siege. He got us that gretha. He—”

“I’ll leave if you want me to,” said Lock. “But for me, this is personal. What I did out there, what she’s talking about—I did that so nobody would get hurt, Outsiders or Decemites. We shouldn’t have been fighting, so I put a stop to it. I—”

“Shouldn’t have been fighting!” Reyland bristled. “What would you know about—”

“I’m not done.” Lock’s lips went tight. “The half-measures, the compromises—those were my life. Damage control. Getting my folks to the Stars so my mom could breathe freer. Scaring off filchers so I wouldn’t have to shoot ‘em. But coming up here, seeing how it oughtta be...” He went to the window and stood gripping the ledge. “You’ve got pills for the Undercrud, clear it off in a month. Why can’t my mom get those? Why are we dying, when there’s so much to go around?”

Reyland sighed deeply and pressed his fingers to his temples. He looked tired and pale without his anger to sustain him.

“All right,” he said. “I don’t suppose it much matters, now you’ve seen my face. If you’d meant to betray us—”

“I wouldn’t.”

“Let’s get to it, then.” Reyland checked his watch and scowled. “I’ve news from the Dirt. Lazrad’s holding a Selection, not the yearly test, but a second round. Older kids. Ones who failed the first time.”

I shrugged, unsurprised. “She needs bodies to work her mines.”

“I wasn’t finished.” Reyland shot me a peevish look, all sharp and pinch-lipped. “Word is, the numbers she’s recruiting, she could mine enough rigur to build an army of Decemites—and that’s precisely what we believe she’s doing.” He stared me down, then Lock, eyes bright and searching. “She wants the mountains for herself, and the riverlands, and the gorge. That’s where the rigur is, and where the Outsiders make their homes.”

“She wants to eliminate the competition.” Lock’s voice caught, and he coughed.

“Not just the competition,” said Reyland. “Anyone who might oppose her. And once she does—once she does, there’ll be no stopping her.”

I felt the air go out of the room. I stood lightheaded, not breathing, blood pulsing behind my eyes. “How long? Before she can...?”

“She’d need the rigur first,” said Reyland. “And then she’d need to train them. But given their strength, even untrained, and the numbers she has in mind, she might not train them too hard. She might just—”

“Send enough she can lose half, and still—” Lock sat down heavily, cradling his head in his hands. “They’ll die. They’ll be—no amount of strength’ll save you with a smoke bomb in your face, all lost and choking, no idea how to protect yourself. They’ll get picked off like flies, just...”

“I know.” Reyland patted his arm. “This is where you come in. You’re going to get into Lazrad’s office, break into her computer, and find where she’s storing those nanobots.”

“No bots, no Decemites,” said Lock.

“No Decemites, no army.” Reyland smiled, tight lipped. I shook my head, frowning.

“Aren’t you forgetting something?”

“Forgetting something?” Reyland looked puzzled. “Oh, you mean security? I’ve—”

“I mean the Decemites already dying. Like him.” I gestured at Lock. “Like my sister. I thought we were going after the cure. That’s what you said. You promised—”

“I promised nothing.” Reyland squared up to me. His words came out angry, though his eyes were wild with fear. “Your mission’s Lazrad’s stores. Anything else’ll have to wait.”

“So that’s how it is.” I spun away, disgusted. “We’re still just Dirtbags. Cannon fodder for your crusade. As long as you get what you want—”

“No.” I thought Reyland might hit me, so vehement was his denial. He thumped the table instead, startling a shout from Lock. “Sorry,” he said. “But that’s not it at all. This isn’t about my unhappiness, or those families across the river, living in wealth’s shadow without a scrap for themselves. It’s not about Sky, at all.” He sank down next to Lock, and I’d have sworn he deflated, like a tire with the air let out. His jacket seemed too big for him, wrinkled around the middle.

“You think you’re a means to an end,” he said. “You, the Outsiders—you think I’m just using you to get what I want.”

“Aren’t you?”

Reyland got out a handkerchief and patted at his brow. He looked sick, I thought, drained of color. “I’m old now,” he said. “To