Species Traitor: A Science Fiction Dystopian Novel by Kate Mary (books to read to get smarter txt) 📕

And she wasn’t alone.

Kaitlin was holding a child, a girl who couldn’t be older than three but was gangly. The two were dancing and laughing, and the little girl’s yellow-orange eyes were shining with delight as Kaitlin spun in circles. Beside them stood a human woman with long, dark hair. She was dancing with a Veilorian man who towered over her, the two of them looking as free and happy as Kaitlin and the little girl.

I grabbed my cousin’s arm. “Is that Kaitlin Murray?”

Ione looked in the direction I nodded and smiled. “Yeah. She’s here a lot, actually. Not only is she in charge of the shipments coming into the District, but her daughter also happens to be married to a Veilorian.”

Which meant the half-human girl was her granddaughter.

“I had no idea,” I said.

It was the first time in hours I’d been focused on anything other than Finn, and it was a welcome distraction. And not just because I felt like he had crawled inside me, but because it was nice to know some people stood up for what they believed in.

“I have to pee!” Lena popped up out of nowhere, bouncing around the way she had when she was little and needed to use the bathroom.

Her eyes were sparkling in the candlelight and slightly unfocused, and I realized that in my distraction over Finn, I hadn’t been paying enough attention. It looked like Lena had taken advantage of the situation by getting more to drink. I’d have to pay closer attention to her when she got back.

“I’ll take her,” Ione said. “I could use a bathroom break myself.”

“I’ll be here,” I told my cousin then leaned closer to her and added, “Don’t let Lena drink more rum.”

“Seriously?” Ione rolled her eyes. “When has anyone been able to control Lena?”

Before I could respond, she’d grabbed my sister’s arm and pulled her away. In seconds, the crowd had engulfed them, and I turned my attention back to Finn. Then cursed myself when I found his eyes still on me.

Somehow, I managed to tear my gaze from his, but found it difficult to know what to focus on once I had. I glanced back to where I’d seen Kaitlin dancing with her granddaughter and found the older woman now deep in conversation with a Veilorian female. They looked to be about the same age even though the alien woman’s face was unlined, and I found myself wondering if this was the mother of the man Kaitlin’s daughter had married.

The thought had just gone through my head when movement that seemed somehow out of place caught my eye. A guard was in the crowd, talking to a couple Veilorians. His back was to me, making it impossible to see his face until he started ushering the people from the throng and away from the city center. Brentwood. His expression was strained, and his eyes were darting around, but he didn’t slow. Not even when his gaze briefly met mine.

I watched until he disappeared then found myself scanning the people around me. Something that felt a lot like dread had gathered in my gut at the expression on Brentwood’s face, but I couldn’t say why. The party goers all looked as at ease and happy as they had since I first arrived, and my rum-soaked brain couldn’t think of a single reason they wouldn’t be. It was a celebration, after all. The biggest one of the year for Veilorians.

Pushing my unease aside, I took another drink and once again found myself watching Finn. Who was, of course, still focused on me.

The jubilation in the District was so loud that at first no one noticed the other noises. Slowly, though, as if emerging from a morning fog, the sounds rose higher, and the cheerfulness of the celebration began to fade as more and more people became aware of the change.

At first, it was impossible to put a name to what I was hearing. It was like the roar of a sandstorm bearing down on the city or a swarm of desert bugs or something equally ominous, but as a hush fell over the crowd and the sounds grew louder and clearer, making it possible to hear it better, realization dawned.

They were voices. Dozens of them all shouting and yelling at once. There was something else, too, though. A pounding that made no sense. Like a drum but different and not as uniform. Still, there was something familiar about it.

Then it hit me. It was the pounding of feet. Dozens and dozens of feet running together. And they were getting closer.

I spun in a circle, my heart hammering violently as I searched the crowd for Lena and Ione. My sister and cousin hadn’t been gone long, but I wanted to make sure they hadn’t returned. Shock and fear registered on the faces of the people surrounding me, but none of them were familiar. Even Kaitlin Murray seemed to have disappeared. Good. I didn’t know where Ione had taken Lena, but I had to pray it was safe and they stayed there. If something happened to my sister, I would never forgive myself.

Bodies pushed against me as people began to panic. I stumbled forward, but falling was impossible thanks to the dense crowd. Still, that didn’t stop me from getting shoved again, then yet again in the opposite direction as people took off running. I spun in circles as I was pushed back and forth, trying to catch my bearing, trying to find a familiar face among the crowd, but everything was a blur. Even worse, the roar of the mob bearing down on us had gotten louder. I was too short to see if they’d arrived in the square, but I knew if they hadn’t yet, they would very soon. I had to get out of here. Had to get to safety. But I felt lost and trapped and totally disoriented.

Out of nowhere,