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

a cool hand clamped down on my arm, and I shrieked, lashing out instinctively as I spun toward whoever had grabbed me.

“Ava,” Finn said, stopping my fist inches from slamming into his chest. “Are you okay?”

His gaze swept over me as if scanning for injuries.

I had to swallow before I could say, “I’m okay. Ione and Lena are gone, though. They went to the bathroom.”

“Rye went to look for them. He told me to get you.”

Something like pain twisted my insides at the thought that Finn had only come to my aid because his cousin told him to, but then I saw the expression in his eyes, the fear and concern on his face, and I knew it wasn’t true. He would have come for me either way.

“What’s happening? I’m too short to see anything.”

“I think the mob broke through the gate.” Finn looked up, over my head and the crowd, and his eyes darkened. “They’re armed with clubs and sticks. They look crazy.” I whimpered, and his focus returned to me. “We have to go. Now.”

Before I could respond, he’d started moving, elbowing his way through the throng of people as he pulled me after him. His grip was tight but not painful, and his steps steady. Just like he was.

The crowd was a blur of fear and panic. Parents clinging to children rushed by, their faces masks of fear, their cheeks stained with tears. I felt like a child myself, both because of the way the crowd swallowed me up and because of my inability to get my terror in check. The fear wasn’t just for me, though. It was for my sister and cousin, for Rye and Finn, and for every Veilorian I passed who was at risk of being beaten to death by the angry mob bearing down on us.

Occasionally, a break in the crowd afforded me a glimpse of the very people we were running from. Compared to the Veilorians, the humans who’d raided the District looked worn and ragged, their rage making them appear dark and sinister. But it wasn’t just the mob I caught sight of. The guards were here as well, mixed in among the crowd but doing very little to stop the madness. A couple times I caught sight of a uniformed man subduing a human, but more often than not the guards were merely watching the whole thing unfold. It reminded me of what Dean had said to me at the gate, of the warning Brentwood had issued. Had they known this was going to happen? Had they allowed the mob to get the upper hand?

I didn’t want to think about it.

Finn broke through the thickest part of the crowd and pulled me down a street. Behind us, screams rang through the air and echoed off the buildings, and I looked back, trying to figure out what was happening. I couldn’t see a thing.

Finn pulled harder, forcing me to keep moving as he charged down another road then turned again, leading me deeper into the District and away from the square.

“Where are we going?” I huffed.

“Somewhere safe,” was his only reply.

Two figures, both Veilorian, rushed from a street in front of us, followed quickly by a few humans. The men were holding clubs, just like Finn had said, and they were hot on the aliens’ trail.

Finn pushed me against the wall, curling his large body around mine as he waited for the people to disappear.

Imprisoned by his heat, I found myself staring up at him. His face was close to mine, but turned away, his eyes focused on the road in front of us. Still, I studied him. I’d never been this close to him before, never noticed the one-inch scar below his right ear or the way the corners of his mouth turned down slightly.

“They’re gone,” he said less than a minute later, almost to himself.

Without looking at me, he grabbed my arm and took off running again.

I kept up with him somehow, but it wasn’t easy. He was so much taller than I was, his strides so much longer, that by the time he pushed me down a narrow, dark alley and forced me to kneel, my calves were burning.

Finn followed me into the tight space, pulling a crate in behind us.

“We should be okay here,” he said, kneeling.

I was gasping, so it took a second to collect myself enough to say, “Why didn’t we go to your house?”

Finn looked my way for the first time since we’d fled the square. “I was afraid they might go there looking for me. They could have information that would tell them where all the halflings in the District live.” His expression darkened when he said the word. “If they do, going to my house would put us in even more danger.”

“What makes you think that’s why they’re here?”

Finn looked away. “Just a hunch.”

He was lying, but before I could call him out on it, footsteps pounded down the street.

Finn stiffened and scooted closer to me, although I wasn’t sure if he was aware of the gesture because his eyes were focused on the road. Only a little was visible from our hiding place, but it was enough to see Brentwood when he appeared.

He was running, a Veilorian child in his arms while he held the hand of another who couldn’t be more than eight. Behind him, a group of a half a dozen aliens and half-humans of all ages followed, their expressions more terrified than I had ever seen.

What the hell was happening?

They were gone before I could come to a conclusion, moving out of sight and their footsteps fading to nothing only moments later. Finn, who’d watched it all happen in silence, looked at me. I shrugged, as confused as he was.

He shifted closer when more footsteps broke the silence, and a few seconds later, a group of guards came into view. There were three of them, and even with his face shielded by a helmet, I recognized Dean.

“You