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

serious. What was worse, I didn’t have anywhere to go the way Ione had. She’d risked it all to be with the man she loved, but I didn’t have that. If Mom kicked me out, I’d be even more dependent on the government than I was now, and that was assuming they’d help. If I was lucky, I’d get a room in a crowded halfway house with a bunch of other burnouts, but more than likely I’d end up on the streets.

“I won’t see her again,” I said, my voice low.

“Good.” Mom turned away but had only taken two steps before she looked back. “Set a good example for your sister, Ava. Lena is still young and impressionable. She needs to know what’s important in this world, and she looks to you as much as she looks to me for answers. Show her what’s right.”

I didn’t move even after she’d disappeared, and the viewing screen was once again blasting through the house. Even the animated voice of Mayor Waters couldn’t erase what my mother had just said. Out of everything, that last sentence stood out.

Show her what’s right.

The truth of that statement rang loud and clear. I was the only person in Lena’s life who could teach her what was important. No one else would do it, and if I backed down now, either out of fear or selfishness, what would that make me? A coward.

The next day, I put my fury at my mother aside and sat in the living room with her—a good distance between us—as the news covered the new mayor heading into the District. She was flanked by soldiers, something that seemed like overkill considering the Veilorians had no weapons, and for the first time in history, hover cameras were allowed inside the walls to document the proceedings.

They panned around, giving viewers a good look at the District, and at my side, Mom gasped. “It’s so clean. So nice.”

“Veilorians don’t believe in waste,” I said automatically.

“Or supporting themselves,” she grumbled before taking a big drink.

“Who do you think built all that?” I shot back and angrily gestured toward the screen. “Humans didn’t, that’s for damn sure. The Veilorians have worked to build everything they have inside the District.”

“With our castoffs.” Mom sniffed like she’d come up with the perfect comeback.

I didn’t remind her that those castoffs would have just been tossed into the wastelands if it wasn’t for the Veilorians. There was no point trying to be reasonable, and I knew it.

Turning my attention back to the screen, I watched as Mayor Waters stopped in front of a group of five Veilorians. A tall, lithe woman stood at the front of the pack with three men and another woman behind her. They were all regal and proud looking, and all gorgeous, but the woman at the front seemed to shine compared to the others. She had the same pale skin as every other Veilorian, and that, combined with her nearly white-blonde hair, made her look almost angelic. Her locks had been twisted into a thick coil and draped over her shoulder, hanging nearly to her waist, and she had bright amethyst eyes. There was also something vaguely familiar about her. Something I couldn’t quite put my finger on.

Mom gasped when she saw the woman and leaned closer as if trying to inspect her.

I knew she’d seen the visitors when they first arrived. I had snippets of memories of standing in a crowd, perched on my father’s shoulders as a group of Veilorians were led through the city so they could meet with human officials to discuss integration. Mom had been there as well, as excited by the new arrivals as the rest of the crowd. But that was years ago, twenty-two now, and as far as I knew, she hadn’t seen a single Veilorian since integration failed and they’d been banished to the District.

“It’s her,” she said, barely loud enough for me to hear.

As much as I didn’t want to talk to her, I couldn’t stop myself from asking, “Who?”

Mom’s head jerked my way, her eyes wide with surprise like she’d either forgotten I was here or hadn’t realized she’d uttered the words out loud. “What?”

“You said ‘it’s her.’ Who is it?”

“No one,” she said a little too fast, shaking her head. “It doesn’t matter.”

She went back to watching the viewing screen, but her body didn’t relax. She was as rigid as a board, her back stiff and her shoulders tight. I watched her about as closely as I watched the mayor being led around the District, and Mom never took her eyes off the screen. She didn’t relax, either. If anything, she grew stiffer every time the camera zoomed in on the beautiful Veilorian woman.

Mom recognized her, I realized. But how? Why? There had been two years of integration efforts before things got bad, and I’d heard stories about Veilorians visiting the homes of humans during that time. Some had even formed relationships, and not just romantic ones. Friendships, too, had been common.

Unfortunately, crimes against the visitors had been more common, which had led to integration efforts failing and eventually to the creation of the District. It was supposed to have been a short-term plan, a place for the Veilorians to live and stay safe as they were slowly integrated into society, but the years stretched on, and no more efforts to mix our two species were made. Now, twenty-two years later, it looked like it was never going to happen.

The tour ended, and Mayor Waters was escorted from the District by her guards, a tablet in hand and a smile on her face. Once she was back among her people and the newly repaired gate shut, she wasted no time addressing the hover cameras.

“As promised, I’ve met with the Veilorian officials and acquired numbers from their most recent census.” Her expression changed, turning grave. “To say the numbers are shocking is putting it mildly. The number of humans and halflings living in