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

“That’s not going to happen.”

“Ava—”

I cut him off by lifting my hand. “Ione is my cousin, but there’s more to it than that. I don’t hate the visitors. I don’t think they’re a threat to us, and I’m not going to pretend I do. If anything, it’s humans who are the threat to them.”

“You’re not thinking this through,” Dean said. “Things are already bad, but after yesterday, they’re going to get even more dangerous.”

“What do you mean?” I asked, his words distracting me from what I’d planned to say.

He shoved his hand through his hair. “Maybe I shouldn’t be telling you this, but there are whispers. Rumors that have validity.”

“About?” I prompted.

“The kid who got out of the District. People are furious, as you can guess, but there’s something else. Yesterday, about the same time he would have been roaming the city, there was an attack.” Dean paused and licked his lips, looking around nervously. “A thirteen-year-old girl was raped and killed. They found her body in an alley. People are blaming this kid. This Veilorian.”

“That’s ridiculous!” I shouted, then lowered my voice when a nearby woman looked my way and frowned. “Arch went out to find medicine because Mayor Waters cut their supplies. They’re running out of everything inside the District.”

“I’m only telling you what I’ve heard.” Dean lifted his hands like he was trying to calm me down, but the expression in his eyes made me uneasy. It was hard. Cold. “Things were already heating up, but after this, they’re going to get dangerous. You can’t keep risking your life by going into the District.”

“Well, I’m not going to stop seeing my cousin, if that’s what you’re suggesting.”

“Ava, I’m only trying to keep you safe.”

He reached for me, but I pulled away.

“That’s the other thing we need to talk about.” I took a step back, putting more space between us. “I’m not your girlfriend, Dean. I’ve had fun, but calling me your girlfriend…”

His eyes clouded over. “This is about that half-Veilorian, isn’t it? Finn.”

“What?” I flushed involuntarily, thinking about sleeping beside Finn, but tried to hide it. “No. This is about us. I’m just trying to be honest.”

Dean studied my face, relaxing after a second. “Yeah, okay.” He let out a nervous chuckle. “I didn’t actually mean to call you my girlfriend. It just kind of popped out, and there was nothing I could do about it.”

“Yeah,” I said, even though it didn’t matter to me one way or the other. I’d already made up my mind.

“We’re okay, then?” he asked.

“Did you vote for her?” The words came out unbidden, but I realized I had to know. Needed to know for sure who I’d allowed to kiss and hold me.

A mask seemed to cover Dean’s face, making it impossible to tell what he was thinking. “Do you really want to talk about this here?”

It was all the answer I needed, but since I’d never known when to keep my mouth shut, I couldn’t stay quiet. “I don’t think there will be another time to talk about it, to be honest.”

His eyebrows furrowed in confusion, but only for a second, then realization dawned on him and the expression was replaced by one of anger. “You’re really going to dump me just because I voted differently than you?”

“You know that isn’t why,” I said, working to remain calm. “My cousin lives in there. She’s pregnant.”

Dean leaned closer, lowering his voice so the next words hissed from between his teeth. “With a halfling.”

I jerked away from the venom in his voice, afraid it would poison me.

“I can’t believe I fell for your bullshit act,” I said. “I should have known you were just as much of a bigot as all those other people.”

“You’re blind, Ava. Blind to who they really are and what they’re really doing to us. Don’t get pissed at me because you’re too much of a fool to see it with your own eyes.” Dean snorted. “If it wasn’t for the alien scum living behind those walls, my sister would be alive, and don’t think I can forget that.”

“Now who’s blind?” I spit back. “If you and your father had been more supportive, your sister would still be alive, and you know it.”

His face scrunched up, his lips puckering like he was going to spit, and he growled, “Screw you, Ava.”

“Whatever,” I said, shaking my head.

Dean turned his back on me, waving over his shoulder as he walked away. “See you at the gate. Just pray you don’t need help again anytime soon.”

I shivered, knowing I might and also knowing he wouldn’t hesitate to leave me to be bludgeoned to death. Damn. I just wished he wasn’t headed to work now.

Chapter Nineteen

My head was down when I turned the corner, my long, dark hair a curtain around my face and my bag pulled up high on my shoulder like it would somehow protect me even though I knew it couldn’t do a damn thing. I didn’t know if any of the picketers would be able to identify me as the person who’d rushed to Arch’s aid yesterday, but I wasn’t taking any chances. Not with how volatile things had gotten. Dean had been right on that account, but I didn’t think even he could have foreseen things getting so heated so fast.

There were twice as many people as usual, all of them holding signs and shouting, only not in unison this time. The voices rose over the sounds of the city, combining and making it nearly impossible to pick out more than a few words. What I could catch made anger surge through me.

Acting casual wasn’t easy when all I wanted to do was scream at these people to stop being so narrowminded, but I worked hard to keep my head down and my pace normal. Not too slow—I didn’t want it to look like I was planning something—but not fast enough to draw any