Allies (Warriors of Karal Book 5) by Harmony Raines Read Free Book Online

Petra
     
    She felt as if she’d been hit in the chest, and it filled her with a panic that she struggled to contain. Almost unconsciously she lifted her hand and put it to the back of her neck where her tag was located. She desperately wanted to cut it out of her flesh. This thing that had been there all her life was potentially deadly.
    In the wrong hands, this information could mean the death of the human race. And her question was: were the Karal the wrong hands ? Maybe Darl wouldn’t ever use the tags against humans, but there must be other people, other doctors or scientists on Karal, that might.
    And what about her mother? Had she any knowledge of this before she fought to overthrow the President? Or was she as shocked as Petra at the potential decimation of humans? She felt sick to her stomach and wished there was a way she could contact her mother and discuss it with her. As they made their way through the building, Petra had never felt so isolated.
    “This is my room,” Niko said, his hand touching her back as they reached his door. His touch made her jump. She had been so deep in thought she’d almost forgotten where she was. And the look of concern that crossed his face, along with the sweeping wave of red across his skin, told her that he was concerned about her.
    “This is where you live?” Petra asked, trying to get her brain to function normally. She didn’t want to draw any undue attention to herself, especially as her thoughts were occupied with whether or not there was some way she could get back to Earth.
    “This is where I live, at the moment, while the missions are going ahead. My real home is way down in the south. It is too far for us to journey to now. When we return, that is where we will go and live. You’ll like it there, the sun is warm, as are the oceans.” He pushed the door open and a slight pressure on her back urged her to walk in.
    The rooms were small, but everything they needed was here. There was a small kitchen, with a small table and chairs for them to eat at. Then there was a sitting-room that also doubled as a bedroom. And off the sitting-room was a small bathroom. It was compact, that was for sure, but also comfortable, and she felt so weary, all she wanted to do was lie down and sleep.
    But to go to bed, might invite other, more intimate, actions, which she wasn’t ready for. All of the information she had received throughout the day swarmed around her brain like angry bees, and she needed time to process it.
    “Are you hungry?” Niko asked and headed towards the kitchen. He turned on the tap and filled a type of kettle with water, which he then placed on the stove top. “I could prepare us a light meal. It’s late afternoon now, so we can eat a light snack, then I can then cook a proper meal later.”
    “I’m starving,” she said, walking into the small kitchen and watching him as he opened cupboards and took out what looked like cookies, and some kind of fruit. It looked like a weird combination, but he set to work, filling two plates with cookies and a mountain of the fruit, which he peeled and diced. It looked a little like a melon, but it was harder and bright orange in colour. She’d never seen anything so brightly coloured that did not also contain loads of artificial colours and flavours.
    He fetched something from what she figured was a fridge. And placed it on the table too. Then he went to the stove and took the boiling water, pouring it into two mugs, into which he then added two heaped spoonfuls of the red powder. She wrinkled her nose as the powder turned the water red, making it look almost like blood. However, the smell coming from it was wonderful, like freshly ground coffee. The type that her mother treated herself to every morning.
    “There, why don’t you sit down?” He indicated one of the chairs and she did as he asked, her stomach growling in response to the sight of food. Taking one of the cookies, he placed some of the fruit on it, and