Fire & Soul by Siobhan Crosslin Read Free Book Online Page B

Brudeah presence, and your collars haven't been triggered? We bought and freed him when he was fourteen, and his one demand was that we find a way to deactivate your collars."
    "You're lying," I hiss, straightening and leaning away from him.
    "Why wouldn't he tell us?" Mikscn demands.
    "Because it took us till now to find a way to break your collars," Jye says, sighing. "And we can't even remove them fully until we get to Control. Of course Jheghda wouldn't want you to find out, and Cherian wanted to protect you."
    "You all lied?" I ask flatly. "Have been lying?" Our mentors knew this whole time?
    He nods. "We've been trying to protect you. Cherian's been making us wait until we knew for certain we could deactivate your collars safely."
    "What do you want with us?" Mikscn asks.
    Jye shifts back so he can see us both more easily and clasps his hands in his lap. "You're descendants of the scientists that created a database on the Project during the initial attack, before they were overwhelmed. The building that houses the database is on the original Brudeah homeworld, and can only be entered by a pair of descendants, that much we managed to find out. When we bought Cherian, we didn't know that a pair was needed until we took him to the planet and it didn't work. The security measures engaged and we almost lost a few people trying to get away."
    "If the Houses knew—"
    "They don't," he says sharply. "Cherian's purchase was made to look legitimate, and we waited a year for him to 'die' in an accident. There's no way they'd suspect that he's alive."
    "So Jheghda's been playing us this entire time," I say, rubbing my hands over my face.
    "Yes."
    "How are we supposed to believe you?" Mikscn asks. "Everything you've told us is a lie."
    "That's not true," Jye says. He smiles crookedly and runs his fingers down Mikscn's cheek. "Just … trust me as you have been."
    Mikscn glances at me, and I twitch my shoulder. I don't know anymore. Help the resistance? The possibility that Cherian's free is shadowed by the possibility that everyone I know and trust has been lying for six years.
    I just … I have nothing left to give. So I lean back and let Mikscn decide to trust Jye and believe that he's telling the truth this time.
    It doesn't take long to move the adjunct to a plains area. I watch dully from my spot on the adjunct's shoulder as the pirate ships descend from the sky, silver and sleek, bullet-like with thin black lines following their curves. Mikscn lets out a low, envious whistle.
    "They're gorgeous," he murmurs. "Sister ships?"
    "Mm." Jye reaches over and scrubs at my hair. My heart rises in my throat, something I can't identify choking me. "The Dreamdare and the Novasky . The Daystar 's taken off to retrieve your brother."
    "We'll see him soon?" Mikscn asks sharply.
    Jye nods. "I'll be able to tell you more after we've got the adjunct aboard."
    The docking bay hatch on one of the ships—the Dreamdare —opens and several people come striding down the expansive ramp. Jye scales down the front of the adjunct, and Mikscn follows closely. I stay where I'm perched, watching the strangers come closer.
    Jye hugs the man in front, and they chat for a few seconds before Mikscn tilts his head back to look up at me, his hand shading his eyes. There's a warm pulse of reassurance and I sigh and start the climb down, shivering occasionally at the cold press of wind against my skin.
    The man in front steps forward and holds out his hand. "You must be Temsha. I'm Bastien, captain of the Dreamdare ." He's definitely Inali, with black hair and eyes, though his hair is short and a little shaggy, with a multicolored shimmer glistening in his irises. It's highly unusual to see an Inali off-planet and not on Maedbh's business, and one with short hair at that.  He gestures to the man beside him, a man with blue eyes and long blond hair bound in a braid. "This is Ruadh, my boatswain and husband."
    "Nice to meet you," I murmur, glancing at the two men