Girl From Above #4: Trust by Pippa DaCosta Read Free Book Online Page A

feel the warmth radiating off him. I considered placing my hands on his chest, and my breath snagged in anticipation. These responses weren’t logical, yet that didn’t make my feelings any less real.
    He tipped my chin up, his fingers hot against my skin, and said, “All you gotta do is ask.”
    But I wouldn’t use him like that, like so many others had. I turned my face away and stepped aside. His brow furrowed slightly, from disappointment, regret? I recalled the last few moments, going over them again. I’d wanted to protect him from my selfish desires, but my denial had somehow had the opposite effect.
    He brushed by me, sending a cascade of data spilling through my internal processes.
    His forlorn expression was gone by the time I joined him in the main room. He quickly dressed in plain black pants and a gray sweatshirt and headed for the door.
    “I brought a new toy back to the Island. A ship. I’d like you to run your analytical eyes over her.”
    An alarm sounded, shrill and persistent. Caleb’s wrist comms buzzed. He tapped open the link and opened the door.
    Bren’s tinny voice sounded via Caleb’s comms. “They’re summoning us to the assembly room,” Bren said, then added, “All of us. Including One.”
    “Do you know why?” Caleb asked as we strode into the corridor.
    “There’s a Chitec-designated ship approaching Mimir airspace. Looks like we have some oncoming orders, Brother.”
----
    T he captain and I entered the assembly room. Filtered windows stretched along one wall, framing a fantastic panoramic view of the permanent lightning storm raging outside. I might have enjoyed it more had Doctor Lloyd not been present.
    Caleb’s vitals spiked. My hard processes quieted and my sights targeted Doctor Lloyd. He sprang to his feet and glanced toward the exits, but Bren carefully inserted himself between Caleb and me and the doctor.
    “We need him,” Bren said.
    We? I didn’t need him, and Caleb’s glare confirmed the same for himself.
    If Caleb lunged, however, I’d stop him. James Lloyd’s death would be mine.
    “Sit down,” Bren snapped at James.
    The doctor jolted and eased himself into a chair as far away from us as possible. He watched us from the edge of his seat, eyes darting.
    “Why the fuck is he here?” Caleb demanded, veering toward his brother.
    I moved to the windows and admired both the storm and the brothers’ reflections. Silent lightning snapped, streaking great fissures through the churning mix of grays and blacks.
    “Because he notified Chitec of One’s presence on Mimir.”
    As soon as the words had left Bren’s mouth, Caleb stilled. He was reining himself in and doing a far better job of it than I had. He turned away from Bren and James and prowled around the room. His heart raced, his body flushed with a different kind of desire, one I coveted: the desire for vengeance.
    The door behind Lloyd opened and Fran sauntered in. She pulled out a chair, slumped into it, and kicked her boots up onto the table. Whether she knew she’d strategically placed herself in a chair between Caleb and me, I couldn’t be sure, but her green eyes slid questioningly to me. The last time I’d seen her, she’d been begging Caleb not to leave her on the prison planet. She’d gained a scar since then and looked at me with lean fierceness. She’d once accused me of being a threat to Caleb and Starscream. She was a liar and a traitor, but I could appreciate Fran’s methods, from one killer to another.
    Every member of the Starscream crew was here. Bedraggled and exhausted to the point of breaking, but together nonetheless.
    “Chen Hung is a synthetic,” I said. Now was the perfect time to lay the truth out for all to hear.
    Caleb stopped his pacing, surprise apparent on his face. “How long?”
    What he’d really asked was, “Who killed Haley?” He already knew the answer.
    “Chen Hung made the first synthetic in his own image. That synthetic killed its maker, stole Chen