The Fear Trials by Lindsay Cummings Read Free Book Online Page B

dagger.
    â€œDid you know that there’s over a million people in the Shallows? A million places to hide . . .” There’s that crazy look in her eyes again. “ Someone, save me . . . your engine room is pretty far down there, isn’t it?”
    I shrug. “Sure, I guess.”
    â€œThat’s good.” She whirls the hammer again, then stops. Grips it hard in her hand and gives me a cold, deadly smile. “They won’t be able to hear you.”
    I don’t have time to run. She slams the hammer on my skull. I crumple.
    The last thing I hear, before the world fades to black, is Peri’s scream.

Chapter 18
    O ne time, when Koi and I were little, my mother brought home a rubber ball.
    We played with it all day, until Koi bounced it a little too hard and it disappeared into the street, sucked away by the crowd.
    â€œStay here,” he told me. “I’ll get it.”
    He got lost. My father ran the streets searching for him for hours. The only reason he found my brother is because Koi wanted to be found.
    So now, while I stand at the bow of the boat, sobbing as my father yells at me, all I can think is that Peri will not be found. Because Trace stole her, and there is a difference between being lost and being taken.
    â€œI’m sorry,” I say. Over and over. Over and over.
    â€œIt’s my fault! I let the girl on board!” My mother stands in front of me, shielding me from my father.
    He paces around the cabin, uncovering hidden weapons. Stuffing them into a bag. “Meadow never should have spoken to her in the first place. People in this world are poison. Friendship is poison. It is all a lie.” He pauses by the door. “I’m going after Peri. No one leaves this boat until I return.”
    I follow him out onto the deck.
    â€œLet me come,” I beg him. There are tears in my eyes and I don’t wipe them away. I deserve this shame. “I can help! Please.”
    He shakes his head. “You’ve done enough already, Meadow.” He climbs over the railing and starts down the ladder. When he lands in the dinghy, he looks back up at me. “First your brother. And now you.”
    â€œDon’t . . .” I choke back a sob. “Don’t say that.”
    He pushes away from the houseboat. “Go inside, and pray that your sister isn’t dead.”
    I watch him until he disappears. Then I turn and head for the cabin. As I swing open the door, something stops it halfway.
    My father’s dagger.
    I stoop to pick it up. Inside, Koi is consoling my mother. I can hear her muffled sobs.
    They won’t notice if I leave now.
    I rush back on deck to my father’s tackle box, lift the lid, and rummage inside until I find what I’m looking for. It’s his old leather thigh sheath, the one he had as a boy. It fits my leg perfectly. I tuck the dagger inside, then turn and look out to shore.
    The sky rumbles. Lightning cracks in the distance, lighting up the tallest building in the city. A storm is coming.
    â€œI’m sorry,” I whisper, whether to Peri or my father or myself, I don’t know.
    Then I take a deep breath, leave my fear behind, and dive into the waves.

Chapter 19
    I sprint the entire way to the city. I pass a group gathered in the middle of the street. For a second, I’m terrified it’s Peri. That she’s dead, and it’s my fault.
    I shove my way to the front, my heart in my throat. But it’s only a boy being beaten to death by Initiative guards, his back a bloody mess. I wonder what he did wrong. I wonder why I care.
    I run up and down the street, calling her name, checking in every alleyway, every building, every dark, shadowed corner that Trace might have chosen to hide in. I check again. She’s nowhere to be found.
    Finally, when the rain comes, I find myself sitting on the steps of our old apartment building. Staring up at the rain as it pelts my face. Wishing I’d never