The Last Days of Lorien by Pittacus Lore Read Free Book Online Page B

her, I bit my tongue, replaced the last of the faulty wires and closed the front of the control panel before gearing up to make my descent back to the ground.
    Devektra made no motion to leave.
    “Don’t you have a show to prepare for?” I asked.
    “Nah,” she said, leaning against the entrance and staring at me with a tough, inscrutable smile. “I just came here for a fitting. I’m not playing again ‘til the Quartermoon.”
    “Ah,” I said, throwing the kit over my shoulder.
    “You should come,” she said.
    I looked up, surprised by the offer and wondered if she was pulling my leg. She had been making fun of me this whole time, right?
    Her smile widened. It was like she knew the effect she had on me.
    Of course she knows , I remembered, kicking myself. She can read my mind.
    She winked, turned, and walked away without another word. I just dangled there, hanging dumbly from my dumb pole.
    Even if she’d been serious, which I wasn’t so sure about—being a mind reader must have its perks—there was no way I’d ever be able to take her up on the invitation. I wasn’t allowed to leave the LDA campus after dark, for one, and plus, I’d never be able to get into the Chimæra after the debacle of last time.
    Of course, Devektra knew all those things. I’d almost let myself believe she was for real.

CHAPTER 7
    When I reached the bottom of Eilon’s Hill, I found Rapp locked in serious-looking conversation with a Mentor Cêpan I’d never met before.
    “This is Daxin.” Rapp introduced me as I approached. The guy didn’t seem all that interested in meeting me, but I waved a halfhearted greeting anyway. He ignored it.
    “I need to commandeer your transport for the rest of the day,” said Daxin. “Something’s come up and I don’t have time to get back to LDA.”
    “Sure,” I said, shrugging. “Take it. We’ll just finish our grid maintenance on foot and then walk back after.” I was annoyed by the prospect of the long walk back to the academy, but wasn’t going to let them see it.
    “He can’t take the Egg without one of us,” explained Rapp. “We’re the ones programmed on today’s manifest; the ignition won’t start unless one of us is at the wheel.”
    Apparently feeling the situation had been sufficiently explained, Daxin made his way to the Egg and hopped into the passenger seat. Rapp seemed to sense my confusion. “I volunteered you to accompany him.”
    “Why me and not you?” I wouldn’t admit it to Rapp, but I was bummed. I had actually been starting to enjoy my grid repair work.
    “Because we’ve still got five sectors and eight patches to cover, and my completion rate is faster than yours.”
    I balked. “No, I did one and you did one—”
    Rapp interrupted me. “I’ve done three . I just came back to retrieve the Egg and that’s when I saw Daxin.”
    He’d finished three ? Had I really been that slow? I was going to have to start actually paying attention in my classes if I didn’t want to look like an idiot.
    “This way we may still stand a chance of getting through our list by day’s end.”
    “Okay,” I said, feeling strangely disappointed.
    “There’ll be other grid maintenance days,” said Rapp.
    “Yeah,” I said. “I know. Next time I’ll be faster.”
    I left him and climbed into the Egg. I’d driven it around the LDA’s campus before, but this was my first time piloting it for real, and I felt a funny surge of excitement. I mean, it’s not the biggest thing to pilot it since it does most of the work on its own, but still. It’s a big flying egg, what’s not fun about that?
    The doors closed behind me with a whoosh.
    It was only once I took my seat that I became aware of the weird vibe Daxin was giving off. He was urgent and fidgety, and I was pretty sure I saw a line of sweat forming on his brow.
    “Where to?” I asked.
    “We’re going out west of the Malkan Kabarak,” he said. “You can just tell the Egg to stop there. We’ll cover the