“Can we walk around? I never get to leave campus. Show me something…amazing.”
“Amazing?” Adam laughed. “Well, you’re an easy date.”
“I’m millions of miles from home, and I haven’t seen anything but the inside of my dorm. There has to be something cool. Something different. An animal. A weird tree. Anything.”
“The four moons hanging in the sky isn’t enough for you?”
She laughed. “Fair.”
Adam thought for a minute. “I think I know something. It’s totally unique to Bellaton, but it’s kind of hit or miss.” He led her beyond the beach and up the rocks to a flat plateau. “Okay, now cover your eyes.”
“Adam—”
He cocked his head and turned his bottle green eyes on her, a smile playing across his lips. “Trust me?”
Her heart skipped a beat, and she closed her eyes.
He took her arm and led her gently forward. “Big step.”
She stepped and felt around for a foothold. She overshot and, for one brief second, felt like she would fall. But Adam steadied her. They stopped moving.
“Adam,” she giggled. “Can I open them now?”
“Not yet,” he whispered.
She could feel his warm breath on her neck.
“Okay. Now,” he said.
She opened her eyes. She was standing on the edge of a cliff overlooking the ocean. In the distance, a whale-like creature broke through the waves. Its back was the size of a pirate ship and glowed blue and purple. It dipped back into the water and surfaced again with another by its side.
Ana gasped.
“It’s a nova whale.”
“Because of the colors,” she murmured.
“Exactly. The colors are related to the salinity of the water and the microbial life, but I can’t remember all the details. Do you like it?”
“It’s beautiful.”
They stood for a moment, looking at the ocean, and then at each other. Ana felt her heartbeat hammer in her chest. Should she kiss him?
He looked away. “Are you, um, ready to head back?”
“Sure.” She couldn’t help but feel a little disappointed.
As they started forward, their hands brushed together. Adam reached out and took her hand in his, lacing his fingers through hers. She smiled. Together, they made their way back to the beach. Ana wanted some birthday cake, or whatever passed as such here. Her sweet tooth was in overdrive.
As they returned to the beach, a scream pierced the night sky. Ana and Adam whipped around, just in time to see a boy falling from the rocks. He landed twenty feet below with a sickening thud. One of his legs bent at an unnatural angle. It was the nineteen-year-old Baylan Arkwright.
Across the beach, his boyfriend dropped the cups he was holding and ran over. He fell to his knees next to him, preparing to cradle his head in his lap. “Bay! Baylan, are you okay?”
Lauren Fleur stepped in and grabbed him. “No. You can’t move him. You could hurt him worse.”
As Ana watched the terrible scene unfold, she couldn’t help but wonder, Did Baylan fall? Or was he pushed?
A drone zipped through the cloudless sky, shining a bright light down on the beach scene.
Zane stood on a boulder and shouted to the party crowd, “Drones! Grab everything you can. We have to get out of here now.”
Kids began to scramble—grabbing cups, blankets, and chairs. Some didn’t bother. They just started running.
Ana wasn’t moving; she was still staring at the boy on the ground. His boyfriend had collapsed into sobs, and Lauren Fleur was patting his back.
Adam grabbed her arm. “C’mon, Halt.”
She resisted. “We can’t leave them like this.”
“But what can we do?”
Ana wasn’t sure, but she felt inextricably drawn to the boy. As if, somehow, she could help him.
Lights flooded the beach as a small hovercraft made its way overhead.
Adam pulled at her again. They were among the last kids left on the beach. Nearly everyone had abandoned poor Baylan—only his boyfriend and Lauren remained.
A large open-doored craft hovered overhead, and Ana knew, unless she wanted to stay and answer questions, it was time to go. She and Adam ran hand in hand. Her heart pounded against her chest for a different reason now. Someone was following them. Lights shone at their backs.
What if she were caught? Could she be blamed for what had happened here tonight? She was the only one without a family to protect her.
She could see the shadows of other stragglers ahead. Adam pulled her away from the other kids, forcing their pursuers to divide. At least there were fewer people to lose now.
Ana wished she knew the area better. She followed Adam. He was much faster than her, artfully dodging plants, rocks, and dips in the ground. He could have easily outpaced her if he had wanted to. Instead, he kept pace with her.
“Where are we going?” Ana panted. Her calf muscles were on fire. She hadn’t run this far in a long time.
“Campus. The long way. We’ll lose them in the grove.”
Ana had never been to the grove, a canopied area of trees just outside the campus and a notorious make out spot. This wasn’t the way she had wanted to visit.
The grove had enormous intertwined roots and trunks made of many smaller parts. They formed an intricate pattern with spaces of tight canopy and dripping leaves. Inside, Ana heard strange bird calls and spotted glowing worms in the trees. They stood still for a second and hid behind a wide trunk.
For a moment, all seemed safe. And then, a lone flashlight beam turned into the grove. Adam held a finger to his lips. Ana tried to keep her breathing steady. To her own ears, it sounded like a train coming into the station.
The light grew closer. Whoever it was wasn’t giving up.
Adam whispered, “Stay here. I’ll lead them off.”
She started to protest.
“I’m faster. You sneak out after and head for the wall.”
“Okay,” she said, nodding.
He mouthed one, two, three, and then broke from the brush and ran toward the light. The plan worked. Footsteps and the beam of light followed Adam from the grove.
Ana was left in darkness. She waited before fleeing to the other side of the grove, treading blindly through the root system. She came close to tripping once or twice but made it out unscathed. The glow of four moons lit her path.
She followed the wall, staying slow and quiet, sticking to the shadows. She reached the old outpost near the training fields and made her way up and over. She stepped out onto the campus grounds.
Home free, she thought.
And then someone shone a light straight in her face. “You are out of bounds.”
17
A Rat
Ana waited in the headmistress’s office. She wasn’t alone. Two other stragglers from the beach party were here—a boy around fourteen and a girl with fire-engine-red hair. She kept waiting to see if more kids would pass through the door. She hoped Adam wouldn’t be one of them.
He held the Rockwell obstacle course record this semester, and he was a fast-talker. She had a feeling she wouldn’t be seeing him again this evening.
What she couldn’t figure out was how she had gotten caught. With Adam as a decoy, no one was around. They were halfway around the campus and nowhere near the beach. What were the odds that a teacher would just be waiting on the other side of the wall?
Ana fidgeted in her upright chair and waited for the headmistress to arrive and dole out her punishment. The waiting dragged on and on. The restless students moved uncomfortably in their seats, though no one dared leave.
The redhead whispered, “Does anyone know what happened to Baylan?”
The young guy looked around before answering. “No. Nothing. I hope he’s okay.”
Ana had almost forgotten about Baylan and the terrible accident. She had been too caught up in the adrenaline of escaping. Now she raised her head in interest to look at the oth
ers. “The boy who fell from the outcropping?” she asked.
The girl nodded.
“Rob Noble and Lauren Fleur stayed with him. I couldn’t see if he was…okay though.” What she meant was, she couldn’t see if he was alive, but it seemed too cruel to say out loud. Thirty feet was a long way to fall.
The room fell back into silence.
Half an hour later, a shaken Lauren Fleur arrived. Behind her was the headmistress. She stormed in, and they all fell silent. The redhead sat up straight in her chair, as though good posture might save her from the headmistress’s wrath. The younger boy mirrored the behavior, but his hands shook in his lap. Ana wondered just how much trouble they were in.
Headmistress Whys’s mouth was tight, and her posture combative. “Baylan Arkwright has been badly injured. The medical care staff is doing everything they can, but I’ll be honest. It doesn’t look good.”
The redhead burst into tears. The younger boy’s eyes widened. Lauren closed her eyes for a long moment.
The headmistress continued. “I need to know everything that happened tonight. I need to know who was at the party, who was with Baylan, and if anyone saw the fall.”
Together, they filled in the details of what had happened. Ana was careful not to give any names she didn’t have to, especially Adam’s. She told the headmistress about the argument that had taken place before the fall and the graffiti.
Finally, when all was told, the headmistress gave them all a long, hard look. “As far as I am concerned, this was an unfortunate, tragic accident. Each of your advisers will be notified, and punishments doled out. Speak of this to no one. Is that clear?”
They nodded. Her eyes said “expulsion.”
“Now, I think it is high past time you all returned to bed, don’t you?”
That night, as Ana lay in bed, she thought of Baylan. She felt guilt in the pit of her stomach as though, somehow, she could have done more to help him. And yet, she knew there was nothing she could do. Right?
The following morning, Ana collapsed into her usual chair next to Adam at breakfast. Her hair was pulled into a short, messy ponytail, and her eyes were red. She had only gotten three or four hours of sleep last night between the headmistress’s inquiry and Madame Bali’s mandatory morning routine.
Sleeping in would have tipped Madame Bali off to what had happened the night before, and Ana had no plans to tell her. She’d leave that to the headmistress. Madame Bali was a grenade, and Ana wasn’t going to be the one to pull the pin.
Adam looked surprised. “You okay? You look, um, not yourself.”
That was his diplomatic way of saying she looked like crap. “I had a long night,” she said, flagging down the dining room attendant.
He pushed the silver cart over.
“Coffee, please,” she said.
The attendant set out a small china cup and filled it with dark, piping-hot liquid. “Anything else, miss?”
“Leave the pot,” she said.
Adam raised an eyebrow. “What happened last night? You didn’t get caught, did you?”
“I made it all the way over the wall, where you showed me. It seemed like the coast was clear and then all of a sudden, a teacher came out of nowhere. Hauled me off to the headmistress’s office.”
Adam frowned. “That’s weird. I lost my tail a mile in and was able to drop out of sight. I didn’t see anyone else on the grounds. I was sure you were home free.”
Ana took a long draught from her coffee cup and set it back down with a clank. “You know, it was weird. It was almost like they were waiting for me.”
“Hmm. So, what’s your punishment?”
“I don’t know yet. The headmistress was mostly interested in what happened to Baylan.”
“Ophelia talked to Holden this morning. According to Lauren, Baylan pulled through.”
Ana sighed in relief. “Thank God. Any word on what caused the fall?”
Adam leaned in. “He told his adviser he fell, but I saw him shove that Fleur boy in the hallway this morning. Holden had to pull them off of each other.”
“Is Holden okay?” Ana asked quickly.
Adam chuckled. “Yeah, he’s fine. That Fleur kid is no match for him. Besides, they were in the hallway. Nobody wanted to get in more trouble.” He lowered his voice. “Speaking of, I’m sorry I got you in trouble.”
Ana waved his concerns away. “It’s not your fault. I wanted to go. Besides”—she glanced down at her coffee—“I had fun until the accident.”
He took her hand and looked her square in the eyes. “Me too. Next time, let’s go somewhere during the daytime.”
Next time. Her heart fluttered.
* * *
That evening, Ana lay on the couch with her feet kicked back in the air. She was staring at her infotab, trying to concentrate on her homework. Instead, she was thinking about the beach party. Finally, she gave up. She tossed the infotab on the rug and let out a frustrated stream of air.
“Problem?” Samuel asked from his perch at the kitchen counter. He was reading a worn paperback copy of Discrete Mathematics: Rediscovered. Something he had bought on Earth, she guessed. Paperback books were very rare on Bellaton. Only very old or very special things were printed. Yet, somehow, he seemed to have an endless supply.
“I just can’t figure it out,” she grumbled.
“I’m happy to help if you’re stuck.”
“It’s not homework.”
He raised an eyebrow. “Oh?”
“It’s about the party.”
“Ah.” He set his book down.
“I don’t understand how they caught me.”
“We both know you’re kind of a slow runner,” he said, his lip threatening to twitch into a smirk.
“Very funny. But seriously, out of all of those kids, why me? It’s like they knew where I would be.”
A momentary darkness passed over Samuel’s features, and he rose from his chair. “Lift your hair,” he instructed.
She obliged, and he gently trailed his cool fingers along the nape of her neck. A little shiver went down her spine. “What are you doing?” she asked.
“Looking for a tracker. It could be very small. Flesh colored, like a mole or a blemish.”
A tracker? Like people put on dogs and wildlife? She began to run her hands over her arms and legs, searching for anything out of the ordinary.
Samuel gripped her wrist. “Where did you get this bracelet?” he demanded.
She grimaced. “It was a welcome gift,” she admitted. She unclasped the bracelet and handed it to him.
He turned it over in his hands, inspecting it with care. “From which family?” he asked.
“The Jacobses.” She should have tossed it out the minute she saw it. As if they wanted to give her a gift.
A silent storm raged across his face, and his eyes flashed in the inhuman way they usually did in the darkness. She had never seen him so angry before. He held up a finger to his lips to silence her. Then he tossed the bracelet on the ground and smashed it under his boot. He picked up the broken pieces and threw them out the window.
“Samuel?” she asked quietly. “Is your last name Jacobs?”
He held her gaze for a long moment. A series of emotions flickered across his face—pride, loss, regret. But mostly shame.
“I have to go,” he croaked.
And, for the first time since she had known him, Ana felt Samuel might lose his composure.
18
Dock Street Animal Rescue
Ever since Ana learned about the bracelet, she had this uneasy feeling that someone was watching her. The feeling was the worst when she was alone in her dorm room. The tech here was so microscopic, anything could be bugged. She dumped the contents from her bag from Madame Bali and ran her hands along the exterior and insides. To her horror, she found a small tan node. Was this another one?
She couldn’t be sure. It was so small. It could be anything, right? A vitamin or a pencil eraser. Never mind that she didn’
t take vitamins or have any pencils. Now that she had it, what should she do with it? Smash it? Give it fake information?
In the end, she smashed it and threw it out the window. Just like Samuel had done.
Then she started ransacking the place. She pulled out sofa cushions, tossed garments out of her closet, shook down her bedding. She didn’t find any more bugs, but she still didn’t feel safe. The Fleurs, Jacobses, DuBoises, and yes, even the Rockwells had all had access to her dorm room. Any one of them could have planted them.
When she showered, she ran her hands all over her body, checking every nook and cranny, dreading what she might find. It was almost as if she was back home in Georgia checking for ticks. She didn’t find anything, but she didn’t feel any better. She toweled off and dressed.
She would never be able to find all of the bugs. They were so small. They could be in the lighting, the walls, sewn into her clothes, anywhere. She needed help. Professional help.
She needed Shay Noble.
Ana caught up with her after their next class. Professor Rockwell had just spent the last hour droning about battle preparations and the dawning of war in another system.
Shay was a few feet ahead, yawning and pushing a dark lock of hair behind her ear as she emerged from the classroom.
“Wait up!” Ana called.
Shay slowed down and leaned against the lockers to wait. “What’s up, Halt? Heard you got busted at that shore party. Sucks.”
“Yeah, they had some sort of drone flyover. Someone must have told them we’d be there.”
Shay snorted. “Low tech. Pathetic.”
“Were you there?” Ana asked.
“Not my scene. Are you accusing me of turning you in?”
“No way. You don’t exactly strike me as the narc type.”
“You’re right. I’m more interested in…partnership.”
Ana could read between the lines. Cash. She was more interested in cash.
“So, what do you want, Halt? You ready to sell that phone?”
“I’d rather make a trade.”
“I’m listening.”
* * *
Seven Crowns (Bellaton Book 1) Page 14