Page 79 of Abducting Sarah

“How?”

Jac moved closer and picked up one of my hands in his, soothing me with his warmth. “During the fight, I managed to run toAllegiantand put a call out to Lanai to come back to the ship asap. Lanai—”

“The android that fucked Ryan?” I asked, remembering the name.

“Yes,” Deacon said. “Lanai Dea is the newest De model, and in addition to seduction techniques and other skills, she has incomparable combat capabilities.”

“Basically, he got the fancy android, and she saved all our asses,” Jac explained with a laugh. “She and Mock, anyway.”

“Who is Mock?” I asked, trying to connect those dots. “And the conduit who helped us? I don’t understand.”

“My father’s friends, Mock, Bell, and Fan, they were compatriots of his in the old days,” Deacon explained as he smoothed his hand along my cheek, seemingly needing to touch me as much as Jac did. “Jac had helped Bell and Fan escape from the royal prisons a few years ago. Mock had moved to Halla after—”

“There are Ladrians who live here with the ghosts?” I asked in surprise.

Deacon nodded. “It is usually for those who have lost their way. Mock fell apart after his consort died in the war. He lives a quiet life here on Halla.”

“We destroyed his quiet,” I mumbled.

“It is quiet once again,” Deacon assured me. “The remaining conduits have gone into hiding. Omen Ayext, the conduit who helped us, estimates there are likely fewer than thirty on Halla now.”

I took a breath and let it out slowly. “Some of the conduits escaped?”

“Yes, but we will hunt them down,” Jac said.

I rapidly shook my head. “No—”

“We have to,” he insisted. “Otherwise, they’ll come after you, Sarah.”

“No, they can’t—”

“They can and they will,” Deacon insisted.

I gestured with my hands to stop them from continuing—I just needed them to shut up a minute. Before I could take a moment to reset my brain, a hot white fog started pouring from their mouths and noses and into my hands.

Terror gripped me. “The fuck!”

Both of them tried to speak and couldn’t.

I shook my hands in a panic, and the eerie fog returned to them. So did their voices. They were shouting together at the same time, so I held my ears. “Stop, please!”

Jac shut his mouth, but Deacon yelled for the doctor. “Ode!”

The doctor ran in and smiled as soon as she saw me. “Look who’s awake—”

“I just did something,” I blurted out hysterically, not understanding what had just happened. “I don’t know what I did, but I didn’t mean to!”

She frowned and looked to the other two for answers. “What is she talking about?”

Deacon looked scared or worried or both. “Remember during the fight, when Silence left Father’s, and stole the voices of the chanting conduits when she lifted her hands?”

“Yes, but—”

“Sarah just stole our voices,” Deacon told her.

“I gave them back!” I yelled defensively.

Jac chuckled and kissed the top of my head. “We know you didn’t mean to do it. It’s okay.”

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