Page 33 of Consume
I wrapped my arm around her even though she was almost too frigid to touch. “More what?”
“Attacks.”
The terror etched on her face sped my steps toward the dining room so we could talk. Crispin brought blankets from the infirmary before running off again to help in the engine room , and Ellison made hot tea for everyone. By the time we all sat around the table, Moon and Franco appeared to have thawed some.
Moon cupped her hands around her steaming mug. “The entire elderly population of a retirement home on the other side of the marketplace poured out of its doors single file, all of them carrying knives they’d taken from the kitchen. It was a slaughter in the street, just five minutes after what happened at our dorm.”
“Mind-I control,” I breathed and sat back.
Franco nodded into the steam rising from his mug and closed his eyes briefly. “Since fewer now have Mind-Is because people can’t take them out fast enough, whoever’s inserting them into people are concentrating their efforts where people live in groups. Hence, dorm rooms and hospitals and old folks’ homes.”
“The Saelises are amping up their efforts,” I said.
“And they’re moving quickly,” Ellison agreed, shifting in her seat next to me.
She looked a little better today dressed in her doctor smock, but she still had too many sharp edges to her eyes and cheeks and mouth. Her short hair accentuated all her hard angles. Her tight fists in her lap made me think she was on the verge of snapping. I put my hand over them, and she wrapped it up tight in hers as she gazed at me. She pressed something into my palm. An iron cube, I realized. Before she was taken from me, she’d dosed herself with fresh consumectalons, which meant she’d been kidnapped and fighting off her own iron addictions. I took the cube from her, and she sighed with relief.
“Do you think people will believe you now?” she asked. “Can’t we get everyone onto a ship and just leave?”
“It would be a logistical nightmare, same as it was two hundred years ago when the Saelises aimed weapons at Earth,” Franco said. “If the Saelises would make an appearance again, then maybe we could get people to mobilize faster.”
Moon sighed. “There are some who think this is all a conspiracy and don’t believe it’s really happening. They don’t think it’s possible the Saelises could hold a grudge for this long.”
“Humans slaughtered half their population, which isn’t exactly something you forget,” I said.
Jezebel crunched loudly on a cricket underneath the poster of Esmerelda the Space Vixen.
I winced. “Thanks for the sound effects, girl.”
The dining room door slammed open, making everyone jump. Poh stood there panting, near frozen, snow sparkling like diamonds in her white-blonde ponytail. “We have company.”
“Yeah, we know...” I started. “Where have you b—”
“Morecompany.” She flicked her gaze right past me, then turned and left.
I glared after her. Why was she making such an effort to avoid me? I’d searched both ships for her earlier. She must’ve known that and gone outside.
Ellison surged out of her seat and made a beeline for the door. “Is it Josh?”
“Stay here. Warm up,” I told Moon and Franco, rising from my seat. “Be right back.”
In the hall, I met Mase, his lips puffy from sleep, a few of the shadows gone from his face. He cracked a grin when he saw me. “What a busy abandoned ship within a ship.”
“Think it’s the captain?”
We fell into step next to each other, linking hands.
“He can’t stay away from home forever,” he said.
“Bad stuff’s been happening, Mase.”
His grip on my hand tightened. “A few good things have happened too. I know this for a fact.”
I smiled, my heart performing a backflip with just a single glance his way.
As soon as the outer door of Parker’s ship opened and a rush of frigid air blew in, Ellison ducked out into the cold to fling herself at Josh. Itwasthem—him and the captain. Josh caught her and walked her backward into the ship, murmuring into her ear. My heart pinched with joy that they’d found each other once again, even though I still wanted to punch him in the face sometimes.
Mase eyed the captain climbing up the ramp, both with blank expressions on their faces.
