Above World - By Jenn Reese Page 0,29

to recover herself. She leaned back into her chair and smiled. Her real wing gave a little flutter, but the mechanical one remained still.

“Yes, yes,” she said. “My apologies, young ones. You are indeed children of the Kampii splinter. And from the hidden city, no less! Though”— she lifted an eyebrow artfully —“not yet old enough to have earned your tails?”

Hoku saw Aluna grind her teeth. He was positive that she was sifting through insults in her head, trying to find the best one. He closed his eyes and begged their ancestors to grant her patience. A rash decision could turn them into bird food.

Luckily, a guard interrupted them. “Her Future Royalness, Vice President Calliope!”

Everyone turned at the sound of shuffling wings and feet. Hoku’s mouth dropped open. The Aviar shuffling toward them was none other than the radio girl they had met by their cells.

Calliope was dressed in more traditional warriors’ clothes now, a shimmering silver breastplate hanging awkwardly from her hunched shoulders. She kept her gaze on the floor as she hurried down the carpet. Her hands, now bereft of her beloved radio, twisted around and around each other like coiling eels. He’d never seen anyone look so out of place in his life.

“Daughter,” the president said, “I’m glad you could finally join us.”

Calliope blushed and dropped her head even lower. She rushed to the small throne at Iolanthe’s side and tried to disappear into it.

If the president was embarrassed by her daughter’s behavior, she hid the disappointment well under a heavy veneer of disgust. Hoku balled his hand into a clumsy fist. He’d never hit anyone before, but for the first time, he wanted to.

President Iolanthe glared at her daughter for another long moment before turning back to Aluna and Hoku, a dangerous new spark in her eyes.

“And so tell me, children,” the president said. “What brings our ocean cousins so far from their watery sanctuary?” She leaned closer. “We found you amid the slaughtered bodies of your foes. Have the mermaids joined forces with Fathom and his army of Upgraders?”

“No!” Hoku blurted out. “Those other people killed the Humans. They flew across the water on a dragonflier. They tried to kill Daphine, too, but she got away. We didn’t have anything to do with the Deepfell. Except that Aluna saved one of them. That’s what happened to her necklace.”

“Hoku, stop!” Aluna’s dark face was tense and pinched. “Don’t say another word.”

He ignored her and continued to babble. She’d be mad later, but right now, he wanted the Aviars as allies, not enemies. “The Upgraders — is that your name for those people? For the people who change their bodies with tech? We’re not on their side. And we’ve never even heard of Fathom.”

“We’ll trade with you,” Aluna said, cutting him off. “We have information you want, and we need help. We’re looking for HydroTek — our people’s safety depends on us finding it. If you help, we’ll tell you everything we know about what happened on the beach and the Upgraders we saw.”

No one said anything. Aluna stared at the president, and the president stared back at her. For a brief, wonderful moment, Hoku thought the Aviars might actually be willing to help them.

President Iolanthe laughed. Not a nervous giggle, like he was prone to, but a full-throated belly laugh so loud that it filled the entire Oval Chamber and echoed off the carved Aviars watching from the ceiling.

“Our people are dying, and you think it’s funny?” Aluna said quietly. Hoku recognized the look in her eyes. He grabbed for her arm, but she shook him off as if he were a stray strand of kelp. “Stop laughing!” she yelled, and launched herself at President Iolanthe.

High Senator Electra intercepted her halfway to the throne. The Aviar held her spear sideways, creating a barrier. She was trying to stop Aluna, not kill her.

Aluna didn’t even break her stride. She just jumped, used Electra’s arm and spear as a launching pad, vaulted over the Aviar’s shoulder, and kept running for the president.

The other Aviars started to move, but they were so much slower than Aluna, who had grown strong in the ocean’s dense waters. Hoku watched her heading for the president, who had, thankfully, finally stopped laughing.

Aluna sprang for Iolanthe, arms outstretched, fingers curved like claws.

The president moved in a blur. She raised an arm and swatted Aluna in midair. Aluna crashed to the stone floor, rolled, and came up in a crouch. Her cheek blossomed red from