The Final Six (The Final Six #1) - Alexandra Monir Page 0,94

am forced to stand beside Beckett in front of the cameras. Beckett, who looks at me with a knowing smirk that makes my insides recoil.

The band bursts into “You’re a Grand Old Flag,” and the crowd breaks into a chant. “Na-o-mi! Be-ckett!” But it’s all happening in slow motion, and I can’t make any sense of the faces around me. They cheer right in the face of my agony.

It wasn’t supposed to be like this. Anytime I ever imagined being named one of the Final Six, I always pictured Leo beside me. And now, the thought of leaving this world and spending the rest of my life with the loathsome Beckett and four near strangers has me on the verge of hysteria.

General Sokolov joins Dr. Takumi at the microphone, and the two begin waxing on about the journey ahead of us and all that’s to come starting tomorrow—but I can’t listen. All I can do is try not to cry, to avoid Leo’s eyes.

It was heartbreaking enough when the draft meant leaving my family. Now, to be leaving my first and only love on top of it . . . is a whole new level of pain.

As the speeches draw to an end, the guards close in around us, ushering the Final Six, the faculty, and eliminated finalists out of the fray, back inside space camp. But instead of falling in line with the others, I break away and sprint to Dr. Takumi before he reaches the door, grabbing his arm with the force of my emotions.

“Excuse me?” He peers down his nose at me, shaking his arm loose.

“Why?” I burst out. “Why me, why Beckett—and not Leo?”

Dr. Takumi pauses, and then he gives me a cold smile. “You were an obvious choice. None of the others here can come close to your skill set and knowledge.”

The way he emphasizes the word makes the hairs on the back of my neck stand on end.

“After seeing what you are capable of, it was clear,” he continues. “You are far more useful to us on Europa than on Earth.” Dr. Takumi lowers his voice, and something fearsome flashes in his eyes. “You didn’t really think you got away with everything, did you? The stunt you pulled in the robotics lab, what you did to Dot—of course I knew it was you. But it only proved you more indispensible to me and to the mission. After all . . . who else has shown themselves to be such a skilled tech specialist?”

I can’t speak as I stare up at him. His words have knocked the wind out of me. My mind struggles to comprehend the fact that he knows, that he was a step ahead of me this entire time. And now it’s all the more clear why I was given a coveted spot on the Final Six instead of being thrown in a jail cell. Because I have something they need.

I’m more beneficial to the mission as one of the guinea pigs sent to Europa than as an eliminated finalist running her mouth about what she discovered. Even from jail, my story could get out. But now, Dr. Takumi knows I won’t say a word. I can’t. I owe him for not turning me in to the government—and I have to play this perfectly if I’m going to keep the six of us safe.

My voice shakes as I shift the subject away from me. “Why not Leo? He beat Beckett in every underwater challenge. It makes no sense—”

“We couldn’t have both of you,” Dr. Takumi interrupts, with an impervious shrug. “On a mission as crucial as this, we can’t afford to have any of our astronauts distracted by romance. Beckett will provide a sufficient replacement for Leo’s underwater skills—and he has already proven himself to be an invaluable resource.”

Romance. And here I actually thought Leo and I were doing a decent job of keeping our relationship under wraps. Once again I was wrong, I miscalculated everything—and now I’m the reason Leo lost his spot.

Dr. Takumi saunters off, leaving me reeling from his words. I see him signal someone, jerking his neck in my direction, and then Lark appears. She wraps her arm around my shoulder, steering me inside, as I search the crowd for Leo.

“He’s already upstairs,” Lark says, following my gaze.

As soon as we’re through the doors, I feel a crack in my chest, a sob breaking loose. Lark folds her arms around me, letting down her tough exterior, as my