Between Burning Worlds (System Divine #2) - Jessica Brody Page 0,151

danger zone. She quickly stepped back. “Anyway. Who are all these kids?”

Etienne looked surprised by the question, as though he thought the answer was obvious. “They’re my siblings.”

Shocked, Chatine quickly scanned the table, counting twelve in total. And some of them looked to be very similar in age. Her gaze flickered back to Brigitte a few tables away. “Wow. Your maman has been busy.”

Etienne laughed. “They’re not all biologically hers.” Then, when Chatine gave him a confused look, he clarified, “I mean, she didn’t give birth to all of them. When we lose members of our community, the children get assimilated into new families. But you’d never know the difference. We treat them just like our own. It helps everyone with the grieving process.”

Chatine’s eyes cut to Etienne. Was he referring to the roundups? She searched his face for a hint of that grimace she’d seen the other night. But his face remained neutral.

“Your maman said something about how the communities recently had to merge together,” Chatine said, “because their numbers were so low. And how it’s been a difficult adjustment.”

Etienne nodded. “That’s right.” He gestured around at all the tables, which were now completely filled. “The problem was that our communities were all so different. We valued different things and had different skills. But it’s all fine now, obviously. Everyone gets along.”

Chatine glanced around the lodge. Chatter and laughter wafted through the room as easily as rain fell in the Marsh. The Défecteurs passed plates, banged their forks to make animated points, and leaned into one another to share stories and jokes. No one sat alone. No one lurked on the periphery, waiting to con or swindle or cheat the others out of a larg.

Her forefinger instinctively rubbed at her thumb, at the place where Marcellus’s ring used to be. The memory of it was already growing fainter. She wondered if there would ever come a day when she stopped searching for it.

“What about your community? What were their skills?”

“We’ve always been shipbuilders. Maman says we descended from the people who built the original freightships that left the First World, but I don’t know if that’s really true.”

Chatine gave a snort. “Yeah, I’ve been inside your ship. I don’t think that’s true.”

Etienne scooped up a scrap of egg from his plate and flung it at Chatine’s face. She ducked, and it landed on one of the ear flaps of Perseus’s hat. He didn’t seem to notice as he continued to heap food into his mouth.

“Anyway,” Etienne went on, “now that we’re one community, and have worked out the kinks, we’ve built the most advanced camp that any of us have ever lived in.”

Chatine peered around at the other tables, taking a rough count. There were only about a hundred people in the room. Was that really all that was left of the Défecteurs?

“How many people used to be in your community?” she asked, her gaze still taking in all the unfamiliar faces. “Before the last roundup.”

A rough scraping noise startled her and snapped her attention back to Etienne, but he was no longer in his seat. He had pushed his chair back and was now standing. “I should go. Marilyn still needs some more maintenance.” Without another word, he left the table and carried his plate to the kitchen.

“He doesn’t talk about the roundups.”

Chatine looked over at Perseus in his big hat seated next to her. “Why not?”

He shrugged as he shoveled more food into his mouth. “He just doesn’t.”

She caught sight of Etienne walking toward the door of the lodge. There was something almost stiff and awkward about his steps.

“Have you ever asked him?” Chatine turned her attention back to Perseus. “Why he doesn’t talk about it.”

Perseus shook his head. “Nope. Maman said he’ll talk about it when he’s ready.”

Chatine nodded, knowing from experience that that could quite possibly be never.

“Do you think Fabian will bring us back bonbons?” one of the girls asked to no one in particular.

“He said he would,” replied Perseus. “And he never breaks a promise.”

“What kind of bonbons do you think they’ll be?” the girl asked. “Where do you think he’ll get them?”

Perseus shrugged. “Who cares?”

Chatine glanced again around the room. The tables were starting to clear out as more people finished their breakfast. “And where are these famous gridders you keep talking about?”

“One of the pilotes took them to look for their lost children,” said Perseus with a sad shake of his head.

“What happened to them?” Chatine asked.

“They got separated,” one of