Sinth Salvation - Pearl Tate Page 0,58

myself, shocked at everything that’s going on.

He looks up, blinking, then rubs his eyes with his fists. I feel the same way! I’m still blinking furiously, wondering if this is all going to disappear. It’s surreal!

“Where … where am I?” His voice is small as he falls forward onto his hands, climbing to his feet.

Eva’s already clambered across me, turning to her stomach and dropping off the side of the bed. I’m relieved Nikon showed me how to change the settings on what he calls “the pod controls” because right now, it’s reset to the default, and it looks like the furniture is sitting in the middle of a big, foggy field.

“It’s okay,” I assure everyone, disentangling myself from the two other girls to use the hand motions and change our surroundings to look like an average bedroom. “See?”

Turning around, I motion to the room. “I do know where we are, and we’re far away from the school. Let’s just all introduce ourselves since we’re safe now, and then we’ll figure out where we should go from here.”

“I don’t understand.” Eva puts her hands on her hips, pouting slightly. Oh, how easily they bounce back.

“I don’t either.” The red-headed boy named Árni pats the top of the bed, looking at Eva before her friends. I’m a little concerned about the one girl who’s still holding her ears, but I know she can hear us since her eyes are bouncing between us as we talk.

“Well …” I lean back over the side of the bed, putting my upper body next to the two girls still staring at me but not moving a muscle. “… honestly, I don’t understand it either. I mean, I know where we are, but I don’t know why we went here …”

“It was the bright light.” Eva announces.

Nodding, I guess she could be right. “Yes, you’re probably correct. But it doesn’t matter. We’re here now.”

Reaching out, I wave the little boy closer while I tap the shoulder of the girl who’s still clutching her ears. “You all know each other, right? And we’re safe. Does anyone need to use the bathroom? Are you hungry or thirsty?”

I look at them each individually, and I can tell Eva’s bursting at the seams as she waits for me to finish. “No! Not me. But … can we jump on the big bed?”

Well, if that’s all she wants right now, who am I to argue? I couldn’t care less, and I can see the appeal. This bed is huge! Maybe twice as big as a king size with how wide and long it is.

“Sure! Jump away!” I’m practically ignoring them as I watch the boy hop up along with Eva. Holding hands, they jump up and down while I try to figure out what to do next. I mean, I can’t exactly text Nikon.

I’m already staring at my phone, puzzling out what my next move is. I can’t phase them back. What if I fuck it up somehow? I could disintegrate them like I did the Taxin.

No. Really, my plan hasn’t changed … I just have to wait for Nikon to come back—or in this case now—find me.

CHAPTER TWENTY-EIGHT

- Nikon

“Nikon.”

The mental communications from the Ashen are not something you’d ever forget—or ever ignore. Even though it has been eight Earth days since I dealt with them, the subconscious push as I’m called for has me lifting my head from my hands as I try to recover from my despair. It’s them! They’re the ones that caused this.

My anger has my head shooting up to stare at the small, gray alien only an arm’s length away. “You.” I accuse.

I can’t believe I didn’t think of it. It was them! They’re the ones that caused that bright light, making me phase. It’s their fault I took Árni with me, disintegrating him. “What did you do?”

My voice is a roar as I slowly rise from the desk chair the principal was using earlier in the day. Principal Donavan, Miss Montrel, all the police officers … none of them deserved this. None of them should have been attacked and infected with the Wen virus. Right now, all I can feel is guilt as my stomach cramps from the terrible realization of what we’ve all been privy to.

“We used a vibrational accelerator.”

A what? I’ve no idea what he’s talking about, but his words stop me from moving toward him. To do what … I don’t know. It’s actually impressive I can move at all considering the