The Betrayer by Stel Pavlou

Author:Stel Pavlou [Pavlou, Stel]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Amazon: B07NL8SS9P
Goodreads: 42654281
Publisher: HarperCollins
Published: 2019-11-12T00:00:00+00:00

23

SHADOW OF THE SINJA

“Why do you look afraid?” the woman asked.

Daniel eyed Mimias but he was no help. Daniel was on his own.

“What’s wrong?” she asked, panic creeping into her voice. “You called him Blink. That’s his nickname. Is that the name he goes by—?” Her voice caught in her throat. “Is that the name he went by? Is my son dead?”

“No!” Daniel replied, afraid of the things he knew he was going to have to tell her. “He was my friend.”

She trembled. She didn’t seem to know what to do with herself. She inched toward him but he inched farther back.

“My first memory of him,” he said, hoping she would stop, “was when he ran in to save me from a beating. . . .”

He could see it all in his mind’s eye even now. The Racks. The Overseers with their blast-pikes ready to strike.

Who disturbs . . .

Who disturbs . . .

Blink’s mother looked ready to crumple. “He helped you?” she said.

Daniel nodded.

“We called him Blink, because that’s what he did,” Blink’s mother explained. Her chest heaved, caught somewhere between a sob and a laugh. “He always would run in without blinking. Always wanting to help. He was fearless.”

“He was with me when we escaped,” Daniel said. A dark cloud drifted across his brow. “Almost until the end.” He didn’t want to go any further.

“Tell me what happened,” she urged. She didn’t seem afraid, more relieved that she would finally get an answer.

She wouldn’t like it.

Daniel tripped over his words, but he forced them out anyway. “Blink pledged himself to the Sinja,” he said. “He became a follower of Vega Virrus.”

She didn’t believe him. She actually smiled. “That’s not possible,” she said.

Mimias held up a hand; meant to calm her, it only seemed to inflame her. “Laleh, please.”

“It’s impossible, I said!” The smile faded and the rage rushed in. “Kardas would not do that!”

Daniel gulped, but he stood firm. “It’s what happened,” he said.

Before he could step back again, Blink’s mother shot forward and gently held his hands. “Kardas is a boy who cares deeply about everyone and everything around him. He has always been that way. When he was seven years old, there was a sand fire that swept through our property. We kept Keff lizards in a coop for the eggs and he ran in to save them before anyone could stop him. Lizards! The stupid boy.” Sniffing back tears, she said, “You must believe me. If he did what you say—he did it for a reason. He probably thought he could help someone, and now he’s trapped and he cannot get out.”

Mimias laid his hand on her shoulder. “Laleh, come on now.” He eased her away.

She shook him off, yelling, “He’s not lost! He would not betray us! Think about it! Why would he do this?”

Daniel’s mind raced. Was it possible that Blink hadn’t joined the Sinja, but had infiltrated them instead? Why? To save the other grubs?

That’s not how Blink had acted the last time he saw him.

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