Pokrewne

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Chelsea Handler Chelsea Chelsea Bang Bang (epub
Brit Brinson [Dia of the Dead Dia of the Dead (epub)
Cody Goodfellow [Radiant Dawn Radiant Dawn (epub)
Cate Tiernan [Immortal Belove Immortal Beloved (epub)
C J Busby [Deep Amber 01] Deep Amber (retail) (epub)
Carl Ashmore [Time Hunters 01 The Time Hunters (epub)
Drew Hayes [Super Powereds 02 Super Powereds Year 2 (epub) i
Beth Harbison [Shoe Addict 02 Secrets of a Shoe Addict (epub)
Cara Lynn Shultz [Dark World The Dark World (retail) (epub)
CLANCY TOM Centrum IV Casus belli

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.The faint light toward the entrance of the tunnel was barely visible as we crawled through.Sam giggled nervously as we hurried down the narrow passage on all fours.The cold floor was hard and hurt my bony knees.“What’s so damn funny?” I asked her, almost panicking that someone would notice we had disregarded our curfew yet again.We slowed down as we rose to a low crouch, the tunnel opening up to a small entrance.Sam held out her hands, her fingers laced together.I gingerly slid a foot into them as she pushed me up toward the small tunnel entrance at the base of a huge silverwood tree.We had accidentally found the entrance while playing hide and seek when we were kids.It had become our secret hideaway since then.We visited our hideaway almost every afternoon to get away from the severity that school held for me.I couldn’t help but wonder if I would still have been treated as an outsider, had my grandfather not been our founder.I thought they all held a grudge against me for our existence.Experiments – that’s all we were to the Council.As I pulled Sam through from the other side, a faint light from behind her caused a long shadow to hide her expression, but by the easy set of her shoulders, I could tell that she was still smiling.“What is it with you? I asked her, somewhat irritated.She stroked her chin.“I can hear Sonja right now,” she said.“You just do whatever you want, don’t you?” she mimicked, her finger waving in front of my face, her head bouncing from side to side.“She’ll be furious,” I said.“We’ll get detention for this, or worse.We’ll be imprisoned for the weekend.”I rolled my eyes.“Oh, no! I don’t want to have to stay indoors and stare at her pudgy face the whole weekend, when I could be staring into François’ hazel eyes instead,” Sam said with a smirk on her face, her eyes sparkling.“I knew it! You kept it from me, you cow!” I shouted and punched her with full force on her arm, making her take a step back.“Let’s go,” Sam whined, rubbing her arm.“Stop procrastinating.I don’t want to go back any more than you do,” she added irritably, heading for the path between the overgrown bushes.The stars were shining through a gap in the clouds, and the three moons had risen high up in the velvet sky by the time we scrambled over our apartment wall.I scraped my elbow as I leaped down, but landed softly in our back garden.We made our way to the narrow bathroom window.Sam slowly pulled the window open and listened for movement.“Clear,” she whispered, and pushed me through.Turning my hips sideways, I slid through the metal frame and landed gently on the wooden floor of the small downstairs bathroom.We patted the dirt off of our clothes, shook the grime from our shoes and gradually crept out of the bathroom, heading upstairs to our bedroom.My heart began to race as I realized that the apartment was unusually quiet.My eyes widened with shock as I remembered that the prize-giving ceremony was being held that night.I shot Sam a look of panic and swore.“I know,” she replied with identical panic in her voice.“There’s no way that they won’t…”Sam stopped dead in her tracks.I quickly followed her gaze into our room.I expected to see Sonja sitting there but it was worse than that, much worse.Sitting with her arms folded across her chest was Kim, one of the keepers and an important doctor on the Council.With her shoulders squared and her lips drawn into a thin tense line, she sat in front of our homemade dresser which sloped a little to the left.I had never been good at woodwork, although I possessed the creativity required for many other artistic endeavors.Her brilliant brunette hair was twirled into a bun that had been pulled high up on top of her head, and her long, thin, turquoise earrings swayed over her collarbone as she turned her head to face us.Nice earrings, I thought.Minoan by design.She had always been a stylish woman.She stood up, her dark pencil skirt narrow against her slender hips.“You look nice,” I said with confidence, knowing full well that she had a soft spot for me.She had not had a choice in the matter.I was the infamous founder’s granddaughter.I also knew that Kim had grown fond of me, and of Sam, over time.She said we reminded her of herself when she was our age.Whenever a rule was broken, Kim was sent to talk to the “offender.” The Council was serious about a lot of things, but it was most serious when it came to our mental stability, further deepening my suspicions.Spending the first years of your life on a spaceship, and growing up without parents, tends to play tricks on your mind sometimes.You don’t really know where you come from, or who you are meant to be.I spent a lot of time in therapy – much more than the usual girl my age.I guess it was because of my family history.I hated it – being treated like a fragile, naive little girl.Kim uncrossed her arms and made her way toward us.“Thank you,” she said firmly, brushing her overgrown fringe out of her eyes.“Sam,” she nodded, before staring me down.My stomach twisted with anxiety.She was never this quiet.With hands behind my back, I braced myself for what was coming.Sam and I stood close to each other.She squeezed down hard on my hand, and I knew if she could say something then, she would probably be swearing.Kim looked down at her own hands, her blue eyes softening.“You know what this means, don’t you, Ava?” She swallowed audibly.I bit down on my lip.I didn’t want to hear what she had to say next because I knew it would probably hurt.Nervously pulling away from Sam, my hands clammy and frozen at my sides, I swallowed hard against the fear.Kim cleared her throat.“The dean wants the two of you to be separated,” she said sternly.I felt my stomach drop.“Kim.Nooo.” My voice broke as I tried to swallow past the tight sensation in my throat.“I have no choice, Ava.You should have listened,” she said as she made her way back to the dresser.Sam pushed past me.“You know what it will do to her, don’t you?” she spat.“Yes,” Kim answered, picking up her dark blue purse from the dresser.She placed her arms firmly against her sides and looking past Sam, stared at me hard and cold.“What do you want me to do? Lie? Again?”I looked down at my hands and felt a great sadness wash over me.I was mostly feeling sorry for myself; always managing to ruin everything with my unyielding will.“Yes,” I pleaded, as my eyes started to well up with tears.“I don’t know if I can lie for you anymore.I push and push, and try to help you as much as I can, but Ava, I fear you don’t want any help.So now I must force my hand for your own good.”I walked to my bed, crossing over the thick, woven rug in front of Sage’s empty bed.Her bed had been unmade for nearly four weeks by that stage.“I’m sorry,” I said, sitting down on my bed, my hands in my lap.Kim made her way toward the door.“I have no other choice.”Sam rushed over to her.“Please, Kim, one last chance,” she begged.“She had her last chance, six chances ago.The Council is unsettled.”“Why? Because of who I am?” I raised my voice in anger, immediately regretting it.“Yes, it’s precisely because of who you are, Ava – you know that.”Kim’s lips pulled into tight thin lines, her eyes lowering to the floor.I saw her shoulders drop, and I felt guilt boil up inside me.“I know it’s unfair, but the Council feels that you…” she started.Someone on the other side of the door cleared their throat.It was clearly a man.“I have to go.I’m sorry, Ava.I’ll make an excuse for your late arrival.”“I’m not going,” I spat out.“As you wish.” Kim spoke with a sorrow that made me feel hollow and cold from within, like I had just lost something special [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]