Read Refuge for Free Online

“It’s Dakota, isn’t it? Was he in charge before you—before the…”
       “Not Dakota, Chevy, and only because I didn’t step up when I should have...” Her voice trails off. Her dark eyebrows draw together. “Anyway, this is more than you probably want to know.”
       “No, no it isn’t,” I say. “Talk to me. I need to understand. You told me about John earlier. How does he—”
       She pulls me farther away from the main chamber. “John has nothing to do with any of this. He didn’t come to lead us. He came to awaken us. If I would have taken charge like he wanted me to, Dakota never would have been hurt. It’s my fault. It’s all my fault.”
       “It’s not your fault. None of this is your fault,” I say gently. “Why are you attacking them? That’s not what we need to be doing at all. We need to be searching. The machines are here to find something. If we find that something before they do—”
       Sierra cuts me off. “You have no idea what we need to do. How could you possibly?”
       “You’re right,” I say, pushing back against the wall. “How could I possibly? I deserve that and more, but I’m trying to understand. Help me. Tell me about John.”
       She snatches an errant strand of hair out of her eyes and thrusts it back. “John doesn’t have anything to do with any of this. We’re going after the column. Ready yourself.”
       “You’re the leader, not me,” I say. “I’m just trying to tell you something. Something I think you should know. There’s millions of those things—more than millions. Stopping a few of them isn’t going to do anything.”
       She smiles in an odd way; it’s almost a smirk. “You think so now, but you’ll see.”
       I don’t think I will. She’s wrong—very wrong. My homecoming is nothing like I thought it would be. I don’t know what I expected. I do know this isn’t it.
       Her mood brightens. “Have you eaten? Not much to go around but we all need to eat. See Austin in the meal room upstairs.”
       She takes me to the stairs. I follow at her side. As we walk, I am bathed alternately in shadow and light, and I see things. A tiny hand reaching up to mine. A tangle of long blond curls. A pair of eyes so blue they rival the clearest, brightest sky.

 
     

 
     
     
Chapter 8
    Node: 100
     
     
    Luke is waiting for me on the upper level. Sierra is drawn away by Dakota.
       Luke reaches out when I approach. “It’s happened again, hasn’t it?”
       “Not what you think,” I say, “but yes.” Over our link, I share what I saw in my mind’s eye. It’s not something I even realized I could do, but I do it just the same. “What do you think they mean, these visions?”
       The large room is busy with those preparing to leave and those going about other business. Luke takes my hand, pulls me to a quieter area. “I don’t know, Cedes, but this is something we should keep between us.”
       I don’t disagree with him. “Have you eaten? Sierra said to see Austin.”
       He glances away and then looks directly in my eyes. “There are others with governors. I’ve counted four so far. With Sierra, that makes five that I’ve seen. There may be more.”
       I look away from him. Across the room, Skye is checking her gear, having just come up from below. Somehow, she doesn’t look as small and powerless as I imagined her to be before. I also can’t help but notice her eyes moving every now and again to the opposite side of the room where Peyton is standing or how Peyton looks back when she isn’t looking. He does this despite the fact tall, long-legged Vesta is standing nearby almost daring him to see her.
       “Cedes, are you listening to me?” Luke says. “I’m trying to tell you something doesn’t add up here. We need to be out there searching. We won’t get the answers we need until we do.”
       This isn’t a conversation I want to be having. “Sierra is