Birthright

CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR

Kray made it halfway to his dormitory building when he realized he was still wearing his workout outfit. He cursed under his breath and turned back for Fitness Center A. Alex had gotten under his skin despite all of his attempts to block her out. By the time he changed and left the building, it was eleven-fifteen a.m., so he went straight to his second class, which was supposed to start in fifteen minutes.

Evolution of the Skads. A thorough course on everything that has happened on earth from the moment that Sansers first showed up, offering technology and knowledge and gifts in exchange for virtually nothing, to the present day. Of course, the instructor was a Meta, and from the moment he opened his pompous mustachioed mouth and called the first wave of Sansers the invaders, Kray knew the only perspective he would receive in this class was the ANEF's.

It was information he'd already learned a thousand times in Saranth, so he mostly stared outside the window and ignored his twelve Sanser classmates, who were dutifully taking notes.

Lunch time, he went to the atrium and paid for a cheeseburger and fries by flashing his handheld under a scanner. His mood immediately improved. He loved how easy it was to get food here. In the Wasteland, the best he'd had was a can of beans in watery soup.

He hadn't had a cheeseburger in two years. Even now, he was discovering things he'd taken for granted before they hauled him out to the Wasteland. He vowed to treat himself to a large meat-piled pizza the first chance he got.

The atrium was packed with Metas. They occupied all of the seats as far as Kray could tell. Normally he'd head off to the lake and unwind a bit with the sun and wind on his skin, but he needed to see Violet. So he stood in his corner and scanned the giant, glass-ceilinged eating area until he spotted her blond hair at a far table.

She sat with the big Sanser named Thamdan and a Sanser girl he didn't recognize. He cut across the atrium, noticing a large crowd milling around one of the center tables.

Some of the faces immediately popped out. Alex. That Aries punk. And someone he hadn't seen since he disappeared from Saranth: Robert Nourse. His former bully's older brother. The guy Alex was destined to be with—a prediction that had come true, judging by the way Nourse sat with his arm draped over the back of her chair as he laughed and joked with his buddies.

"Yo, Fifty!" a voice hollered.

He spotted one of his roommates, the floppy-haired and loudmouthed one. Jake Strong grinned and toasted him with his drink. The guys with him cackled. Stiff-shouldered, Kray strolled past them and slid into the seat beside Violet.

"Trouble?" she asked when he joined them.

He picked a fry from his plate and bit it in half. "Nope."

Nothing he couldn't handle on his own.

"You're Kray, aren't you?" the unfamiliar and petite girl next to Thamdan asked. She had almond eyes and shiny black hair in a pixie cut. Her wide smile showed off pearly white teeth. "Thamdan has told me so much about you. I'm Jassea. It's so nice to meet you."

Kray eyed the silent giant skeptically. "Yeah, nice meeting you, too."

Violet picked at her chicken salad, pushing it around listlessly. It seemed like she didn't want to eat it, which was a waste to Kray. He swallowed half of his burger in a couple of bites, not caring that his hands were soaked with mustard and ketchup.

"You're a Mainlander?" Jassea asked him.

A muscle in his jaw ticked. "No."

Something in his voice wiped the smile from her face. He felt twinges of guilt for no reason he could understand other than that this girl's smile seemed really genuine and he hated to be the jerk who made it go away.