Free The Believers (The Breeders Series - Book 2) by Katie French

here.” I think about saying something about what the moaning, but I don’t want to scare Ethan. And really, I’m not sure what I heard.
    Rayburn drops his eyes, his fingers trembling around a pod. He wasn’t made for life outside of the hospital and frankly, he needs to toughen up. I open my mouth to say so when Clay interrupts me.
    “I don’t like this place any more'n you do.” He pauses as one of the cooks shuffles by with a huge stack of bowls. “We’ll bide our time and figure out what they plan to do with us. Then we make our move. But not before.” He fumbles with a peapod, it slips out of his hand, and plops on the floor. He frowns at the cotton bandage on his hand. I look away from the pain on his face.
    “What about Mama?” Ethan asks, tossing a dark curtain of hair out of his eyes.
    “Mage said she’ll come back later to take us to see her.” I watch the slow burn creep up Ethan's neck at the mention of Mage. I want to tell him that a crush on the daughter of this commune’s crazy leader is about as dumb as shaking hands with a rattler, but I don’t. I look back to the peapods, green and slick between my dirty fingers, and pop one in my mouth.
    “At least it, uh, it happened here,” Rayburn says, squinting behind his glasses. He rubs a thick hand across his forehead and continues. “Your mom, I mean. At least if she’s going to m-m-miscarry, she’s here instead of… of on the road.” He drops his eyes and shakes his head. “Not much I could’ve done.”
    I frown at him. “You think that’s what happening? That she’s…miscarrying?” I have no idea how I feel about this. That baby in her stomach is my brother or sister. But maybe not. I’m not even sure if the fetus has any of our genes. Nessa Vandewater’s words echo in my head: problems with the fetus . I squeeze a peapod so hard the pea shoots out and skids across the floor.
    Clay’s hand finds mine. I stare into his sky-blue eyes, so kind, so understanding. I fight the urge to shuffle around the table, fall into his arms, and let him hold me. Instead I relish the brush of his fingers on mine until someone walks by and he pulls them away.
    “So, we watch and wait,” I say, trying to sound confident. I scan the food court before I continue. Stephen is leaning over the counter, his fingers tracing down the girl's bare arm. I crouch forward. “But I want everyone’s eyes and ears open. Watch for where they stash weapons, look for exit doors, back alleys, anything that might be important.” They nod. I look up into the searing mid-morning sky. “I don’t know how, but we’re gonna get outta here.”
    ***
    After peapod duty is dish duty. After dish duty we serve lunch. When we're finally released to eat our bowls of pea soup, the sloppy green liquid is cold, but I don't care. We've been eating charred jackrabbit and lizard for weeks. A vegetable feels like a treat. I slurp the fresh green liquid until my bowl is empty and look around for more. Seconds are not offered and I don't ask. Andrew walks around with a clipboard, shuffling between tables, eying everyone's portion size. We're just five more hungry mouths to feed. Why is the Messiah so hell-bent on keeping us?
    Mage appears as we're finishing lunch. She's got another folded paper animal in her hands, a frog this time, made out of paper the color of our pea soup. She sets it on our table, reaches out, and presses an index finger to the frog's backside. It springs forward at her touch. She giggles and bats golden eyelashes. Ethan drops his eyes. He's getting attached, just like he does with any animal we trap. The ending with Mage won't be so brutal, but it's still gonna cut him when we leave.
    “So, you said you’d take us to see our mom?” I ask.
    Mage nods, the blond coils of hair bobbing. “I got permission, but only you and him.” She points at Ethan and me. “You two,” she says, pointing to Rayburn and Clay, “are going to get your permanent job