Free The Black Stars by Dan Krokos Page A

his hand fall and they climbed in silence. “It’s just me and you, buddy. We have to trust each other if we’re going to survive—”
    â€œMy mom.”
    â€œWhat?” Mason said.
    Tom balled his hands into fists. “They convinced me my mom was still alive, that they brought her back to life, they … I believed it. It was her. She was wearing this armor that—”
    â€œâ€”began to hurt her,” Mason finished.
    Tom nodded, eyes brightening. “The same thing happened to you? Who did you see?”
    â€œMerrin.”
    Tom’s eyebrows shot up.
    Mason only shrugged.
    â€œNot Susan?”
    â€œNo.”
    They were almost to the dorm now.
    â€œBut—”
    â€œHow did yours end?” Mason said, before Tom could ask another question.
    â€œI … told my mom I couldn’t watch her die again, and that I wouldn’t let the POWs die either. And then she disappeared.”
    â€œAt least we’re not Stones,” Mason said as they reached the door. It slid open on their approach.
    Po stood in the doorway. “Welcome! Nice robes you got there. Or nice colors, I should say. Come inside.”
    Mason and Tom walked through the doorway; Mason fought the urge to examine the room again. Searching for traps or listening devices would not make the best first impression.
    Most of the rhadjen were already in their bunks. Two were hunched over a workbench in the corner, tinkering with a pair of gloves. Every eye went to Mason and Tom.
    One boy on a top bunk on the left, a Stone, said, “Oh good, the humans get to stay with us.” Which confirmed that the Tremist had a firm grasp on sarcasm.
    Mason met every gaze without faltering, without looking away. He would not show weakness, not an ounce.
    â€œThis is your bed,” Po said, pointing at a bottom bunk on the left. He pointed to Tom’s bed, which was right next to Mason’s, but Mason didn’t hear what Po said. He was staring at Lore, and she was staring back. She was right above his bed, up on one elbow with a paper book open on her chest. She had taken her two violet braids and twisted them together. Up close, Mason noticed the sharpness of her eyebrows, which gave her a look more severe than the other Stone, like she was always staring intently. Maybe she hadn’t been glaring at Mason at all, and that was just how her face looked. There was nothing soft about her.
    Mason held her gaze, and soon he felt everyone in the room staring at them. But he didn’t look away, and neither did she. She was a pro, but she didn’t know what human children did at Academy I. They had staring contests. They arm wrestled. They competed all the time, in everything.
    Po cleared his throat.
    Finally, Lore’s eyes flicked away, then back to him. But it was enough. Mason had won the stare-down. I will not be intimidated.
    â€œSo that was super awkward,” Po said.
    No one laughed.
    Po did introductions right then. The room housed four rhadjen, not including Mason and Tom, but there were enough bunk beds for twelve, three on each side. Two Bloods and two Stones, before Mason and Tom had to mess the whole balance up. Mason suddenly missed his crew very much. He missed Jeremy and Stellan the most, but also Willa and the other cadets who had helped him save the Olympus and the Will. He wanted his Egypt 18.
    He made a mental list so he wouldn’t forget a name and offend someone. Or just look plain dumb and forgetful. First there was Po, of course, but Mason didn’t think he’d be forgetting Po anytime soon. The only other Blood was a girl named Risperdel. Her hair was black, which made her appear human, if you ignored the supernaturally translucent skin. She was the only Blood besides Po who didn’t look upon Mason and Tom with some level of suspicion.
    â€œRisperdel is the fastest girl in the school,” Po said. “That’s about all she’s good at. That,