The Host (The Host #1)(126)

Ian pulled me toward the edge of the darkness surrounding the tableau. We weren’t alone there. I could see the shapes of many others, but not their faces.

It was strange; through the caves, Ian had supported most of my weight with ease. Now, though, he seemed to have tired. His arm around my waist was slack. I lurched and hopped forward as best I could until he picked the spot he wanted. He settled me to the floor, and then sat beside me.

“Ouch,” I heard someone whisper.

I turned and could just make out Trudy. She scooted closer to us, Geoffrey and then Heath copying her.

“You look rotten,” she told me. “How bad are you hurt?”

I shrugged. “I’m fine.” I started to wonder if Ian had let me struggle just to make a show of my injuries—to make me testify against Kyle without words. I frowned at his innocent expression.

Wes and Lily arrived then and came to sit with my little group of allies. Brandt entered a few seconds later, and then Heidi, and then Andy and Paige. Aaron was last.

“That’s everybody,” he said. “Lucina’s staying with her kids. She doesn’t want them here—she said to go on without her.”

Aaron sat beside Andy, and there was a short moment of silence.

“Okay, then,” Jeb said in a loud voice meant to be heard by all. “Here’s how it’s gonna work. Straight-up majority vote. As usual, I’ll make my own decision if I have a problem with the majority, ’cause this —”

“Is my house,” several voices interjected in chorus. Someone chuckled but stopped quickly. This wasn’t funny. A human was on trial for trying to kill an alien. This had to be a horrible day for all of them.

“Who’s speaking against Kyle?” Jeb asked.

Ian started to stand beside me.

“No!” I whispered, tugging on his elbow.

He shrugged me off and rose to his feet.

“This is simple enough,” Ian said. I wanted to jump up and clap my hand over his mouth, but I didn’t think I could get to my feet without help. “My brother was warned. He was not in any doubt about Jeb’s ruling on this. Wanda is one of our community—the same rules and protections apply to her as to any of us. Jeb told Kyle point-blank that if he couldn’t live with her here, he should move on. Kyle decided to stay. He knew then and he knows now the penalty for murder in this place.”

“It’s still alive,” Kyle grunted.

“Which is why I’m not asking for your death,” Ian snapped back. “But you can’t live here anymore. Not if you’re a murderer at heart.”

Ian stared at his brother for a moment, then sat on the ground beside me again.

“But he could get caught, and we’d have no idea,” Brandt protested, rising to his feet. “He’ll lead them back here, and we’d have no warning.”

There was a murmur through the room.

Kyle glared at Brandt. “They’ll never get me alive.”

“Then it’s a death sentence after all,” someone muttered at the same time that Andy said, “You can’t guarantee that.”

“One at a time,” Jeb warned.

“I’ve survived on the outside before,” Kyle said angrily.

Another voice came from the darkness. “It’s a risk.” I couldn’t make out the owners of the voices—they were just hissing whispers.

And another. “What did Kyle do wrong? Nothing.”

Jeb took a step toward the voice, glowering. “My rules.”

“She’s not one of us,” someone else protested.

Ian started to rise again.

“Hey!” Jared exploded. His voice was so loud that everyone jumped. “Wanda’s not on trial here! Does someone have a concrete complaint against her—against Wanda herself? Then ask for another tribunal. But we all know she hasn’t harmed anyone here. In fact, she saved his life.” He stabbed one finger toward Kyle’s back. Kyle’s shoulders hunched, like he’d felt the jab. “Just seconds after he tried to throw her into the river, she risked her life to keep him from the same painful death. She had to know that if she let him fall she would be safer here. She saved him anyway. Would any of you have done the same—rescue your enemy? He tried to kill her, and yet will she even speak against him?”

I felt all the eyes in the dark room on my face as Jared now held his hand out, palm up, toward me.

“Will you speak against him, Wanda?”

I stared at him wide-eyed, stunned that he was speaking for me, that he was speaking to me, that he was using my name. Melanie was in shock, too, torn in half. She was overjoyed at the kindness in his face as he looked at us, the softness in his eyes that had been absent so long. But it was my name he’d said…

It was a few seconds before I could find my voice.

“This is all a misunderstanding,” I whispered. “We both fell when the floor caved in. Nothing else happened.” I hoped the whisper would make it harder to hear the lie in my voice, but as soon as I was done, Ian chuckled. I nudged him with my elbow, but that didn’t stop him.

Jared actually smiled at me. “You see. She even tries to lie in his defense.”

“Tries being the operative word,” Ian added.

“Who says it’s lying? Who can prove that?” Maggie asked harshly, stepping forward into the empty space beside Kyle. “Who can prove that it’s not the truth that sounds so false on its lips?”