Page 31 of Shades of Earth (Across the Universe 3)

Enough. I stomp farther away, determined to get out of earshot of the two of them.

“Your eyes,” she says, staring up at him. I pause, unable to make myself look away from the image of Amy focusing all her attention on another guy.

“What about them?” Chris asks, a little defensive.

“They’re kind of weird. ”

“Wow. What a way to come on to a guy. ” Chris shakes his head in mock disbelief.

“No, I’m serious. ” Amy shoves him playfully.

“And who said I wasn’t?”

“No, really. They’re just so blue. ”

“And yours are so green,” he says, mimicking Amy. “I don’t know how you can see with those. ”

I don’t wait for her to answer him. I can see just fine, and I do not need to stand around and watch as Amy admires some other guy’s eyes. I circle around to the other side of the crowd, then push my way to the front of the group. I try to squelch the jealous rage that’s growing in my heart.

I might have the whole world now, but it’s not enough if I don’t get to share it with her.

15: AMY

“Don’t break formation!” one of the military guards shouts.

I pause, looking back. Kit is having trouble keeping track of the shipborns on Phydus; Lorin, in particular, is proving to be erratic. She keeps wandering straight ahead, even if the group veers in another direction. One of the doctors, Dr. Gupta, is helping her, but I shoot Chris a sympathetic smile and drop back.

“What can I do?” I ask Kit.

“Just try to keep an eye on them,” she says. She pushes her hair off her brow. It’s hot and humid, like a summer day in Florida.

I pull Lorin closer to me, tugging her to make her keep up the pace. If one of those pterodactyl things did actually decide to attack us, it would strike here, at the end of the group, where the weakest of us are. I glance around, looking for Elder, but he’s nowhere to be seen. No—wait, there he is. At the front of the group, with Emma and Dad. With the leaders.

Where he should be, I tell myself. But I can’t help but wish he was in the back with me instead.

“What’s wrong with these people?” Chris asks, the joking tone he’d adopted earlier gone as he looks at Lorin intently.

I open my mouth to tell him about Phydus, then close it. How will he react? Right now, Phydus is needed, and it’s too hot to start arguing philosophy.

A screeching cry cuts through the humid air.

I stop immediately, but Lorin keeps walking straight ahead. Dr. Gupta chases after her as I reach for my gun. Nearby, the soldiers closest to us pull out their own weapons.

“There!” someone calls from the middle of the group.

A huge, reptilian bird circles us slowly, like a vulture homing in on a meal. It’s like it knew I was thinking about it.

I raise the . 38 and am about to press my finger against the trigger when my dad begins shouting. “No one fire!” he orders from the front of the group. “Not unless it attacks!”

The thing screeches again, swooping down another few feet. I can see its claws—massive and curved.

Someone near the front fires a shot. Dad curses at the trigger-happy soldier.

The dinosaur-sized bird screams angrily, jerking around in another direction so quickly that I have to look away from the gun to keep up with its movements. In moments it’s gone entirely. I holster my gun, and it’s not until that moment that I realize Chris didn’t pull out a weapon of his own, probably because he was worried about pissing my dad off.

“Move out!” Dad calls, motioning for everyone to continue following him. All the excited chatter from before grinds to a stop at this reminder of the potential dangers of this world.

Few people talk now. There’s a sort of intense focus to the way we move in the trees. Everyone is jumpy, on guard.