Page 75 of Shades of Earth (Across the Universe 3)

“No need,” Elder growls.

I put my hand on Elder’s arm. I know he’s not happy about this turn of

events, but I’m also not ready to battle my father if Elder’s looking for a fight. “You go back to your building,” I say. “Chris can walk me back to mine. ”

“But—” Elder starts, but I shake my head at him. He looks away, then strides up the paved path toward his own home.

“I don’t think he likes me very much,” Chris comments as Elder storms away.

I bite back a laugh. “No,” I say. “But that’s okay. He’ll come around. ”

Chris looks doubtful.

Instead of taking me straight back to the closest building—which would take less than five minutes—Chris veers to the right, skirting the meadow at the edge of the colony. “Amy, there are things I want to tell you . . . ” he says. He runs his fingers through his hair—much like Elder does when he’s frustrated—and then stops abruptly, looking up at the stars.

“Yes?” I prompt.

He doesn’t speak for a long moment. “I . . . I think I can trust you. You’re not like your father. ”

This comment leaves me speechless. Is Chris saying that my father’s untrustworthy? Emma said as much earlier, but it feels different coming from Chris, who has practically been my father’s right-hand man since the first expedition to the probe.

The probe. Chris was there when Dad found it.

“I know what you’re going to say. ” I ignore Chris’s expression. “Elder and I . . . we’ve already found the compound. We know what’s out there. ”

Chris looks genuinely startled and can’t seem to form any words in answer to me.

“I don’t know why Dad’s keeping it a secret . . . ” I continue. I look up at Chris’s uncannily bright blue eyes. “But thank you. ”

“Thank you?” Chris echoes, still at a loss for words.

“For trusting me enough to tell me,” I say. I touch his elbow, not speaking until I have his full attention again. “I mean it, thank you. It really means a lot to me. ” Telling me about the compound against my father’s wishes would be the kind of treachery my father would never forgive. But it also seems as if Dad’s hiding something even more important than Elder and I have realized. Something both Emma and Chris aren’t happy about.

“Why is Dad keeping the compound so secret?” I ask. “Does it have something to do with the aliens?”

Chris’s eyes round in further surprise.

“Don’t look so shocked!” I say, laughing softly. “Elder and I figured it had to have been aliens that attacked Kit—that killed off the original colony. ”

I cast my eyes up to the buildings behind us, nothing more than a dark outline against the bright stars.

Chris touches the side of my face, his fingers sliding down my cheek and twining in my hair. My breath catches in my throat as he looks down at me with such intensity that I can barely think straight.

“You, Amy Martin,” Chris says, “are one of a kind. ”

He pulls me closer and, like a magnet that can’t resist metal, I’m drawn to him.

“You give me hope,” he whispers, the warmth of his breath making the tiny hairs on the back of my neck stand up.

I think for one heart-stopping moment that he’s going to kiss me—and I cannot tell my body to push him away.

But he doesn’t.

His forehead rests on mine, and we just stand there, under the twinkling lights of a million stars, holding each other as if that is protection enough against the treacherous Earth.

38: ELDER

I wake before dawn and watch the morning light creep across my ceiling. There is so much that must be done, but all I can think about is Kit. I used to be envious of the way Eldest could always rely on Doc, but somehow I didn’t notice how Kit had become so important to me. To all of us. I don’t know how we’re going to operate without her.