The Fear Trials Read Free Page B

were Peri.
    I stand and stumble forward. Already, the nanites are stitching up my broken bones, piecing them back together, but the pain is still bad and my vision blurs.
    When I reach the tree, Koi is already halfway up, clinging to the trunk like a bug.
    â€œYou’re going to pay for that!” I scream.
    I grab a rock. I take a second to catch my breath, steady my aim. Then I throw the rock as hard as I can. It stays true to its course and hits Koi’s right hand.
    He yells in surprise and falls from the tree. I have seconds to break ahead. I rush forward, still hobbling, and leap over Koi just before he gets back to his feet. I am lighter. Faster. I used to climb the mast when I was Peri’s age. Climbing is something I am good at, as easy as breathing.
    I scramble up, branch to branch, the pattern steady and even. Push with my feet, pull with my arms. My ankle has nearly healed. I stretch, ready to haul myself up one last time and grab the orange fabric. I want to end this and go home. I want to prove that I can win.
    My fingertips touch the branch overhead just as I feel Koi’s hand on my foot.
    â€œI’m sorry,” he says.
    My strength is no match for his. I fall from the tree and hit the ground.
    I hear a crack, a ringing in my ears.
    Then the world is doused in black.

Chapter 8
    I wake up on the houseboat to the sound of knocking.
    When I sit up, my head wobbles all wrong. Peri is asleep on the mattress beside me, curls scattered across her face. I sweep them away and see dried tears on her cheeks.
    She must have thought I was dead, when my father and Koi brought me home.
    The memory rushes back. I lost. My father is sound asleep beside Koi, his dagger clutched in one hand, a rifle in the other. I hate them both.
    Someone knocks. Three times, the signal. I tiptoe to the door, move the slab of wood out of the way, and swing it open.
    My mother is backlit by the moon, her silver hair illuminated so she looks like a ghost. She stumbles forward as a wave crashes against the boat. I catch her, feel her weight as she leans against me. “Where were you?” I ask.
    She takes a deep breath, then pushes past me and sits down at the table. “Working. Always working.”
    â€œKoi failed his test,” I say. “He failed, and now everything is up to me, and I can’t handle it.”
    â€œYou can,” she says. “Because you’re different than your brother.”
    I don’t know what she means. I sit down across from her and place my hand over hers. She stiffens for a second, then relaxes. I lean my head against her shoulder. “Peri is upset.”
    â€œThat’s why she has you and your brother,” she says. “The beautiful thing about family is that we always step in for one another. Wouldn’t you agree?” She runs her fingers through my hair, the same way she used to when I was just a little girl.
    â€œKoi isn’t himself right now.” I want to stay here, relax into her. Instead I scoot away and look her in the eyes. “And Peri was upset today because she wanted you. ”
    â€œMeadow, I can’t always . . .” She stops talking, looks at her hands for a moment. Her eyes widen, as if she is afraid of what she sees. “I’m busy.”
    â€œYou’re losing yourself,” I whisper. “We need you to stop disappearing. We need you to be our mother .”
    She shakes her head. The silver seashell charm on her wrist clinks as she stands up and pushes away from the table. “Sleep. What we all need to do right now is sleep.”
    I watch her stumble across the cabin and curl up against my father’s side.
    In seconds, she is away from the world.

Chapter 9
    M y feet are swiped out from under me. I hit the sand, hard.
    â€œPay attention!” My father shouts. “Don’t let him do that to you again.”
    Koi circles me like a shark, ready to strike again. He trains with a vengeance, as if he