Flashback ( PDFDrive )

“I’m not serving anyone,” he snapped. “I pick and choose my
assignments.”
Ro crossed her arms. “How’s that working out for you?”
He gritted his teeth, flashing all the jagged points, but said nothing
as he stalked away.
Ro followed, and for a second Sophie thought she was alone, until
she realized Keefe was standing quietly beside her—which reminded
her where she was supposed to be heading.
“Maybe you should get a little fresh air before you go inside the
hive,” he suggested. “’Cause if you’re this queasy now, it’s only going
to get worse.”
He had a point. She could already smell the rancid stench waiting
for her inside—and she definitely wasn’t looking forward to seeing
that drippy honeycomb of milky-membraned cubbies now that she
knew exactly what was growing in that amber-colored goo.
But . . . Fitz and Biana were waiting in there—and she needed to
know why.
“I’ll be fine,” she promised, heading for the door.
“I’ll be right here,” Keefe told her, offering a weak smile as she
peered inside, half expecting to spot more blinking orange eyes.
But the hive looked mostly like she remembered it—just with more
empty cubbies. And two familiar figures standing off to the side with
their backs facing away from her.
When nothing jumped out to murder her, she took one last breath
of somewhat fresh-smelling air before she forced her legs to carry her
into the hot, stinky hive. Her footsteps clanged down the metal stairs
and were somehow even louder as she crossed the floor, but Fitz and
Biana didn’t respond. They didn’t even acknowledge her when she