A Radiant Sky (12 page)

A spring breeze ruffled my hair and kissed my cheeks. I couldn’t help but remember how cold and barren the field
below me had been all winter. Then, I’d stared out at a bleak white sky and watched as a flock of birds took off from the treetops, the rush of hundreds of wings echoing in my ears. But now the sky was bluer, the treetops greener, and the birds were coming—not going.

I took out the box and studied it. The wood was a dark, rich hue, polished to a shine. It struck me as weird—everything else that I’d salvaged from the cabin was showing signs of age, decay. The wooden box was as polished and shiny as it might have been on the day it was made.

Strangely, the wood appeared to be all one piece—with no grooves or hinges where it might open. There was a keyhole in the front, but no actual key. I shook it and heard something lightweight flutter within.

There was a design etched into the lid—or what should have been the lid. An old-fashioned key, with an elaborate top that swooped out in four intertwining loops—like a four-leaf clover.

The whole box looked like some sort of strange puzzle. If it was left with other personal items in the cabin, then it must have belonged to my parents, or to the Rogues they were working with. It was clear that whoever it had belonged to didn’t want just anybody to discover its contents.

I put my hand on the engraving, and it glowed silver beneath my fingers. And then, before my eyes, the silver became solid, real metal—and I found myself holding a key.

Like it was meant for me.

The key fit into the lock perfectly. I held my breath as it clicked, and the top of the box slid sideways.

Resting inside was a single piece of paper folded many times into a tight square. I couldn’t stop my fingers from trembling slightly as I unfolded it to reveal a page filled from top to bottom with cramped, tight script. My heart expanded like ink in water when I saw how it began:

Dear Skye
,

I’m writing you this letter, my sweet girl, because I don’t know what else to do. We are in danger. Your father and I have made a risky mistake, and we are being watched. Followed. If I’m being truthful with you, I don’t think we’ll make it through another week.

But you will. They won’t kill you. You hold the key to breaking them, and they’ll do whatever they can to harness that power. You’re not ready for it now. I can’t put you in the position of having to save the world just yet. I can hardly let you wander off by yourself for two seconds
,
Skye, without worrying! But one day, your powers will grow to be stronger than any angel’s before you. And the great task—a burden, and an honor—will be asked of you. It was the thing we could never accomplish, because it wasn’t time yet. But for you—for you, it will be time.

Of course, you know none of this. I’ve made certain of that. I hope that one day, when you read this letter, you’ll understand that I kept you in the dark out of love, and protection, and for no other reason.

There will be a time when you come looking for answers. Even though I am no longer with you, I promise you, my little silver clover, that I will tell you everything you need to know.

All you have to do is ask.

Love
,

Your Mama

Only when I looked up and the colors of the world were blurred around me did I realize I was crying.

After school, everyone came over.

Cassie was, predictably, thrilled that we had found Aaron and Earth, and ecstatic that they’d come to join us after all.

“I’m telling you, Skye,” she said with a wink. “Epic love is always reunited.”

“What’s it like to be in your head?” I asked. “Is it rainbows and puppies, all the time?”

“Mm-hmm.” She grinned mischievously. “Labradoodles.”

“Well,” I said, “just because Aaron is back doesn’t mean he and Aunt Jo are, like, back together or anything. And it
definitely
doesn’t mean that
all
epic love is reunited.”

“No word from Asher, huh?”

My stomach suddenly lurched. It had been him at the fire, hadn’t it? It was possible I’d made it up, hallucinated him because I wanted so badly to see him again. But his silhouette was unmistakable against the dancing flames.

Had it been a message for me? A sign?

Or—a more troubling thought occurred to me—had he been involved in starting it? If he was fighting with the Rebellion—no. I put that thought out of my head as soon as it popped in.

“No word yet,” I said.

“Don’t worry, Skye,” she whispered, putting her arm around my neck and pulling me tightly to her. “You guys will find a way. I could never believe anything else.”

I wanted to believe it, too, that Asher and I would find
a way to be together. But I’d been hurt and betrayed too many times to believe in love with much certainty. I couldn’t believe anything anymore—unless I had proof.

We rejoined the group in the living room. Cassie’s hair was woven into an elaborately braided masterpiece, and when she sat down on the floor, Earth, who seemed to have a hair fixation, begged her for something similar.

Cassie braided away, and I filled the group in on what was going on.

“You guys heard about the fire on Main Street last night?” I began. “It was an attack on Into the Woods.”

“The Order?” Ian asked sharply.

“No. It was the Rebellion, this time.” I took a deep breath. “This is going to be hard to hear, but I have to tell you, so that you stay safe. We think they’re trying to pick off my friends and family, to isolate me. Then they can take me away and use my powers to defeat the Order.”

“And what about the Order?” Ian asked. “What are they planning?”

I sighed nervously. “I don’t really know yet. But they’ll do anything to keep the Rebellion from taking me.”

Cassie looked equal parts terrified and enthralled. She loved drama, indiscriminately and in all forms.

“That means time is running out,” I continued. “Ian, we
have to find James, and soon. Can you talk to your mom, and try to find out where he might be?”

“Of course,” Ian said, his voice and expression deadly serious.

“Cassie, Dan, I’ll need you guys at school, every day. It’s important to keep up the appearance that everything is normal—that we don’t know what’s going on, and we don’t have a plan. I think the element of surprise will work well in our favor here. No one will expect that you two have a plan up your sleeves.”

“Hey . . .” Dan said.

“And Raven.” I turned to her. “You have to be at school, too. Just like today. Keep an eye on Ardith and Gideon. Make sure Cassie and Dan stay safe.”

She mock saluted.

“Great. Aunt Jo, Aaron. I need you guys to try to remember and dig up as much information as you can about James. And I need you working on your powers. Any Rogues you know of who you think we can easily get on our side, reach out to them. Tell them to come to River Springs. I think they’ll come if they know I’m at the helm. Explain that we’re starting a new faction, and they have a place in it.”

They nodded.

“The Rebellion broke away from the Order because they
didn’t share the same beliefs,” I said. “Well, now, we’re breaking away from them both for the same reasons. We,” I said, looking around at everyone in the room, “are officially the Uprising.”

11

I
couldn’t sleep.

In the dark, too many questions swirled in my mind. What
had
Asher been doing outside of Into the Woods last night? Where was James—and would my visions lead me, as I hoped, to the shadowy fourth Rogue?

Then there was the question of my mother. Her note said that she knew this day would come for me. That if I had questions, all I had to do was ask.

But what the heck did
that
mean? She was dead, and she wasn’t coming back. I wondered if there was some clue in the tiny wooden box, the mysterious etching of the key that became solid when I touched it. Aside from being an apology for keeping my mind a blank slate all those years,
I couldn’t shake the feeling that there was some deeper, hidden meaning that I wasn’t quite getting.

Perhaps most unnerving of all, though, was this: What was the Order planning?

The Rebellion thought big picture—they could use their elemental powers to cause huge catastrophic events and natural disasters. But the Order worked on a smaller, more calculating scale.

They focus on nuances. A whisper of a breath. A hair out of place. They manipulate each and every small thing on this earth. And every little thing has an effect on something else.

I couldn’t help but think of my own life like this, every event, large and small, that had led me to this crossroads, this moment in time.

The Order had driven me here. But what were they planning
now
?

I held the power to blur destiny—their ability to see it, their control of it.

The Order starts small.

And my power, in turn, affected those close to me. Cassie, Dan, and Ian. Aunt Jo. Asher and Devin. Raven. Everyone’s fate was intricately intertwined, down to the tiniest of nuances. Could the Order still control me—kill me, even? If they could, they would have done it by now,
right? I realized, with a start, that every day that passed it would be that much harder for them to get rid of me. I wasn’t the girl who they led into the woods the night I almost died. I was so much stronger now.

Unless . . . they were planning something else.

I shivered. This was not a good train of thought to hop on late at night.

I got out of bed and fished the wooden box out of my sock drawer, where I’d stashed it earlier. Instead of getting back into bed, I climbed out onto the roof again.

It was a gorgeous spring night. The warm air wrapped around me like a blanket, and the stars shone bright above the mountains. Instantly, I felt better, and I began to examine the box again. It was beautiful, with delicate inlaid panels and unique craftsmanship. Whoever had made it was a really skilled woodworker. There was definitely something special about it.

In one fell swoop, dizziness overcame me. It pitched the roof forward at an impossible slant, and black spots bloomed across my vision like inky bloodstains. I grasped at the shingles behind me, trying to keep myself from falling forward, sliding off the roof into the yard below.

What was going on? Was some power within the box doing this? Was it me? But this was more than just
exhaustion or confusion—and it didn’t feel like a vision either. Instead of the feathery-light liquid silver shooting through me, I felt cold, heavy, like just focusing my eyes was a struggle. I clung frantically to the roof, as the stars dimmed and darkness moved in. And then I heard it.

A voice that had haunted me since it gave the command to Devin, months ago, to have me killed.

“Stay calm, Skye,” it said, in that bone-chilling way I remembered. “You’re not going to fall. In fact, you’re going to be just fine. You don’t care about standing your ground, do you? Haven’t you always wanted to find a place with no troubles? No anger or betrayal?” I could almost picture his lips curling back in a sinister grin as he said, “A place where the people who love you don’t leave you? Join us,” it whispered. “Join us.”

I felt myself slipping back, to a clearing high atop the mountains, the air thin and cold, the sky dark with menace. Asher was there, with his Rebel elder. And so was Devin—with his Gifted leader.

“No,” I said out loud, pressing my hands against my ears, though I knew it wouldn’t help. “Get out of my head, Astaroth.”

He had trained Devin and Raven in ruthlessness and sliced through Oriax’s chest like it was butter before
turning Devin on me. He controlled the Order, and the Order controlled the world.

It wasn’t just his voice but his very presence that seemed to fill my head.

What am I doing?
I thought.
There’s no way I’m going to succeed at something where my parents failed. I’ll never find James Harrison. I’ll never figure out who the fourth is.

“Now you’re catching on, Skye,” Astaroth’s voice echoed in my brain. “It’s so very pointless. Your plan is never going to work.”

He’s right. I’ll never see Asher again, either.