A Radiant Sky (2 page)

The sun was setting on one chapter of my life. But it was rising on the next. The world was waking up, and I felt like I was waking up with it.

2

“P
lanning on jumping?”

My eyes flew open.

I didn’t have to turn around to know who was behind me. I’d heard his voice so often that it had become a living, breathing part of me, as real as the cells in my skin and the oxygen in my blood. He was repeating the very same words I’d said to him that moment on the roof of Northwood School, when I’d learned who I really was.

The child of a member of the Order and a Rebel angel who had broken away. The daughter of dark and light.

Except now I knew that there was more to this story than I’d ever dreamed possible. My mother wasn’t just a Guardian, but a Gifted One who possessed the Sight. Now
I finally understood the visions I’d been having. They were glimpses of the future.

The breeze coming through the open window smelled like spring. Spring meant renewal. Well, maybe I could bring renewal to the world. For too long, two groups had vied for power over the world and the people who walked it: the Order, responsible for controlling human fate; and the Rebellion, who believed in the passion and chaos of a life messy and lived to the fullest. But neither group was perfect. Neither was right. I couldn’t let the Order control human life forever, but a world controlled by the Rebellion would mean chaos and anarchy. I stood between them now. Maybe I did have the fate of the universe in my hands.

“You’ve been waiting for a chance to say that back to me, haven’t you?” I asked, gathering the courage to turn around.

“You sort of gave it to me on a silver platter this time.” I could hear the smirk in his voice, and I turned to face him.

“I’m not going to jump,” I said. “Don’t worry.” He wasn’t smiling. His lips didn’t even twitch. “Even if I did, I could catch myself now. Wings and all.”

In the fading light, his dark features began to blur, to fade along with the sun into the corners of the attic already
cast with twilight shadows. He grabbed at an invisible speck of dust in the air, crushed it in his fist, looked away.

“Asher—”

“Don’t.”

“I’m sorry.”

“You’re sorry?” So many things burned in his coal-black eyes. Anger. Betrayal. If I looked deep enough, maybe even pain. Instead, I let my gaze drop to the warped planks of the wooden floor.

“I have to do this.”

“I protected you, Skye. I devoted myself, every waking second, to keeping you safe from the Order.”

“I know—”

“I gave you a family with the Rebels. I was ready to commit my life to fighting with you. Side by side.”

“I—”

“A
team
.”

“Me too, but—”

He looked up then, and that look sent lightning crashing through my heart.

“I loved you.”

What was I doing? Not for the first time, I wondered if I was making the right decision. It was too hard. Shouldn’t it be easier to follow your own star?

“I loved you, too,” I said. I walked up to him, took his hands. They uncurled from fists, shaking ever so slightly in mine. “I still do.”

“Then how,” he said through clenched teeth, “can you leave me?”

The mountain wind blew between us. The sun sparkled through my eyelashes.

“Because I have to do this. It’s who I am. Can’t I love you but not believe in what you believe in?”

“It’d be a whole lot better if you believed.”

The corner of his mouth twitched, and I smiled, despite myself. “That’s not funny.”

“I know.” He sighed, grabbed my hands in his, and pulled me closer. I let him wrap his arms around me, and I rested my cheek on his chest. “It’s just that I really did think you were a Rebel. I thought we were in this together. For always.”

I felt tears prick the backs of my eyes, and was glad he couldn’t see. I forced them down.

“I wish that we could be,” I said. “But it’s impossible.”

“Skye, you know I have to do the right thing, too—don’t you? I have to go back to the Rebellion. We’ve fought so hard for this; I can’t turn my back on them now. Ardith and Gideon are counting on me. I let them down once, I
can’t do it again. It’s not about the rules. It’s not like the Order. It’s about honor. It’s about loyalty. I thought you understood that.”

“Don’t talk to me about loyalty,” I said, my face growing hot with frustration. “I’m loyal to my family. To my friends. To my own blood.” I took a deep breath. “So, I guess that means we’re against each other now.”

“Maybe.” He looked thoughtful. “Maybe not. Looks can be deceiving. You of all people should know that.” He took a step back, and lifted my chin so he could look into my eyes. He raised an eyebrow.

“Do you believe in us, Skye? That there could be a happy ending for us if we wish for it hard enough?”

I swallowed. Did I believe? My life was fine before Asher and Devin came into the picture. I had Aunt Jo and my friends and won ski races and got straight As, and that was enough. It wasn’t exciting, it didn’t make me
feel
anything, but it was safe, and it was mine. Now, I felt too much. And all it did was make things confusing. All I felt was the pain I’d been trying so hard to escape since my parents died.

It was the kind of life the Rebellion believed in.

But forming this new group, stopping this collision of Chaos and Order—that was a fight I couldn’t afford to lose. No matter what I had to give up in order to win.

I closed my eyes, and when I opened them again I was crying.

“No,” I said. “I don’t.”

Asher let go of me. He opened his mouth to say something, then closed it again just as quickly.

“I’m sorry,” I whispered.

“I don’t believe you.”

“You have to.”

He took my hands in his and gripped them tight. “Skye,” he said fiercely. “Listen to me. When this is all over, when we’ve found a way to end this, we will be together.”

I raised my eyes to meet his. “Then prove it.”

It was a challenge. It was the very thing he’d yelled to me above the wind, the first time we’d raced each other.

I’ll win!

Prove it.

He pulled me into him so fast I didn’t see it coming, and I threw my arms around his neck and kissed him. He held on to me, tightly, as the sun dipped quietly below the mountains and the darkness rose to meet us and the wind blew in through the open window, gusting up under my wings, which had unfurled in Asher’s arms, and lifting us both off the ground. It was the kind of kiss you read about in books, the kind they write songs about. A kiss that told
the story of us. The whole messy, complicated story.

He let go of me, letting me fall, gently, to the ground.

“I will. And if you think I’m giving up on
that
,” he said, brushing the hair out of my face, “you’re crazy.”

“That’s no good-bye,” I whispered, pushing down the lump welling in my throat.

“Nope. It’s a promise.”

Asher gave me one last look, a millennia of history contained within that one gaze. “See you on the other side,” he said.

In a rustle of black feathers, he moved to the window.

Then he was gone. And everything went still. The bottom of my life fell out from beneath me. Just like that.

On shaky legs, I walked to the window and leaned my hands against the weathered sill. The night unfolded before me, a dark expanse of stars.

What have I done?

The floor creaked, and soon Cassie had walked up beside me.

“You okay, babe?” she said softly, putting a reassuring hand on my back.

“No,” I said, wiping away a tear. “But I will be.” I let my head fall onto her shoulder, and she wrapped her arms around me.

“I think what you’re doing is incredibly brave,” she said.

“That’s not why I’m doing it.”

“I know.” She pulled away and looked at me, her green eyes sparkling. “You’re doing it because it’s right. And you won’t have to go through it alone. I know your secret now, and nothing could make me leave your side.”

“Not even Dan?” I asked hopefully.

“Not even Dan. Come on, he’s not as important as my best friend!”

“You know, you really need to start making sure I’m not in the room before you talk about me,” Dan said, coming up behind her. “I always hear you.”

“You need to stop sneaking up on us then,” Cassie replied blithely, waving him off.

“You guys have to get the bickering under control,” Ian cut in, clapping a hand on Dan’s back as he approached. “If we’re going to work as a team now.” His brown eyes found mine, searching. Ian, always comforting, always a friend, even when neither of us deserved it. “And Skye, Cassie’s right. We’re here for you. We’re going to help you, whatever you need. We’re in this together.”

For a moment, I couldn’t find the words to say what I was feeling. I looked around at my friends, my family, the only people I knew I could always count on. They were so
loyal, dependable. As long as we were all together, I would never be alone. I’d questioned it once, but I knew I would never have to question it again.

“You guys are the best,” I said, standing up. “I can’t believe how far we’ve come since the night of my birthday. It seems like yesterday, but I feel like a different person now.”

“You kind of are,” said Cassie.

“But we still love you.” Dan smirked. “Weird silver wings and all.”

“Come on, Skye,” Ian said. “Pack up. Let’s go home.”

I looked around at my friends and nodded.

“I’m ready,” I said.

“For whatever’s coming,” said Dan.

“For the road ahead,” Ian added.

“For a nap!” Cassie laughed.

“For all those things,” I said. “And whatever else we’re about to face.”

3

R
aven’s fork scraped against her plate.

I flinched involuntarily, and noticed I wasn’t the only one. Everyone around the table—Cassie, Dan, Ian, and Aunt Jo—was looking at her.

“Sor-
ry
,” she snapped.

“It’s okay,” I said next to her, trying to convey both reassurance and thankfulness in my voice. She just glared at me. I’d been really nice to her since learning she had saved my life, but the nicer I was, the more it seemed to get on her nerves. Raven may have joined our group, but I had a feeling it was going to take a while before it really sank in. For all of us.