A Radiant Sky (22 page)

“It’s okay,” I said. “You don’t have to—”

“No, I do. Those things I said about you to Ellie. They were terrible. I don’t really think that. I just got so worked up, so angry. I didn’t know why, I just knew that I was, and I had to take it out on you, because you had the silver eyes, and you also kind of knew what it was like to be different.”

“Well,” I said. “Maybe now you’ll find some clarity.”

He looked at me curiously.

“He was trying to protect me, huh? You’re sure?”

“He wanted to be a part of your life. And he wanted to keep you safe. But he couldn’t do both.” He scratched his head thoughtfully then patted down his sandy hair.

“How do you know this?” he asked. “A vision?”

I smiled to myself. “Something like that.”

“You know, Skye, you’re amazing, the way you deal with all this. I wouldn’t be able to.”

“You would, Ian,” I said. “If you didn’t have a choice.”

“I guess it would be a little inappropriate to ask you to prom right now, huh?”

“Honestly, right now I’m just worried about
surviving
prom. Literally.”

He laughed, and soon I was laughing too. Hysterical, raucous, slightly delirious laughter.

“You can’t blame a guy for trying,” he said, wiping away a tear. Then he leaned in so suddenly it took me by surprise, and gave me a kiss on the cheek. “I’ll save you a dance, though,” he whispered in my ear.

Before I could say a word, he turned on his heels and went back inside. His step was a little springier than usual.

Ian and Skye will find each other.

I was so grateful that we did.

20

F
inals began the following day, and we all met by my locker first thing in the morning. I had brought a big thermos of Aunt Jo’s special, industrial strength coffee blend, milk, and lots of sugar. Cassie’s tote bag contained at least three bottles of Mountain Dew. Ian wore his lucky Rockies hat, even though it was definitely too warm out for headgear of any kind. And Dan . . .

“Dan,” I said. “Don’t you have any rituals? You know, for luck?”

He nodded, grinning sheepishly. “You just can’t see it.”

Cassie made a face.

“Never mind,” I said. “I don’t want to know.” I looked at my watch. “Well, I guess this is it. It’s almost eight.”

“I guess it’s kind of an overstatement to say we’re going into battle,” Dan said. “Considering.”

“Don’t worry,” Cassie said to me over her shoulder, already pushing him down the hall. “I’ll smack him for you.”

“That doesn’t sound so bad. . . .” Dan’s voice trailed off as they turned the corner.

Once again, Ian and I found ourselves alone in the hallway. “Well, Ian,” I said, linking my arm through his. “I guess it’s just you and me.”

“Where’s Raven?” he asked.

“She stayed home to prepare for prom—the battle—whatever—with Aaron and Aunt Jo. She’s not going to take finals. She says after this is all over . . . well, she probably won’t be sticking around.”

“I don’t blame her. I’m about ready to get out of here, too.” It made me think of the conversation my mother had shown me. Something popped into my mind about the examples we set for our kids, but it popped out again before I’d fully formed a thought. Ian seemed nervous, and he took a deep breath. “Actually, I’m about ready to get out of here—
now
.”

“Well, me too. But first we have finals, and then an epic battle. Or did you mean before eight o’clock?”

“Actually,” he said, his voice serious. “I mean right now. I’m not going to take my American History final.”

I felt all the blood drain from my face. “What do you mean?” I asked. “You’re . . . you’re
leaving
me? But where? Why? Where are you going?”

All the panic I’d been pushing down inside myself for the past few months began to fight its way to the surface. Was Astaroth right? Was this too much to be asking of them? Would everyone I loved just leave me, eventually?

“Skye,” Ian said, “I’m not
leaving
leaving. I’m going to find my dad.” He paused. “I know where he is.”

“What!” The blood returned to my face, and with it, a rush of dizzy emotion. “Do you know what this means? Ian, if we find your dad, it means we actually have a fighting chance of beating the Order and the Rebellion once and for all! With all the Rogues on our side, we really could do this!” I jumped up and down, and threw my arms around his neck. “This is incredible!”

“Yeah.” He grinned. “What you said yesterday, about him trying to protect me? Well, I decided to come clean and just tell my mom everything. Not about the Rogue angel stuff, but about how important it is for me to find him. It turns out she knew where he was this whole time. But she didn’t want to tell me. She wanted to protect me, too.”

I narrowed my eyes. This sounded familiar.

“What do you mean?” I asked.

Ian cocked his head, a puzzling array of emotions playing out on his face. “She said my dad didn’t leave us, like she always told me he did. I guess the truth is she kicked him out.”

“Really?” I asked. “But—” I stopped myself. There was no way my mom could have shown me that—or even
known
that. Her clues only took me so far, and we had to piece together the rest. “What happened?”

“She said he was gone all the time, keeping secrets, sneaking around. She was pretty sure he was having an affair. They argued about it a lot. Finally, she told him to get out. She said she told him if he wasn’t going to be the father I needed, he could leave.” Ian’s jaw was set in a straight line. “He didn’t fight. He just . . . did what she said.”

I let the information fill in the blanks of what I already knew. He’d been spending all his time with the Rogues in the cabin in the woods. And my mother begged him to keep their secret from his family. He left his wife and son to keep it safe. And to keep
them
safe.

“So . . . where is he now?” My breath caught in my throat.

He dug around in his backpack, and held up an envelope. “My mom gave me this. Said this was where the last check he sent her came from.” He pointed to the return address. “Apparently, he changed his name. See? Benjamin Sharpe. That must be why our online searches were pointless.”

If he was a Rogue trying to escape his old life and leave that world behind, if he was trying to sever all ties and connections to his wife and son for their own protection—then it made so much sense to change his name.

“I wonder if that’s why my visions didn’t work either,” I mused. “I was searching for James Harrison, along with the face I’d already seen. But together they wouldn’t have added up to much.”

“I guess it all makes sense now,” Ian said. His voice was hard to read.

“Ian.” I hesitated. “You know he wasn’t having an affair, right?”

“Of course,” he said. “Well, I do now. He was with your mom and dad, trying to overthrow the system.” He looked out somewhere over my shoulder, his eyes unfocused. He was processing so much. “It’s weird though, you know? My mom told me that she kept the truth from me because she wanted me to be mad at him for leaving—not her, for
making him. Because he’s the one who left, and she’s the one who stayed. She knew it was selfish. But she did it anyway. To protect me.”

“Yeah,” I said, thinking of the conversation. “There’s a lot of that going around.”

“But I guess what she didn’t know is that he was protecting her. He was protecting both of us. From . . .” He spread his arms out wide, then shrugged. “All this.”

I knew what he meant.

“I don’t know anything about him. All this time, I’ve been angry at him, hated him, for no reason. And now I find out he was doing it for
me.
” He paused. “I’m so messed up.”

I took his hand. “You know what, though?” I said. “They’re the ones who are gone, and we’re the ones who are here. And it’s time for
us
to embrace the truth. We have powers, Ian—big ones—”

“I don’t—”

“Yes, you do. You will. They’ll manifest, like mine did, when they’re ready. And you’ll find your place in this world, because there’s no other option. Our parents can’t protect us from the future forever. We have to face this. Now is the time.”

“I know, Skye,” he said. “Which is why I have to go.”

I looked longingly down the hall, in the direction of the final exam I was supposed to take in five minutes.

“Can you wait until after the test? We’ll go together!”

“I can’t.” His eyes showed resolve, determination. “I know this is your Uprising, your battle. But this is my dad. My personal mission. I have to go now. And I have to go on my own.”

“Ian, come on,” I said, starting to feel the fire of frustration burning in me. “You can’t go by yourself. It’s not safe. And also, it’s not fair. I’ve been searching for him, too!” I squeezed his hand. “This is a huge moment, for both of us. We have to go
together.
”

“No,” he said firmly, pulling his arm away. I could see the Rogue temper building in him—that part of him that was capable of saying things he’d later regret. “This is going to be a couple days’ drive. I’m going now. If I leave in a few minutes, I can be back by prom.”
Back by prom?
That would mean missing all his finals. “If you want to come with me, I guess that’s up to you. But I’m leaving.” He turned and walked toward the exit.

I stood there, stunned. Should I follow him? Should I stay?

You have to get at least a 98 on three of your exams if you want to keep your GPA where it needs to be. . . .

And I couldn’t just disappear now, in the days leading up to prom. Not when my friends were counting on me.

Maybe I could let Ian do this. . . .

I glanced down at my watch. Two minutes.

Without another thought, I turned and ran down the hall, swinging open the classroom door and sliding into an empty seat just in time for my first final to begin.

21

T
he clock ticked out the seconds on the wall.

We know where James Harrison is.

Tick.

Ian is going to find him.

Tick.

We’re going do this.

Tick.

I could hear the tension crackling just beneath the surface of my skin. Every cell in my body felt wired to explode.

I looked down at my test booklet and tried to focus on the words in front of me, but the ones in my head were too distracting.