When Copper Suns Fall (13 page)

She smiled. “No, silly person. It means we
have a room together. But this is a correction camp. So don’t
expect to have a bed made of cotton. Let’s go.”

I watched her walk off. Then I glanced up at
my prison with its grave exterior: flower free, square shape, long
steel barracks extending from the sides, algae-covered brick, two
by two windows framed in steel. There were so many they made the
building seem like a demon’s face filled with tiny eyes already
focused on its prey...me.

I turned back to Father standing with hunched
shoulders. He always did that when he was nervous, or unsure of my
intentions. The truth? Scared didn’t even begin to describe my
flipping stomach.

He stepped toward me and tried to take one of
my handbags. I was still angry, so I held on tighter. Father took
the hint, sighing as he stuffed his hands into his pockets.

“I’ll call you from Cairona. I’ll be sure to
bring some of those muski glasses you love so very much. Off you
go,” he said.

“Yeah. Right into the bowels of the beast,” I
turned around and headed toward the Minders Camp of the Ideal
Behaviorist’s doorway.

* * *

The next few weeks at Minders Camp passed in
a blur of stress, tests, training, and did I already say
stress?

Outside the camp, engineers prepared the city
for hurricane season. Thinking about missing the upcoming date for
Micah’s visit made me sick to my stomach. And Faris’s face and
voice raided my thoughts. It was all Lexa’s fault. She started the
plants to growing when she mentioned how well we’d tumble together.
But truthfully, his little trick with the mind talk had already
conditioned the soil.

Would I ever see him again?

Or maybe I’d hear him, instead.

What also proved challenging was working my
way around the pranksters. Kids I didn’t know I’d be so lucky to
have with me. Girls like Diranna Tilley whose brother was the one
kidnapped by outcasts years ago. She along with her doppelganger
friends, Emiliana and Babel, had been in and out of Minders ever
since it happened. Girls who found creative ways to make my life
miserable. Kids who thought Zachary Davet or Thresh Wigdon should
have the co-champion spot over me.

I lost count of how many times I found my
underwear hanging in the boy’s locker room. Or found fictitious
notes about my latest sexual romp in the training barracks taped to
the doors on my hall. Electrical storms increased during this time
of the year, creating terrible receptions. No cellereaders were
allowed in Minders. I was cut off from Lexa and Jalen. Even
Audrina’s annoying voice would work over Diranna and the
doppelgangers.

A visit from Yolanda Fuquay eased my troubles
for a while. No one wanted to tick Governor Winthrope off by
messing around with one of her sponsored champions. Other than
those incidents, nothing unusual happened, making me think I’d
never find anything. I was going to fail both Father and
Micah…until one day in English class.

Thoughtmaster Vincent’s drawn out explanation
of differences in historical monologues had people slumped over in
their seats. Snores came from several directions. People read notes
hidden in folders under their desks. Even moving the class to the
auditorium for the week didn’t help much. Mrs. Vincent was a little
teacher with sad, blue eyes and cropped blonde hair highlighted by
the brown uniform she wore. She struggled to control the class. No
one took her seriously. It was hard to believe she was a
Thoughtmaster. And then interest in the form of svelte, shady, and
silver-streaked walked through the door. Seth Alton.

He strolled into the auditorium like royalty.
My stomach did this weird floppy thing. I turned my head, avoiding
his gaze. Highlighted by the brown shirt and slacks he wore, his
pale skin and dark, silver-streaked hair made him look old, young,
and wise all together. He smiled wide when he passed by our seats
facing the stage behind Vincent’s desk.

“I think I’m gonna pass out,” Diranna
whispered to her doppelgangers. They sat straight up and pulled
mirrors out of their bags, glancing at makeup-free eyes and lips.
What must life attached to the same puppet string feel like?

“I think I’m going to faint, too,
”
the
wannabe named Emiliana said. “I heard he just recently
pledged.”

Diranna turned, fist poised in the air, and
glared at her. “Go mark your own piece, Emili. This one is all
mine.” She turned around and stared at Seth having a conversation
with Thoughtmaster Vincent.

“What are you? Kidding me? The guy’s a fence
rider,” Nathan Cozart said from a few seats behind me. He caught me
staring and said, “Tell ‘em, runt. What does daddy’s history book
tell you about those?” They shared a collective laugh.

Seth stopped talking and turned to lock his
gaze on Nate whose goofy laugh faded under the iciness. I guess
even stupidity knew when to shut up.

Seth had all the attention by the time
Thoughtmaster Vincent introduced him. Coaching groups of two to
three of us through various monologues, he showed a natural flair
for handling emotion. His ability to make poetry look, well, kind
of sexy was all it took to floor the doppelgangers. Even
Thoughtmaster Vincent drooled over him. The whole room was caught
in his spell.

I wasn’t quite there yet.

Glancing at me, he smiled a gorgeously wide
grin in that crooked way only some guys pulled off without looking
creepy. His gaze lingered on me a long moment. Was my hair sticking
up the way it did sometimes in the mornings? I eased my fingers
through it, smoothing the wild curls down.

“What monologue are you reading, Chela?”
Muriel leaned over my shoulder and whispered to me, breaking Seth’s
hold.

“I didn’t.”

“You didn’t? As in you don’t remember the
words, instead of you didn’t prepare a monologue, right?”

“I have something ready, okay?” I lied
because I didn’t know what I was going to do anymore than Zach and
Nate did. They bumbled through the worst version of a Macbeth
monologue ever.

I wanted Muriel to leave me alone, so I could
suffer in unprepared pity. I sank down in the chair when
Thoughtmaster Vincent called my name. I’d forgotten all about the
assignment. My ears heated, stomach lurched. If a blackout hit me
now, I’d be scarred for life. All eyes were on me. I wasn’t about
to look at them. Why couldn’t I remember the name of the poem I
memorized?

Wind drifted through the windows and moved a
honeysuckle scent across the room. I caught Seth’s gaze.

He narrowed his eyes, gave me a knowing
smile, and said, “Let’s try something different. I could use a
volunteer.” Although he stared straight at me, every female hand
flew into the air, and a few male ones. I glanced around and
squeezed my fist. Seth strolled toward my desk, ignoring Diranna
who glared at me. His strange scent mingled with the honeysuckle
wind and made me lightheaded. I couldn’t look away. Soon, his
dark-pool eyes stared into my speckled brown ones.

“Are any of you familiar with Fyodor
Dostoyevsky?” he asked the class, his gaze locked on me.

“I am,” Diranna said. “My father’s an
ambassador for Borough number 6. He’s told me all about the country
formerly known as Russia’s history and literature.” She spoke with
a slight drawl, the kind some Castle Hayne girls used when charming
someone.

“That’s so incredibly interesting,” Seth said
in a way that didn’t hide his sarcasm. Diranna smiled and frowned
together. She was too dense to notice the blow off. I had to admit
he’d impressed me; a guy who knew Dostoyevsky. Someone who clearly
wasn’t a Historian. How tough of a Thoughtmaster could he be?

Turning in a way that reminded me of a cat,
he strolled back to the stage. “Russian monologues. Maybe not your
standard Shakespeare, no; but the emotion found in one of
Dostoyevsky’s pieces is untouchable. The first key to gaining
control over your mind is to lose it in someone else’s.”

“Carolynn, you won’t mind if Chela works with
me on a scene from Crime and Punishment, will you?” He turned his
gaze to me.

“Certainly not. Take her away,” Thoughtmaster
Vincent said.

Seth held out a hand for me to join him
onstage. Feeling a strange mix of gratitude, worry, and self
consciousness (my acting skills defied all logical reason) I walked
in a daze until I came to center stage. A cottony sensation
prickled the back of my head. I ignored it.

“Tell you what we’ll do. I’ll play the role
of Marmeladov.” He turned to the class and said, “Chemistry. The
most crucial part of mind control. Especially when reaching into
your gifts. It pulls your captive in, puts them under your spell.”
He balled a fist and punched his palm.

Turning back to me, he said, “I’ll lead. But
I want you to lose yourself. Show your version of the way I make
you feel by responding to my lines.”

He paused, took my hand, brushed his lips
across my knuckles. Shivers wracked my body. The room was a silent
stage. Feeling stupid and super untalented, I did as Seth
instructed. I smiled coyly as I created my version of a flattered
Katerina.

At once, he slung my hand away, turned, and
gave me a back view of his head. Outside, the rain started drumming
on the rooftops. It was as if he took Katerina Ivanovna’s rejection
of Marmeladov to heart. Turning around, he met my eyes with a look
that might have brought me to my knees if this weren’t an act. Gold
flashes zipped through his eyes. I stepped back. Thoughtmasters
couldn’t make strange lights happen inside their eyes.

Wooziness filled my head first, just before a
rain-tinged breeze drifted through the windows. Something flashed
across his black-blue eyes again. Wonder? Excitement? Surprise? He
fell back into the role of crazy Marmeladov like a pro.

The seraphinite stone heated on my throat. A
metal taste coated my tongue. Stepping to me in a giant stride,
Seth seized me in his arms, slamming me against his chest. He’d
reached the part where Marmeladov accepted his fate, calling
himself a natural beast.

And just like Katerina, I was terrified of
the way he made me feel helpless.

“Thank you, Chela Prizeon,” he said in a
husky voice.

He released me, stepped back, and studied my
face, left eyebrow raised in that way I remembered from before. The
rain eased. Claps filled the room. I thought I heard Muriel
cheering over the group, but I wasn’t sure. Finally, he turned,
bowed to the class. Dazed, I turned and did the same.

At once, the seraphinite blazed until it
singed me. I cupped a fist around it, headed to my desk, and tried
to ignore Diranna’s retarded comments about how she would look much
better in Seth’s arms. The doppelganger’s brainless mimics stirred
a strange feeling inside of me. Something wild; something I
wanted.

“You know, they say her mother was loose,
too. I guess slutting to get what you want runs in the family,”
Diranna said.

That did it. I whirled to face her. “Shut up,
you plastic-breasted idiot.”

“Don’t you—you’d better not talk to me like
that. Or I’ll…” Diranna’s voice faded.

“Or you’ll what? Line the boy’s locker room
with my underwear again?” I stepped closer to her. Something like
smoke rings circled her face. “If he wanted you, he would’ve picked
you. Now go and get over your fat ego.”

“You are so riding on the top of my hit
list.”

“Noted.” I blinked, snapping out of whatever
wild thing I’d slipped into. The stone at my neck singed me
again.

Tucking the necklace into my shirt, I trudged
back to where Muriel stood gawking at me with her excited face. At
that point, I realized just how happy I was to have her as a
roommate. It didn’t matter she was part of the reason I’d gotten
into this situation. Even if she still hadn’t told me what she did
to win a spot in glorious Minders Camp.

“Wow, Chela. You seriously put them in their
places.” Ignoring her, I gathered my cellereader and tablet. “That
scene with Seth was incredible. I think maybe you should consider a
career in the Thought arts.

“I didn’t even say a word.”

“You didn’t have to. The two of you said all
the words we needed to hear.” She chucked my arm. This was the
second time in a month someone had accused me of having chemistry
with a guy I hardly knew. I glanced back at Seth. He mini bowed as
we walked out the door. The same way he did when I met him on
evaluation day.

“Playing with our minds is what he does. It’s
what all Thoughtmasters do. It wasn’t anything special. I’m out of
here,” I said to Muriel.

Inside my shirt, the stone on my necklace
heated to a sting. I flinched. The taste on my tongue gagged me. I
wanted to leave before the blackout came in full. I stopped at my
locker on Barracks Hall and turned around. Seth strolled by us, met
my gaze, and mouthed words in my direction. He spoke in a weird
language. Only the letters didn’t match the sound. The words were
like chants or whispers. What was even more disturbing?

I understood every strange syllable.

“Did you enjoy our monologue, Lotus? I picked
it just for you.” He smiled at me as the hallway filled with
whispery echoes of his words. I watched him walk to the end of the
hall, staring even after he exited the building.

Turning away, I shoved my training gear into
a bag. Dizziness distorted my vision. Voices jumbled together. I
braced against my locker. The monstrous head on the gates behind
Cornice flashed through my mind. Somewhere glass shattered and
echoed. A lot of stuff was happening. I thought about Micah the way
I always did when the memories came. We were still connected in
spirit even though he wasn’t physically with me. But this time the
images and sounds attacking me weren’t memories.

“Are you feeling all right, Chela?” Muriel
asked.