When Copper Suns Fall (21 page)

The governor probably thought I was the
world’s worst spy. I hadn’t said a thing about Seth to Ms. Fuquay
the many times she visited. Partly because there wasn’t much to
say, but mostly because I needed time to learn more about creepy
Camden Altrauser, too. What did he mean by the President using my
brother? And just what could I say about crooked Thoughtmasters,
when I was a Miss Illegal group member myself?

Finally, there was Faris.

Never one to be graced with patience, I ached
for news on his well-being. He was in my thoughts, too. Correction,
the kiss we shared was in my thoughts. I stood on the wall facing
the hallway leading to the arena, the place where I first saw him,
smiling until I remembered all the secrets I’d kept from my friends
since that day.

Was I crazy obsessed? Probably.

Did I feel extra crappy hiding things from
them? Triple yes. I worried about what they’d say after I explained
my angelic power. “By the way, I have wings to go along with the
ability to shape the wind. Ooh, that’s right. I forgot to mention
that, too.” I didn’t want to be branded a freak after explaining
how I’d singed some guy’s wrist with a temper tantrum. Or that I’d
defeated the Beast by sprouting wings that made me run faster.

Faris…

The name sailed into my mind. Tonight should
be the one where, I tell Lexa and Jalen about the secrets I shared
with Faris. They wouldn’t call me a freak. Not my Bermudas,
right?

I snuck outside while Jalen wasn’t looking.
He’d been hovering over me all night like a big brother worried
about his little sister. Somewhat grateful Rianne had managed to
distract him, I took the chance to slip away from the whole
matchmaking scene and walked down the sand dune’s path covered in
red carpet until I reached the Metalwalk.

Strolling through the foggy streets, I
watched Castle Hayne come to life with boys and girls alike. A
variety of accents mixed together in laughter, freedom, and
excitement over having the one chance to be paired with a person
we’d chosen. I thought about Faris’s warning. He said danger was
all around me, but his disappearing act screamed, “I don’t give a
hoot about your safety.”

The wind blew grim cold over the Great Wall.
I scanned the crowds while lost in thoughts revolving around Micah
and Faris. A few guys towered over everyone. Correction, SOCS
walked among the people. Where did they come from and why were they
necessary on Eight Hills night?

One of them stopped and stared across the
street at me. I didn’t even want to know what he was thinking.

“Okay, um, time to go back inside,” I
said.

I turned back toward the Cradleshack. A
girl’s scream echoed from the opposite direction, making me jerk
around so I stumbled on my dress. Down the street, Lucia struggled
against two strange SOCS. What did she do to get arrested? And
where did the useless border guards go now that I actually needed
them? Mist coated my eyelashes.

“Hey. Stop it.” Fear for Lucia moved my feet,
but instinct warned me against getting involved. “What are you
doing, Prizeon? You’ve got enough problems.” But I didn’t listen to
me.

The SOCS jerked her back and forth as if
fighting over a prize. She turned her head in my direction. We
locked gazes. Lucia’s naturally large eyes stretched wide as golf
balls. I ran the rest of the way, turning the corner to find an
empty alleyway. No Lucia. No SOCS. Metal trash can sounds crashed
through the silence. My heart hammered. A black kitten chased by a
red-haired cat the size of a beagle scampered along the alley.

“Lucia. Can you hear me? Lucia!”

You need to go back and get Lex and
Jalen.

I glanced across the street again, ignoring
the voice of reason tapping in my head. Lucia and the SOCS had
disappeared. I turned back toward the Cradleshack and collided with
an alcohol-scented Zachary Davet. Wonderful.

Chapter Seventeen – Thorns

“Hey. Why don’t—” Zachary stopped mid
sentence once he realized who’d bumped into him. Bad luck didn’t
get any worse than running into your archrival in an empty alley.
About three or four more alcohol heads caught up with him. “Looky
looky, Nate. It’s the girlie tamer of the beastie all dolled up.”
He yanked on a loose strand of hair hanging from my bun. “Where’s
your little buddies? Ooh, that’s r-ight. Wa-aaaay up there in the
Shack.”

His sidekicks chimed in with goofy laughs.
Even with his choir-boy looks, Zachary knew how to annoy someone. A
stronger whiff of alcohol hit me in the face when he spoke.

“Excuse me, I don’t have time to play around
the wimp house.” I tried to push through them. Nathan moved in the
way.

I glanced behind me where Lucia had
disappeared. No SOCS. No border guards. Only Borough kids left on
Market Street, celebrating something I had no desire to be a part
of. I’d already found my suitable. Although he was an exile, his
was a secret I’d take to my grave.

“Say, Zach, the copper princess fills that
dress up pretty good, doesn’t she?” Nathan reached out, pulling me
to him. He cupped my butt with his hand, squeezing it hard. Tears
puddled in my eyes. I pushed away from him. “What’s the matter?
Something getting too squishy?” They shared a collective laugh.
Nathan’s floppy brown hair and beady eyes were crossed in his
drunken state. He grabbed his crotch, shaking it at me.

Between thoughts of Lucia’s danger and me
realizing my own stupidity, I fought a strong sense of anger in a
bad way. My ears heated, fists clenched. A breeze blew. “Keep your
dog hands off me.” I slapped Nathan hard across the face. The whack
echoed around us.

Zach and the other cronies whooped and
hollered as Nathan’s face darkened to a deep red. I bolted in the
opposite direction from them. The shock held him to his spot for a
bit, giving me a good head start.

“Get her,” Nathan said. They all took off
after me.

Heart hammering, I fled past the automaton
shops, straight toward the Metalwalk’s ramps. I ducked in and out
of the crowds, stopping to rip my dress up to my thighs. I ran
until I came to a gate that led to the beach ruins and the water.
Fear versus reason made me visualize the padlock exploding in my
mind. The lock dropped, the gate opened. I thought Nate wouldn’t
dare risk chasing me into forbidden territory. Wrong. He shot
through the gate without even breaking his stride.

With the dress ripped and my legs free, I ran
down the maintenance trail as fast as my Minders Camp conditioned
body would go. But Nathan’s Tracker-trained ones closed the gap in
a flash.

Jumping off the ramp and landing on grimy
sand, I felt my feet lift. Someone had rammed me from behind,
winding me. I spit sand and tar away from my lips. Nathan flipped
me over like a bag of potatoes, slammed his arm over my chest, and
pinned me down. With my ripped dress tangled around my legs, I
couldn’t kick or even buck up.

“Think you’re so much better than the rest of
us, don’t you? Know what I think? Zach should’ve won the
co-champion spot. Or even Diranna. You cheated, runt.” He pushed
down on my chest. I cried out, thinking my ribcage might break if
he pushed any harder. If only I could lift my legs. His scowl went
way past Zach’s goofy jokes. His eyes were wild and his lips
twisted, as if possessed by a demon. “You think I don’t know how
you got away from those outcasts in the woods? Huh? I can’t
understand with you gasping so hard.”

Stars sprinkled across my closed eyelids. He
was super strong, even more than me. It was unreal, almost as if
he’d been touched by glutovirus…or maybe a Tainted spell. “Bet you
didn’t think someone might be watching, did you, girl with wings?
Both you and your freak brother need to be locked away
somewhere.”

Talk about the past coming back to squeeze
the life from you. He pushed down harder. I gasped for breath,
trying to fight him off me. But his body didn’t budge.

Would Nathan kill me? Am I going to die?

At once, the weight of Nathan and his arm
lifted. Air surged back into my lungs. I inhaled too much air and
almost threw up. Dazed from the sudden wind intake, I opened my
eyes. Under the moon’s white light, someone held Nathan up by his
neck—a boy with black and silver-streaked hair blowing across his
face. Seth Alton. He was wearing his brown Thoughtmaster clothes.
The dark-haired girl beside him was the same one I’d seen on
training day. A golden-haired boy stood beside her, the border
guard Hagan.

Another memory floated into my mind. This was
the girl from the Shack. Not all of the memory Faris stole from me
had returned. Suddenly I remembered it all. She was dressed like
the SOCS: black clothing, glasses, hair secured in a tight, high
ponytail. But I knew better. No one in Seth’s crew was a
Thoughtmaster or a SOCS or even chromo gifted. They were all
Tainted, children of the fallen angels.

“I bet you haven’t thought about your temper
issues, have you, Nathan?” The sneer on Seth’s lips and the
sizzling sound coming from his hand around Nate’s neck said he’d
better think of a fast answer. Seth turned to the girl. “Ashli,
what do you think? Are girlish bullies worth reforming? See, I’m on
the fence these days, and I can’t decide.”

The girl stepped forward, removed her
glasses, and glared at me with cold eyes. After sizing me up a bit
longer, she turned to the border guard in black and said, “Hagan
can always use an extra playmate.” She slinked over to Seth,
running her hands over his back, and kissed his neck.

“Real funny, Ash,” Hagan said. “I don’t think
he’d satisfy my needs, though.”

Zachary stumbled off the ramps and down to
the grime. Hair blew across his eyes as he gasped for breath. Two
groupies stopped beside him, their eyes focused on Seth. This was
probably the one time I was extremely grateful for Zachary’s
meddling.

“Thoughtmaster Alton? Why do you have my boy
up like that?” Zachary asked and stepped forward, glancing at me on
the ground. Ashli and Hagan moved into his path, and did something
with their faces that made the two wannabes beside him squeal like
girls before they took off running.

“What the—” Zachary staggered backward and
fell.

“Your
boy
is under arrest,” Seth said
without releasing Nathan’s neck whose face darkened to a reddish
purple.

“Looks like a little more than arrest,”
Zachary said.

“Please don’t hurt him,” I said to Seth.

Nathan’s gasps together with the soft music
playing at the Cradleshack reminded me of my carelessness. I
covered my ears, blocking the sizzles. This was my fault. Yes,
everybody knew Nathan, Zach, and Diranna were poster children for
the bully’s cause, but no one deserved to be tortured. Nathan’s
feet kicked and jerked as if electricity surged through his body.
Zach charged Seth. What was he thinking by attacking a
Thoughtmaster and his soldiers? Ashli lifted her hand, smacking him
down as if he were a small child. He rolled over, serene-faced,
unconscious.

“Disgustingly weak,” Ashli said.

“Stop it.” My voice ripped Seth from his
terror trance. He met my eyes and dropped Nathan like a used dog
toy. Okay, he listened. Now what? Ashli glanced at him and glared
at me.

Seth strolled toward her. “He’s yours.” He
turned to Hagan, and said, “I saved pretty boy over there for you.”
He nodded toward Zachary lying unconscious in the grime.

“I guess that leaves the co-champion for
you?” Ashli asked. Seth turned back to her, staring without saying
a word. “She broke the rules and left the ceremony without
permission or ID. And she broke through the wall.”

“Do your job. Be quick, and be quiet,” Seth
said to her.

Bending down over Nathan, she wrapped him
inside a rust colored cloth of some type while the ocean thrashed a
melody of waves under the moonlight. I’d seen enough. Didn’t want
to know what came next. Then I realized how close I was to the
water. I’d spent enough time swimming with Faris, so I shouldn’t
have felt threatened by it.

Yet, the fuzzy feeling still came.

And then the whispers started. Strong echoes
hissed all around me, blocking my thoughts.

Seth stalked toward me. “Sorry, Chela. Time’s
up. You have to come with me, now.” He shoved a hand toward me.

Shuffling to my feet, I stumbled over my
stupid dress and took off running in the opposite direction. Chest
aching from Nathan’s choke hold, I sloshed through grimy sand until
I collided with a brick wall.

When the wall grabbed me, I hit it with my
fists.

“Chela, stop. Curse it. What are you doing?”
Faris grabbed my wrists. His eyes were filled with concern. I laced
my arms around his waist, melting in a wave of relief. When he
vowed to be my Protector, he assured me that whenever I was in
trouble he’d feel it and would be able to find me. Thank the
Falling Lights he meant it.

Seth’s voice came from behind us. “How sweet.
Seems I’ve already done part of your job for you and your shadow
walker gang.”

“Last I checked, my job didn’t include
terrorizing citizens. Instead, I prefer to focus on my equals,”
Faris said.

A tall boy and girl came to stand by his
side. Right away, I remembered them from the Shack. The girl with
short, bronzy-blonde hair stood on Faris’s right side. She carried
two knives with blades shaped like swords, whirled them around her
hand three times, and then locked them into pointed positions in
her fists. The boy on the left held a bow and arrow. All six of
them faced each other in the whistle of a growing breeze. Behind
the wall of buildings strewn across the Metalwalk high above us,
people continued to celebrate in an oddity-free world.

“Chela is under arrest,” Seth said in
measured words. Tonight she’s violated every rule this city ever
had.”