When Copper Suns Fall (24 page)

Hail soldiers! May the tides rise with you as
you move forward with your tasks.”

The Heartagram T appeared and faded to
black.

I was too stunned to move or say anything.
“Are you all right?” Faris said. I shook my head. It boiled down to
a disease and a myth. People’s fear that the Beast and his
hurricane curse brought the Tidal Years which meant one of the
exiled groups was probably responsible for its raids. Why was the
governor running a safe house for illegal kids? She was working
against her own group.

“I don’t understand. Why is shadow alchemy
illegal if that’s the only way to keep people safe?” I said.

“The Tribunal blames the conflict between
Caduceans and Tainteds for the Tidal Years. President Pinkerton is
filled with pompous ego. He’d never understand my goals. He thinks
that we are somehow responsible for losing the peace treaty with
the Tainted,” Nina said.

“You’re a Caducean?” I said, amazed.

“I am. The Tainted have allies among the
outcasts. Both groups want revenge, to take back what they feel
rightfully belongs to them. They’re using Hill Borough children for
that purpose, good kids like Diranna Tilley’s brother, and even our
beloved Cherice Walsh.” She paused, studying my face. The weight of
her words fell on my shoulders, branding me with its gruesome
meaning. Right away, the world as I thought I knew it changed. This
news would crush Lexa.

“To stop the Tainted, we need the power of an
ancient magic, a light that only the seraphim’s children can
conjure. In the first days, the pure-blooded seraphim were
responsible for balancing the power between the archangels and the
fallen angels. And so it was the same way in my world once all
three groups created human descendants in their likenesses.”

“The Caduceans and Tainted?” I said thinking
of Mother.

“And your group that I’ll discuss in a
moment,” Nina said. “The seraphim passed on their memories of
certain powers, ways to control the balance, to their human
descendants. But only seven humans at any one given time can have
this knowledge. The problem has been our ability to find one of
them. The godforsaken Tainted always manage to get to them first.
Terribly frustrating. The Epiclesium is what you are called. Once
we believe—”

“Who are we?” I said thinking about Seth and
how he asked me if I knew what I really was that evening at the
library. I didn’t have a clue, and still don’t.

“The Caduceans and our allies. We too, have
friends among our human neighbors. People who want to make sure the
Tainted are unable to create chaos like the Tidal Years ever again.
Once we think we’ve found one of you, we create files and follow
you throughout your lives.”

“You never told me about this,” Faris
said.

“That’s because not everything needs to be
told,” Nina said.

“You children of the balance are rare, these
days. Only seven descendants carry the Memory gene at any one given
time. But finally, after so many false leads, we have found you. I
arranged for you to be sent to Minders for that reason. We wanted
to see if you might have the Memories. What better way to stir them
than by putting you among the Tainted.”

“So you experimented on me?” I said, my ears
warming.

“The things you did to save Muriel at the
Falling Lights Festival weren’t an experiment. Neither was the tire
scenario during your training. Tainteds are posing as
Thoughtmasters. One glimpse, one scent of a seraph’s power would be
all they needed to show themselves. It’s almost like a drug for
them. Besides the pompous Mr. Alton, did any other Thoughtmasters
give you reason to suspect they might be Tainted?” she said.

Clearing Camden’s face from mind, I shook my
head without breaking her gaze, a penetrating look that dug into my
soul. Faris turned his head slightly toward me, but didn’t say
anything. Something about Governor Winthrope made me want to hold
back on some things. So I redirected our topic to another issue
bothering me.

“What about my brother? Do you have his file?
Can you tell me what happened to him?” I asked. Nina slowly shook
her head. My heart sank. She placed her hand on mine. It was the
smallest gesture, but contained just enough emptiness for me to
believe she wasn’t sincere in her answer about Micah.

Desi scoffed, stood, and strode across the
room. Her long legs cleared the space in two strides. “I think
you’re reading too much into this, Nina. You’re making her out to
be a savior. We don’t know anything about this girl.”

The way she said “this girl” heated my
earlobes.

“Get off your black horse, Desi. You saw what
Chela did.” Faris slid his hand away from mine. But not before
Desi’s eyes flickered when she glanced at our hands.

“Faris, you of all people can’t say one word
to convince me of anything.” Desi turned to Nina. “How do we know
she’s not one of the bad guys? Hello people living in the
make-believe lands. Seth Alton was
saving
her from the
Nathan baddie just in case everybody else has amnesia like
Faris.”

Nina glanced from Faris to Desi and then me.
She sat down, studying her hands a moment before speaking. Desi
glanced at Faris who gave her a “you should keep your fat mouth
shut” look.

“There’s an easy way to put everybody’s
doubts to rest, including my own,” Nina said. She reached into the
armoire again, removed the contents of a long wooden box, and
placed a rolled piece of coppery paper into my hands. “I guess
Farisri didn’t tell you how he lost his sister trying to bring this
letter from Leezra Konkrin. I thought you might find it
interesting.”

“Nina don’t,” Faris said.

“Too late. Nina already did. Go on read it,”
the Governor said.

I unfolded the scroll. Rounded words like the
ones in the note I’d found under my bed filled the page. A nagging
instinct said I shouldn’t read it, although I wasn’t sure why.
Besides, she said Faris had lost his sister trying to get this
message across what I knew would be the doorway in Batts Grave. If
any of us deserved to hear these words first, it was him. “Haven’t
you already read this?” I said to Nina.

She hesitated a moment. “No Caducean can read
it. That scroll is written in the language of the First Order of
Seraphim. It contains the secret to the way to reach Grace.”

“The Grace?”

“All of the seraphim’s children have a point
of absolute power. In most cases, it matures around their sixteenth
birthday. Not so in your case. I believe with the secrets contained
in that message you can harness your inner power, reel it in, make
it even more useful,” Nina said.

Who did she think it would be most useful
for? And it must be my inner seraph telling me not to read any part
of the scroll. So I thought of a stall tactic. “I must still be
exhausted. I just can’t make out the words.” It wasn’t a complete
lie even though Faris shot me a side-eyed glance and Desi made an
“I told you so” face.

“Very well. We’ll talk later.”
Disappointment was in Nina’s voice, and she balled her hand into a
fist after everyone looked away. But if anyone should feel let
down, I was the clear recipient of the unsatisfied award. This was
the third time someone had skipped over an explanation for what
happened to my brother.

Back in the bedroom, Faris lit into me.
“What’s with the half truths? You can trust Nina.”

“Okay. If you trust her so well, then why
didn’t you tell her about my wings?” I said, watching his left eye
flinch. “Exactly as I thought.”

“Come on, Chela. You know why I didn’t say
anything.” He gave me a wounded look, making me feel crummy for
throwing his divided loyalty to both me and his Caducean family in
his face.

I sighed and squeezed my fist. “I just met
Governor Winth—I mean Nina. I don’t know her the way you do.” I
hugged my shoulder with one hand and held the scroll against my
chest with the other.

“Stick to the Historian path, because your
acting won’t win any costing points.”

“Wow. What a lovely compliment, thanks. I
want to read this. I do. It’s just—I—she said you lost your sister
trying to get it here. Why didn’t you tell me? I thought we were
past the keeping secrets stage?” I said.

He made a whispery laugh. “Does our super
champion not have enough buildings to leap and conquer? Besides,
it’s my problem to deal with. It was there before you.” My cheeks
heated. I wonder how my blush looked against the new silver
highlights?

Faris’s jaw-line tensed. The sadness in his
eyes, that wounded look he made so well, cooled me off. We stared
at each other until dryness prickled my eyes. I made the first
move.

“The least I can do is read it for you here
in private.”

“I don’t need pity,” he said.

“Okay, um, why can’t you accept a bit of
kindness every now and then?” I said.

“Because I like the pain. Anger keeps you
focused. Kind, weak thoughts, those screw up my balance,” he
said.

“You’re wrong. Doing good things are what we
all need. You did something good when you saved me in the Ruins. I
don’t buy this hard act. And I put on that show for you. So you’ll
sit down, listen, and appreciate it.”

“Don’t count on it.” He bounded to the bed,
fluffed the pillows, and laid back on them like a child sulking
after a scolding.

Sighing, I glanced at Faris who returned my
gaze with an expectant one of his own. He’d risked his life getting
this to Nina, losing his sister in the end. What could I do to
repay that heavy of a debt? Did it matter at this point? And if I
couldn’t trust Faris, my Protector, then who else was left? I
uncurled the copper-tinted page and read the letter from Leezra
Konkrin.

Chapter Twenty – Phantoms

Dearest Ancestral,

I give you my last diary entry where I write
under the name Leezra Konkrin.

The silver light in my necklace has tripped
the lock on my bedroom’s door. I have escaped to Bardonia’s Adoral
Isles. The waters are calm, and the air smells sweet this day.
Guess what else has happened? Thomas Cornice, my human contact on
the other side, has left me a message. He waits for me. My
permanent new home waits in his land, the world on the other
side.

I walk a short way along the Adoral’s shores.
A movement in the bushes catches my eye. Thomas steps into view.
Never have I been so thrilled to see my dashing green-eyed friend
from the mirrorlands. The sun catches the gold in his hair in a
most striking manner.

“
Why is your essence stone so dark?” He
strokes the jewel in my necklace. Worry softens his voice, and the
ache in his eyes makes me cringe in shame. “This is my fault. I’ve
weakened you by taking you away from your home all those
times.”

But it is not his fault, no. I am obnoxious.
Unworthy of the gift, my seraphinite necklace, the ancient seraph
has given me. He is not the one to blame for my stresses. I choose
to follow my heart without considering my father’s warning. Once I
leave Bardonia, I cannot return, can never come back home. If I do,
sadness will devour me. I’ll become like the ruhks flying in the
skies at dusk, the phantom carriers of the creeping darkness
threatening both worlds.

“
Please reconsider, love. You leave behind
a legacy,” Thomas says. “There’ll be consequences for using the
silver magic, I fear. Even in my world.”

“
That’s the alchemist inside you
speaking.” I cover his mouth with my own. When I pull away, he just
stares, his lips silent. He intends to be firm in his attempt to
change my mind. “Besides, it is too late. If I stay, I’ll die from
a broken heart.”

I think of Anriel’s warning the day she gave
me the stone yielding the silver magic. That was the last time my
friend’s soulful golden eyes looked on my face.

This is what she said: “The power held by the
seraphim and their ancestors, I now pass to you, my shadows in the
dusk of the fallen ones. You will now be able to command the
Sylph’s winds, level the Undine’s waters, melt the Lanthanum’s
metal, and control the Gyenlarkan flame. Elements you know as air,
water, earth, and fire. The elements of godly angels are under your
control too: Apollo’s kiss, the Moon Goddess’s glow, and the light
in Uriel’s dagger, things we know as the sun, moon, and stars.”

Anriel takes a deep, raspy breath before she
continues. “But for every super power there is a dark side. Black
beasts cursed by the most ancient among us. Left unstopped, they
will darken, these Tainted ones.” She stops to take in a raspy
breath. “They are Bernael’s children, the angel of darkness. His
brood will bring the fallen’s rage down on both lands. You must
stop them by using the Light.”

And then my friend, one of the first and the
last of the pure-blood Seraphim, inhales one long, heated breath,
whispering her last words as a spell to me. “Lac Sal Lente Themel.
Grace…is in…the flame.” She is now a shadow of the fire starter she
was in her glory days. I absorb the instructions she has left,
grasping the stone she gave me.

Questions, those little demons, crowd my
head, clouding it with confusion on top of my pain. What will I do
with such a gift?

I write to King Zanas of Jardan, telling him
of my plans. I hand over the secret power of the seraphim to him,
sealing the page under the most ancient form of Dcarsii. The
letters will darken only underneath another of my kind’s eyes.
Another who carries the Memories will take my place one day and
wield this power. This knowledge must pass along to my
successors.

It is now time to leave my beloved Bardonia
for Thomas’s mirrorlands. If Anriel speaks truth, my memory will
disappear after crossing the divide between the lands. I play a
dangerous game, I know. Yet, still I wait for whatever the world
allows me to learn as Mrs. Thomas Nathaniel Cornice.