When Copper Suns Fall (25 page)

Yours in Light,

Leezra Konkrin

* * *

“You get hurt, and don’t call to say you’re
okay? It’s been four days.” An image of Jalen’s worried face filled
the projector’s screen. I wanted to jump through it and bear hug
him. My heart ached. My mind reeled with questions…little demons
Leezra had called them. “I might be ticked if you weren’t my
Bermuda girl. What’s going on?”

“Believe me, it’s a long story,” I said.

A long pause. “I’m your friend, right?” he
asked.

“What?”

“You heard me,” Jalen said. His sarcasm
bothered me. Besides, my problems outweighed his by a ton.

“That’s a stupid question. Of course, you
are.”

“Then treat me like one. I know you’re at
Toulan’s house.” Just how did he know I was with Faris? I hadn’t
told Jalen or Lexa about how much time we’d spent together. I
didn’t even know how to get to Chelby Rose. His tracking
chromosomes must be magnifying like crazy. “You’re in trouble,
aren’t you?”

As I struggled with my thoughts, a mini chat
played out in my mind. How much should you tell him?
Easy
enough, nothing
. Will he be in danger?
Are you kidding me?
You just heard that last answer
. So I said, “No, everything is
okay. Jalen, just—just—”

“I’m coming over,” he said.

“You can’t find me. I don’t even know where I
am.” I needed to distract him. Because I knew once he put that huge
mind of his on something he felt passionate about, he could do
anything. “Meet me at the library. I promise to tell you
everything…Jalen?” I was speaking to a blank screen. Wonderful.

* * *

I re-read Leezra’s scroll almost a hundred
times over the next twenty-four hours. She was an Epiclesium, and
the necklace that belonged to my mother used to belong to an
original, a full-blooded seraph. The mystery of Mr. and Mrs. Thomas
Nathaniel Cornice’s tomb was solved. Leezra had left Bardonia
because she’d fallen in love with a human, Thomas Cornice.

What did the information in the scroll mean?
And how did Faris and his sister end up being the ones who’d
delivered it? Somehow what I’d just read tied in to Micah’s
condition, the Beast, and the Tidal Years. But how? I was missing
something, an important piece of the puzzle.

Nina said the Caducean and their Tribunal
allies kept files on young Epiclesium, kids with seraphim blood
like Micah and me. Now I understood why. What if Nina knew how to
treat Micah and didn’t want me to know for some reason? My head
ached. She’d never do something like that, I hoped.

Would Seth keep his promise now that I’d
broken the law? He seemed more interested in making sure I filled
my role as champion rather than exposing my true identity, or
Lexa’s gifted less body. If something bad had happened to her, I
was sure Jalen would’ve said something. I was dying to call my
friends, but Nina ordered Faris to take my cellereader. She said I
didn’t need to be communicating with anyone outside the safe house,
yet.

But Faris figured it out. How long would it
take others to catch on, as well? It was all about the little
question demons again.

Head spinning, I sensed someone in Chelby
Rose’s library as I held Leezra’s scroll. I knew it was Faris even
before his voice cut through the silence. “Are you feeling better?”
He walked over to where I stood at the window. I didn’t want to lie
by saying yes. So I shrugged and left it at that. “I can cheer you
up.”

“Oh yeah? How do you plan to do that?” I
said.

“A re-match.” He handed my saber to me and
pulled his staff from inside the hilt attached to his waist. We
both smiled. “You owe me the chance to redeem myself.”

“You’re going to be very sorry,” I said,
anxious to get my mind off the world for a moment.

“I’m sure,” he said, holding out his arm in
true, noble style. He led me through Chelby Rose’s kitchen and out
the back door. The house had to be about the size of Thalian’s
stadium with its long hallways and various rooms and doors.

After what seemed like a mile-long walk
through the woods behind the house, we came to a clearing. Grass
carpeted a circular area surrounded by black gates. A few other
fledglings stood around talking and practicing moves. Wonderful.
Just what I needed, an audience.

We walked out into the open. Suddenly it was
as if we were transported back to the costing evaluation with
everyone wanting to stop and watch the champion fight his
contender. Persephone waved. Dugan and a few others crossed their
arms as they shook their heads. It was almost as if I could hear
what they were thinking: “Poor fake champion girl. She’s about to
get beaten to death.”

Faris and I fought, and then fought some
more. A win for me, one for him, and back to me again. We battled
until we fell out from exhaustion and everybody else had left the
area. It was just the two of us sitting out in the open, gasping
and staring at each other. “All right. I’d say you’ve more than
earned my position, now.” Faris moved his hand over mine. Our
fingers clasped, and when they did a memory surged into my
head.

Everything blurred into a kaleidoscope of
white mixed with yellow lights and whispers and growls. After a
while, the swirling lights turned into a new scene. I found myself
in the forest behind Cornice, standing in Batts Grave.

Faris and I fought in a section of the forest
where a river ran into the ocean we’d found. Only I was in the body
of a girl holding a bow and arrow, and Faris called her Asa.

Dressed in silver armor, we fought creatures
that looked like wolves with spikes riding across their backs,
sedwigs. Faris fought with his staff, mauling the ones that got too
close to him. There were hundreds of them, and we were losing the
battle. I fell, a sharp pain circling my waist. Faris yelled and
reached out to me, but it was too late. We were being pulled apart,
dragged by something like a hand made out of tree limbs.

As the memory faded, I returned to my body in
a flash of light. I was on the ground beside Faris, my breath
raspy, mouth dry. The pain in his eyes, when he was separated from
his sister, reminded me of two silver jewels melting under a
blacksmith’s fire.

He was propped on his elbow leaning over me,
stroking my hair, our hands still linked together. “Are you all
right?” he whispered. I nodded. Tears? Had I seen them in his eyes
before he blinked and lowered his head? Since he rescued me from
the Ruins, we’d been tuned in to each other’s thoughts this way. We
shared a bond now even if Faris didn’t want to admit it. But if I
understood anything more than anybody else, it would be the pain of
losing a sibling. We stayed silent a long moment.

“You were so young in that memory, the same
way you look now. And there was no wall behind Cornice.” I broke
the silence first. “That had to have happened before the Tidal
Years. How? What are you?” He sat up and turned away from me.

“A demon slayer, descendant of Gabriel,
confused soul. Take one of the above and roll with it.”

“You need me,” I said.

“Really, Chela? I didn’t peg you as a fast
girl.”

“Okay, score two points for a funny when not
a thing is amusing,” I said, sitting up beside him.

“It happened sixty-three years ago. My
sister, Asa, the girl you saw in the memory, is somewhere in the
Dim Cities. She was sent to find Leezra Konkrin. I tagged along to
help her out. Obviously, we failed. Asa was taken by the Tainted,
we think.” He picked up his staff and jabbed the spikes into the
ground without looking at me. “I put my people in danger, lost Asa.
I’m an exile, now. At first, I wished I hadn’t escaped. I wandered
around for days, lost, numb. The fledgling who found me thought I
was dead. Maybe I wanted to be. The Caducean leaders running the
safe house back then sent him to look for the box.”

“The one with Leezra’s scroll?” I asked. He
nodded.

“I don’t know why I never age. Or how we
crossed into this world from mine. But I do know I made too many
mistakes. Can you understand how it feels when you can’t
remember…to wander around lost and confused.” His voice cracked as
he turned away from me. Did I ever know?

“I’ll help you any way I can. Together, we’ll
figure it out. I know we can find her,” I said, taking his
hand.

“Always the optimist, Jewel Face.” We held
each other’s gazes, and didn’t need words to convey thoughts
between us. His noble face tensed. I wanted to know everything
about this boy who rescued me. I took his hand, assuring him with
my touch, not caring one bit about who might see us, or the
Tribunal’s strict rules, or what dark secret Farisri Toulan might
be hiding. He glanced at our entwined hands, hinting at a smile.
“Aren’t I, mighty Caducean warrior, supposed to keep my seraphim
queen in check?”

I smiled. No, I probably beamed. “Works both
ways, I think. I stole your title, remember?” He held my gaze with
sad eyes and a lazy smile.

I couldn’t take it anymore. I threw my arms
around him. He buried his face in my hair. Our connection was
strong. I savored the feeling, even if only for a stolen moment. He
lifted my chin, so I stared into his eyes. “I found new
purposes—restoring the Balance, fighting the Tainted’s dark plans.
My people are true to our vows, whether we say them while awake…or
asleep.”

He remembered our dream in the Ruins. I
wanted to reach out, to embrace him, and wish his pain away with
kisses. But that rigid barrier between us kept me from doing so. He
turned his face, kissing my hand. “Like I said, I’ll help you find
her. Whatever it takes,” I whispered, because my throat clogged
with emotion choked my voice.

We glanced at our clasped hands, leaning
toward each other. Closer. He brushed a kiss across my lips, and my
stomach made a silly flip. Behind us, a throat cleared.

Pulling apart, we glanced behind us. Desi
stood watching, her arms folded. “Nina wants to know if Chela
finished reading the scroll. Guess I got my answer.”

Chapter Twenty One – Black Haze

Inside Chelby Rose, Faris and I trudged
through the kitchen and made our way to the foyer. Drama was in
full swing. Loud voices echoed throughout the area. Right away, I
knew the source. Jalen.

I heard Tobie’s voice first. Then Muriel’s
chimed into the melee. I’d been caught up in Faris and Asa’s story
and had forgotten about the time. I was hoping Jalen would give up
and stay home. But there was a reason we named ourselves the
Bermuda Three. Someday a lone scribe would write our version of
unbreakable friendship.

Okay, um, maybe that sounds a little lame,
but it’s the thought that counts, right?

A group of fledglings stood in the wings,
watching Jalen’s rant.

“You get in that fancy ride of yours and head
back in the other direction.” Tobie grabbed Jalen’s forearm,
leading him toward the door. “And do it real quick, too.”

“Not until I see Chela. Did you kidnap her?
Is Toulan holding her by force?” Jalen said.

Nina bounded into the area.

“Jalen Wood?” She studied him with wide eyes,
reminding me of the owls I’d seen in the historical texts. It was
her power look, and when she used it on people they paid
attention.

“How did you find Chelby Rose? My assistants
in the Tribunal don’t even have this address.”

“By catching his funky body odor,” Jalen said
to Tobie.

“Liar,” Tobie said, hunching his shoulders.
“You can’t track scents out this far.”

“Come on, man. Get off my back. Everybody is
acting like aliens are out here.” His gaze traveled to where I
stood beside the stairs. He bounded through the door, shoving past
Tobie, and embraced me. His bear hug was like calming ale, and I
didn’t want it to end. He was wearing his black fencing suit under
his beige parka. “Man, I’m happy to see you, Chela the Fair. Why
did you leave Lex and me hanging like that?” He pulled me close
again before I could answer. I basked in his outdoorsy scent.

“I wanted to test your chivalry factor,” I
said.

Faris stepped into view, studying me in
Jalen’s arms. I pulled back. Jalen frowned, and said, “But for
real, though. I used my girl’s reader signal.” He saw Faris staring
and said, “I see the bodyguard’s here. What’s your play in all
this, Toulan?”

“Not much
play
at all. Too many
interruptions.” Faris shrugged. My cheeks heated. “You still need
to fess up, though. And you know what we mean.” The tension grated
my nerves. Although I understood their concern, I still didn’t want
them to treat my friend like a Barrow escapee.

“He used my cellereader’s signal to find me.
What’s the big issue?” I said.

“Your reader has been turned off for days.
Plus, there’s no house here, if you must know. Chelby Rose doesn’t
exist. At least, it doesn’t for those without the sight.
Chromogifteds don’t have the ability to see through invisibility
veils.” Nina held Jalen’s gaze; he lowered his eyes, a sure sign
he’d left something out.

Turning to me, he said, “I did track a
signal, though.”

“Some of that might be true, considering your
strong feelings for Chela; but my curiosity lies with your ability
to see the house,” Nina said.

Her words sank in. Faris had already told me
about the invisibility veil they placed on Chelby Rose. No commoner
or chromo or even a Tainted can see a safe house touched by a
Caducean’s spell. Jalen has the sight, too. But how? Is he an
angel-blood? Um, not likely. I would know. Or someone here should
be able to see it in him.

Or maybe he stopped taking the ale-meds the
same way I did.

He glanced behind me, studying the fledglings
who’d gathered on the stairway and in the doorways off to the sides
of the foyer. Some of them waved and whispered as they stood there
beaming with their tattooed arms and faces. Dugan and Flint stood
among them. Jalen stared, his mouth hanging open.