When Copper Suns Fall (26 page)

“Face tattoos? Man I know that hurt,” he
said.

His gaze darted from them to me. “You can see
the tattoos?” I asked, shocked and a bit angry.

His silence answered it all.

“All right spectators, curious, and the
rebellious,” Nina said to the fledglings. “Back to your rooms,
corners, etc. This show is done.” She clapped her hands and stepped
toward the kids standing on the stairwell. Collective groans filled
the lobby as they all filed back to their rooms.

At once, Tobie grabbed his temples, grunting
as he squeezed his eyes shut. Nina bounded to his side, braced his
shoulders. “What is it? What do you see?”

“Red everywhere. Desi, she’s—at the magnolia
tree. Desi’s in trouble.”

“Outcasts,” Faris said.

“Here? How did they break through the
barrier?” Muriel said.

“Muriel, Chela. Keep the fledglings in their
rooms.” Nina glanced at Jalen. “Make sure he stays inside, as
well.”

“I’m good, Governor Win.” Jalen raised his
palms.

Faris formed the spiked staff with the
spinning top I’d seen him use in the vision of Asa we just
shared.

“Whoa, man! How the...? What did I just see
happen?” Jalen’s face lit up. He’d never seen the Caduceans form
weapons, before. And for a Tracker, a master of gadgetry, seeing a
schorl transform was probably more exciting than surviving his
initiation ceremony.

For me, the feeling was totally opposite of
that. My heart sank. My head spun, as if little demons were playing
inside it, whispering terrible words over and over in my mind.
Although the memory we shared allowed me to experience a past
event, I truly understood Asa’s fear of losing her brother. Only
that fear belonged to me, now.

“I’m coming too,” I said.

“No way,” Faris said.

“I can help, and you know it,” I said.

“Did you hear what I said? Outcasts are out
there.” His eyes softened, but his voice was firm.

“I’m coming. If you leave me, I’ll sneak out
behind you.” He sighed and glanced at Nina and Tobie already
heading out the door.

Turning back to me, he said, “Follow me to
the edge of the woods. But stop when I give the signal.”

“Don’t go, Chela, please.” Jalen grabbed my
arm. His eyes pleaded with me. I couldn’t bear to look at him as I
made the decision to follow my heart. How many secrets had we kept
from each other? Funny how a person can know someone their entire
life without knowing them.

“I don’t know what’s going on. But I—me and
Lex don’t want to lose you again,” Jalen said.

“Lose me? So you can have all my historical
novels to yourself? Don’t think so.” I gave him a weak smile,
easing my arm away. I knew what he meant, but I didn’t want to
admit it. I felt as if I’d developed a heightened sensitivity to
the emotions hidden in someone’s touch. And that was going to be a
huge problem. I’d been so consumed with my issues, I hadn’t seen
the signs. My best friend had fallen for me.

“Jalen, I…”

Muriel pranced back down the stairway, and
came to stand beside him. She looped her arm through his, beaming
at me. “Don’t worry, I’ll take care of puppy eyes for you.” She
grinned at Jalen who gave me an anxious look.

“Chela, are you coming?” Faris waited at the
doorway. I tore my gaze away from Jalen who was still shaking his
head, and trotted toward Faris without looking back.

* * *

Outside, fog surrounded Chelby Rose like
thick gauze. The massive plantation, sat in a part of Castle Hayne
where the oldest trees remained, and foul odors stung my nose. It
was close to the water. I felt as if we might run into it at any
moment.

About a hundred or more giant oaks grew
throughout the front yard. Silhouetted in the fog, the trees with
mangled branches reminded me of soldiers with twisted arms. The
limbs made me recall the creatures from some of Father’s historical
novels, the ones people called zombies. The moist air reeked of a
rotted leaf odor enhanced by a swamp water smell. Fog covered the
trees beyond the front lawn and across the street. Why didn’t I
listen to Faris? Maybe the outcasts weren’t waiting in the
woods.

What if it were something else?

Dread trailed behind me, getting closer with
each step we took toward the forest.

The road Jalen rode in on was covered in
thick fog, blocking the trees beyond. He was quite the Tracker to
have found a way through it.

Chelby Rose, like a few other original
plantations, sat on endless acres of land. Weeping willows and
evergreens filled the spots between the oaks. Faris trudged through
the fog as if he were walking on a clear day. A shrill scream
sounded in the distance. He bolted toward the woods across the road
with me right behind him passing the lawn’s edge.

After what felt like an hour of sloshing
through the muddy forest, we came to a clearing in the trees. A
creepy cemetery sat on a low ground filled with about fifty or so
headstones that formed a band.

“Look there.” Faris pointed to an area in the
middle.

Inside the circle, three sets of
twenty-foot-tall rocks were stacked on top of each other. They
formed rough door shapes and reminded me of the destroyed
Stonehenge ruins. A magnolia tree as high as a ten-story building
stood among the rocks. I almost fell to my knees.

At the circle’s edge, Faris stopped, blocking
me with his arm. Standing beside the monstrous tree, Nina and Tobie
watched Desi. She swayed back and forth on her feet as if something
were rocking her.

Tobie started toward Desi, but Nina held him
back. “Don’t be foolish. Snatch her from the trance now, and she’ll
die.”

Faris stalked toward them. “Curse it, Desi.
What were you thinking?”

It wasn’t hard to know what she was thinking.
I didn’t have to touch her to see the pain in her eyes, when she
saw Faris and me earlier. The same way she kept trying for his
attention after Nina gave me Leezra’s scroll. Jealousy. Anger.
Sadness. What was her story? Their story. She wanted to outdo the
Girl-Who-Faced-the-Beast. It was that simple.

“Can we do something to help her? I asked,
leaving my hiding spot in the trees.

Nina’s gaze drifted to me. “What’s Chela
doing here? I told you to stay inside.”

“I know. I—” Her glare cut into me like a
knife.

“My fault. I brought her,” Faris said.

Desi swayed on her feet. Metallic odors
seeped into the air. Something whizzed in the trees surrounding us.
I remembered those horrid, grinding metal noises. I’d recognize
them anywhere. They were sounds the sedwigs made at the Ruins and
in Faris’s memory of Asa.

“They’re coming through the forest. Tobie get
Desi when she’s out of her trance and be ready.” Faris stepped up
to him. They clasped hands, bumped shoulders. Then Faris stepped in
front of me, focusing on Desi who was starting to come out of
whatever she’d gotten herself into. A mean part of me was jealous
and wished the lightning would strike her a bit.

Instead of acting petty, then why don’t you
do your thing, wind maker?

I squeezed my eyes shut, concentrating.
Nothing. Not even a tree branch twitched. I’d had more success the
night I smashed Mrs. Sanchez’s storefront.

“What did you do?” Nina said to Desi.

“I called Mabry. I thought you’d be happy,”
Desi said, her eyes fluttering open.

“Foolish girl. You used an elder’s device
without assistance? Set a bonfire next time,” Nina said and walked
off.

Desi bent down, bracing herself against the
ground. I wanted to do something, me the girl of champion and
seraphim blood. I felt like the third wheel on a bicycle with a
skilled rider. I reached a hand out to help Desi up. She smacked it
away. So much for good-girl deeds. We glared at each other a long
time.

“I’m no invalid.” She stood up and adjusted
the mirrors attached to her wrists.

“Well shoot me for trying to help,” I
said.

“That can be arranged.” She glanced at Faris
who was standing out of hearing range and stepped closer to me. Her
voice was shaky, but I think anger caused the tremor more than a
botched spell. “As for your little ‘trying to help’ statement, save
it for Faris when he loses everything trying to rescue you so
much.” She shivered and walked toward her brother.

“Faris. Tobie. Ready yourselves. We can’t
let them reach the safe house,” Nina said.

A rumble shook the ground. Nina turned,
studying the woods around us. Faris glanced at me, his eyes
narrowed. I understood the look. I hadn’t listened to him. Now I
stood knee deep in the mud, distracting him just like Desi said I’d
do. Realizing the other girl in the contest had made a hit-home
point boosted my anxiety to dizzying levels.

“It could be Mabry,” Desi said to Nina who
wasn’t paying attention to her.

“You’re not ready for fighting,” Tobie said
to Desi.

“You think? Do I look tired in any
way-shape?” Desi spun her knives around her palms.

“Weak or not, you need to get focused and get
ready,” Faris said. He grabbed my wrist and led me to an area up on
a hill hidden in the trees, away from the stones. He was treating
me like the glass girl again.

The woods around us came alive with rustling
leaves and shrill cries. Nina stood in a strike position. She’d
taken off the velvet dress and wore a black pant suit. In her
hands, two larger versions of Desi’s sword-shaped knives gleamed
under the moonlight flickering in and out of the clouds.

Thunder rumbled across the sky. At once, a
lightning bolt struck the ground. The noise it made vibrated in my
chest and trickled into my stomach. The smoke faded, and a man who
appeared to be about the same age as Nina stood by the tree,
now.

His wavy black hair was cut short around the
ears, emphasizing a long, noble face. He wore a long sleeve shirt
made of silk in dark gold, red, and purple stripes and shiny black
pants. He scanned everyone in the area, his gaze resting on me a
moment just before Nina broke the silence.

“Mabry.” She bounded over to him, embracing
the strange man as he caught his breath. They moved back, exchanged
an intimate look. Governor Winthrope with a secret love? That was
something to mark the night. Leave it to Castle Hayne’s first
female governor to choose a guy who truly knew how to make an
entrance.

“See, I knew what I was doing,” Desi
said.

“No time for pleasantries,” Mabry said in a
strangely accented voice. “Sedwigs are right behind me.” The
Caduceans turned toward the place where Mabry appeared. There was
nothing but darkness, a black haze that formed a life of its own
the longer you stared at it. The anticipation chilled me to my
core, making me wish I had listened to Faris and Jalen.

Wind shuffled through the magnolia’s leaves.
The three young Caduceans stood in battle stance. The gusts coming
off the river and ocean elevated the decaying leaf odor to
nose-burning levels.

“Exactly as I feared,” Nina said.

“Back everyone.” Mabry raised his hands
above his head, closed his eyes, and whispered a phrase in
Dcarsii.

The strange thing? I understood the rolling
syllables. Before, I’d only heard whispers. This time I heard each
gorgeously rounded phrase. The light where he appeared faded,
leaving behind a sizzling sound. Another low rumble shook the
ground under us. Mabry slumped over, bracing himself on his knees,
and said, “I can’t enforce the barrier.”

Three sedwigs burst through the trees. They
appeared like phantoms from my memory. Heaving, slobbery masses of
iron-backed terror ready to maul their prey into a pulp. The
largest one of the group crept forward. I remembered seeing the
creature at the Ruins. It was the one led by Sanakim meaning he was
somewhere in the woods, too. The leader’s eyes, glowing green
beads, scanned all of us. Five smaller sedwigs flanked his
sides.

“How did the outcast’s mutts break through
the barriers?” Desi asked.

“I’m done. I’ve no magic left for defense.”
Mabry leaned on Nina’s shoulders. I glanced at Faris curling his
lips back in a snarl.

That strange growl rolled out of his throat
again. His fists were clenched so hard blood trickled between them.
After seeing the memory of his lost sister, I knew what he was
thinking. Revenge.

He turned around, looking on me with the wild
gold eyes, again. I should be scared. But I wasn’t. Instead, I took
his bloody hand in mine.

The sedwigs rattled the spikes on their backs
like a metallic death song. They hadn’t seen Faris and me standing
in the trees away in the distance. At least I thought they hadn’t.
He inched forward. I held his hand with all my strength, shuddering
as I imagined those creatures taking him on. We weren’t dreaming
this time, and this wasn’t a game. Any death that happened tonight
would be for real.

“Get Chela back to the house, Desi,” Faris
said without looking at me. He scowled at the largest sedwig who
stalked forward a few steps.

Underneath the moonlight breaking through the
clouds, Faris’s skin glistened. His ears pulled back into a pointed
warning, his black hair gleamed. The spikes on his staff looked
strange to me. For the craziest moment, I thought they looked more
like nails and not human ones, either. But they were more like
claws as silver as the talon holding my seraphinite stone. He
growled and crouched lower, as stealthy as a cat.

No, it was like a lion, but a graceful and
deadly one.

Stepping toward him, I knew I should’ve run
away. But this was Faris, my Protector, we were one as he said in
the vow, and I’d promised to fight by his side.

At once, two small sedwigs leapt toward us.
Spitting dirt particles from my mouth, I realized I’d been knocked
down by a sedwig moving too fast for me to avoid. Faris sprung into
action. He was a black streak moving in a blur, snapping a sedwig’s
neck—the one standing over me—and moving on to the next before I
could blink.