When Copper Suns Fall (37 page)

“Faris, you’re alive, you’re okay.” I
laughed and cried. He pulled me into his arms. I wrapped mine tight
around his waist. I’d never let go of him again. Not ever.

Dressed in nothing more than his underwear,
he embraced my wet body before leaning back to study me with sad
eyes.

“You’ve been missing for hours. Leave it to
Chela Prizeon to take a nap in a swamp,” Faris said.

“How did you find me? I was—I think I
died.”

“Wouldn’t be much of a Protector if I
couldn’t find you when you call, right?” He smiled.

I know who cursed you and your family,” I
said.

“The great Indrail legacy, you mean. A
creature cursed to bring destruction, hurricanes, death, you name
it. No one will stick around long enough to love one of us. They’ll
only fear us. I tried to keep it all from you. My curse, Micah’s
kidnapping. Erasing your memory was all I could think of to do. I
thought it would help keep you out of Rabia’s reach. Please believe
me. Nothing hurts worse than watching someone you love get hurt,”
Faris said.

Something in the water brushed across my
feet. Gasping, I bent down and picked it up. Uriel’s dagger. It
gleamed even under the overcast skies, this tool of my ancestors
and destroyer of the Beast. “Rabia gave me this. I’m supposed
to—I…”

“Then you’ll have to make them think you
pulled it off. The Beast has to die.” He sighed, lowering his
eyes.

“But…but, no. We won’t see each other again,”
I said, chest heaving.

“I can’t go back, Chela. You know what I am,
and now Mabry does too. What’s inside me has to be stopped.”

“So we’ll go back and figure it out
together,” I said, voice rising.

“No. You have to be the one to stop it.” He
pointed my hand with the dagger at his heart. Horrified he’d even
suggest such a thing, I jerked my hand away and dropped it. “If you
don’t do this, then the Tidal Years will happen again. Taking one
of us down will end the curse for us all.”

“Why can’t it be Seth? Why did you let him
get away?” But Faris would never sacrifice someone to save himself
even though Seth was a murderer, and no one was certain Asa still
lived. He was willing to die for them. They were his family, and if
anyone understood his beliefs most, I was the one.

A sinking feeling stole my breath. In the
distance, deep horns sounded out. I listened to the ocean’s waves.
Salty odors lingered in the air, and a cool breeze blew across my
wet hair and clothes. I hugged my shoulders and shivered. Faris
eased a hand around my waist, pulling me to him. His warmth, this
closeness between us eased my chills, but not my breaking
heart.

“You could never be anything like your
brother,” I said.

He winced, narrowed his eyes, cupped my
face. “Don’t be fooled again, Jewel Face.”

“What do you mean?” I said, afraid to hear
his answer.

He closed his eyes and said, “I know what
happened between the two of you. When Seth—when he kissed you on
the boat. I saw it when I took his memories.”

Coldness rushed through my chest. “It was
nothing. I—I thought it was you. He tricked me.” He stared at a
smooth stone under his foot. “Please look at me.”

“He learned how to be cunning from his
mother. He pledged Tainted, but he can still be just as persuasive
as a Caducean.” He reached out a hand, caressing my cheek with the
back of his hand.

“I didn’t feel a thing. Please believe me,” I
whispered.

“I believe you. I do,” he said, pulling me
into his arms.

Things fell into place. The bird and black
cat together as one creature in my memories were two brothers
fighting a curse. They fought each other that day in the park. The
ruhk, Seth, took Micah to Rabia, but only because my brother wanted
to go, doing what I’m sure he thought would save his sister. And
the cursed Beast, Faris, took my heart. Now I can’t bear to think
of a life without him.

Cupping his neck, I moved his forehead down
to my lips and kissed it the way he did mine before. He tensed a
bit, but didn’t move away. His hand, still tipped with silver
fingernails, lingered on mine. In the distance, thunder rumbled
through the land even under cloudless skies.

Glancing deep into my eyes, he said, “I’ll
race you back to the fort. I owe you a rematch since we didn’t
finish before.”

“Okay, you’re on,” I said.

Time didn’t concern us as we raced through
the forest. Minutes passed, an hour, maybe even a day. I didn’t
mind a bit. The one thing I cared most about ran beside me,
matching me step for step. He wasn’t trying to win. Like me, he
wanted our final moments to last forever. We even managed to laugh
after we dived headfirst into a waterfall; something I’d wanted to
do since I first saw them.

In the sunlight, his brilliantly tanned skin
had its own radiance. It was easy to see the royal angel’s blood in
him even though Rabia had stripped his beautiful wings, leaving him
with the black curse. In the distance, waterfalls sloshed along the
ocean, reminding me our time together was about to end. Somewhere
just past the embankments we stood on, boats waited in the harbor.
By now, I was certain Mabry and the others had sent out a search
party for us.

I pulled his hand and frowned as he
hesitated.

“I can’t go any further.” Faris’s bland voice
didn’t hide anything from me. We’d been through too much together.
“Nina and the others have helped me. Even when I’m pretty sure they
knew my secret. I have to find a way to end this.”

“Then, I’ll wait,” I said.

“Will you wait forever? It could take that
long.”

“If I have to,” I said.

“I can’t ask you to do that,” Faris said.
“This is my curse. I made the decision that started this for
everyone.”

“But you promised to be there for me. We made
a vow. What kind of Protector doesn’t stick around to protect?” I
said because saying goodbye was never something I could do, and
this was killing me.

“One who doesn’t want to hurt the girl he
loves the same way he has hurt others.” He tried to pull his hand
away. I held it tighter. He pulled me to him, burying his face in
my hair. “When I’m ‘it’, and I’m running in the darkness; I don’t
remember where I go or what I do. I could hurt you.”

“No. I know you wouldn’t hurt someone that
way,” I said. “You didn’t hurt those people.”

“What if I did? I don’t want to follow in my
brother’s or father’s blind footsteps. Always hurting the people I
love,” he said. “Move on to the ships, Chela. Don’t make this any
harder.”

I looked in his eyes. “I won’t. I’ll make it
impossible.”

“Tell you what. Let’s walk back toward the
ship. I’ll be right behind you where I’ll always be, Jewel Face,”
he said with a lazy smile as he stared deep into my eyes, filling
my head with fuzz. “Turn around and look for me sometimes.”

“You’re such an incredibly bad liar,” I said.
A tear slid down his right cheek, and his left one. I closed my
eyes, already feeling the memory of the Beast fading from my mind,
just before I felt the evidence in my own tear as well.

And then he said, “Hush now.”

Chapter Thirty – Hidden Rainbows

Mabry and Nina came to visit Father. The
alchemist decided to stay on with Nina and the fledglings at Chelby
Rose. She might need his help with monitoring hidden doorways like
the one behind Cornice.

Both Leezra’s scroll and Uriel’s dagger
stayed with Father and me. The Balance chose me to wield its power.
I’d already proven my worth because of what I supposedly did to the
Beast.

After I had awakened from Faris’s wipe, I
didn’t find myself in a daze as before. Instead, I remembered every
detail of what happened. Every ache, every moment of our goodbye
lived on inside me. The mind wipe didn’t work this time. I
suspected the bond with Seth played a role in that. I had many
fears to deal with. Because I knew what didn’t happen in the
Oceania, and what could happen if anybody finds out.

I held my breath until after Mabry left the
house. He never said a word about the events that took place on the
Oceania’s cliff. We were secret allies, and I was the girl who lied
about killing the Beast.

Father placed the scroll and dagger in the
purple box I’d found under my bed. I was alone in the library with
him for the first time since he returned. I filled him in on
everything Rabia told me. His face was a wheel of emotions:
surprise, hurt, anger.

“I never wanted you or your brother to be
pulled into the dark part of your mother’s world, CC. Please try to
understand. You must believe me.”

“It was our choice, Father. Then we would’ve
been prepared for everything,” I said. “I don’t know. I feel like
you’re still hiding things.”

He lowered his head. With slumped shoulders,
he closed his eyes a long time as Rabia’s last words in the void
between the worlds echoed through my mind.

“Must you crave all of the world’s essence in
one journey?” he said. “I grieved for my boy, too. As I have done
every single day over the past year. Now, even I have hope. We have
the money to continue his care. Your brother’s blood cells have
begun to rise.”

Hearing the pain in his voice, I let it go
for the moment. True, I was angry, hurt, and aching for a boy I may
never see again. But I still loved Father.

“I just—I need to think.” I walked to the
library door.

“Please understand I did this to protect you.
I love you, CC,” he said.

“Love isn’t the part hurting the most,” I
said and walked out the door. I escaped to the garden by the
cemetery, my mother’s world, Leezra’s world.

A place where I wasn’t alone.

Somewhere I truly belonged.

* * *

President Pinkerton approved Governor
Winthrope’s order to close Minders Camp until further review of
personnel was completed. People were worried the Beast’s slayer
hadn’t successfully done anything since its body was never found.
Dr. Van Meter was arrested and ordered to serve a life term in the
Barrows, a punishment worse than death or Camden’s meta-sharks.
Cold comfort for all he did.

Micah was moved to a secret institution for
exiles recovering from viral ailments. For our safety, neither
Father nor I knew where it was located. What I did know was that
Mabry led the group of alchemists treating him. If I trusted anyone
as much as I did my Bermuda Threes, then Mabry was that person. He
knew as much as I did about what really happened to the Beast, and
he never said a word.

My brother could fully recover, now. I had to
hold on, to believe that was possible.

Among the three of us, Lexa made out the
best. Tobie placed a block on her memory along with the other kids
held by the Tainted. She didn’t remember being captured or tortured
or even how sad she was over her sister’s death. My thoughts
drifted to the sacrifice Faris made for her and me, for us all.
Right away, I felt strong and sad, together.

* * *

Waves attacked Batts Grave’s shores like wild
animals foaming at the mouth. Stray hairs flapped across Jalen’s
eyes. I resisted the urge to tuck them behind his ears. Instead, I
sat on my hands, enjoying the sand rubbing against my skin. The
water was clear today, as it always was in this secret place. No
oily grime was in site. I relaxed in the quiet moment with my
friend.

He and Lexa had made sure they didn’t talk
about Faris. But a person’s spirit sometimes existed long after
their physical body was gone. It could haunt your thoughts, sway
your decisions, and follow you like a shadow, even if they were
invisible.

“A quarter for your afterthoughts,” Jalen
said.

“Hm. Chela the Fair says she won’t turn into
a Tainted vixen anytime soon, if that’s what you’re thinking,” I
said.

“True, but my Fairest One could choose either
group,” Jalen said. I knew what he meant. He was worried I might
still be torn between rejecting the Silver Light, or accepting the
Tainted’s rage. With my sixteenth birthday only a few weeks away,
he probably had a good reason.

“I have hopes. I don’t know. Maybe I’m being
naïve. But I have to believe good people can make good things
happen.” I thought about my mother’s escapades with the Tainted and
her sacrifice to save the undines.

“You’re addictive,” he said.

“What do you mean?”

“You and your people can change
theories.”

“Maybe it’s not the people who change. In the
end, I think they realize anything is possible and end up learning
how to accept the things they can’t fix at the moment.”

“Maybe so. Thank you for bringing me here. I
know what this place means to you.” He studied the sky a long
moment, and said, “I wonder if Castle Hayne will ever have
rainbows?”

“They’re up there hiding and waiting for the
gray clouds to go away,” I said.

“Mm-Kay. They’d better hurry up. Hurricane
season’s right around the corner,” he said.

“Thanks for the gloomy reminder,” I said.

Was it so depressing, though? When I knew the
Beast that ran with the hurricanes might be leading the way? I had
succeeded in one aspect of my life, but failed in another. The
Tribunal was satisfied for the moment. But at some point, I knew
there’d be a price to pay for what I did, or rather, what I
couldn’t bring myself to do.

“Hey, are you ready to go study? Looks like
rain, soon.”

“I’ll meet you back at the gate in a bit,” I
said. “I need a moment, if you don’t mind.”

“All right, I’ll be waiting for you.” He
smiled and held my gaze. I understood what he didn’t have to
say.

The sky was covered in rich clouds hiding a
subtle sun. Soon, the birds started to sing. In this place hidden
far away from Castle Hayne’s medicine factories, birds had returned
and sang as if their lives depended on it. They’d disappear soon,
falling into a deep sleep until after the hurricane season ended.
Tweets soothed my ears. They reminded me of the time when I was a
little girl running under sunlit skies and jumping into mulch piles
with Micah.