When Silver Moons Rise (Lost Immortals Saga #2) (6 page)

My eyes fly open as I grasp at the air around me, reaching for him, but finding emptiness instead. Then the tears fall, and they keep falling.

My mind shuts down one cell at a time. Even breathing takes a lot of effort. It’s like my lungs are a balloon, and his breath contains a magical type of helium; something that only the luckiest girl can find…and lose.

“Faris.” I call his name out loud, hoping with all my faith that he hears me. Is it possible for us to connect even with so much distance between us?  I have to try. If he can hear me, then our link will pull him through whatever they’re doing to him in that horrible place.

I can’t just sit around and wait to hear news about his death. I have to do something.

“Chela. Can I come in?” Lexa stands in the doorway to my room. I didn’t even hear my best friend open it. She walks over to the bed and sits down. Her kind, dark eyes fill me with warmth after so many cold nightmares have left me shivering. 

“Baby, you’ve been in this room for almost a week. Jalen and I miss you. Come back to us.” She strokes my hair and laces her fingers with mine.

An image of Mrs. Needlemeyer’s corpse flashes through my mind. Lexa’s small gestures are just enough to make me sit up and bury my face in her shoulders. I’m terrorized by nightmares about Faris when I sleep, and I have visions of Mrs. Needlemeyer’s death when I’m awake. Oh yeah, I almost forgot about the nightmare with Jalen getting mauled by a wild bull. Eventually, I guess, I’ll lose my mind and find peace. Who am I kidding? That’s the coward’s way out of the situation. I can’t just give up. I won’t do that to my friends, or Faris. After a long moment, I pull back and stare at my best friend.

“You got snot on my school uniform. Well, at least that’s a start.” I glance at Alexa’s face as she checks out her shirt. Looking up at me, she wrinkles her nose.

“Eew, gross,” we both say at the same time. We burst out laughing, covering our mouths as we giggle. She’s right. Smiling is a good start. This is the way my friends make me feel, happy inside, a love that fuels the power that still sleeps in me.

And then I hear a boy’s voice speak in my mind.

The world around me disappears, and my heart stops.

“Chela, I heard you. By the lights, I heard you,”
Faris calls out to me, pain inside every syllable he manages to speak.

At once, I’m seized by something that feels like a huge bolt of electricity. My body flings backward on the bed as jolts of energy surge through my body. The pain causes my arms to shake and my body to spasm. My back arches so hard I feel as though it might break. I find myself hoping for death if I have to tolerate this torture much longer. But these aren’t my thoughts. The images, the pain, everything that’s happening to me right now belongs to Faris. Our connection holds steady. Our love is real.

“Chela! Oh God. Help!” Lexa calls out. “Dr. Prizeon! Micah! Somebody help us.”  

My body contorts in ways I never thought possible. My feet turn inward and my arms burrow into the mattress. Another bolt shoots through me. I scream this time. Hands hold me down. Lexa,’s and someone else. Her face flashes in and out between pale skin and dark skin. Her dark hair turns white and then black again. I’m seeing images of Faris’s tormentor. I hate her. I’ll stop her. Why is she doing this to him? Rage courses through me and Lexa cries out as glass shatters. I’ve broken yet another window. Good thing Bess and Audrina are out of town, or she’d probably shoot me before this thing takes me out first. The pain stops just as suddenly as it started.

Micah’s face is hovering over me now. He holds my hand and whispers in my ear. “It’s alright. I’m here now. I get to take care of you this time.”

I glance down at his legs. He’s not sitting. The sight of my brother out of his wheelchair punches me again. But instead of screaming, I cry. The tears aren’t only the leftover signs of my pain. They’re also an indicator of the joy I feel inside as I lay my head down in Micah’s arms. I feel him lift his hand.

“I’ll give the two of you some time alone,” Lexa says and quietly slips out of the room.

“How—you stopped the vision,” I manage to say between the gasps.

“I broke the connection,” he says. “A little leftover gift from my captors.”

I understand what he means. When the Rabia held his spirit as her prisoner, he called out to me even though he was in another place. He later told me that he was fully aware of what was going on around him even though Rabia kept him asleep under her spell.

“This is their fault. If none of them were here, then we’d be just fine,” Micah spits out, his words startling me with the bitterness in his voice. I manage to bring myself to a sitting position.

“I’m scared to ask what you mean.”

His eyes bore into mine. “The Tainted. The Caduceans. None of them can be trusted, Chela. If they had left us alone, then you wouldn’t be having those nightmares. I wouldn’t have been in this stupid wheelchair. The exiles did this to us.”

I gasp a bit. His mood worries me. My happy brother who always waited with a smile is slowly turning hard. I suppose if someone had stolen a year of my life then I’d feel the same way. Still, it doesn’t change that his bitter words are indirectly related to the boy I love. “Would you listen at yourself? Micah, we’re one of those exiles.”

“No, we’re not. Our mother belonged to a different group, a higher one. Because of some stupid war between demon slayers and the fallen angels our people are all gone.”

A strange silence drifts between us as we stare at one another. “The Caduceans are good. They’re on our side. Don’t get confused. That’s what the Tainted want, you know. For you and me to be on opposite sides,” I say, feeling the tears form in my eyes.

His face softens and he gives me the smile that looks so much like mine, only I don’t have his dimples. Sure, it’s a small thing; but I’ve always been the tiniest bit jealous of my brother’s dimpled grin. He pulls me to him and strokes my hair. We’re only an hour or so apart, my brother being the older one. But he still knows how to make me feel safe, the big brother protecting his emotional little sister.

“I have to go after him, Micah. He’s in trouble. I’ll die if I don’t. I know I will,” I whisper. A single tear rolls down my cheek. I think of the first time I met Faris outside of the Shack all those months ago. He placed a memory wipe on me that night, and a tear escaped down both his face and mine. Funny how something so tiny can be the beginning of so many big changes in the world I thought I knew. But life works that way. It sneaks up on you and throws some of its largest surprises at you when you’re not ready to handle them.

“I’ll support you if you decide to leave the city,” my brother says suddenly. “I have terms, though.”

Of course. Micah already has Father’s sharp bargaining skills. “I’m listening,” I say and glance up at his face.

“You can’t tell anyone about this. Don’t say a word about me not needing the chair anymore,” he says.

“Why? Father would be so happy.”

“He’s the last one who needs to know. Please understand, sis. I have my reasons.”

I close my eyes a short moment. Just last week I scolded Father about all the secrets he kept from his children. In agreeing to keep Micah’s secret, I’ll be doing the very same thing. I sigh deeply and say, “And the second thing is…”

“You have to take Jalen with you. I’m still too weak to travel. If I can’t go, then I know he’d beat the snot out of anybody who tried to mess with you.”

“Micah, I can’t. I don’t think that’s a good idea,” I say, remembering how Jalen confessed to his feelings for me a few months ago. Even though he has respectfully bowed out of the race according to him, I still don’t want to put any of my friends in danger again. Especially one who might let his concern for me cloud his judgment.

“Promise,” he urges.

“Why Jalen? I already have someone in mind. Trust me when I tell you that no one is going to mess with the person I chose to tag along with me. She’s harder than most guys,” I say, trying to convince him.

Micah rolls his eyes and shakes his head a bit. “She? A girl is going to protect you?”

“Yes. Why not?” I say, my ears heating a bit. It’s a lot better than a lovesick boy who won’t do anything but get hurt because he’ll be so worried about me.

“I want someone who isn’t like any of us to be there for you,” he pleads. I understand his concern, but he sees things differently from me. I’m almost certain this is going to become a big problem for us at some point.

“If I agree, do you promise to tell Father about your ability to walk at some point?”

“I do. Now promise me that you’ll take Jalen. I know he seems kind of flighty. But I sense a power inside him that’s unique. Something that isn’t like yours or mine or your lover boy’s abilities.”

“I promise,” I say. He kisses the top of my head, while I cross my fingers behind my back.

* * *

“All right, Spoiled Fry, we haven’t laid eyes on each other in months. Now, you bring your little body back here and expect me to believe you have this connection with Faris.” Desi folds her arms and narrows her eyes as I walk through Chelby Rose’s doorway for the first time in months.

“That’s exactly right,” I say, glancing around the foyer of the house that was such a large part of my life a few months ago. Jalen waits for me out in his car. He doesn’t like the idea of asking another angel-blood to tag along with us. And I don’t want his
charming self
to ruin my chance at getting Desi on our side.

“Doesn’t matter about your little connection. Faris is a traitor. He let that jackass of a Tainted, Seth Alton, get away. It doesn’t get any more turncoat than that.”

“You’re just bitter because Seth jilted you in some way. I can understand that. But Faris let him go for a reason,” I say. The look I get in return for my bold statement could melt an iron tank.

“You’re about as dense as my brother. Tobie went after Faris shortly after we all returned from Oceania. Now he’s missing, too,” she says, the defiant look in her eyes replaced by a worried one. For all her hardcore slayer attitude, she loves her brother. At some point, I’m pretty sure she thought she loved Seth too.

I follow her into the living room that used to be a ballroom long ago. “If you manage to get past the guards on steroids, which I highly doubt you’ll be able to do, then what are your plans? You have no idea where to start looking. I’ve searched for my brother’s compass signal for months now. And I got nothing. He’s gone.” Tears form in her eyes. She swipes at her face and makes a small scoff as though she’s disgusted.

“I believe they’re being held somewhere in the Ice Prison.”

“Really? What sense does that make? They’re exiles, Chela, not criminals. What possible reason would the warden have for keeping Faris and Tobie as prisoners?”

“To bleed them dry. Sell their blood. It happened to someone I know, a person I cared about. I won’t let it happen to Faris.” The throb in my chest threatens to wind me, but I focus on Desi. I don’t tell her about the dream I had of Faris crying out to me. The one where he’s attached to some kind of machine as he sits inside a cell. “Are you up for this, or not? We leave this evening before my family returns.”

“You got it bad, don’t you?” she says, a sarcastic smirk on her lips. “It’s suicide. Super seraph girl or not, you can’t take on the Tainted all by yourself.”

“I should’ve known you’d be this way. Never mind. Forget that I came. I don’t know why I expected you to care anyway. I hope Tobie is okay, though.” I turn and head toward Chelby Rose’s front door.

“Hey, wait up,” Desi says as she trots toward me. I hold back my victory grin before I turn around and face her. I cross my arms and raise my eyebrows. “I know about the bounty on the angel-bloods’ heads. I heard about your nanny. I liked Sarah Needlemeyer. I—I just hate that it happened to her, is all. It’s just that Nina forbid any of us to go after Faris. She can be pretty ruthless with that emotion thing, if you hadn’t noticed.”

I’m not the least bit surprised by these words.

“Okay, so, you always do as you’re told, right?” I ask.

“Hell no! I’ll let you runt girls handle that obedience thing,” she says, her voice dripping with sarcasm.

Heartbeats pound all inside my chest. Desi’s alliance with Jalen excites me. My body tingles. I feel alive for the first time in months.

“We need to be at the train station by 6pm. My stepmom and loving step-sister, Audrina, return from their trip tonight. I won’t to be long gone before they get home. Do you want Jalen to stop by here?” I ask.

She grins and says, “We’re going to steal a ride on the A-Train? Fun. Fun. Chela the runaway. You must be terrified. Oh boy, I cannot wait to see the little pampered princess doing something bad.” 

I roll my eyes, sighing. “This is already hard enough, Desi. Could you please send your inner bitch on vacation for a little while?” Her smile fades right away.

“Just be ready to do your fire thing. We’re going to need it. Now get lost before you remind me of how foolish I’m being,” she orders, her face defiant now.

I release my smile, turn, and head out the door.

Chapter Eight

A Leap of Faith (Chela)

Micah and I stand in the hallway. Neither of us wants to be the first one to speak. I put on the drab brown jacket Desi gave me to wear. It’s Outcast clothing. Inside the Dim Cities, people don’t wear white suits and fresh, colorful uniforms to school. Life outside of Castle Hayne centers on survival. If we’re going to be traveling among the rebels, then we have to be able to blend in.

“You look like you’re ready to take somebody out,” Micah jokes. We both laugh just a little too hard.

“Guess that’s a good thing.” I won’t say goodbye to my brother. I can’t. Hasn’t enough time already been stolen from us?

“I still wish I could go with you,” he mutters. I can see the war in his eyes, the truth in his words battles with the promises we made to one another, the beans and carrots deal. We always said that where one went, the other one will be sure to follow. That’s the kind of thing twins do, I guess.