29
For several seconds, I gape at the sight of the shattered rocks.
“How did you do that?” Rook asks. “You . . . held it?”
He’s reeling, nearly speechless.
I’ve never seen him so thrown off.
The general nods. “It took me many years to learn the technique, but yes. When I use Spark to power the city, I do the same thing—gather the energy, then transfer it to a collection point before it shifts. But if I don’t have anywhere to direct it, I have to do something with it.”
She gestures into the distance, indicating the destruction she just caused.
“I’ve tried,” Rook says. “I . . . could never . . .”
He stops talking and starts pacing. He’s muttering to himself, running a hand through his hair.
“Rook? Are you okay?” I ask.
“I would try sometimes,” he says. “But there was no one to talk to about it. It felt like I could do something, but I didn’t know how.”
He shakes his head and stares up at the sky.
“Would you like some tips?” General Sol asks, and Rook spins around.
“Very much.”
“Okay. Then let’s try this.” She stalks toward us and points to the earth.
“Stand there and there. Let’s wait for a blast. When it hits you, concentrate on the sparks.
Instead of letting them roll through you, think about gathering them.
Almost like you’re picking up single motes of dust. Focus on bundling them together in your hands.
It requires a high degree of concentration because you need to treat each one separately.
“At first, you won’t be fast enough. The majority of them will dissipate. That’s normal, but you’ll need to gather dozens to build up an effective strike, and you’ll get better with practice.”
She looks between us to ensure we understand.
“Okay,” I say. “I’ll try.”
Rook nods as well, and then we wait.
“Call to it,” Sol whispers. “It answers to you.”
I focus my thoughts on the clouds above. Sol is right—this is something I’ve done before. But I always assumed it was simply about my desire to touch the storm. Not that it was actually listening.
It doesn’t take long.
Another cloud gathers overhead, shifting and pulsing in the sky.
I sense it a split second before it hits me. I brace myself for impact. For the sweep of pain and euphoria pulling me under. Spark strikes, crackling over my skin. For a second, I get lost in it. The agony of the moment tears through me, shredding me from the inside out.
Then I remember I’m supposed to be doing something.
So I concentrate on a single spark, willing it toward the center of my hand. It’s like snagging a dandelion seed between your fingernails. It takes a few tries before I can pinch it, almost like it’s trying to avoid capture.
I direct the Spark to my shaking palm, where it, by some miracle, catches, hovering in the air. I’m so startled that I lose the connection, and it blinks out.
I’m engulfed in the swell of the plasma arc a second later, more sparks dancing around me.
I try again, pulling on a single point of light and directing it back to my hand.
I can already sense how tricky it will be to gather a ball the size that General Sol just showed us.
Still, I focus on the single spark, then a second.
This one resists me before I concentrate harder and manage to direct it inward.
The two threads touch, then snap together, forming a brighter point of light before flashing with a magenta glow. A moment later, everything around me darkens. I’m left with only a few sparks dancing in my hair and on my clothing. I look up to find Rook and General Sol watching me.
“I think I did something,” I say. “It wasn’t much, but I did something.”
“You did,” Sol says, pride in her voice. “Seems like you’re a natural.”
“What about you?” I ask Rook, who shakes his head.
“Not a single one, but you were amazing.” He offers me a proud grin, and my heart squeezes in my chest.
“This was good for a first time,” the general says as she looks up at the sky. More clouds rumble in the distance as the storm churns closer to the city. “I should get back, but you two need to practice. Where do you go when you need to touch Spark?”
“I have a few places,” I say. “Mostly on the outskirts.”
She nods. “You’ll need to be careful. I probably can’t meet with you again for a while. I still need to figure out a way to get you to the top of the Citadel without exposing you, but I’m working on something.”
“Okay,” I say. Then we return to the truck, and Sol drives us back to the tunnel entrance before dropping us off. Rook steps back and slams the door. It seems like he wants to say something, but General Sol peels off toward the city before he can get a word out.
We watch the cloud of dust kicked up by her truck’s tires.
“Do you think we can trust her?” I ask, and Rook shakes his head.
“I’m not sure.”
“Why were you so shaken up after she showed you what she can do with Spark?”
Rook sighs and runs a hand over his jaw. “She’s just offered a lifeline to my people. If I can learn to wield it, I could be useful to my father.”
“You are useful to him,” I say.
“It’s all felt so futile for so many years. Every time we get ahead, they come in and take it all away.”
“And now?”
“Now, General Sol just offered me something I never thought we’d have.”
“A weapon?”
“Yes.”
“To use against the city?”
He gives me a long look. “Poet, I told you a long time ago who I am. What I am.”
I nod. “I know you did. I just thought . . .”
I trail off as he reaches out and traces the faint scar on my cheekbone, his expression soft.
“That I’d forget everything they did? I’m here for the cure, not to help New Manhattan.
That has never been my goal. I want to save my brother and sister, and I want to create a stable life for my family and the Veil. ”
I inhale a deep breath. “I know that.”
“That includes you, just so we’re clear.”
My breath expels in a shaky rush. “I know you think that, but this is my home.”
“A home that lied to you. That wants to kill you for what you are.”
His words cut deep, slicing through tissue and bone and the truth I’m still reckoning with. I know he’s right, but this is still the place I grew up. Could I just leave and never look back?
“If we find the cure, what then?” I ask, my voice suddenly small and uncertain. “Will you leave?”
“Yes, Poet. My home is out there, not here. I was never meant for this life.”
I swallow against the knot in my throat. “What about us?”
“You can come, too,” he says. “I want you to come.”
“I don’t think it’s that simple.”
He searches my face. “Maybe not.”
I look away, staring at the horizon. “We’d better get back.”
Without another word, I descend into the darkness of the tunnel.
A moment later, I hear Rook following.
We walk in silence for a long time before I feel a gentle tug on my wrist. I let him pull me around to face him, though I can’t meet his eyes just yet.
“I’m sorry,” he says.
I peer up and shake my head. “You don’t have anything to be sorry for. You’re right. I know you don’t belong here.”
“I thought I understood my purpose when I arrived in the city,” he says. “Those first few weeks were so easy. Everyone was scared of me. Everyone kept their distance, as I hoped they would. I was free to do what I needed to do.”
“And then?”
He chuckles softly, leaning in as his warm breath pulls up goose bumps across my skin. “And then some defiant princess came along to fuck that all up.”
I laugh and slap him playfully on the arm. “I’m not defiant,” I say, and he laughs.
“Sure. You’re very obedient.” He reaches up to cup my cheek. “I don’t know what the future holds, Poet. But I do know that from the moment I laid eyes on you, I knew you’d be important to me.”
I study his face, admiring the soft crinkles in the corners of his eyes, the smattering of freckles on the bridge of his nose, and the copper flecks in the green and gold of his irises. I love his face so much.
“Did you really?”
He nods. “It was like . . . my soul had always known you.”
“I think I felt the same. When you looked at me, my stomach did this weird thing.”
“Because I’m so incredibly good-looking?” he asks.
I smile. “You know you are.”
He laughs, and it lights up his face.
“I thought it was fear,” I say. “I thought I was supposed to hate you. I’d been taught my entire life that you were the bad guy.”
“I am the bad guy, Poet. Don’t forget that.”
He really believes that, even after everything he’s shown me.
We approach the ladder back to the surface, and I step onto the first rung before I look back at him. I don’t know what the future holds, either, but I’m sure that mine includes him, too. I’m just not sure what that looks like yet.
“If you’re the bad guy, Rook Athira . . . then I guess that makes two of us.”