We pass through a deserted intersection filled with rubble. My mouth is dry from running and shouting and fighting. My legs are burning. I stumble on a broken stone, feel myself falling. And then a strong arm is there, grabbing me, keeping me on my feet. An electric touch: Tristan. Not grinning anymore. Lips pursed, serious. But also determined. I feel safe with him. He is badly injured, but still strong.
Roc, who seems to have a good idea of the city layout, leads us to the left, down a side street that is relatively unscathed. In fact, all the streets in this direction haven’t been bombed.
We soon find out why.
Chapter Twenty-One
Adele
Abruptly, Roc ducks into an alley. We follow him, mimicking his movements, flattening ourselves against the wall. I want to ask what we are doing, but Roc’s finger is on his lips—for some reason, complete silence is important now.
Roc has good hearing, because I don’t hear anything for at least another minute. But then I hear it: the sound of marching feet. Hundreds of them, maybe more. It sounds like a parade. If the thumping feet are the beat of the snare drums, the periodic bomb blasts are the bass drums. The feet are getting closer. Thump, thump. Thump, thump. Directly in sync with the beating of my heart.
When the first line of troops passes us I hold my breath. When I realize the soldiers are so focused straight ahead that they aren’t going to see us, I slowly release the air in my lungs.
At least a thousand soldiers march by, each wearing a star patch on their shoulders. Star dweller troops. Although their sky-blue uniforms are old and frayed, they seem to be professionals, well-organized and confident. A little ragtag, yes, but deadly. Pissed off to the point of killing anyone who gets in their way.
When the last line of soldiers tramps past us and the drumbeat fades into the distance, we finally relax. Shoulders slump, deep breaths are taken, hearts slow.
“What’s going on?” my father asks. Other than hearing the bombs and listening to prisoner gossip, he wouldn’t have any idea what has been happening while he’s been stuck in prison.
“Soon,” I promise. “Let’s make for the reservoir.”
Once more, Roc leads the way. Although the bombing has finally stopped, I don’t feel safe. At any moment another contingent of rebels could happen upon us. They will shoot first, ask questions later.
Despite my fears, we reach the stream safely. Out of the city it is darker, but much less scary. There won’t be soldiers or bombs here.
“We need to talk,” my father says.
“I know,” I reply. “But first Tristan’s leg.”
“All over it,” Tawni says, removing a spare tunic from her bag. “You talk while I do this.”
“As quickly as you can, tell me everything.”
While Tawni tears off strips of cloth and bandages Tristan’s leg, I tell my dad everything. In bullet point form, I give him a download of the past few days of my life. Meeting Tawni and Cole. Our escape amidst the bombing. The news stories. Rivet. Our flight through the caves. The train ride. Cole’s death. By the end my hands are shaking so hard I have to clasp them together behind me.
My dad folds me into his arms and I expect my tears to flow freely. They don’t. I am numb, in shock from everything that happened. There are so many emotions inside me that I don’t know which to focus on, which is the most important.
“Adele, it’s okay now. You’ve done so well,” my dad says.
“She’s done even better than you know,” Tristan says.
My dad looks up, as if he forgot the others are here. When I told our story, I left out Tristan and Roc, didn’t mention their injuries, which are written all over their faces. I don’t know how my dad will react to having sun dwellers in our midst.
“Why are you here, Tristan?” my dad asks.
He recognizes him. I wasn’t sure if he did. I hoped he wouldn’t. When he asks the question, his voice is even, unreadable.
I half-turn, still in my father’s arms, making eye contact with Tristan. He takes a deep breath, as if preparing to say something important. I have no idea what he’s about to say.
“I have feelings for your daughter,” he says.
Finally, my body has an emotion to push to the top. Surprise, bewilderment, shock—all wrapped around a feeling of elation, bubbling up inside me, filling my heart, my soul. All of these feelings for just a boy? I still have no clue what it all means.
“Wait. You’re saying you’ve done all this because you have feelings for me?” I ask incredulously. Even as I say it, I know it is true. I have feelings for him, too, have felt the same desire to find Tristan.
He shrugs. “I hope it doesn’t sound stalkerish,” he says, “but that’s the truth. I just saw you and…”
“Couldn’t get you out of his head,” Roc finishes.
“But it wasn’t just that…I was worried about you, too. I saw how that big guy in the Pen was giving you a hard time, and I thought he might have hurt you.”
“What guy?” my dad asks.
“Just an idiot with a big mouth,” I say. “I took care of him.”
My dad laughs. “That’s my girl. And Tristan, I know it might sound impossible, but I was a boy once, too. I hope your intentions for my daughter are…noble.”
“Yes. I mean, yes, sir. Of course they are. Noble, I mean. I want to get to know her. You know, take things slow. If she wants to, that is.” He looks embarrassed, his face slightly pink. He is rambling. All because of me?
The conversation is heading in the wrong direction. We don’t have time for relationships, or crushes, or anything else normal. We have to think, to strategize. I know there is more to Tristan’s presence here than just me.
“Why else are you here?” I ask.
Roc looks at Tawni. “Tell ’em,” he says.
I stare at Tawni. Why does she know something I don’t? Tristan is looking at Roc the same way—evidently he isn’t in the loop either.
“Roc and I talked while you were rescuing your dad,” Tawni says. “Elsey, too,” she adds, which makes Elsey smile. “Although Tristan and Roc ran away to find you, Adele, there’s more to it. They’re different from other sun dwellers.”
“We’ve had enough of it all,” Roc says. Tristan nods in agreement.
“They don’t want to be a part of it anymore. They’ve decided to help do something about it.”
“We have?” Tristan says, smirking.
“Yes, we have,” Roc says, grinning back. “I just haven’t told you yet. Tristan’s going to use whatever influence he has to convince the moon dwellers to join the star dwellers, not fight them.”
Mine and Tristan’s eyebrows rise at the same time. Roc plows on. “Everything is such a mess. The Moon and Star Realms are going to destroy each other, making the Sun Realm even more powerful. We have to do this. It’s the only option.”
I look at Tristan. He looks at me. “Okay,” he says.
“Okay?” I ask.
“Yeah. I want to make a difference. Do the right thing. Stop my father.”
“What about me?” I say.
“You’ll come, too. We could use a bit of muscle on our side,” he says, smiling.
I smile back, excited about something for the first time in a long time. Traveling with Tristan, by his side, fighting for good—
“She has another mission,” my dad says, cutting off my thoughts.
“Wha…what?”
“Adele…” my dad starts slowly, his eyes tired and apologetic, “you’ve been through so much, I can’t even imagine…”
“What, Dad?” I say, urging him to get to the point.
“I need you to find your mother.”
“Mom?” I haven’t forgotten about her, not really. She is in the back of my mind somewhere, but it is just that we don’t know where she is and I’ve been so focused on rescuing my dad, and not dying, and Tristan, and everything, that I’ve kind of pushed her to the back. My dad nods. “Where is she?” I say.