Son of Sun, page 5
Julian opened the door to Emanuel’s library without knocking.
A sense of delight broke through Nola’s growing fatigue at the sight of the chandeliers hanging from the ceiling, art adorning the walls, and stuffed bookshelves surrounding the room. In the center of the library sat Emanuel in his red wingback chair, with Eden curled up in his lap as he read her a story.
Emanuel looked up from the book as Julian entered the library.
Nola froze on the threshold, uncertain of disturbing such a rare moment of serenity.
“Go to Bea.” Emanuel set Eden down.
The little girl shook her head, sending her black curls flying. “You didn’t finish.”
“Later, Eden,” Emanuel said.
Eden crossed her arms, tucked her chin, and headed for the door at the back of the room.
“Where’s Raina?” Emanuel asked as soon as the door shut behind his daughter.
“She’ll be here to see you later.” Julian climbed out of his sun suit. “This one will need a bit of repair, I’m afraid. I was shot by an arrow.”
“An arrow?” Emanuel stood.
“Things didn’t go exactly as we’d hoped,” Julian said.
“Salinger is still patrolling the city,” Jeremy said. “He hasn’t gone back to his home domes.”
“You saw him?” Wrinkles creased Emanuel’s brow.
“No,” Nola said. “But we met people who had.”
They took turns explaining everything that had happened. Starting with finding people holed up in a house on the way to the city and Julian being shot. Then Nola and Jeremy finding the trap in Nightland. Catching a glimpse of the unharmed domes across the river. Then meeting the Teachers.
“I didn’t think the fanatics would come back to the city,” Emanuel said. “I was sure they’d died out and we had seen the last of their kind a very long time ago.”
“You’ve heard of the Teachers?” Kieran paused halfway through folding his sun suit.
“Not under that name, but yes.” Emanuel tented his fingers under his chin. “I’d heard rumors about people heading north as well.”
“Why have I never heard about it?” Kieran asked.
“There are many rumors and legends. I don’t choose to waste my time on things that cannot be proven as fact.” Emanuel sat in his red chair. “There was talk of tunnels under the city for years before we began construction on Nightland’s home underground. If I had listened to them, our people would never have had a sanctuary where we could grow strong enough to come to our true home.”
“The people in the north,” Nola said, “are they really violent? I mean, if they were killing people, wouldn’t the domes have noticed?”
Emanuel looked to Jeremy.
Jeremy ran his hands over his face before speaking. “I never heard anything about settlements beyond the city limits. The domes decreed that people could only live in this area if they stayed between the highway and the river a long time ago. I don’t know if they chose to ignore the people lurking in the wild or if they were just so damn cocky and sure everyone would follow their laws they never bothered to look.”
“What do we do about them, though?” Nola took Jeremy’s arm. “If the people in the north like to attack, what happens if they find us?”
“We need to worry about Salinger first,” Jeremy said. “We can defend ourselves against bows and arrows. We can’t fight fire packs.”
“I need to think,” Emanuel said. “You’ve all done very well. Thank you for risking your lives to protect Nightland.”
“Of course.” Julian nodded and headed toward the door through which Eden had disappeared.
“I want to get these supplies to my dad.” Kieran followed Julian.
“We should find T and Beauford,” Nola said.
“You need rest first.” Jeremy brushed a stray curl from Nola’s forehead. They turned to go back out into the hall.
“Jeremy,” Emanuel said, “I’m sorry you didn’t find your sister.”
Jeremy said nothing as he closed the door.
“Be careful,” Nola said in a voice too soft for even Emanuel to hear.
“Of what?” Jeremy said.
“Emanuel isn’t a person you want as an enemy.” Nola held Jeremy’s hand as they walked toward the long corridor of sleeping quarters.
“Why did he need to mention my sister?” Jeremy said. “It’s not like he cares about her.”
“You’re right, he doesn’t,” Nola said. “He’ll never think of a rogue Domer as someone he should worry about.” She pressed her fingers to Jeremy’s lips before he could speak. “But he cares about us because we help him. Letting us make Nightland our home is in the best interest of Emanuel’s people. As one person trying to survive on the outside, Gentry means nothing to Nightland. But when we find her, we need Emanuel to see how valuable she is so she can come live here with us. It’ll be a lot easier to convince Emanuel that having a second Ridgeway under his protection will be best for Nightland if he likes you.”
Jeremy wrapped his arms around Nola and kissed the top of her head. “Isn’t it good enough that he likes you?”
“He likes me because I stole medicine from the domes to save his daughter.” Nola tipped her chin up, brushing her lips against his. “You’ve risked your life to find information for Nightland twice now. You’ve done enough for him to consider you a part of his family. Just try to be civil.”
Jeremy kissed Nola.
She stood up on her toes, leaning into their embrace.
“I’ll play nice with the vampires,” Jeremy said.
“Good.”
They stopped in front of the door to Jeremy’s room. He lived only a few doors down from the entrance to Emanuel’s library, where the leader of Nightland could keep a close watch on the Outer Guard who had betrayed the domes.
Nola leaned in to kiss Jeremy one more time.
“Stay,” Jeremy whispered. “Please stay.”
A rush of heat flooded Nola’s face.
“We both need to sleep.” Jeremy caressed Nola’s cheek. “Let me wake up knowing you’re safe.”
A little bubble of contentment grew amidst the worry and confusion shouting in Nola’s mind. “It would be really great to sleep.”
Jeremy opened his door, letting Nola enter first.
The small stone room barely fit the bed, dresser, and chair Jeremy had been provided. One light hung from the ceiling, next to a hole that led up to the surface, allowing fresh air to filter in through the mass of the mountain.
Weight pressed on Nola’s eyelids at the sight of the bed. “I shouldn’t be this tired. I slept a couple of days ago.”
“Your brain has processed too much information since the last time you slept.” Jeremy tugged on his bootlaces. “Even superheroes need sleep.”
The journey into the city, the time they’d spent there before they’d run back, all of it had taken less than a day. But the running, fear, and pain all blurred together in a swirl that moved too quickly for her mind to focus on one moment at a time.
Nola sat on the chair to untie her shoes, blinking to bat away the excess noise surrounding the failure that hurt most. “We’re not going to stop looking for Gentry. You know that, right?”
Jeremy sank down on the edge of the bed. “How can we possibly find her? If she’s still alive, which is a big if.”
Nola sat next to Jeremy, wrapping her arm around his waist. “Gentry is strong and brave. She’s had training. She’s out there somewhere.”
“Where?” Grief filled Jeremy’s eyes. “If she left right after the city burned, she could be hundreds of miles away by now.”
“I…” There was no argument she could make. With how fast Gentry could move…
We might never find her.
“We’ll keep trying,” Nola said. “We’re not going to give up on her.”
“I can’t drag you around the wild searching for her.” Jeremy dug his knuckles into his temples. “If you had gotten into that room first, if I hadn’t been able to figure out how to open the door…I can’t risk your life, Nola.”
She knelt in front of him, pulling his hands from his face to make him look into her eyes.
“We’re in this together, Jeremy,” Nola said. “You and me. I love you.”
“We can’t get to the domes,” Jeremy said. “There’s no way for us to get more Graylock.”
“We can heal without more doses. It’ll be slow, but—”
“But what if that doesn’t work? Graylock isn’t even as old as ReVamp. Our ability to heal could lessen with time. We don’t know.” He kissed the palm of her hand. “I have to protect you. From Salinger, and whatever drove people from the domes to turn into zombies, and the people in the north, and the vampires here.”
Nola sat on his lap. Jeremy laid his head on her chest.
“You can’t worry about all of that,” Nola said. “It’s too much for one person.”
“I have to worry about all of it,” Jeremy said. “I love you. I have to find a way to keep all of this awfulness from hurting you.”
Nola lifted his chin and kissed him, savoring the taste of his lips. She let her mouth linger on his for a long moment.
“You can’t protect me,” Nola said. “It’s not possible. But we can face whatever is coming together. And if that means searching the wild for Gentry, then building a boat to cross the river to the domes, and breaking through the glass to find out how to make more Graylock, we’ll do it.”
He kissed her again, exploring her lips.
Nola’s heart flipped in her chest, shattering the weight the dying world had thrust upon her. She pulled herself closer, wanting to feel the beat of his heart pulse through her.
He lifted her from his lap and laid her down on the bed. Her body throbbed from her toes to the tips of her fingers as she reached for him.
“You should sleep,” he said.
“Jeremy.”
“We have to sleep.” He crawled into bed next to her, staring at the stone ceiling above them.
She lifted his arm, finding the spot on his shoulder that seemed to have been designed as a place for her to lay her head.
“We’re going to be okay,” she said. “Both of us. We’re going to be okay.”
He kissed the top of her head but didn’t say anything.
Say something. Do something.
She couldn’t think of a way to help either of them. Fatigue took her before a plan could form.
Chapter Seven
“It’s really all gone?” T leaned across the table as far as her ever-growing belly would allow, pushing yet another portion of mushroom soup toward Nola.
The scent of the thick soup filled the room Nola shared with Beauford and T.
“There’s nothing left in the city,” Nola said. “The fire packs got everything between the highway and the water.”
Beauford gave a low whistle. “When the domes want a mass slaughter, they do it right.”
“I can’t even picture it, the whole city just gone. All those people.” T brushed a tear off her freckled nose.
“It’s awful.” Nola fought the urge to lie and spare her friend. “And the people on the highway are in tents.”
“They’ll be dead soon enough.” Beauford pushed away his half-full soup bowl. “One bad sickness, and it’ll get almost everyone. Acid rain comes back, and they won’t have anywhere to hide.”
“There are the houses,” T said. “The falling down ones on the little road west of the highway.”
“Not enough for everyone,” Beauford said. “Unless an illness cuts down their numbers first.”
T cradled her belly as she stood and paced the small space between the table and the four beds. “Is there a way we could convince Emanuel to take more people in?”
Nola picked up her spoon and took two bites of soup. Eating didn’t make the answer any easier. “We don’t have the resources.” Self-loathing curdled the food on its way to Nola’s stomach. “There are only a few empty rooms left in the tunnels. Those could hold forty people if we packed them in. But then we’d have to feed them.”
“Couldn’t we make it work?” T said. “Cut down just a bit on how much the humans eat?”
“I—maybe,” Nola said, “if we knew when we’d be able to use the garden again. But we can’t count on the weather. We don’t know how long it’ll be before the freezes stop. Forty people could mean the difference of a few more weeks before starvation if it takes too long for spring to come.”
“Is it wrong of us not to try?” T said. “There are kids out there. People’s children who are hungry and cold. We could at least take in the little ones.”
Beauford stood and hugged T. Her shoulders shook with silent sobs.
“I should go,” Nola said. “I have work to do.”
Neither T nor Beauford said anything to stop her as Nola ducked out into the hall. She closed the door behind her and leaned against the wall.
“I sound like them,” Nola whispered.
Which them?
She’d hated the domes for ignoring the suffering in the city. Hated Nightland for causing pain by attacking the domes to steal supplies.
I’m just as much a monster as the rest of them.
Nola walked down the corridor, passing a flock of chattering children surrounding a woman who looked like she hadn’t slept in a week. The children had full heads of hair and skin free from sores. They bombarded the woman with questions in voices so loud, the sound could only have been made by lungs undamaged by polluted air.
The children stuck on the outside will never have a chance to bounce around with so much energy.
Nola clenched her fists, letting her nails dig into her palms. She didn’t know where her feet were carrying her until she stopped in front of the door to Kieran’s lab. She knocked before allowing herself to think.
“Come in,” Kieran’s voice came through the door.
Nola’s hand froze above the doorknob. She worked in the lab, had spent dozens of hours inside.
Don’t be an idiot.
She opened the door, stepped into the lab, and snapped the door shut behind her.
“Nola.” Kieran looked up from his microscope. “I didn’t think you were working on samples today.”
“I’m not.” Nola’s curls bounced around her as she shook her head. “I just needed…”
“Needed what?” Kieran’s dark eyebrows pinched together.
“Convince me we’re better than them.” The words tumbled out. “Tell me why us leaving the people in the tent city is better than the domes leaving the city to rot. Tell me I was right to choose Nightland over the domes. Over my mother. Tell me I’m not a horrible murderer for sitting safely in these tunnels while other people are suffering. That there’s a way out that doesn’t end with the domes penning us in here and slaughtering the few people Emanuel has managed to save.” Nola took a gasping breath. Tears streamed down her face. “A thousand people hidden here in the mountain. And that’s it. We’re supposed to say this is good enough? The rest of them are just dead whether or not they’ve stopped breathing?” Sobs overtook her words.
Kieran stood, hesitating before walking over to Nola. “Can I hold you?”
Nola nodded, stepping into the embrace. His body didn’t envelope her as Jeremy’s broad shoulders did, but a familiar safety came with the feel of his arms around her. She leaned her forehead on his shoulder, letting her tears fall onto his shirt.
“It’s not enough.” Kieran pressed his cheek to her hair. “The people we’ve managed to protect in Nightland aren’t enough. But we can’t take them all in. We can’t even get them here without the domes finding us.”
“How do we live with that?”
“I don’t know. Try to find ways to not feel so helpless. Work to make Nightland sustainable for T’s baby so that her child will never understand what we feel like right now.”
“I don’t want to be like the Domers.” Nola wrapped her arms around Kieran. “I couldn’t survive being a monster in a glass castle. I don’t think I can live as a monster in a stone fortress either. I can’t hide and wait for them all to die out.”
“I don’t think we’re going to be doing much hiding.”
Nola looked up. Her face was only a few inches from his. Not so very long ago she would have leaned in, finding comfort in the feel of his lips against hers.
“Why won’t we be hiding?” Nola asked.
Kieran shook his head and took a step back to the edge of the table.
“Kieran?” She shivered at the hollow feeling growing in her gut.
“Emanuel doesn’t like the idea of waiting either. There are too many hostile groups, too many scenarios that end with Nightland being attacked.”
“So what does he want to do?” Nola reached for her hip, to where her knife would have rested.
“No idea,” Kieran said. “He’s planning something. We’ll just have to wait for him to tell us what that something is.”
“Are you okay with that?” Nola asked. “With waiting for other people to make decisions for us?”
Kieran smiled, and, for a moment, Nola caught a glimpse of the boy she’d once loved.
“I’d rather be in on the meetings.” Kieran shrugged and moved back to his microscope. “But then I remember I’m seventeen. Emanuel and Raina have been working to build this place for more than twice my lifetime. Julian’s been helping Nightland since before I was born. I want to be a part of the solution, but I have to let them make the decisions.”
“And what if you don’t agree with the choices they make?”
“We worry about that if the time comes,” Kieran said. “In the meantime, we trust them. And we keep working.”
“Right.” Nola wiped the tears off her cheeks. “Right. I should go get some samples from the field.”
“You don’t have to,” Kieran said.
“I do.” Nola moved to her tiny corner of the lab, taking her bag, a case of empty vials, and a stack of clean cloths.
“Is he okay?” Kieran asked.
“Jeremy?”
“Yeah.” Kieran pressed his eye to his microscope.
