The couch welcomes me. My Keane house couch. It feels like home. I try to move, but my body isn’t mobile as fast as my brain. How long have I been sleeping?
Derry whisks away a stray hair blocking my view. “Hey, Sweetheart.”
I inhale deeply. The result is less than comforting. No more Morning Glories and Sunshine. He mirrors my frown. “Penny for your thoughts?”
I sweep his curiosity under the rug with the obsolete currency. “Where’s Mom? Where’s Barry?”
“Guess we’ll get right to the explanations.”
Sitting up is a struggle. I lean on his shoulder, refusing to lie back down. Halfway up is better than all the way down.
“Is she awake?”
“Yes.”
Part of me is still human. The other part is magic. I’m the ultimate food source, balance in every bite. Apparently, I can feed both Solathairs and Sumairs. “She got enough energy?”
“In a manner of speaking, yes,” he hedges.
“What’s the bad news?” Their moods give them away. Will they ever stop leading with the positive? The universe demands balance. Point of fact, I prefer the bad news out of the way first. “Is it Barry? Is he okay?”
“Barry’s fine.”
“What’s wrong with Mom?”
“She needs a direct source to stay awake.”
“What do you mean a direct source?”
“She has to keep absorbing energy, or she falls back into the coma,” Ryan explains.
“Hook her up to an IV or something.”
“It’s causing excessive waste,” he contends. “The transfused blood gets only one use. It can’t be recycled as it needs to be refrigerated to maintain efficacy for later distribution. She can run on a blood bag for six hours before needing a new one. We can’t meet her needs. We’re running low on supplies.”
This isn’t an acceptable solution. She’s indirectly hurting humans by using their supply, though not directly feeding from them. “What about my blood?”
“With your blood, she can run for twenty-four hours. She still needs the blood bag.”
“Well, let’s do that.” I wipe the sleep from my eyes. “How long have I been out of commission?”
“A few days,” Derry admits.
“A few days?!” I shriek. “I’m graduating on Friday.”
“Tomorrow,” Tally announces, chucking my cap and gown at me. “You missed all the pre-grad fun times, but at least you’ll finish.”
“Your father came by,” Brody informs me from the far end of the couch.
“What did he say? Does he know about Mom?”
“He knows,” Ryan advises, “and he’s agreed to keep the situation quiet in lieu of more doctors poking and prodding her.”
“How are you keeping it quiet?”
“Administratively, we pulled the plug as planned.”
“To live, she had to die,” I whisper.
Derry reaches for my hand. “He’s happy, Sweetheart.”
“He must be ecstatic.” Something strange washes over me, and it’s not Ryan’s calming personality. I’m ecstatic, too.
“There’s a complication,” Ryan notes.
“Right, the transfusions. We can figure that out. It’s a pint a day. I’ll manage.” It’ll be worth the daily drain. It may even help me keep the transition at bay.
“Sheyla, she doesn’t remember.”
“Of course she doesn’t remember.” I accounted for that. It’s irrelevant. We can make new memories. The point is she’s awake. The rest is a minor inconvenience.
“She doesn’t remember anything,” he persists.
Not remembering she talked to me is one thing. Losing all her memories is something else entirely. “How’s Dad handling that?”
He’s waited my whole life for her to come back to him. He didn’t give up until the end. Even then, he didn’t really give up. He was just ready to let go. Now he has her back but only part of her.
“He’s surprisingly upbeat,” Derry insists. “Seeing her moving around is worth it for him despite the memory loss.”
“How did you explain her sudden consciousness?”
“We played into what you told him before you left, that you were looking for more routes to try. The blood transfusion miraculously worked,” Ryan offers. “It wasn’t a complete fabrication. It’s exactly what’s keeping her awake. She has bad blood that needs to be constantly filtered like dialysis. He even changes the bags every six hours. He’s been donating as often as he can.”
“Why am I here? Shouldn’t I be at home?”
“We told him you were drained from the trip. He thinks I should monitor you here as you weren’t in any present danger, and he can’t look after you both.”
“Who’s with them now?” Fear strikes me. “She’s not a Sumair, Ryan.” The star of the spectacular light show in the hospital room was my mother, the Solathair. “He’s human. She’s a danger to him.”
“Declan and Kiley are with them,” he soothes me.
“How could we not know what she was?”
The story has been illicitly taken; should you find it on Amazon, report the infringement.
“We have to be conscious for the bond to form,” Brody clarifies. “She never was.”
“Why did she need the life support?”
“When she transitioned, her essence left her body, sort of like what happened to Declan. She was moving beyond it. Faster than her physical form. That’s still happening, in a sense. She’s too fast. With her elemental affinity to fire, she burns through her energy at an exponential rate. That’s why she needs perpetual transfusions. We saved her body for her, like a house for her soul, by keeping it on life support.”
“So, I didn’t convert her? I didn’t make her what she is?”
“No, Sheyla.” Ryan kneels down and rests his hands on my knees. “She made you what you are.”
“Will she ever remember?”
“Only time will tell.”
“Is my father in danger?”
“She hasn’t shown signs he is, but it’s a risk. We’ll keep someone watching.”
“Bring them here. We shouldn’t be separated right now. Not any of us.”
He needs to be protected from her and the outside forces on all opposing sides, even if it means telling him the full truth. But before I bring him into this maddening vortex, I’m giving him human closure. I’ll go ahead with graduation.
I might live a short, human life, able to resist my transition, or I might implode without harming anyone but myself. Whatever happens, I need to make the most of the human moments available. They’re few and far between.
“Where’s Barry now?”
Tally smirks. “He’s having a nap on my big, red pillow.”
“Finally!” Mental fist pump for two puzzle pieces fitting together.
I spring from the couch, run up the stairs, and jump on his hibernating form. When he grumbles something at me, I roll onto the free side of the gigantic red pillow I got for Tally as a practical joke. It was meant to offset her black and white preference. She rather liked it, so the joke was on me.
“Worth the wait?”
His ginormous, stupid smile and dimples respond for him.
I kiss his cheek. “Did they hurt you?”
“They didn’t get a chance.”
“Sloppy exit?”
“The sloppiest.”
I sigh. We can’t catch a break. “Your perma-presence will be required until we figure out what to do.”
He laughs, snuggling back into the pillow. “I’m not going anywhere.”
Derry clears his throat. “Where’s mine?”
“Where’s your what?”
“My good morning kiss,” he muses.
I stop just before the doorframe, where he’s leaning nonchalantly. How do I handle the situation? I need to be cautious of the blaze swirling in the pit of my stomach, but the feelings he’s expressing are far from fearful. I’m powerless to do anything but succumb to his will as he pulls me to him. I want Derrick Connell, fire or no fire.
“Still hot enough for you?” he murmurs, his lips hovering over mine. My knees buckle.
I’m sideswiped by a pillow connecting with the back of my head, catapulted by Barry. “Get a room. Some of us haven’t been sleeping for a millionteen days like you.”
“Some of us should’ve been sleeping instead of recreating,” I counter, chucking the pillow back at him. He dodges.
“He was on guard duty last night,” Derry deflects, guiding me back to the stairs.
Right. Guard duty. We aren’t off the hook with the Tribunal. Do they know where we are? Have they already tried to retaliate?
“Where’s Brody?”
“Doing a perimeter sweep.”
“Tally can’t possibly think graduation is a go, can she? They’re still after us.”
“I’m more scared of Tally at this point than I am of the Tribunal.”
“Rightfully so.” I stop at the top of the stairs. “Did you tell them about your vaccination?”
“Had to.”
“Were they mad at you?”
“Every last one of them.”
“Cool.” I kiss him on the cheek. If everyone else is mad at him for coercing me, I don’t need to be. Balance achieved. “I’m going to help Brody.”
“Or you could stay inside,” he recommends. “We can watch with the security system I set up.”
“I’d rather see the real thing.” What I want is fresh air.
Brody’s outside the house, walking an invisible line. “Electrical charges,” he informs me. “They’ll tell us if anyone comes.”
“What if they deactivate them?”
“Peepy D set up cameras.” He waves into the abyss, where Derry is probably staring through the computer monitor he affixed to me the instant I walked out the door.
“Sumair turned super spy.”
“Creepy-stalk-tacular.” Brody cracks his knuckles. “Want to give him a show?”
“I’ll pass.” I look to the water, reassured by its opposition to my fire. “How bad was it?”
“Not bad.” He shrugs. “It went off just like we thought it would. They had no idea until it was too late.”
Frowning, I pat him on the back. “But your heart hurts.”
“I’m supposed to be the one protecting you,” he reminds me. “I don’t need your coddling.”
“Not anymore.” I give his arm a playful punch. “I fired you.”
“You can’t fire a volunteer.”
“More like making restitution via community service.” He nearly smiles at that. I’m gaining ground. “Lonely?”
“Not at all,” he admits. “I’m enjoying that part. No more puppet strings.”
He puts his arm around my shoulder while I slide mine around his waist. “Yeah, I can relate.”
“I’ll bet you can.”
“You’re worried about them.”
He grunts. “It’ll be different now. They’ll tighten the tethers.”
“You didn’t leave them behind, Brody. They could have come with you.”
“They couldn’t. I explained that. I made Molly go back.”
“Now you’re on opposing sides because of me.”
He makes me look him in the eyes. “I’d do anything for you, but none of this is because of you. All you see are problems. From where I’m standing, those problems existed long before you, and you’re the solution. Focus on that, Sheyla. Focus on being the solution.”
I roll my eyes. “The only thing I seem to be doing is trading one problem for another. It’s like couch-jumping hot lava.”
“Think what you want, but when the fighting starts, I don’t care where you end up. That’s where I’ll be, too.”
“You’re pretty swell yourself.”
We gaze at the horizon. Red sky morning. We’re in for rough weather. As always, I’ll wind up standing in the eye of the storm. Maybe I am the storm. When it’s all said and done, I’ll either blow it all to bits or just blow away. I can’t leave until I free Molly and Connor, which I can’t do until they come to take me. Catch 22. There will be no running. I’ll face them head on. With Brody by my side and my flame finger on the ready, I feel strong enough to take on the world.
----------------------------------------
Tally was right to mandate graduation. Protection is vital, but we can’t stop the world from turning, and graduation is an important rite of passage. Holding onto my humanity means experiencing things marking my progression as a human. Each moment we have left counts, and I plan to make the most of them.
The Tribunal might come. They might not. Maybe I’ll run. Maybe they’ll catch me. If they’re smart, they’ll give the prospect a long, hard look before they seek retaliation. I’m ready for them. I’m not alone anymore. United, the Tribunal doesn’t stand a chance against us. Nor the Rebels, for that matter. There’s a world to save. My world. Humanities world.
Kiley devised a masking solution enabling Mom’s attendance at the ceremony. By altering her appearance to everyone but Dad, she directs the gossip to a new flame instead of a recently reignited one. I’ll tell him everything, but I wanted to share one more milestone while he can still appreciate the human importance of it. Delayed truth isn’t technically a lie. Point to me.
I look to the stage, nervous as I take my final steps to adulthood. My teachers are in the reception committee, wearing the widest smiles ever. Are they happy to see us succeed or just happy to see us go? Either way, they’ve lit the spark propelling us into our futures. There’s so much left to learn, and I look forward to learning it on my own terms with an amazing family.
I wear my red and gold school colors with pride. Red for my fire and gold for my sunshine sitting in the crowd. I feel him watching before I see him. Peepy D. There are so many things about Derry I overlooked. The magic between us didn’t allow me to really get to know him. That’s something I can’t wait to rectify. He’ll keep my lamp light burning. Removing the magical additive simply ensures I won’t be blinded by the brightness. I see things as they truly are, and I love how they look.
Reaching for my diploma, I scan the crowd, my eyes honing in on my family. My mom doesn’t know me yet, but she will. She doesn’t remember what brought her to this place, but she still came. We’ll build new memories. We already are. We’ve been given a fresh start.
I can’t know what happens next, but the future doesn’t concern me. I’ll cherish each moment to the next and stop worrying about upcoming flame-induced misfortunes. There will always be one...or a million. I’ll try new things, veer off course, and even create problems I’ll have to work toward resolving like a normal person.
As I exit the stage to the sound of their applause, I’m confident it’s not an ending. It’s the beginning of a life I’m ready to live. My extended family will hold me together while Derry holds my tinder heart. It doesn’t matter they sometimes pull me in opposite directions. The world is a perfect circle, so wherever I go, I’ll come back around to the same place. Home. They’re my magnetic north, and my flame will continue to light our way.