The Moon Dwellers (58 page)

None of them mak
e
it
.
Not a single one.
There a
re at least ten souls destroyed—five crushed under the weight of the massive hunks of rock falling from above, the other five killed by a second missile landing in the center of their escape route.
Like so many others from the last few days, the memory of our horrific flight throug
h the subchapter 26 warzone is
be
ing
tattooed in
to
m
y
brain
.

We flee down a street that hasn’t been hit yet.
Bombs a
re going off all a
round us.
The smell of death i
s in the air.
The
smoke chokes my lungs and burns my eyes.
Elsey i
s screaming so much th
at my dad eventually just picks her up and carries
her in his strong arms.

We pass
through a deserted intersection
filled with rubble.
My mouth i
s dry from running and sh
outing and fighting.
My legs are burning.
I stumble on a broken stone, feel
myself fa
lling.
And then a strong arm i
s there, grabbing me, keeping me on my feet.
An electric touch: Tristan.
No
t grinning anymore.
Lips pursed
, seriou
s.
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, le
a
d
s
us to the
left, down a side street that i
s relatively unscathed.
In fact, all the streets in this
direction have
n’t been bombed.

We soon fin
d out why.

Chapter Twenty-One

Adele

A
bruptly, Roc ducks into an alley.
We follow
him,
mimicking
his movements, flattening ourse
lves against the wall.
I want to ask what we a
re doing, but Roc’s finger
i
s
on
his lips—for
some reason, complete silence i
s important now.

Roc has good hearing, because I do
n’t hear anything for at least a
nother minute.
But then I hear
it: the sound of marching feet.
Hundreds of them, maybe more.
It sounds
like a para
de.
If the thumping feet a
re the beat of the snare dr
ums, the periodic bomb blasts a
re the bass drums.
The
feet
a
re 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 a
re so foc
used straight ahead that they a
ren’t go
ing to see us, I slowly release
the air in my lungs.

At l
east a thousand soldiers march
by, each wearing a star patch on their shoulders.
Star dweller tro
ops.
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 th
e point of killing anyone who ge
t
s
in their way.

When t
he last line of soldiers tramps
pas
t us and the drumbeat fades
into
the distance, we finally relax.
Shoulders slump, deep breaths a
re taken,
hearts slow
.

“W
hat’s going on?” my father asks
.
Other than hearing the bombs and listen
ing to prisoner gossip, he would
n’t have any idea w
hat has
been happenin
g while he’
s
been
stuck in prison
.

“Soon,” I promise
.
“Let
’s make for the reservoir
.”

Once more, Roc le
a
d
s
th
e way.
Although the bombing has finally stopped, I do
n’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 strea
m safely.
Out of the city it i
s darker, b
ut 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 gi
ve 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, i
n shock from everything that happened.
There a
re so ma
ny emotions inside me that I do
n’t
know which to focus on, which i
s the most important.

“Adele, it’s okay now.
Y
ou’ve done so well,” my dad says
.

“She’s done even bet
ter than you know,” Tristan says
.

My dad looks up, as if he forgot
the
others are
he
re.
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
di
d.
I hoped he wouldn’t.
When he asks
the question, h
is voice i
s even, unreadable.

I half-turn
,
still in my father’s arms, making
e
ye contact with Tristan.
He ta
k
es
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 sa
y 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 do
esn’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 th
ings slow.
If she wants to
, that is.”
He looks
embarrassed
, his face slightly pink.
He i
s rambling.
All because of me?

The conversation i
s heading
in the wrong direction.
We do
n’t have time for relationships, or crushes,
or anything else normal.
We have to think, to strategize.
I know there i
s more to Tristan’s presence here than just me.

“Why el
se 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 i
s looking at
Roc the same way—evidently he i
sn’t in the loop either.

“Roc and I talked while you were rescuing y
our
dad,” Tawni says.
“Elsey, too,” she adds, which mak
e
s
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 h
as another mission,” my dad says
, cutting off my thoughts.