Free When Copper Suns Fall by Kasonndra Leigh Page B

at the top of mine. How very much
like her, you are.” It was the first time he’d ever talked so
openly about the way he met Mother. My skin tingled with
excitement, and I was hungry to learn more.
    In my heart, I knew that if she were alive,
then Dr. Van Meter would never realize his plans. Father cleared
his throat, and said, “My main concern is what Jalen told me when
he called this morning. You fainted?”
    I nodded. But I wasn’t going to let him avoid
talking about Micah this time. “I went to the park. Back to the
place where those Tainteds pushed Micah,” I said.
    “No one pushed your brother. There hasn’t
been a Tainted sighting in decades,” he said.
    “Maybe they’re just not looking hard enough
to see them. Maybe they’re like us, blending in with the gifted
kids,” I said. He gave me a blank face. “I had to do something,
Father. Why can’t you understand?” My voice faded inside my
tightening throat, and angry heat prickled my underarms.
    “I know that going back to a place that we
both agreed you wouldn’t go has caused you to have a blackout for
the first time in years. Stranger things are going to start
happening the closer you get to your sixteenth birthday.” He
stopped talking and sighed. “What if Jalen hadn’t been there last
night? You must be careful. Taking too many risks stresses out your
luck fairy. She may not want to grant anymore wishes if you abuse
her good nature.”
    “What’s so risky? Why are you letting them
bully us this way? What if I slip up in camp and break another
window? Or even worse, I get angry and toss something at a
Thoughtmaster? Or maybe it doesn’t matter to you.”
    “We mean what by that statement?” he
said.
    “I mean you would let them vesselize me. The
same way you agreed to let them use Micah.” I regretted the words
as soon as I said them; but the lash of an angry tongue was always
a painful one for both the giver and taker in the end.
    “I’ve always told you Micah’s accident was
just that, an accident. It wasn’t your fault, CC.” He used my
nickname, an abbreviation of my first and middle names…Chela
Ceylone. He sighed before lowering his eyes. His face showed more
wrinkles than I’d ever seen. Why hadn’t I noticed them? When did
Father and I grow so far apart?
    “Are you trying to convince me, or yourself?”
I said. He lifted his chin and gave me a stern, side glance. “Dr.
Van Meter wants to vesselize Micah. He said you knew about it.”
    “Stop this obsession with your brother.”
    “Then tell me what he said isn’t true. You
didn’t agree to it, right?” My voice rose and cracked. The stupid
knot in my throat was back again.
    “I know what your brother means to you.
That’s why I’ve held on to him for so long. But the money for his
treatment is gone. The glutovirus in his body has not diminished.
My colleagues only have a limited number of strings left to pull
for us.”
    “Grandfather’s vesselism went badly. Don’t
you remember?” I said. He flinched.
    “Your human bull’s-eye of a father can only
handle so many darts in one round.” He grasped my face between his
palms, but harder this time. “We are part of the Tribunal, Chela.
We live in the Capital Borough. Like it or not, we are the rule
makers. We are the ones assigned to keep order, and enforce the
peace. We must do everything the right way. If not, then…
The time for you and I both to accept reality has come. I hope all
I’ve said is clear?”
    I nodded, even though I didn’t understand.
The bond between twins was strong. The angel-blood in Micah and me
heightened that link. Father’s humanity made things like that hard
for him to see.
    He lowered his eyes, released my face, and
sighed. “I’m sorry. I do worry. I may not always show how much I
fret by your standards, but if you only knew how badly this hurts
inside. You were wearing Helena’s necklace?”
    “Yes, I never take it off. Just like you told
me not to do.” I craved