"You remember what the pendant wants you to remember. What Samael wants you to remember. But the memories aren't real, they aren't even yours. This has become your reality." He tapped the pendant on its chain around her neck.
She felt the rapid pulsing of her heartbeat beneath his fingers. Tears made Aliah's face blur. She blinked and looked away as hot tears slid down her cheeks. "It's Eliana's pendant. Not mine. So how can it be my reality? No one can force their beliefs on me, Aliah. Not even Remiel."
"It's not just what I believe. It's the truth." He placed his hot, dry palm against her cheek and turned her face to look at him.
She choked back a sob and ducked under his arm. She swallowed back the bile rising in her throat.
Shuffling sounds in the corridor behind them startled her.
Aliah grabbed her hand. “Run!”
CHAPTER 54
Aliah
They ran through the sticky corridors, their shoulders and elbows grazing the rough walls as they turned down narrow corners. Her hand felt small and damp inside his. He looked over his shoulder at her when the pulling of her hand in his became a tug. She had tripped and sat rocking on her knees in the dim hallway hewn from stone.
A blue-grey hue had suddenly swallowed up the healthy pink of her skin and her eyes had a deep shadowy-hollow beneath them. Beads of sweat clustered on her forehead and upper lip. What’s going on? She never once complained about not feeling well. He knew it was her distrust that made her unwilling to receive his help.
He held back a fierce desire to rip the pendant from her neck. If he couldn't force her to believe the truth then he would have to show her how everything they had been taught in Lael was slowly losing its grip on him. A new reality had begun to dawn with new memories that weren't really new, just remembered.
He tossed his bag to the side and grabbed Shai's from her. If he had to he'd carry her, but not with both bags. He grabbed her hand tightly and pulled her up. Every time she tripped and stumbled in the half-light of the tunnels he encouraged her with a ragged whisper, “Keep running.”
He turned left then right then left again before he stopped in front of a small wooden door. Shai's hand went limp in his. He turned around and saw she had collapsed on the ground.
The sound of footsteps echoed in the corridor.
Aliah ran his hand across the lintel above the door. Please be there. Please.
His heart thundered in his chest, his head and his ears. He touched cool metal and curled his fingers around it. Relief made his knees weak. After all these years no one had moved the key.
He unlocked the door and put the key back before half-dragging Shai's limp body through the door way. He shut the door with his foot then dropped her bag on the floor before sliding an arm around Shai to hold her up. He patted the wall near the door until he found a small knob. When he turned it, it made a popping noise and a yellowish light filled the room.
Nothing had changed. Three wooden chairs with overstuffed brown cushions stood opposite two cots on one side of the room. To his left was a small kitchen and another smaller room that he knew was the bathroom. He inhaled the musty smell and blinked back sudden tears. Home.
He picked Shai up and carried her to the smaller cot that used to be his, removed her shoes, and covered her with a blanket. Its scratchy texture and grey color reminded him of Lael. He tucked it under her chin just as he heard the door knob rattle and muffled voices.
"Hey, someone locked it. Did you lock it?"
"How could I lock it? You have the key."
Aliah ran across the room, tripped over Shai's bag and slammed into the rough stone wall. He rubbed the bruise on his elbow and cursed under his breath. He twisted the light switch to off then pressed his back against the wall just as he heard the sound of a key twisting in the lock.
The door opened and two dark figures entered. One tapped the wall near Aliah, feeling for the light switch while the other one shut the door. Something thumped followed by a mumbled, "Ow. Who left that there?" Warm fingers brushed Aliah's arm and he grabbed them in a quick, sharp twisting motion.
"What the-"
Aliah yanked the person against him and slid his arm around their neck while his other arm gripped a handful of their hair. Their heart beat furiously beneath his arm.
The light snapped on and illuminated a young boy around fifteen who sat on the ground with the strap of Shai's bag around one foot. He feverishly rubbed the ankle of his other foot. Large grey eyes stared up at Aliah.
"Hey, I know you! You're from Lael!" The boy narrowed his eyes and Aliah stared hard at him. Do I know him? He relaxed his grip on the person he held. An elbow slammed into his stomach and he grunted then bent over, winded.
"Nice welcome, Aliah! Glad you could finally join us!" Good-natured chuckling and a familiar voice flooded Aliah with relief.
He sucked in a breath, clutched his stomach and slowly straightened to look into the laughing, grey eyes of his friend Ellersly who rubbed at the red mark on his neck where Aliah’s arm had been.
Aliah breathed out a puff of air then laughed and slapped Ellersly on the back. "I didn't think this place would be occupied. What are you doing here? I mean, don't get me wrong, I'm happy to see you, but I thought you were headed to that cave in the north."
"The further we got from Lael the more your mother remembered this place. She said it's safer to be around people than to be alone out there. Mara knows Kent inside and out. She showed us this room. She said she knew you'd find your way here too. The children have already been taken in by the people here. Amazing bunch, these Kentites." Ellersly smiled then turned to the boy on the ground. "You gonna get up Uli?"
The boy's face turned red. "I would if I could, Ell. I think I broke my foot tripping over this dang bag."
Ellersly grabbed the bag then tossed it to Aliah.
"It's Shai's," he told Ell. His chest ached as he glanced over at the mound he'd tucked into his childhood bed.
"Shai? She's here? How’d you find her?" Ellersly broke into a wide grin. He walked over to the cot to peek. "She's sleeping."
"She's sick." Aliah muttered as he walked to where Ellersly stood then flung Shai's bag onto his mother's old bed.
"Uh, thanks for thinking of me, guys. I'll just suffer silently."
Ellersly glanced over his shoulder. "You'll live, Uli. Quit being so melodramatic." He pulled the blanket away from Shai's face. "What's wrong with her?"
Aliah studied Ellersly for a moment. An urge to tell his friend everything welled up in him, but he pushed it aside. Telling Ellersly meant involving his friend and risking his life which was the reason he had sent Ellersly away in the first place.
"I don't know what's wrong with her. Fatigue I guess. We've been going for days. Not much to eat. Next to no sleep." He shrugged. "I'm sure she'll be fine in the morning." But the sick feeling in his stomach said otherwise.
Ellersly walked over to Uli, still on the floor, and pulled the boy up by his arm.
"Go back to the Core and tell Cookie we need two more meals. And bring back some canteens of water too."
Aliah smiled when Ellersly mentioned Sector Seven's famous cook, Cookie. Memories of a big man with no hair, a thick black mustache and smiling dark blue eyes surfaced. So he is still alive.
Aliah's mouth twitched when he thought of something else. "Hey, Ell. No one can know we're here, okay?"
Ellersly shrugged and nodded. "Hear that, Uli? Say nothing." He ushered the boy out, then closed the door and leaned against it. "How'd you get into the Center? That guard at the entrance would've stopped you because of Shai’s pendant."
Aliah nodded. "He did stop us, but Shai wouldn't let it go. It was Eliana's. So Kael created a diversion and I ran with Shai in here. We were followed, but I think we lost them when we came in here."
"Kael?"
"Yeah, you remember Ava from Conley?"
Ellersly grinned. "Pretty girl with the brand on her wrist. Had it in for you it seeme
d."
Aliah snorted. "That's for sure. Kael's her older brother. He followed us here."
"All the way from Conley?" Ellersly shook his head and his cheeks wobbled. "That can't be good. Wonder what he wants." He looked down at Shai again, tapping a finger against his chin. "What ever happened to that page you tore out of their book in the Supply House?"
Aliah frowned. "You saw?"
"I saw the look on your face when you ripped it out just before Akan came in asking for it. Was that book our Book? From Lael?"
Aliah turned away from Ellersly's searching eyes. He ran a hand through his hair and sighed. "I can't, Ell. I won't involve you."
"I'm involved! Look around, Aliah. Quit trying to protect me all the time. I did pretty good bringing all those children here. You're mother helped, but I still did pretty great."
Aliah turned around again and caught the laughter in Ellersly's shining grey eyes. "And I know more than you think."
The door opened and an older woman entered. She swept the room with her grey-green eyes then smiled when she saw Aliah. "You made it."
She looked years younger standing in their old room. The yellowish electric light caught the silver strands of her hair and made them shimmer.
Aliah's heart skipped and he crossed the room then pressed himself into her embrace.
"I remember you, Mother. I really remember you."
CHAPTER 55
Shai
Her tongue stuck to the inside of her mouth. She tried to speak through lips that refused to move. A strange yellow light burned her eyes and made the tears run when she tried to see.
"It's okay, Shai. Everything will be okay." A buttery-soft voice spoke somewhere near her. She frowned. Who is that? Where am I?
The red hue inside her eyelids darkened until she saw only black. The only sounds she heard came from inside her head. A metallic ping ping ping, a gentle lub dub then nothing. An ache pulsed inside her head and slowly spread to her chest and her arms.
Screams echoed inside her, filling every hollow place. Screams that she couldn't release. Please help me. Please. The words stuck inside her. They stuck to her ribs, her lungs, and her throat. But they were only words. Without sound.
CHAPTER 56
Aliah
“She's so still." Aliah glanced at Mara who'd been smoothing back Shai's hair.
"She opened her eyes once, but..."
"But what, Mother?" He grabbed Mara's wrist as she stroked Shai's cheek like you would a small child.
Mara turned to Aliah and laid a hand on his forearm. "Her memory will soon be reset, son."
"Reset? What do you mean?"
Mara went back to caressing Shai's face. "It happened to me while I was in the Borderless. A long time ago. The Watchers had confiscated my pendant when I was exiled and shortly after that I began to lose my memories. Or what I thought were my memories. There was even a period where I remembered nothing. I woke up in a camp of Borderless people who fed me something that tasted wicked, but it seemed to help because then..." The corner of her mouth twitched and she smiled. "Then I remembered pieces of my old life. Being here, with you and your father. And then moving to Conley.”
“I went through that too." Ellersly had been sitting silent on a nearby chair with his feet crossed at the ankles, picking at his nails. "In the cave with the children. Thought I was going crazy. Mara helped me and the children get through it."
Aliah shoved his fingers into his hair. "So, that's what I was dealing with. On the way here. Fevers at first. Then chills and pain so bad you can hardly breathe. Confusion."
Ellersly said, "Okay, so we all went through that but what causes the memory reset?"
Mara moved a tangled strand of Shai's hair away from her neck. "This." Her voice had an edge that wasn't there a moment ago.
Aliah turned to look and Ellersly got up and stood beside them.
Mara pinched the chain around Shai’s neck between her thumb and finger. The pendant dangled innocently.
"That?" Ellersly choked out.
Aliah nodded at them both. "I took mine off just outside of Kent. But my memories had started to return before I took it off, not after."
Mara dropped the chain and rubbed her hands on her trousers. "Hmmm. I wonder why? Did you meet the Borderless people? Did they give you what they gave me to drink?" Mara's grey-green eyes searched Aliah's.
He shook his head. "No, the only people we met were those in Sector Three and..." He stopped himself. How much should he say? His mother was the one who had first told him about the Book. Maybe it was time to tell her everything that had happened.
"We met Remiel. He's not dead. I didn't kill him." He looked at Ellersly, who was shaking his head.
"I guess I don't have all my memories back. You thought you killed Remiel? I remember him vaguely. I thought maybe he just moved away or something. Not that anyone in Lael does that." He snorted.
"Of course Aliah didn't kill Remiel." Mara said to Ellersly. Her smile seemed to spread into her hairline. She looked back at her son. "I was trying to tell you that back in the cave."
"So you think meeting Remiel was the difference in getting my memories back before I got rid of the pendant?"
"Yes, I do. His presence would've accelerated the healing process by erasing the pendant's effects on your mind even before you took the necklace off."
Aliah crossed the room and slumped into a chair. "Remiel told me to take it off and why, but it took me a long time before I believed him." He shook his head. "I've wasted so much time hating him."
Ellersly sunk onto the floor near Aliah and sighed. "I'm still back at the part where you thought you killed Remiel." He chuckled and Aliah kicked him in the leg.
"Ow!" The round-faced boy rubbed his thigh. "Well it's funny if you think about it. I mean, how can you kill the Son of Thunder?"
The room stilled.
Aliah stared at Ellersly and he could feel Mara’s eyes on him.
Ellersly's face turned crimson. "What? What did I say?"
CHAPTER 57
Aliah
“What did you say?" Aliah stood to his feet, pulse racing.
"All I said was--"
"I know what you said. I just don't believe it." Sweat beaded on Aliah's upper lip. "Remiel is the Son of Thunder? How did I miss that?"
Of course, it made sense. Remiel is headed to Gershom because he knows the Book is there. He encouraged Shai and me to go to Kent for our own protection while he goes to get the Book.
Aliah sighed and pulled the crumpled paper from his waistband.
Ellersly pushed himself off the floor. "Is that it? Is that the page from the Book?"
Mara came and looked over Aliah's arm. "You took a page from the Book?" She touched a corner of the creased paper with her fingertips. "You don't know what you've done, Aliah." She turned, then went back to Shai, hovering over the girl's still form.
"Mother, I wish you'd stop being so cryptic. Tell me, what have I done?"
"Depends on which page you took."
"The only one that I actually saw." Aliah held the paper up to the bare electric light bulb dangling from the ceiling. "This is the page. Here's the map that shows the Seven Sectors. And these are the names of the Coalition."
Ellersly tipped his head back and looked at the page with the yellow light behind it. "'Eli and Elyon under one Commanding Officer, The Son of Thunder.'" He read the words like an announcement, growing more breathless by the second. "Eli. Is that a first or a last name? Isn't Shai an Eli?” Ellersly grabbed Aliah's arm and shook it up and down. "What's the Coalition?"
"Rebels." Aliah and Mara spoke together.
"I think the Eli mentioned is Shai. I just found out she has a brand... like the one on the page. The same one as in the Book." Aliah's eyes were on his mother.
Mara nodded. "Yes, I've been trying to tell you that too. The Book showed you exactly what you needed to see."
"What did he need to see? I feel out of the loop here." Ellersly
persisted. His mouth twisted into a pout.
Aliah shrugged then turned away, folding the page and tucking it back into his waistband. "I don't know, Ell."
"You needed to see that both you and Shai are part of the Coalition, with Remiel. The pendants prevented the Coalition from forming because the poison kept you from remembering each other. But something must've happened in Lael to have upset the balance there. Something big enough to change the course of events."
Ellersly and Aliah exchanged glances.
"The children!" Ellersly grinned. "Kidnapping them was a good idea after all!"
"Not really, Ell." Aliah resumed his pacing. "There's something that neither of you know. Samael killed Sileas as pay-back for me upsetting the balance. Now he wants me to deliver Shai to him before Recruitment Day-in fourteen days, or he'll kill everyone in Lael beginning with Shai."
Mara blanched. "Aliah, he means it. It looks like that's what's happening now. Shai's connected to Samael through this pendant."
"But she'll be okay right? I mean, we all went through it." Ellersly chewed his fingernails while Aliah went to Shai. Her pale face seemed to disappear into the sheets beneath her. The skin of her cheeks and her hands, folded on her chest, had a translucent appearance. Like the underbellies of the white fish I used to catch when I was younger. He sucked in a breath. Another memory.
"It won't be the same for her as it was for us. Everyone gets a choice and she's chosen to keep the pendant on. Its affects are far too great now, even if we took it off her. If she was still in Lael she'd go to sleep as usual and when she woke up, aside from a vague foggy feeling, she'd never know her memory had been reset. None of us knew."
Aliah swallowed hard. "You mean..."
"Ever since the pendants, we’ve lived our lives on repeat. Living in a virtual memory-loop. Every twenty-one days our memories would be reset. The daily Chapel meetings were for reinserting the memories we were supposed to keep. Conditioning, it's called. We had no past and no future. But being this far from Lael the pendant’s poison isn't acting the way it should by altering the mind. Instead, I think... I think it's erasing her mind."
The knot in Aliah's stomach turned to stone and stole his breath. Funny, the pendants really did contain a person's essence. A tiny container that held everything they were or ever would be, but without their own identity.