A Radiant Sky by Jocelyn Davies Page B

Rogue?
    Then there was the question of my mother. Her note said that she knew this day would come for me. That if I had questions, all I had to do was ask.
    But what the heck did that mean? She was dead, and she wasn’t coming back. I wondered if there was some clue in the tiny wooden box, the mysterious etching of the key that became solid when I touched it. Aside from being an apology for keeping my mind a blank slate all those years,I couldn’t shake the feeling that there was some deeper, hidden meaning that I wasn’t quite getting.
    Perhaps most unnerving of all, though, was this: What was the Order planning?
    The Rebellion thought big picture—they could use their elemental powers to cause huge catastrophic events and natural disasters. But the Order worked on a smaller, more calculating scale.
    They focus on nuances. A whisper of a breath. A hair out of place. They manipulate each and every small thing on this earth. And every little thing has an effect on something else.
    I couldn’t help but think of my own life like this, every event, large and small, that had led me to this crossroads, this moment in time.
    The Order had driven me here. But what were they planning now ?
    I held the power to blur destiny—their ability to see it, their control of it.
    The Order starts small.
    And my power, in turn, affected those close to me. Cassie, Dan, and Ian. Aunt Jo. Asher and Devin. Raven. Everyone’s fate was intricately intertwined, down to the tiniest of nuances. Could the Order still control me—kill me, even? If they could, they would have done it by now,right? I realized, with a start, that every day that passed it would be that much harder for them to get rid of me. I wasn’t the girl who they led into the woods the night I almost died. I was so much stronger now.
    Unless . . . they were planning something else.
    I shivered. This was not a good train of thought to hop on late at night.
    I got out of bed and fished the wooden box out of my sock drawer, where I’d stashed it earlier. Instead of getting back into bed, I climbed out onto the roof again.
    It was a gorgeous spring night. The warm air wrapped around me like a blanket, and the stars shone bright above the mountains. Instantly, I felt better, and I began to examine the box again. It was beautiful, with delicate inlaid panels and unique craftsmanship. Whoever had made it was a really skilled woodworker. There was definitely something special about it.
    In one fell swoop, dizziness overcame me. It pitched the roof forward at an impossible slant, and black spots bloomed across my vision like inky bloodstains. I grasped at the shingles behind me, trying to keep myself from falling forward, sliding off the roof into the yard below.
    What was going on? Was some power within the box doing this? Was it me? But this was more than justexhaustion or confusion—and it didn’t feel like a vision either. Instead of the feathery-light liquid silver shooting through me, I felt cold, heavy, like just focusing my eyes was a struggle. I clung frantically to the roof, as the stars dimmed and darkness moved in. And then I heard it.
    A voice that had haunted me since it gave the command to Devin, months ago, to have me killed.
    “Stay calm, Skye,” it said, in that bone-chilling way I remembered. “You’re not going to fall. In fact, you’re going to be just fine. You don’t care about standing your ground, do you? Haven’t you always wanted to find a place with no troubles? No anger or betrayal?” I could almost picture his lips curling back in a sinister grin as he said, “A place where the people who love you don’t leave you? Join us,” it whispered. “Join us.”
    I felt myself slipping back, to a clearing high atop the mountains, the air thin and cold, the sky dark with menace. Asher was there, with his Rebel elder. And so was Devin—with his Gifted leader.
    “No,” I said out loud, pressing my hands against my ears, though I knew it wouldn’t help.