The Sun Dwellers

“And she never got angry,” Roc adds, finally breaking his silent streak.

“Which scared me,” I say. “My father wouldn’t answer her, just kept saying, ‘You’ll see. Just wait.’ He wasn’t smiling exactly, but he did wear his typical arrogance like a cloak that day. As usual, he knew he had all the power, and we were forced to cooperate with his every whim.

“The pod started moving. It was very hard to tell which direction it was moving—sometimes it felt like we were dropping, other times rising, and sometimes moving to either side, maybe even diagonally. It’s very possible we were moving in all different directions. There was nowhere to sit, so we were all stuck standing for about thirty minutes, until we finally felt the pod start to slow.

“My mother demanded to know where we were, even going so far as to grab my father’s shirt. I’d seen her argue with my father before, but never raise a hand to him. He slammed her against the side of the pod—you should have seen his face, all red, veins popping from his forehead. ‘Don’t ruin this, woman!’ he yelled, and then slung her to the floor.”

I realize Adele is rubbing my hand with one of her fingers. There’s a tear in my eye but I don’t care. It’s for my mother and she can have it.

“I should have gone to her, comforted her, but I was too scared of my father, too scared of what he might do to me. I’ll never forgive myself for just standing there, watching my mom huddled on the floor.”

“You were just a kid,” Adele says.

“It was two years ago,” I say.

“You’ve changed a lot in two years,” she says, and despite having not known me when I was fifteen, she’s right. I squeeze her hand.

“Just finish, Tristan,” Roc encourages lightly.

“When the door opened it was dark and there were men in orange plastic suits with big clear bubbles over their heads. They had black guns and black boots. The way they charged into the hatch I thought they might shoot us, but they didn’t. First they checked our bracelets, sca

“The passage led into a holding area, which we entered without the orange men, who closed a hydraulic air-lock door behind us, locking us into a glassed-in section of tu

I pause, realizing my mouth is dry from speaking uninterrupted for so long. I hope someone has a question to break up my monologue, but no one does. They’re all just staring at me with eyes that want me to continue. Thankfully, Roc hands me a canteen and I’m able to swish some water around to moisten my tongue and lips.

“There were dry clothes in the changing rooms. We put them on and then met my mom back outside. She had new clothes on too.

“We went down another tu

The breath leaves my lungs. There’s tension in the room, as if all the air’s been sucked out, as everyone leans in closer. Adele’s fingers are no longer stroking my hand, but are frozen, waiting for me to speak. I take a final deep breath, feeling sudden and unexpected emotion well up in my eyes.

“We stepped onto Earth and the sun blinded us,” I say.

Chapter Seventeen

Adele

His words have no meaning to me. They’re just words. Either he’s not being very clear or I’ve been dumbstruck.

…stepped onto Earth?

…the sun blinded us?

“You’ve got to be kidding me,” Trevor says, ironically all joking filtered from his tone.

“Do I look like I’m kidding?” Tristan says, his expression more serious than I’ve ever seen before.

“You walked ‘onto Earth’?” Tawni says. Evidently she’s having trouble with the wording too.

“Yes,” Tristan says, confirming the meaningless words.

“Like a pile of rocks or what?” I say.

“No, like the surface of the earth. You know, up above.”

A shiver runs up my spine. My head spins. I feel faint. What? I’m missing something. A punch line or a piece of information—like maybe I dozed off and didn’t catch a detail or two. But I know that’s not true; I was wide awake, riveted the whole time.

“That’s the biggest load of bat turds I’ve ever heard,” Trevor scoffs.

“It can’t be,” Tawni says heavily.

But Tristan’s ignoring them, his eyes boring into mine, his face clouded with concern, his eyes thick with emotion. He’s worried about my reaction. I realize I’ve pulled my hand back from his, a reflexive sign of separation.

“You’re saying you went above? To the surface of the earth?” I ask again, because I’m still not sure what I’m hearing.

Tristan nods.

Which means…

“Earth is safe again?” Tawni asks.

Still watching me, Tristan says, “Not exactly.”

“You should tell them everything your father told you,” Roc suggests.

My head is getting hot. Tristan is still staring at me and it’s starting to a

“Tristan?” Roc says again when Tristan doesn’t respond.

“Why didn’t you tell us before?” I growl. “And don’t give me any of that crap about it not being the right time.”

“I was scared of how you would react,” Tristan says, his face a blank piece of paper.

“We deserved to know before we went on this mission.”

“I know,” he says. “The longer I waited the harder it got. It’s the best-kept secret in the Tri-Realms. It’s why my father tried to capture or kill me back in the Moon Realm—when we first met. I think he knew I would tell someone eventually.”

“This is ridiculous,” I spout, my anger growing.

“Would it have changed anything?” Tristan says, his voice rising. “If I told you just before the mission, or the moment we met, or anytime along the way. Would it have changed your mind about coming, or changed the Resistance strategy, or had any impact at all?” His own hands are fisted now, too, his jaw a tight line.

I fill my lungs once, twice, three times. Try to get control of my emotions. Think logically. If he had told us there were people on the surface of the earth before we left on the mission, how would I have reacted? My shoulders slump.

“No,” I say. “It would have just fueled our desire to overthrow your father. Knowing he’s kept such a truth from the very people he’s meant to be leading…”

“Unforgivable,” Tawni finishes for me.

“That was my reaction when he told me,” Roc says. “It took him a few weeks to tell me, too. Give him a break, this is a big deal. It’s not something you tell someone in normal conversation. Can you all just back off and let him tell the rest of the story? It’s important.”

Tristan’s eyes flit to Roc’s, soften somewhat, and then return to mine, seeking approval. “Okay. I’m sorry,” I say, not sure if I mean it yet.