The Coalition (Book 1)

Chapter 57

"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 tooka 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 isShai. 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."