Page 74 of Prince of the Sun

WE WILL GO HOME

I try to reread the message, to retranslate it, to make sure I got it right, but the words swim before me, a sea of terror and confusion and understanding, all wrapped into one.

LIGHTBEARER

SACRIFICE

LIGHTBEARER

SACRIFICE

They’re looking for a human.

A human containing a light that they believe will dispel the shadows on Elaërion.

A human they will sacrifice.

A human with golden eyes.

Doctors used to tell my mother how rare my eye color was. How special. My mother would smile and smooth down my curls. “Just as unique as she is.”

The room blurs. Tilts sideways. October sunlight blends with papers blends with wood floors blends with coffee, all shivers before me in a mess of sight and smell. A roaring in my ears. Darkness at the edges of my vision.

SACRIFICE

LIGHTBEARER

I jerk backward, tipping my chair sideways. I try to scramble to my feet, but my legs get tangling in the falling chair. I land on the floor with athunk.

I think I’m falling for him.

I think I’m falling for him.

I stumble over to the mirror. A hand presses to either side of the wall as I stare at my face. An image I’ve seen thousands of times. Red curls. Smattering of freckles. Thick lips.

Golden eyes.

I don’t remember sprinting across campus. I don’t remember the sidewalk, the street, the gates, the doorways. For all I know, I ran straight through them. One minute, I’m in my dorm, staring into honey-gold eyes in the mirror, words roaring through my head.

LIGHTBEARER

SACRIFICE

The next—

“Liar!”

The door to Daerios’s bedroom slams open, shaking the vines that hang above his bed. Seated at his desk, he snaps to attention, eyes wide. I can imagine how I look: curls wild, teeth bared, nails flying as I go straight for his throat.

“You filthy, lying, murderous—”

“Whoa, whoa, whoa.” In one swoop, Daerios is up and has his hands on either of my shoulders. I hate those hands. I hate their warmth, their familiarity. How could I ever have thought I was falling for him? I hate him.I hate him. “What the hell are you talking about?”

“I know everything.Everything.” With every word, I punchhis stomach. “I know why you took an interest in me. Why you followed me around campus.” My voice trembles, and I wish I could steady it the way I would a rocking boat. “Why y-you took me upstate. Why yousleptwith me.”

“Quinn.Quinn.” Daerios, ever patient, holds me at arm’s length. “I have no idea what you’re talking about. I took you upstate because—”

“Because you werewatching me.” Tears now clog my eyes—those treacherous, hateful things—as I claw at him. “Because you were waiting. Waiting to see if I’m it. The One.” I choke. “The Palasolaeva.”