“They decided to move the village,” I say, my eyes lighting up all of a sudden, remembering. There’re so many other things I like to do with Circ now that I keep forgetting to tell him everything I find out from my sister.
“Really?” Circ says.
“Yeah. Four votes to two. Guess whose representatives voted against.”
“The Heaters?” Circ says, raising an eyebrow.
“Of course,” I say.
“Stubborn baggards.”
“That they are. They’ll never learn.”
“It’s a good move,” Circ says. “The further and more hidden we get from the Glassies, the better.”
I couldn’t agree more. The Glassies’ll be back, that’s for certain, but we don’t hafta make things so easy on them. “They’ll announce it tonight,” I say. “Now they’ll hafta fight ’bout where to move it.”
“Now that could take a while,” Circ says, and I laugh. “Anything else you forgot to tell me?”
I think’bout it and then shake my head. “Everything else’s up in the air, but Wilde’s been hinting that another big decision’ll be made soon.”
“About what?”
“The Cure,” I say.
“What about it?”
“Well, it’s all pretty knocky that the Icers don’t want us on their land, and they only gave my father such small amounts of the Cure. We wanna know why.”
“Guess someone’s gotta go pay the Icy King a little visit,” Circ says slyly, narrowing his eyes.
“Yeah, someone,” I say.
Sounds like another adventure, I think. Another adventure for another day.
“What’s with Skye and Feve?” Circ asks and I groan.
“What’s with all your burnin’ questions?” I snap back.
Circ laughs and the anger drops outta me like a sinkhole. “Just seems like they’ve been spending an awful lot of time with each other,” Circ says.
I wrinkle my nose ’cause he’s right. Skye’s definitely been talking to Feve, which I both hate and like. I hate it ’cause it’s Feve, and he’s a low-life baggard who I don’t want my sister talking to. But I like it ’cause it means I don’t have to talk to him, and Skye can ask him all the questions I been meaning to. Like why the scorch he did what he did, turning us in to my father and then bringing the Marked to save us all. According to Skye, there’s been a longstanding agreement with the Marked and the Heaters. Like everything else with the burnin’ Greynotes, it was a secret one. They had each other’s backs, so to speak. And as for giving up the Wildes, he’s sticking to his story that he didn’t realize how bad my father really was. As if.
“She’s just pushing him for information,” I say.
Circ nods but I can tell he don’t think that’s all there is to it. “I’ve been talking to some of the Marked too,” he says.
My head jerks to the side. “You have? Why?”
“Welcoming them, making friends—you know, the things normal people do.”
“And I ain’t normal?” I say.
“Not even close,” he says, laughing. But ’fore I can even hit him or shoot him a stony stare, he says, “And the guys I’ve been talking to told me all about where Feve comes from.”
“Like I care ’bout where a no-good baggard like him comes from,” I say. But then, nonchalantly, I ask, “So what’s his story?”
Circ smiles. “It’s nice knowing something you don’t.”
“Just spill it.”
“You know the story you told me about your mother and Brev?”
I freeze, remembering every word of it. But what’s Brev got to do with Feve?
I nod.
“Brev was Feve’s father,” Circ says.
My head falls back, crunching into the sand. “Of all the stupid, wooloo, good-for-nothing…”
“Not thrilled, eh?” Circ says.
Thrilled? More like disgusted. “It’s an insult to my mother and to Brev,” I say, squeezing my eyes shut and casting a wish on my mother’s star. The wish: that Feve melts into a pile of mush.
I feel Circ grab my hand and I’m pretty sure he knows I’m not happy with the news. He changes the subject again. “Do you think Hawk’s a changed man?” he asks.
It’s my turn to chew through my mouth. ’Cause it’s a tough question. Evidently there was more goodness in Hawk’n I ever knew, although I still can’t stand to look at his ugly face. Word is he protested the attack on Wildetown, but my father forced him to go. Afterwards, he spoke out, and was sent to Confinement, ending up in that last cage, when I mistook him for Circ and nearly fainted. He’s more’n made up for anything he ever did to wrong me. But still…
“I dunno, but he ain’t my friend or nothing,” I say.
Circ grins. “Mine either,” he says. “But maybe at least we don’t have to hate him anymore.”
Yeah to that, I think. I been tired of hating for a long time.
But none of that matters to me right now, ’cause I have all I need. I rest my head on Circ’s chest, relishing the magnificent sound of his strong heartbeat, as if it might burst from his chest. For this moment I can just be me, Siena, Skinny and Strong, all at the same time.
Circ’s hand brushes against my wrist, draws lazy circles on my arm, lingers on my charm bracelet. His pointer charm rocks under a gentle breeze. “You kept it,” he says.
“You can’t take it back,” I say, grinning. “It means you’re mine until the sun and the moon and the stars fall from the sky.”
“Is that so?”
“Searin’ right.”
“I wouldn’t take it back in a million years,” he says, clasping my hand.
“How long can we stay here?” I ask.
“Only for ever,” he promises, a lie that’s as real as fire country being safe.
~*~
Keep reading for a sneak peak at the action-packed sequel, book two of the Country Saga (a Dwellers sister series), Ice Country, coming April 5, 2013!
Acknowledgments
I would be nothing without my readers, who’ve searin’ stuck with me through thick’n thin, who’ve made all the hours of hard work, of stressing over burnin’ deadlines and going wooloo over word count…so now I say, to scorch with all that, ’cause you’re awesome and you’ve made this journey so special and worthwhile and it would mean nothing—nothing!—without all of you along for it. So a special thanks to you, my readers, particularly those of you in my Goodreads fan group, which, at the time of writing this, was over 900 members! I never believed it could grow so big, but you all did, and it’s all thanks to your efforts, for you forcing your friends and family members to read my books when they probably didn’t want to (like really didn’t want to!). I couldn’t do what I love to do on a fulltime basis without all of you.
I also have to give a give a high five and a big hug and kiss to my wife, Adele, who supports me each and every day when I’m lost in other worlds, in other people’s (or prickler’s named Perry) heads for more than five hours a day, plus another five of tap-tap-tapping on my iPhone, chatting in my fan group and answering reader messages. You are my ultimate beta reader, and our many discussions of plot, the cheesiness of my dialogue, and how much you love my writing helps me in ways I can’t even explain. Oh, and your coffee is the most delicious and having you by my side is what keeps me sane. Thank you for changing my life and for believing in me.
To my marketing team at ShareARead, Nicole Passante and Karla Calzada, as usual you never cease to astound me at your unceasing ability to get my books in the right readers’ hands. We started this together, and before our very eyes it’s turning into something very special. Thank you for being my partners in all the fun (and for staying up till all hours of the night planning blog tours and giveaways!).
To my cover artist, Regina Wamba, it’s my first time working with you but you’ve simply outdone yourself, taking the smorgasbord of ideas that Adele and I spout at you and piecing it together into something beautiful and a perfect representation of the world I created.