Burning Sky by Jordan Weisman

Author:Jordan Weisman
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Running Press
Published: 2011-05-05T04:00:00+00:00

20

When Nathan opened his eyes again, he tried hard not to panic. He could tell he was falling. But he hadn’t expected to see the elevated train hurtling along the tracks over his head.

Falling! Panic filled him. You’re falling! He twisted in mid-flight and looked over his shoulder at the street coming up fast.

It’s all right. His mom still held his hand and smiled at him.

What does she care? She’s already . . . already frequency-challenged.

Nathan wanted to scream at her that things weren’t all right, that in fact he was about to die, which was something he didn’t want to do. The dying mostly, but the screaming like a girl would look bad too. He tried to speak, but nothing came out.

Right before he smacked into the street, a hole opened up in midair and swallowed him. For the briefest second, he thought the hole looked like the gaping mouth of a catfish. Then he blinked, and he stood in the middle of a forest again. He felt the solid ground beneath him.

“It’s okay. You’re safe here.” His mother kept a hand on his elbow and helped steady him.

Nathan glanced down at the large rock he stood on. It gleamed white in the moonlight.

He wished Kukulkan was with him instead of his mother and then he felt guilty almost immediately. That wasn’t fair, and he knew it. His mom had just saved him from . . . from . . . well, he didn’t know what for sure, but it was definitely bad.

“Nothing here can harm you.” His mom straightened his jacket and brushed her hand over his hair.

“Not even soul vultures?”

She took a quick breath. “Well, maybe not nothing, but only a few things.”

“The spirits from the train aren’t here?”

“They can’t come to this place. They don’t know the way. They’re lost. Couldn’t you see that?”

“They didn’t act lost to me. They looked like they knew exactly what they were doing.”

“They are lost,” she repeated. “That’s why they’re drawn to you. You’re like a light in the darkness.”

“Why me?”

“It is part of the Game. You need to help them find their way,” she explained.

“And if I don’t?”

“They will remain lost. So will you.”

“I’m not lost.”

“If you weren’t also lost, you wouldn’t be able to see them. The fact that you are a little like them is part of what allows you to play the Game effectively.”

“Maybe you’re wrong about that.”

His mother started to argue and then stopped. “Perhaps I am.”

“Except that there are frequency-challenged people everywhere,” Nathan conceded.

“I call them lost souls.”

Nathan looked at her. “Do you feel lost?”

Sadness showed in her dark eyes. “I didn’t get to raise my baby. What do you think?”

Nathan took a deep, shuddering breath. He stepped off the rock and remained standing in midair. Realizing he had the ability to fly made him smile in spite of the terror of the past few minutes and the sadness that clung to his mother.

“Kukulkan told me you were a natural flyer. There are actually very few of those.

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