Page 71 of Keeping Sarah

Her lashes fluttered open and she smiled. “I can tell.”

“How’s that?” I asked curiously.

“When we are close to our temples, the relics in the walls call to us. Like a song. Has Sarah not mentioned it?”

“No, never.”

“Hmm.” She stood and stretched. “I wonder whether the contra can hear them. Are you coming with me inside?”

“I have always been curious about this,” I admitted to her. “If you don’t mind, I’d like to.”

“I don’t mind at all.”

Omen led the way out ofSovereignand into the building. Conduit temples varied in size, but all the ones I had ever visited were the same shape—a pyramid. I had never been devout before Justice slaughtered the conduits and declared the religion a form of treason, but I did find myself in the temples sometimes. Either to visit particularly lovely conduits or occasionally pray. But prayer never felt natural to me. I’d never asked a conduit to contact a dead loved one. It was expensive, and once someone was dead, I didn’t like thinking of them again.

But then, there was Kapok.

Every day, some part of me thought of asking Sarah to call him. I wanted to know where he was and why he hadn’t tried to contact me or Tiger since his death. He had to know we would still be on Halla. But neither of us had heard from him.

Sitting in the temple, I almost asked Omen to do it, though I wasn’t sure if she could. And that was not why we were at the temple anyway.

“Alright, I am going to touch the altar, and you may see some odd things occur,” Omen warned me. “Just know, that’s what’s supposed to happen, okay?”

I nodded. “I won’t interfere.”

She breathed out and placed her hands on the altar. Instantly, her whole body looked solid—she looked alive, actually. I hadn’t seen that version of her in years, and she was just as pretty as I remembered. Until she started to convulse. I was on my feet before I had a thought, but I stopped myself from interfering, remembering her warning. Her body looked like there were translucent holes in it, like her substance had faded in splotches.

Shit, this can’t be right.

My instincts were to push her away from the altar, but I waited impatiently while she continued to quiver and jerk. I snapped, “Fuck this,” and started for her, but before I could touch her, she looked directly at me with solid black eyes.

“Don’t do it, Cozz.” Her voice sounded like a chorus spoke to me.

I held my hands up and backed away from her.

She went back to convulsing. Then, the violent shaking happened in waves, from her feet up. Her head tipped backwards, and her mouth opened soundlessly. A black light shot upward, the beam striking the open space at the apex of the ceiling. Then, white light fought the black, pushing or extinguishing it, I wasn’t sure which. Eventually, the white light penetrated her mouth and the tremors wracking her body stopped. She stood preternaturally still and quiet.

It was more frightening than the convulsions.

I whispered, “Omen?”

Then, she collapsed to the floor.

Panicked, I knelt beside her and shook her body. “Omen, wake up!”

Her eyes fluttered open, back to their normal state, shock on her face. “You shook me.”

“I’m sorry, I had to.” Then her words sank in, because as a ghost I never should have been able to touch her. “Wait, whycanI shake you?”

“Because it worked.” Grinning, she grabbed the collar of my uniform and kissed me on the lips.

Still shocked by everything that had just transpired, I pushed her back. “Omen!”

“Sorry,” she said, sounding more gleeful than contrite. “Been a long time since I felt the warmth of someone. Don’t tell the queen.”

“Oh, I’m telling her.”

She laughed. “Don’t you dare!”

---