The Temple

by Emily Shore

  “Where are you going to go when you get out?” I wonder even as I step onto the bed with her, prepared to lift her into the vent.

  “Out where?” Sunshine places her hands on her hips, peers at me before a glimmer of recognition crosses her eyes. “Oh, not out there.” She motions toward the window with its view of Temple transportation and the vast city beyond. “No, the Temple.”

  “Look, maybe you could just explain…” I suggest, glancing at Queran who nods in agreement.

  Sunshine sighs, arms dropping. “Look, I tried to hide it as long as I could, but they found out, so it’s my time to enter the breeding line. I’m not “Temple” quality if you catch my drift.” She drifts two fingers to the scars all along the side of her body. “But Lina’s in the Temple, and I want to see her before they inject me with that baby tracker.”

  “Lina?”

  “She was the oldest in the Chick House,” Sunshine explains. “They took her a few months ago to train her for Temple life.”

  I sigh, sweeping my gaze to the door. How long before my father returns? I’d wager not long; he probably only stays to watch the children emerge before leaving. He won’t allow me to be alone for too much time. But after everything that’s happened, I’d say he owes me more than a favor.

  I turn my gaze to Sunshine. “Do you trust me?”

  She blinks, gaze tossing to Queran, who winks at her.

  “Answer me two questions first,” she puts me to the test. “Was the shark real or just some sprite light?”

  “His name is Sharky, and he’s very real,” I respond, ready to press for the next question. “What else?”

  Sunshine assumes a challenging pose, arms crossed over her chest. Somehow, the hospital gown she wears makes her seem more imposing.

  “What Bird would I be?”

  I smirk. If I answer with anything cute or pretty, it would be a mistake. Sunshine’s not that kind of girl. At first, I consider a Phoenix rising from the ashes because of her fire brands, but instead, I go with my gut.

  “A buzzard. The kind with the leather faces and necks with all the wrinkles.”

  Sunshine’s arms loosen from her chest at the same time she pronounces, “Oh, you’re good.” She gets down from the bed, and I follow but head for the door, promising to be back soon.

  “I’ll keep Paper Man company.” Sunshine loops one arm around his, dragging him toward the bed. “Let’s see what else you got.”

  Chuckling, I glance back at the two of them, knowing it would take all day for Queran to show Sunshine exactly what else he’s got in origami terms. Right before I leave the room, I watch as he begins to fashion another shape and consider how she didn’t ask if Queran was trustworthy. But no one would need to. Anyone would trust Queran with their life.

  Bliss

  When I first see all three of them enter the Penthouse together, my heart seizes in my chest. Was this Father’s decision? No. All I need is one glimpse of Serenity’s triumphant expression to know this was all her idea. But why? Doesn’t she understand how the girl is just one more piece Force can use against her? He might wear his pride subtler, but I can see it in his cunning smirk every now and then. It was just as much a triumph for him, which makes me wonder if he has plans for the child already.

  If he intends on turning her into a display, she wouldn’t be in the Penthouse. Many girls are plucked from random Chick Houses and deposited for signature displays in the Temple. Men appreciate the young ones. Though the law prohibits client interactions for any under sixteen, accidents will happen—for a price.

  She’s just the type he’d look for with the halo gold hair, except for her ruined skin. The girl doesn’t wear Serenity’s defiance, but there is a measure of independence in her eyes. More than independence. When she raises her head, lifts it high even when Father addresses her, I recognize it as self-assurance. I excuse her body language as blissful youthful ignorance. Father will destroy that in no time if he has his wish—whatever that wish may be.

  Despite my attempt to remain in the shadows, the girl is more aware than my sister because she’s turned her head and points to me from down the hall.

  “Another Swan!” She breaks into an eager trot.

  I turn away, hearing Serenity call out after her.

  “Wait!” I hear both their voices say at the same time. Directed on two different targets, of course.

  The girl catches up to me, then takes me by the arm. As soon as I look at her, I avoid staring at her skin. Neither do I wince at the sight of her scars. I’ve born enough of my own. A different brand of fire for my flesh.

  She looks me all up and down before remarking, “Lina would give her teeth to see this! She’s the only one who’s believed all those urban myths about the Swan twin.”

  “Is that what they call me?” I pass along the deriding comment.

  Sunshine nods. “It is now.”

  It’s no surprise. Even my urban myth must be shared with my little…I pause before considering the word.

  Serenity reaches our sides, then cups the girl’s shoulder. “Sunshine, this is my sister. Bliss.” No, she doesn’t hesitate to use the word.

  “Sunshine,” she chirps, her voice reminding me of honey and confetti. But there is something under that silver lining. A shameful cloud beyond.

  She’s not fierce like Serenity. Nothing about her reads discomfort. She might not be eager, but she’s resigned. As if she understands the state of the world; she’s aware of the demons drooling in the shadows.

  “Serenity was just about to order brunch for us. Would you like to come?” Sunshine invites me.

  I glance at my sister once. She just shrugs, which is an offering in and of itself.

  I shake my head. “I’d rather not.”

  Sunshine doesn’t press, but she does wave a hand. “Oh, I understand. The scars can be a bit daunting…”

  In one move, she dethrones my resistance. Sighing, I shed my introversion off my shoulders for the present. I follow them.

  Like the sun easing out from behind a cloud, Sunshine returns to her lively self. “Call it a gift.”

  At once, I roll my eyes. It’s not often someone gets the drop on me. Certainly not a child. She managed to use her own skin against me.

  Fortunately, Sunshine doesn’t bother me with questions. She wants to know nothing about my background or why I’ve been hiding in the Penthouse all these years. On the contrary, she gives more than she takes from relating all the details she can about her life in the Chick House. Many names erupt from her mouth, and I lose track of them. Much of what she says is meaningful gibberish. Meaningful to her, gibberish to me.

  “We bet on all things Temple-related. But we bet big on anything Swan-related or Faces of the Temple.” She sways along beside Serenity. “I bet my dollhouse you’d be an unstoppable force ready to sweep the world! When your Mermaid display went international, I won Balloon’s balloon set. But I gave it back the next day.” She shrugs and joins her hands behind her back, fingers interlocking, their tips sharing secrets.

  “Balloon?” Serenity questions.

  “Her given name is Bluebird, but we call her Balloon.”

  “What was your plan once Airplane flew you all away?” Serenity asks after we’re in her dining room sampling brunch. It’s the first time I’ve been invited to eat with her. The dining area is far more beautiful than mine, which doesn’t shock me. Every now and then, my eyes can’t help but wander to the moving water sculptures, the liquid artwork rippling and dancing like ballerinas made of droplets. Serenity prefers the fish tank, much simpler in comparison.

  My sister indulges in Sunshine’s fantasy. A mistake if I’ve ever heard one. This child’s fantasies will be crushed underfoot when the time comes. Better to let them go now while she can. They won’t help her any. Mine never did.

  “I found a treasure map at the dump one day.” The dump is really a landfill her caregiver takes her to because the Temple can’t be bothered to invest in any proper toys
for their orphanages. “Airplane would fly us, and I’d be the navigator. I’d help everyone find their way to the treasure.” Sunshine tosses a grape in the air—a purple bubble falling until she catches it in her mouth.

  I stiffen and cut into a grape, slicing it in half so it reminds me of Yin and Yang. “And what treasure would that be?”

  “Well, it’s not really a treasure. It’s a castle.” Sunshine’s hands spread, fan-like. “A gigantic castle with a moat full of dolphins with razor teeth. As soon as you step foot on that land, you grow bat wings. The only way to get into the castle is to fly in.”

  My sister smiles, intently listening to everything.

  “What’s inside the castle?” she wonders.

  Sunshine waves a hand. “Our families, silly. Oh, and Falcon made sure to include her imaginary boyfriend one day. Guess he looks a lot like that sexy Aviary director.”

  It’s the first time I’ve noticed Serenity wince at the mention of Luc. She’s spent all this time refusing to cave in to his advances, and it makes me wonder if she’ll ever falter. Or perhaps he will first.

  “Any imaginary boyfriends for you?” Serenity diverts the subject.

  “Me? Not a chance.” The girl doesn’t make a face. She just dismisses the notion as if it’s no more than an irritating static electricity. “I wouldn’t have time for a boyfriend. I’d be too busy transforming into my other form to protect the castle.”

  Serenity taps a finger to her chin. “Let me guess—a dragon?”

  “Close. Tyrannosaurus Rex.” Sunshine winks and chomps down on her fifth slice of bacon. “But you can be the dragon if you want to, Serenity.”

  “I’m allowed to come?”

  “Of course.”

  “What about Bliss?” She motions to me.

  Sunshine licks the grease off her fingers. Eyes me. I meet her gaze head-on. “She can come. We need a good ghost haunting the place to make it authentic. But I think she’d only transform if she really had to.”

  “Why?” Serenity swings her head toward me and back to Sunshine. “What do you think she’d be?”

  Sunshine ponders while raising a strawberry to her mouth. “Phoenix. Hands down, a phoenix. Bliss is a survivor. She’ll always rise from the ashes.”

  I excuse myself, then get up from the table.

  “Bliss, wait—”

  “Let go of my arm, Serenity,” I request through gritted teeth. “Just leave me alone.”

  This is her trying again when she hugs me, careful to string her arms around my untarnished neck and not scar-riddled back. I’m not interested in her consolation right now. That’s all Serenity wants to do…console. Treat me like some helpless victim. She’ll never see me as anything but broken.

  At least Sunshine doesn’t apologize. No, she’s rather smug, sitting there. Serenity is much easier to handle than this perceptive little skin sack. Even her scars taunt me. She reminds me of a future I once imagined when I was still a child. I can’t afford childish fantasies. Nothing ever changes.

  Sunshine knows. Serenity doesn’t. And the child is having a ball with her.

  I ignore Luc as I pass him in the hallway.

  “Is she in her room?” he pauses to ask.

  “She has a visitor. Not male.” I’ll have to be careful, considering I wrapped the last two words in a layer of loathing.

  “Bliss.”

  It’s the first time he’s touched me. Just a brush of his fingers on my arm.

  “Everyone has a price, Luc,” I remind him. “Mine is simply cheaper than Serenity’s.”

  “You don’t have to do this.”

  I recognize his pursuit when he steps into my circle. Not as extreme as my sister, I only retreat halfway but still offer him a dangling Swan feather to whet his appetite.

  “If your bed ever gets too lonely, Luc, you know where to find mine.”

  27

  S u I T o r

  Serenity

  “What was that?” Sunshine refers to the dull thud coming from upstairs.

  A radar goes off in my head because Force interrupted my breakfast and dragged me away on the tour before I had the chance to talk to Sky. Much less feed him.

  My eyes flick to the staircase, and Sunshine is up faster than blown glitter. The next thing I know, I’m chasing her up the stairs and into my bedroom where she nearly collides with Sky.

  “Excuse me!” I hear her exclaim just as I hurry through the doorway. She turns to me as soon as I arrive. “You realize there’s some sort of demigod in your bedroom, right?”

  Sky folds his arms across his chest, muscles bulging as he smiles down at her. “Demigod, I like that.”

  “Got any other sexy beasts in here?” Sunshine asks before wandering around, even going so far as to peer under the bed.

  Pleased she’s taking everything in stride, I drop my arms to my sides and confess, “Sorry, no. Sky’s the only one.”

  “Friend of yours?” She jerks a thumb toward him.

  I shrug, dropping my hands to my sides. “More like a secret friend.”

  “How secret?” she wonders, summoning the sprite light program on the table next to my bed.

  “Very secret,” Sky echoes, tilting his weight toward her.

  Sunshine makes a shushing motion with her fingers. “I’ll just say he’s your invisible friend. This is really cool.” Her finger lights on the screen, shifting the bed canopy and walls around us into different environments. She taps into another app. A moment later, the walls around us revolve into framed water. My father’s latest addition along with the shifting water sculptures he installed. A way of making me feel comfortable. My room has turned into an underwater scene.

  “No way!” gushes Sunshine, spinning around and flitting toward one of the water walls.

  Upon hearing the knock at the door below, I groan and head for the railing to shout, “What?”

  “Serenity,” I hear the muffled voice from behind the door. “It’s Luc.”

  “Go away!”

  To Luc, my commands are more invitations because he opens the door. Sunshine appears from behind me to peek at him.

  “The Aviary director?” she nearly squeals. “You’re just a sexy man magnet, aren’t you?”

  She scrambles down the stairs but stops herself short from leaping on Luc. Instead, she stands right in front of him, eyes digesting his face, hands wringing together. “Look, if I don’t get a picture with you for Lina, she’ll tar and feather me!”

  “Well, we can’t have that now, can we?” Luc replies while tapping his barcode for his arm interface for a candid Penthouse screenshot. I roll my eyes as he coils an arm around her shoulder, and Sunshine poses with a Shaka ‘hang-loose’ hand sign. I can’t believe that ancient gesture is trending again.

  “I’ll take a photo with you, too!”

  At the sound of the third voice invading my suite. I groan even more, but at least this one is a little more welcome than the last. And I did promise to give him a tighter hug.

  Sunshine’s eyes go wide. “No way! Nile Bodelo! I recognize you from like every magazine ever.” She shakes out her gold hair in disbelief.

  “Why, thank you.” He offers her a petite bow, hand framing his chest. “Name’s really Neil. But don’t tell anyone.”

  “It’ll be our little secret.” Sunshine is stockpiling secret after secret, knitting them tight into the spaces between her clenched hands as she takes a picture with Luc and then Neil.

  “Say MagiTouch,” my brother croons, referring to the startup tech company that revolutionized lasers years ago so people could touch them and now interact with them every day.

  “So formal,” Sunshine mocks. “All the kids just say “magic” nowadays.”

  Neil corrects himself and zooms in, pressing the side of his face against hers, careless of her scarred flesh.

  “What do you want, Neil?” I ask from the balcony.

  “So hostile,” he emphasizes. “Is your boy toy around? He and I need to have a little chat.�
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  “Sky’s in the bedroom.” I wind my head around to add, “He should be in the rafters.”

  Sky just shrugs, peeking his head around the corner. “You didn’t bring me breakfast. Was just seeing if there was any food.”

  Sunshine shakes her head, laughter sprinkling the air like comet dust. “Men. If they’re not thinking with their stomachs, they’re thinking with their—”

  “And what are you doing here?” I ask Luc.

  “I, too, need to have a few words with my brother.”

  “Then, come up,” Sky dares, nudging my side with hands held up, goading palms out. “I’m right here.”

  Sunshine perks up at the information. “Two sexy beasts are brothers?” She darts a finger back and forth between the two of them. “Ahh…” Her eyes narrow. “I can see it.”

  “I’m in no mood for a confrontation,” Luc adds while keeping his arms at his sides.

  “That’s cause you’re a lily-livered coward,” Sky answers.

  Sunshine eyes the two of them before she makes another connection, though her voice is a little softer this time when she says, “Um…eesh—history. Should I go?”

  I groan a little, tilting my head toward the men. “Maybe we both should,” I offer just before making for the stairs.

  Before I get the chance, Sky reaches for my hand. He doesn’t tug or drag me back like Luc would, but he squeezes the skin there for an invitation. I welcome the brush of his mouth on mine, bearing no more than the weight of a swan’s wing. Not demanding. Not an exhibition for Luc. Just a parting reminder for our sake alone. I kiss his cheek, and Sunshine whistles low, but Neil prefers a high-pitched one. In return, I give him an obliging nudge from my elbow followed by that tight hug.

  “Come on, Sunshine. Come on, Neil.”

  “But, sis! I wanted to watch,” he protests just before I grab him by the ear. “Ow! Ow! I’m coming.”

  He trots out like the little lapdog he is, but his title is not lost on Sunshine, who remarks, “Sis? You two?” She points to us as I close the door. “Ahh…I can see it,” she repeats her earlier statement. “Seriously, you should hand out a family tree diagram.”