Read Online Radiant: Towers Trilogy Book One by Karina Sumner-Smith - Free Book Online Page B
Authors: Karina Sumner-Smith
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Did she feel the freedom of the wide, winding streets of skyscraper Farrow’s territory? All those massive houses, their wide lawns dotted with little more than the stumps of trees burned for firewood. Then there was the warehouse district, where the gangs ran—the highway overpasses, like broken stumps of concrete rainbows—the abandoned gas stations and movie theatres and apartments, all crumbling in ways that made them seem like sculpture.
As they went, Xhea paused to check Shai’s second tether, following the cobweb-thin line as it rose toward the City. Up, it pointed, and somewhere to the south; and as the afternoon passed, they began to narrow in on the location. Their target was not close to the Central Spire, the great golden needle around which the City slowly spun, but farther out toward the edges where Towers gave way to floating factories and growing platforms.
Perhaps Shai and her father weren’t as well-off as she had first supposed.
As for potential transportation, Xhea could only think of one solution: the Edren skyscraper—and the eldest living son of the family that bore the Edren name—owed her a favor. Though Edren was not the most powerful of the Lower City skyscrapers, neither was it insignificant—nor, in truth, was the favor she was owed. It seemed a waste to spend it on a mere taxi ride. But what choice did she have?
She’d turned to check the ghost’s tether again when Shai spasmed. They froze, each staring at the other. Shai tried to speak and jerked again, harder, as if she’d been struck by an invisible fist. They both cried out, Xhea in surprise and Shai in pain, as the ghost was thrown to the far end of her tether. The sudden pull made Xhea stumble forward and fall to her knees. The few people around them suddenly found other things to look at, other places to be. When Xhea managed to push herself up, they were all but alone in the street.
“Shai?” The ghost hung in midair, curled in upon herself and shaking as if from terrible cold. She didn’t respond to Xhea’s voice, only jerked at the end of her line. Xhea tried to grab the tether, but the line of energized air was drawn so tightly between them that its vibration felt akin to pain.
Shai suddenly stopped shivering and uncurled. Though her eyes stayed closed, her head lifted as if in response to a voice that Xhea couldn’t hear. Slowly, she tilted her head back, and the magic within her shone bright enough to rival sunlight.
“Time to wake up,” Shai whispered. She opened her eyes and was gone.
The tether’s tension snapped like an elastic band, and Xhea tumbled back to the asphalt, still trying to grip the length of energized air. As before, the line thinned almost to nothing within reach of her hand—yet that length quivered as it swung through the air, questing like a compass needle toward the vanished ghost. Slowly it settled, pointing upward and out.
Xhea struggled to her feet, trying to gauge its direction. Toward the City, yes, but its angle was not as steep as she had imagined. She moved, trying to get a line of sight on the near-invisible tether joined to the centre of her chest. After one look at Xhea’s flailing, a mother just leaving her building grabbed her child’s hand and hurried back inside.
Had they started the resurrection? All too easily, Xhea could imagine Shai’s screams as spells attempted to force her back into her body, the young ghost’s form slipping into the nightmarish template Xhea’s memory provided. Yet no matter how Xhea moved—running the length of the street and down another, crouching, climbing on garbage to change her angle—she could tell little more than she already knew: the Tower she sought was not overhead, but somewhere to the south. She started to run, trying to find a better way to read the direction the stronger tether provided, cursing with every step.
Cursing—until a sudden thickness in her throat stopped her voice and forward progress in an instant.
As they went, Xhea paused to check Shai’s second tether, following the cobweb-thin line as it rose toward the City. Up, it pointed, and somewhere to the south; and as the afternoon passed, they began to narrow in on the location. Their target was not close to the Central Spire, the great golden needle around which the City slowly spun, but farther out toward the edges where Towers gave way to floating factories and growing platforms.
Perhaps Shai and her father weren’t as well-off as she had first supposed.
As for potential transportation, Xhea could only think of one solution: the Edren skyscraper—and the eldest living son of the family that bore the Edren name—owed her a favor. Though Edren was not the most powerful of the Lower City skyscrapers, neither was it insignificant—nor, in truth, was the favor she was owed. It seemed a waste to spend it on a mere taxi ride. But what choice did she have?
She’d turned to check the ghost’s tether again when Shai spasmed. They froze, each staring at the other. Shai tried to speak and jerked again, harder, as if she’d been struck by an invisible fist. They both cried out, Xhea in surprise and Shai in pain, as the ghost was thrown to the far end of her tether. The sudden pull made Xhea stumble forward and fall to her knees. The few people around them suddenly found other things to look at, other places to be. When Xhea managed to push herself up, they were all but alone in the street.
“Shai?” The ghost hung in midair, curled in upon herself and shaking as if from terrible cold. She didn’t respond to Xhea’s voice, only jerked at the end of her line. Xhea tried to grab the tether, but the line of energized air was drawn so tightly between them that its vibration felt akin to pain.
Shai suddenly stopped shivering and uncurled. Though her eyes stayed closed, her head lifted as if in response to a voice that Xhea couldn’t hear. Slowly, she tilted her head back, and the magic within her shone bright enough to rival sunlight.
“Time to wake up,” Shai whispered. She opened her eyes and was gone.
The tether’s tension snapped like an elastic band, and Xhea tumbled back to the asphalt, still trying to grip the length of energized air. As before, the line thinned almost to nothing within reach of her hand—yet that length quivered as it swung through the air, questing like a compass needle toward the vanished ghost. Slowly it settled, pointing upward and out.
Xhea struggled to her feet, trying to gauge its direction. Toward the City, yes, but its angle was not as steep as she had imagined. She moved, trying to get a line of sight on the near-invisible tether joined to the centre of her chest. After one look at Xhea’s flailing, a mother just leaving her building grabbed her child’s hand and hurried back inside.
Had they started the resurrection? All too easily, Xhea could imagine Shai’s screams as spells attempted to force her back into her body, the young ghost’s form slipping into the nightmarish template Xhea’s memory provided. Yet no matter how Xhea moved—running the length of the street and down another, crouching, climbing on garbage to change her angle—she could tell little more than she already knew: the Tower she sought was not overhead, but somewhere to the south. She started to run, trying to find a better way to read the direction the stronger tether provided, cursing with every step.
Cursing—until a sudden thickness in her throat stopped her voice and forward progress in an instant.
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