Star Gods, стр. 59

Mom runs her fingers down Sage’s cheek. “I’m so sorry about your mom. It wasn’t supposed to be like that for you.”

“Dammit,” Ashe mutters.

I smile when I see him swipe at tears.

Dad claps his hands together. “I think a barbeque is in order and Maliki…”

“Yes, sir?” He scrambles to his feet.

Dad shifts to unblock his mom from behind him. “Someone’s here to see you and your brother.”

“Thank you, sir!”

“Ashe, what do we have to grill?” Dad asks.

“You name it, we’ve got it.”

“Good. Tyce, fire up the grill. Ashe, get out some chicken and ribs, and Zeke, grab out our yard games. Let’s get this party started!”

“What do you want me to do?” Sage asks.

“Take a seat at the picnic table and tell your parents all about you.”

“You may not want to hear that,” she murmurs under her breath.

Mom places her hands on each of Sage’s shoulders and steers her toward the table. “We do. We won’t judge.”

Sage takes a seat at the table. “Remember you said that when you ground me.”

Mom laughs.

“Was her life that bad?” Maliki asks, grabbing the lawn darts from me.

I dig in the shed and grab out the corn holes game. “I’ll let Sage tell you about it.”

Maliki drops the lawn darts and sets up the circles. “It was bad.”

I sigh. “Yeah.”

“How do you think your parents are going to take it?”

“They’ll be okay. They’ll blame themselves, but they won’t show it in front of Sage, and we’ll all move forward from here.”

I set down what I have and go back for the beanbags while someone turns on the outside lights.

Mikel joins me at the shed, peeks inside, and excitedly points to my old soccer ball.

I grab it and hand it to him and he jogs off to a vacant area to kick it around. I drop the beanbags next to the corn holes. “What’s it like for your brother?”

“You mean, being deaf?”

“Yeah. Was he born that way?”

Maliki nods. “Yep. Wasn’t too hard to figure out. He never cried when there was a loud sound, never woke to anything unexpected happening.”

“When did he start learning sign language?”

“A year and a half.”

“Really?”

“Believe it or not, kids learn things faster the younger they are.”

I watch Mikel dribble the ball between his feet. “Is it too late for me to learn?”

Maliki clasps my shoulder. “It’s never too late to learn. We’ll start tomorrow.”

I nod and smile. “Cool, I’d like that.”

Seven weeks and two days later

Sage nudges the doors with her mind and steps out into the bright sunshine.

“Sage, not at school,” I reprimand.

She slaps my shoulder. “Oh, don’t be such a scrooge.”

“It took a lot of power to wipe all these memories. If you screw this up…”

She plants her hands onto her hips and scowls at me. “It took more to keep your girlfriend out of the loop, Zeke. Besides, you worry too much. It’s summer break, it’s time to celebrate!”

“And fulfill responsibilities on Planet Eos and the Unknown Planet.”

“Celebrate first!” She opens her arms wide, lifts her face to the sun, and backs right into Mr. Hansen.

“Miss Cartwright,” he says, taking my sister’s arm and righting her.

“Mr. Hansen.” Sage smiles sweetly. “Pardon me. I got a little carried away about summer break.”

“That’s all right.” He rocks back onto his heels. “Who am I to question the leaders of the Star Alliance?” He bows his head before walking away—his eyes momentarily flashing violet over the rim of his sunglasses.

“Son of a bitch!” I utter, and then laugh. I should’ve known.

Don’t miss your next favorite book!

Join the Fire & Ice mailing list

www.fireandiceya.com/mail.html