Sun Rose (Rose of the Dawn Series Book 1) Read Online Free PDF Page A

question.
    “When
I got sick, Dory said I turned yellow. Bile from my liver poisoning my body.” I
look over my arms. Except for goosebumps, they haven’t changed.
    “Who’s
Dory?” Pike asks.
    “My
sister.” I’m surprised that he knows about me, but apparently nothing specific
about my family other than our connection with the Imperial Bead. How does he
know so much and I know so little? My hand moves over my chest. A pang – no – a
pain, makes me gasp for breath. I’m panicking.
    “Tithonus
will see you.” Ezekiel steps back into the car. “I’ll await your return.”
    My
eyes strain to see straight. I regulate my lungs with slow, deep breaths in and
then hold it before breathing out.
    “Are
you up for it?” Pike stands, putting his hand out again. “Are you alright?”
    “Yeah,”
I exhale. “I’ll be okay.” I wish Dory were here. She’d steady me. She’d make it
okay. I know she would.
    “This
is pretty important. He should give us some good direction.”
    “I’ll
have rehydrated something to eat for when you get back.” Ezekiel rummages through
his bag.
    I
stifle a groan and grab my stomach. “Rehydrated food is the worst.” Dory leaves
my mind, replaced by revulsion. I am a bit hungry, which surprises me, but not
hungry enough for dried, mashed chickpeas, beans, oats, and modified
vegetables.
    “Can’t
all afford it fresh,” Ezekiel mutters before I leave the car. He doesn’t even
look at me. Instead, he spits on the ground.
    The
sun isn’t up, but it’s light out. A fog in the distance blocks my sight too far
in either direction. I can’t tell where I am longitudinally. I think we’ve
travelled east. Or was it west?
    I
step onto the wooden train platform and it is more like a long dock. The planks
are arranged horizontally and they cross over shallow water before getting to a
cobblestone street. The houses beyond are short, no more than two or three
stories, and narrow, all different styles. All in various states of disrepair.
Every house is a different color: Bright blue and pale yellow. Light pink and
dark brown. Different shades of greens and purples. They almost look like
something out of a fairy tale or storybook with their pretty colors and
asymmetric styles, but so haunting with their chipping paint and crooked
shutters.
    I
take a deep breath in. The air outside is cool and there is a slight, salty breeze.
Different from inside the car or even from my house and hospital. There, the
filtered air was always cold and sterile. This air is dense, but crisp and
refreshing. It fills my lungs and I think how great it is to be alive, provided
I’m not dying.
    “What’s
Tithonus going to tell us?” Will he be able to tell me how long I’ll live? Can
we trust what he tells us?
    “I
dunno,” Pike answers.
    Then
what are we here for? We’ve reached the end of the dock and stepping onto
the uneven cobbles of the street, I lose my balance. The butterflies in my
stomach threaten my throat and I shiver. I’m scared of all this unknown. It’s
nothing that I’ve learned in any of my classes with Jenny or conversations with
Dory. We take a left and walk down the road. The stream is on our left and the
rows of houses on our right.
    “This
is it.” Pike stops us in front of a purple door, a few houses down. The fog
hangs in front of it. The fog isn’t in front of any other house. Strange.
    It
opens before Pike even knocks.
    “Please
come in. I’ve been expecting you.” A gravelly voice is quiet in the dim room.
The rug on the floor reminds me of the one in my hospital room. Turkish, I
think, with tassels along the edge.
    Why
did I leave again? I can’t go back now.
    “Because
you had to come.” The voice tells me, reading my thoughts. I’m convinced and
even more frightened. “Don’t be afraid. You needed to leave. There is something
special about you and because you know what they were going to do to you wasn’t
right.”
    I
shift nervously to hide myself behind Pike.