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

it.” His voice is so soft that I’m sure Pike can’t hear from
across the room. “Trust no one,” he says again before letting go of my hands
and regaining stability on his cane. The pain vanishes immediately. My hands
are cool and then cold. I look down. There isn’t a mark or a line on them.
    I
turn and walk as fast as I can back to Pike. He takes my hand. There’s that
electricity again. The strength returns to me.
    Before
we can get to the door, Tithonus calls after us, “Rosamund, remember, beware!
Beware of trespassers. Trust no one. Chipchip ! Beware of the code. Chipchip !
Don’t let them chipchip your code!” I watch him shake in seizure.
    “Wait,
what? What’s happening to him? Why is he making that sound?” My body trembles.
    “It’s
time to go.” Pike takes my arm.
    “But
what’s going on? What about Hara?” I pull back, but Pike yanks me toward him.
Water flows down from the ceiling now. It splashes onto the floor. “Pike,
please! Wait!” He throws me over his shoulder without any effort. I hear the
faint chirping-chipping sound getting louder as the door closes behind us and
Pike navigates the cobblestone street still carrying me. The fog has retreated
and streaks of light break through the miasma.
    “It’s
the sun, Rose,” Pike exhales.
    He
puts me down.
    “So
what? What does that mean?” I am confused. I rack my brain for something that I
may have learned before. Nothing comes to mind.
    “It’s
almost dawn, Rose, and he’s calling for Death.”
    I
gasp, recalling the desperation of the poem, where the Greek Tithonus, a once
mortal man cursed to live forever, asks his love Eos, upon another dawn, to let
him die: “Release me and restore me to the ground.”
    I
run ahead of Pike. “It’s time to go.”

7
    “What
did he say to you?” Pike asks as we hurry down the dock to the train car. I
look back at the little red door. I could’ve sworn it was purple. The sky above
is blue. Not a cloud in it. I wipe my forehead, but it is no longer wet.
Nothing is wet. I’m completely dry.
    “I
don’t know. I don’t know what any of it means. What’s going to happen to me? Am
I going to die like this? Why did we have to go there?” Pike grabs my shoulders
and I stop rambling. He lets go and we step inside the train. Ezekiel starts it
moving as soon as we’re in.
    “I
wish I had more answers myself. I don’t know, though. I’m still trying to
figure it out.” Pike sits across from me and Ezekiel sits beside Pike. Ezekiel’s
arms cross over his chest, and he looks relaxed for the first time.
    “How’re
you feeling?” Pike asks.
    “Fine.
Okay.” I don’t know how I feel. How I should feel. I don’t fully understand
this experience so far.
    “Tired?”
He rubs his hand over his hair.
    “A
bit. But okay.” I smile. He doesn’t return it. It hasn’t been a full day since
I’ve been gone. I know that much. I think.
    “You
don’t feel sick, do you?”
    “Uh-uh.”
I shake my head. I wonder what Dory is doing right now. Is she worried about
me? Jenny would be. I’m not so sure about my parents. Maybe at one time
they would have worried.
    “Here,
take this,” Pike leans forward and hands me another pill.
    “What
are these anyway?” I swallow it without water. A jagged little pill.
    “They
were by your bedside. It says Amlacyclin. Take one as needed.”
    “As
needed for what?”
    “I
dunno, but Hara said it couldn’t hurt.” Pike returns the cap to the pill
bottle.
    “You
talked to the nurse? When?” I shouldn’t, but I feel slightly betrayed. What
is going on with me?
    “When
you were sleeping. She wanted to see how you were doing.” Pike stares out the
window.
    “I’ve
never taken anything before. Before today, that is. I’ve never had to take
anything. It has my name on it?” I tilt my head at Pike.
    “Yup.
Your prescription and your name. And your doctor, Doctor Suresh. That’s it.”
    “Who?
You mean Dr. Rush.”
    “No.
Dr. Suresh. Look, here,”