Waveborn

48

Rejoining the others on Remembrance proved tricky. Cass's hope—probably an insane one—was to sneak into the crowd without anyone noticing, but it had only been a few hours since Reis was stranded in the channel and since she'd told Evie and Joe that Jason was in danger. The beach was bright with every available light while others zig-zagged across the hillside.

They waded ashore as far from all the activity as possible, where they scrounged a dry sweatshirt for Jason and a blanket that Cass could wrap around her suit.

Suddenly it hit her: if Amak managed to rescue Reis, probably fifty people saw. And people had heard her say that Reis would be all right; they'd know that she knew that Amak would help him. What with that, Jason's disappearance, and Reis's weird behavior—people would ask questions she wouldn't be able to answer.

"I have to do something," Cass whispered. "I can't let anyone find out what happened tonight."

Jason's hand tightened on hers. "Why not? Those—sea people or whatever they are, they're dangerous!"

"But what happens if they're discovered? Think about it."

Jason searched her face. It was a long moment before he sighed and answered. "We'd be flooded with people: the news, teams of scientists, tourists, the military. They'd invade the orcas' habitat, probably cause all sorts of damage...."

"They'd capture the Serrans and experiment on them. They'd take me away, too, Jason. I'm some kind of weird half-blood."

He pulled her closer. "You're you," he said. "Maybe you take a little getting used to, but I don't care what your blood's like. But we can't just let them kidnap people."

"They won't." Cass hesitated. "It's a long explanation. I don't know if we have time for it right now."

"I wish you'd told me about them before," he said.

"I did! And you wrote yourself a letter for me to give you, if you ever forgot, but it's on the Andiamo and the Andiamo is missing...." She trailed off. "It's complicated. But I think...I think I can make people forget."

Jason pulled his hand away. "No!"

"Can you think of a better idea? If I don't, what are the chances that one of the Serrans will come ashore and mess with everyone's minds anyway?"

His shoulders hunched, but he gave a small nod. "I trust you," he said. "I don't trust them, but I trust you. But—don't make me forget. I don't want to forget again."

"I'll try," she promised. "Is the sound system still set up?"

He grinned.

Ten minutes later, they'd made their way to the stage, where Jason hooked his violin to the speakers, powered on the amp, and handed her a microphone. "I was bummed you weren't here for the concert," he whispered. "Which was weird, since I hated you at the time. Maybe deep down, I couldn't really hate you."

His words warmed through her, but she still felt wobbly with nervousness. Doubly wobbly. Not only was this her first performance, but she was going to try to sway the minds of fifty-some people.

Warm breath touched her cheek. "You'll be fine," Jason whispered. "Better than fine. You'll be amazing."

She took a deep breath and began.

She'd planned to start with some kind of announcement. Maybe: "Hey, everyone, look! We're okay!" Or "Just kidding about the danger thing—and why don't we relax now with a little music?" But everything she came up with sounded ridiculous, so when she lifted the microphone, she begin to sing the words she'd been living and breathing for the past week. "Dream girl," she sang. She drew out the words, letting the notes ring through the night. "Dream girl, dream girl, I'd light the stars for you...."

Silence rippled out from her like ripples spreading from a stone. One by one, people turned toward the stage. Cass closed her eyes, focusing all her attention on her voice. She felt it thread through her, through the words, from her throat, her gut, her head. Three strands. They flowed together like streams joining to form a river. Gold shimmered against her eyelids.

...walk on water,

Face the night,

I light the stars for you—

Dream girl, dream girl,

You'll be the death of me.

As she sang, she realized the words didn't matter. What mattered was the intent behind them. She folded meaning into the notes: Forget the things that don't fit. Forget Jason was missing. Forget Reis in the water. Forget Reis's rescue.

Jason was playing although Cass wasn't sure how he could, since she doubted she was skilled enough with Voice to make everyone forget but him...which meant it must not be working. She opened her eyes, expecting to see everyone else looking at her like she was crazy.

Instead, she saw people drifting toward them in twos and threes, dreamy expressions on their faces. Maybe she had managed to exclude Jason. Or maybe her blood made him immune.

The song poured from her lips, words automatic:

Dream girl, dream girl,

I'd light the stars for you.

...walk on water,

Face the night,

I light the stars for you—

At the edge of the crowd, Reis staggered forward, with Evie on one side and Jason's grandfather on the other. She was so relieved her voice faltered; Jason picked up the melody on violin.

Then Jason bent his head toward the microphone and began to sing.

Dream girl, dream girl,

You're bringing me to life.

With the stars upon your skin

You save me from the dark—

His eyes found hers. And they blurred because she couldn't blink quickly enough to keep her eyes clear. He'd changed the words. He'd made them theirs.

Something moved in the channel, behind all the watching faces. First one fin, then five, then twenty broke the water's surface, crowded so close it was hard to imagine how so many orcas could fit in the narrow passage. People rode on their backs. The Serra. They were listening.

As the final chord floated over the crowd, theSerra sank below the water's surface. Silence covered the island; one person beganto clap, then another and another until the cliffs echoed back whoops andapplause.