permanent when he sent her away. Now he knew he would never be rid of her again. “What happened to Elizabeth?” he asked more to himself than any other.
“I don’t know who you mean. It is Bright Star you saved,” was the damning answer.
“You two have met?” Jackson questioned, then bit his lip.
Silly question.
“You have to go,” Rush told her through clenched teeth.
“You know I won’t.” Bright Star shook her head slowly with a determined set to her jaw. She appeared proud, regal even, as she remained on her knees before him, kneeling and defiant at once. “I’ve spent the last four years looking for you.”
“Where have you been?” Rush breathed automatically. He hadn’t wanted to ask, but couldn’t seem to help it. He’d sent her to the other side of the earth. She’d been on a remote, nearly deserted island that had been occupied by a violent indigenous tribe that believed white flesh to be a sign of evil and women to be the bane of man, constantly trying to hold him from heaven. The nearest occupied land mass was three days away by boat. He’d left her there with nothing, not even clothing. She should have died. Yet here she was.
She offered her hand to him. “See where I’ve been. See how I’ve come to be here.” she dared solemnly. Rush didn’t take it. Instead, he turned his back on her and worked to control a shudder.
“Jackson, we need to talk,” Rush urged his brother.
“But, Rush—”
“Now.”
Jackson knew the shock showed on his face. His quiet, introverted, sallow brother rarely spoke to him let alone commanded him to do something. But that voice, that voice had been forceful and brooked no argument. He turned a tight smile on Bright Star silently begging her forgiveness. She continued to sit broken on the floor. Jackson followed Rush out of the living room and into the small, half-bathroom in the hall. Rush closed the door behind them, locked it, and started to run water in the sink—as if to stop her from listening.
Jackson prepared himself for the lecture from his brother on why the girl couldn’t stay. She hadn’t asked and Jackson hadn’t offered, but anyone who could breathe could sense the path her mind had taken. Jackson knew she had nowhere to go. He also knew there was something compelling about her, something that almost forced him to help her. Something that would make him argue just as strongly to keep her as his brother would argue to make her leave.
To Jackson’s surprise though, Rush did not wage a verbal argument up front. Instead, his brother tilted his head and studied him pensively for a moment. Then, Rush stepped close and laid a cool, wet hand against his forehead. The blow from the power in that hand nearly knocked Jackson off his feet. He stumbled then caught himself against the sink.
Instantaneously, painlessly, without the usual pomp and circumstance that accompanies life-changing events, Jackson had all of his long-suppressed memories back. Everything.
* * * *
Jackson vaulted from his very birth into the future through a tight bundle of memories. He remembered catching Rush holding thunderclouds in his hands when they were boys in the backyard. He remembered Rush touching his own broken leg after a nasty fall from his bike and standing up to ride again. More Shifts came to him, and more. He saw the seven Shifts in the last seven months he’d managed to witness and Rush had taken away from him.
In a matter of seconds, Jackson Rush discovered his brother Jacob Rush.
His throat tightened, his tongue thickened. He knew his brother, and suddenly life made sense. It frightened him, but finally made so much sense. One expects for the day the sun finally shines light on all of life’s mysteries to be a good day.
“You…” Jackson rasped as he searched his brother’s face. He knew this face, had always known it. But now…
Rush didn’t say anything right off. Instead, he started to sit down on the edge of roof. He ran a hand over his face. In seconds, the brothers had been transported. They were standing on the roof of their building. Rush stared out at the night sky still illuminated by a giant moon.
“You do this so effortlessly. How have you managed to keep this a secret for so long?” Jackson intoned astonishment in his voice.
Rush frowned and closed his eyes. It was as if he was concentrating on an answer. Nothing came.
“How did you manage to avoid the Service? No. Forget the Service for now. Mom… Dad?” Rush didn’t answer. “And what is it Rush? Where does it end? How much High Energy do you have? What you’ve done… what I’ve seen you do… Rush, no one can do that. No one. Not even me. No one.”
Rush still seemed unable to find the words to answer. Instead, he looked at his brother and stated plainly, with fatigue, “I gave you back your memories for one reason and one reason only.”
“Why?” Jackson was barely audible. His brother sat on the ledge, the electrified sky behind him.
“So you will believe what I have to tell you about her.”
Jackson didn’t understand, but he certainly knew who “her” was. “Bright Star?”
“That name,” Rush mumbled, shaking his head. He rubbed hard at his eyes.
“I know. Isn’t it a little funny?”
“No, Jackson, it isn’t. She… she…” Rush’s face crumpled. He appeared to struggle for an adequate explanation but ended completely inarticulate. “She’s bad. I mean, not bad. But… bad.”
Jackson chuckled for a moment. Then he sobered. Rush wasn’t kidding. “You mean like the Devil bad?”
“No,” Rush answered.
“You mean like she sleeps around bad?”
“No,” Rush repeated.
“What? I mean, she cheats on her taxes, she steals, she murdered someone? What kind of bad?”
“None of those things. All of those things. Worse.” Rush returned.
“Or did she do something as fucked up as spend her whole life stealing the memories from those closest to her?”
Rush did not respond, but neither did he cower or apologize. He just seemed to wait for Jackson to reign in his anger.
“How could you do this to me?” Jackson’s voice quaked.
“I had to.” Rush told him.
“You didn’t. I know now. I know everything now, and the world hasn’t come to an end. You could have told me. You could have left my head alone. I would never have done this to you.”
“I know,” Rush dipped his chin and spoke quietly, “You are a good person, Jackson. I know you wouldn’t do what I did, but I only wanted to protect you.”
“From what?”
“From me,” Rush responded, his voice so quiet.
“Show me.” Jackson breathed. When Rush only shook his head, he made a new request. “Then show me Bright Star.” If Rush wanted him to know exactly what it was that made Bright Star bad, he could use his power to show him.
“No,” Rush shook his head again. “You don’t need to see what I see.”
“Rush, you’ve done this to me since I was a kid. I’m an adult. I’m a member of the Service. I’m precocial. What could you possibly be protecting me from?”
Rush gave a lopsided smile. It was at once benevolent, sad and condescending. Jackson knew then that his brother would still try to protect him. Rush was stubborn to the end and would never allow Jackson to know what he knew.
Suddenly, another memory burrowed its way back inside his mind. It was of his mother. Jackson paused. He’d thought that none of those were