Read Speed of Light for Free Online Page B

hand.
    Faye snapped the sunglasses back on. “Can we leave them off? I don’t know why my eyes are so bad tonight.”
    Gus’s voice dipped as he leaned down in front of her. “Sweet Tea, Rumi hasn’t touched the light switches.” He turned toward me. “Why does the light seem to belong to you? And why can’t I see it?”
    “Because Juliet and I are Fenestra. Angel-infusedhumans who shift souls to the afterlife. We are the light for the dying,” I explained.
    “No, she’s not dying!” Gus’s chin wobbled and his voice, though a shout, cracked at the end.
    “Yes, I am. What did you call yourself?” Faye asked when she could find her voice.
    I could almost see her trying to digest this as truth. “Fenestra.”
    “Interesting. In many languages, a variation of that is the word for window,” Faye said with her head cocked thoughtfully.
    I nodded. “We came first, but yes.”
    “Do that go-away-and-come-back thing again.” Faye waved her hand at us.
    Juliet and I repeated the process several times, each time witnessing Gus and Faye’s disbelief and confusion fade a little more.
    “Like a sorority? A newfangled club? Why aren’t you invited?” Gus asked Nelli.
    “They’re born this way, Uncle Gus. They’re special.” Nelli smiled through tears.
    “You’re special.” He patted her knee. “You could do this too.”
    That’s what families say to each other
. Juliet’s face was full of longing before she covered it with a bland expression.
    Nelli giggled.
    Faye said, “I have questions. Rumi, you know about this?”
    “Yes.”
    “You’ve never lied to me. Never.” She wagged her finger at him.
    “No. I’m telling you straight.”
    “Angels appear in literature dating back millennia. We’ve talked about the nonfiction research about an afterlife before,” Gus inserted.
    “I never believed it.” Faye’s expression was considerate as she held out a hand to me. “And you’re saying there’s something beyond this life?”
    “I know there is. I help people, and animals, find their way there every day. I know it’s a lot to take in, but we have nothing to gain in telling you.”
And maybe a lot to lose
.
    “They be speakin’ truth, my friends,” Rumi said.
    “I asked them to tell you,” Nelli added.
    “You knew?” Gus swiveled his head to meet her gaze.
    “I did, but only after the tornado took down that terrible Dunklebarger place. I’ve been looking for more children like them.”
    “Meridian and Tens came here to rescue me. Us,” Juliet said.
    “And Tens? Are you a Fenster too?”
    “I’m a Protector. I try to keep Meridian safe from—” Tens broke off.
How much to tell?
    “Don’t stop now. Keep speaking your noumenon, your truth,” Rumi insisted. “They can handle it.”
    “There are others called Nocti, Aternocti, who stealsouls from the Light. They’re the ones who blew up the Feast.”
    “Not terrorists from a sandy land far away?” Gus gave a half smile. Unlike the public, he’d never thought the Feast of the Fireflies offered a big enough target to make any jihadist hit list.
    “No, just evil.”
    Faye sniffed the air. “Do I smell rhubarb pie, or is that you too?”
    We all laughed.
    “And sugar cream.” Juliet ran for the kitchen. Food was her language, her gift.
    Faye wiped her eyes with a tissue and pronounced, “I think we should have dessert now and you should start at the very beginning. Suddenly I’m craving sugar.”
    Tony served tea and coffee while Juliet piled dessert plates with slices of oozing dark cream, slick glistening fruit, and marbled custard wrapped in flaky crusts.
    I cleared my throat and began.

    Late that night, tucked into the guest cottage behind the Helios Tea Room, Tens and I curled up together on the couch listening to his new favorite music. He said it reminded him of me. I lay on his lap, heart to heart. I measured my breaths to his. Inhaled with the rise of his chest and exhaled with the fall. Open windows welcomed