The Last Fallen Star, Graci Kim [books to read in your 20s .TXT] 📗

all shaky. “We never meant to hurt you, Riley. We were just protecting you—”

“Protecting me, or yourselves?” I blurt out. “Admit it. You were just ashamed of your cursed daughter and what people would say if they knew. That’s why you kept it from me.”

“We could never be ashamed of you,” Appa assures me.

“We love you more than anything,” Eomma says.

“I wish I’d never been adopted!”

A flash of pain marks their faces, and my chest momentarily wrenches. “I didn’t mean…” I trail off, feeling my face get damp. “But you lied to me. You knew how much I wanted to be gifted, and you made me believe I was a saram.” Just thinking about it makes the anger return to the surface. “Were Hattie and I the only ones who didn’t know?!”

Eomma and Appa lower their eyes, and it’s obvious there’s something else they’re hiding. Auntie Okja glances nervously at the other elders, but then she exhales deeply and turns toward me. “It was me. I made them keep it a secret.”

The elders narrow their eyes at her, and the congregation is now openly shaking their heads and muttering to one another. I suddenly realize Auntie Okja is going to be in a lot of trouble. And we’re going to be the talk of the community for years to come.

“But why?” I whisper. “Why did I have to be a secret?”

“The plain truth is this, Riley,” Auntie Okja says, her voice calm and soft. “When the Horangi staged that attack against the clans all those years ago, many innocent lives were lost. But the Horangi lost some of their own, too. Your parents were two of the scholars who died that day, and you…” She takes a deep breath. “You were still in your mother’s womb when she died. I was there, and I felt you fighting for life. So I saved you. And I brought you to Eunha and James.”

Hattie gasps next to me, and I hold on to her tighter as the world blurs.

“We knew you’d be banished with the rest of the clan if the council found out,” Appa explains. “And we knew the future for the Horangi was bleak and lonely at best. What wrong had you committed but be born to foolish parents? We had to do everything in our power to protect you.”

Eomma wipes her eyes. “We couldn’t let anyone find out about you. So we decided to raise you as our own. And we have never looked back. Not once.”

I don’t get the chance to digest what has just been explained to me. Before I can even stand up and get my bearings, Mr. Pyo, the Samjogo elder, has convened with his fellow elders and begins addressing the congregation.

“All these confessions, as you can imagine, are a great shock to the council. Not only have these two children attempted to perform an illegal spell today, but also it is clear in our code of conduct, as stipulated by the Godrealm, that anyone seen colluding with the excommunicated clan must have their gifts stripped, too. Even if that someone is an elder.”

Auntie Okja lowers her gaze, but my parents nudge her and the three adults cluster together with a mixture of pride and fear in their eyes.

“We stand by our decision to protect and love our daughter,” Appa declares.

Mr. Pyo ignores him and continues. “We will put the girls’ transgression aside and revisit it at a later date. As for these three adults, harboring a cursed fugitive—and for almost thirteen years, no less—is the very definition of colluding with the cursed clan.” A sea of approving murmurs comes from the Samjogo pews. “But my other council members are of the opinion that the crime here is not so black-and-white. We have therefore decided—albeit reluctantly on my part—to exercise a degree of mercy.”

He turns to my auntie and my parents. “We will allow you to choose a punishment you feel is commensurate to your crime. If you continue to claim innocence, we will report your act to the Godrealm, and the full curse will be enacted against you. The three of you will henceforth be stripped of your powers.”

Hattie and I look at each other, and my fear is mirrored as plain as day on my sister’s face.

“On the other hand, if you wish to retain your powers and continue being part of this sacred community, you must do two things. One, admit your crime publicly. And, two, excommunicate Riley from the gifted clans as all Horangi should be, including cutting off all future contact. We will give you seven days to make a decision. This is the final ruling of the council.”

Eomma faints on the spot, and Appa catches and holds her in his arms while Auntie Okja chants her back to consciousness. The congregation is on its feet, and Hattie is squeezing my hand so hard I can’t feel it anymore.

Today was supposed to be the best day of our lives.

Hattie was supposed to become an initiated witch, and I was supposed to become a healer alongside her. I was going to channel the power of the divine, and my sister and I were going to start our futures as healers together, side by side.

Instead, I learned that I am cursed, and that I come from a line of heretics and murderers. My birth clan killed my best friend’s mother, and my adoptive parents will have to give up their divine callings if they want to keep me in the community.

No matter what happens, I will never belong.

As this realization dawns on me, I understand there is only one thing to do. Before I can change my mind, I turn and run, past Hattie, past my parents, past Auntie Okja, past the elders, and past the congregants who are now more than ever questioning my place in this society.

With sharp grief puncturing my chest, I charge out of the room, stopping only for a second when Mr. Pyo grabs my arm with his