Of Dreams and Rust (32 page)

I close my eyes and inhale the scent of sage, my heart picking up a heavy, fearful rhythm. But there is nothing wrong with being scared. It simply means that something important is at stake. My hands slide along Melik's arms. “Do you think we will meet either of them again?” I ask, my voice tentative, filled with the hugeness of this moment.

Melik kisses the side of my head. “I am choosing to believe souls that bright will find a way to return, though there is no way of knowing how or when.”

Maybe he feels the tremble of my body against his, because he leans back and looks down at me, his brow furrowed. I bite my lip and guide his hand over my belly. He blinks, staring at his fingers spread over my middle, and then looks into my eyes. “Are you happy?” he whispers, his voice breaking over the words.

My eyes sting. “I am very happy, Melik.”

He grins, and then our lips touch. I relish the reality of it, how warm, how perfect in its flaws. Our people have an uneasy peace at best. Our lives are so fragile. The world can break nearly any promise we make, but the risk is one I will accept.

I will live inside this hope until the very last grain of sand falls.

When I finished
Of Metal and Wishes
, I thought it would be a stand-alone. Not because the story was complete, though. And so the first thank you goes to Ruta Rimas and the team at McElderry for allowing me the opportunity to continue Wen's story. I want to thank Justin Chanda, Paul Crichton, and Siena Koncsol for helping my books get the visibility they needed. To Debra Sfetsios-Conover and Michael Frost: thank you for putting so much thought and effort into my covers. To Erica Stahler: thank you for your brilliant and meticulous copy editing. And to Ruta: thank you for pushing me to deepen this story in the way it deserved.

Kathleen Ortiz, my tireless agent, deserves a lot of credit for helping me manage my schedule and for cheering me on and holding me together when things felt too hectic to stay on the rails. I also want to thank the team at New Leaf Literary, specifically Joanna Volpe, Danielle Barthel, and Jaida Temperly, for their patience and constant support.

A massive thank you goes to my beta readers and writer friends, including Lydia Kang, Virginia Boecker, Brigid Kemmerer, and Jaime Lawrence. I am so fortunate to have cheerleaders like you. I'm also grateful to my colleagues, Paul, Catherine, Anne-Marie, Chris, Casey, Kristal, Bethany, and Erica especially, for understanding my strange double-life and making it possible for me to do both things I love.

As always, my family is my constant. Mom and Dad, thanks for long morning phone calls and abundant, unwavering sympathy. Joey, thanks for being patient. Asher and Alma, thank you for being fascinating and delightful.

And finally, to my readers: thank you for wanting to continue this journey with Wen, Melik, and Bo.

ALSO BY SARAH FINE

Of Metal and Wishes

Of Shadows and Obsession, a prequel e-novella

MARGARET K. McELDERRY BOOKS

An imprint of Simon & Schuster Children's Publishing Division

1230 Avenue of the Americas, New York, New York 10020

www.SimonandSchuster.com

This book is a work of fiction. Any references to historical events, real people, or real places are used fictitiously. Other names, characters, places, and events are products of the author's imagination, and any resemblance to actual events or places or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.

Text copyright © 2015 by Sarah Fine

Jacket photographs copyright © 2015 by Michael Frost

All rights reserved, including the right of reproduction in whole or in part in any form.

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ARGARET
K. M
C
E
LDERRY
B
OOKS
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Book design by Debra Sfetsios-Conover

The text for this book is set in ITC Baskerville.

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Fine, Sarah.

Of dreams and rust / Sarah Fine.—First edition.

p. cm.

Sequel to: Of metal and wishes.

Summary: When the downtrodden Noor rebel in the West, Wen, overhearing a plan to crush the Noor with powerful war machines, leaves the ghostly Bo, now a boy determined to transform himself into a living machine, and journeys into the war zone to warn the Noor—and her great love, Melik.

ISBN 978-1-4424-8361-3 (hardcover)

ISBN 978-1-4424-8363-7 (eBook)

[1. War—Fiction. 2. Revolutions—Fiction. 3. Social classes—Fiction. 4. Love—Fiction. 5. Ghosts—Fiction.] I. Title.

PZ7.F495678Od 2015

[Fic]—dc23     2014030271