1 - CLARA

CHAPTER ONE

S park leaks out of my fingertips as cyan-blue light when I stroke the curve of Finn Scott's muscled shoulder. It leaves a trace of glow on his skin that takes many more seconds to disappear today than it did ten years ago. We're in his quarters—in his bed, specifically—hiding from the festival going on outside.

Not really hiding, I guess. What we just did wasn't wrong and if anyone saw us come in here—or sees us leave—they wouldn't even blink.

Clara Birch and Finn Scott have been a ‘thing' for… well, our entire lives. Which totals up to nearly three decades.

But I'm a Spark Maiden and he's the Extraction Master's son and I technically still have three months left in service to the tower god before Finn and I can officially and publicly declare our love.

Right now, in bed next to me, he is absently tracing a fingertip up and down my outer thigh. And this simple touch of his is enough to send a chill up my whole body.

"Clara?"

"Hmm." I sigh the word out with eyes closed, picturing our future.

"You're the best thing that ever happened to me. I wish we could stay like this forever."

Now I smile and turn, pressing my face into his neck. "Pretty soon we're gonna be spending so much time together, you're gonna get sick of me."

He chuckles and I hear this happiness as a rumble coming from his chest.

In just three months we will be this close to each other every night. We will make love, and wake up together, and breakfast, and he will go to work as his father's new apprentice, and I will have babies and turn his quarters into our home.

This new life will be the complete opposite of how I have lived for the past ten years, up on the ninth floor of the Maiden Tower, surrounded by luxury. A celebrity, of sorts.

"We should get going." Finn's other hand, the one not caressing my thigh, is busy playing with my hair as he says this.

I moan and turn a little so we're facing each other. Our mutual smiles are genuine. "Not yet." This comes out a little bit whiny, but I feel I have earned this tiny objection.

"They're gonna start missing you." He's pulling strands of hair away from my face now. We kiss, letting it linger, well aware that we need to get back to the Choosing Festival outside, but unwilling to break apart.

I sigh, knowing he's right, but reluctant to give up this time with him. So I stall with more words. "Trust me. I'm not missed. They're busy with the Little Sisters today. I'm old news now."

Finn chuckles. "Not exactly. I mean, seven, Clara. It's… precariously close, don't you think?"

"Wow." I sit up a little, blinking at his audacity. Because that was not just impolite, but actually rude . "Well, that's certainly one way to pull me out of my postcoital bliss. Thanks for reminding me."

"Sorry." He offers me a weak smile, then pushes a few errant strands of long, blonde hair away from my face. "I just don't want you to get in trouble."

"That's not why you said that. And I'm mad that you're worrying about it. There are only three months left, I'm number nine, and the last call was over a year ago now. Whatever crisis the god was having that required so many Spark Maidens, I think it's been remedied."

Finn sighs, not quite agreeing, but not willing to say it out loud, either. He's worried and he wants me to allay his feelings, but he's looking for something more than what I just gave him. What I just said is the same thing everyone says.

But the truth is, no one knows what's going on with the god in the tower. What we do know is that seven Spark Maidens in ten years is too many.

The Extraction is a tradition here in Tau City. But it's more than that. Spark is what the god uses to power the city. Every ten years the Extraction Master ranks the most powerful Spark Maidens in order from one to ten. And on Extraction Day itself, the god calls number one into the tower to take as his own.

Being number nine in the Spark Maiden line-up comes with a whole lot of peace of mind because one is supposed to be the limit. The other nine are Maidens-in-Waiting. We get celebrity status. We live in the Maiden Tower surrounded by luxury. We wear the best dresses, attend the best parties, and have a whole staff of maids and helpers. It's a fantasy life that every little girl dreams about as she grows up.

If you're one of the nine Maidens-in-Waiting in normal years there is no need to worry about being called up for Extraction. There have only been a handful of times, in over a thousand years of history, where two Spark Maidens were Extracted in the same decade.

But this has not been a normal Extraction period. As Finn pointed out, we are on Maiden number seven now. Those bells have rung seven times in the last ten years. And each time one of my friends walked into the tower, never to be seen again.

They don't return, you see. They don't come back.

Still, there are only three months left. I'm safe. I know I'm safe.

And this feeling of safety is elevated because of what's been happening outside while Finn and I took this opportunity to reunite after months of not seeing each other. Because today marks the first official pre-Extraction Choosing.

This morning there were three hundred and twenty-seven young women between the ages of eighteen and twenty-four on the tower stage. All of whom were calmly, but anxiously, awaiting the calling of names. All of whom were desperate to be Chosen.

After the ceremony was over there were only seventy-five Chosen left.

But over the course of the next three months that number will dwindle to ten. Then, finally, on Extraction Day itself, number one will be sent into the tower and my duty to the god will end.

The remaining nine Spark Maidens, in a normal Extraction period, do not enter the tower. They move into the Maiden Tower, get all the celebrity perks, and are generally just emissaries for the Extraction process itself.

I have spent the last decade speaking to young girls who dream of being Chosen, occasionally presiding over their spark training, supporting various political agendas, going to elite parties, and accepting gifts, and coin, and the attention of up-and-coming young men.

When the decade is over and the Maidens-in-Waiting leave their service, they are rich. We pay no coin for anything while we live in the tower. In fact, all our appearances and services come with a price. The coin is collected by the Matrons in our name and held in accounts until our duty has ended.

My time as a Spark Maiden came with all those luxuries. My accounts are overflowing with coin. Even with all the extra-stressful bell ringing, it was mostly good. And if the bells weren't ringing, it was mostly fun.

But my heart belongs to Finn Scott. My heart has always belonged to Finn Scott. And our happy ending is so close, I can taste it. In three months, when the new Maidens are sworn in on Extraction Day, my status of Spark Maiden will finally be nullified, I will be free to take what the god has given me in exchange for being one of the Chosen, and I will start a brand-new life with the man I love.

I've been planning our wedding for over a year now. Nothing has been set up but as soon as I am free, those plans will be put into motion.

Finn leans in and kisses me again. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to upset you. I know you're safe. I know you are." He touches my cheek as he says this, giving the words a little more weight.

He knows I'm safe.

Well, that must mean that Aldo—his father, who is the Extraction Master and in charge of this whole thing—must've said something to him.

I open my mouth to start asking questions about this, but Finn doesn't give me a chance. He gets out of bed and holds his hand out to me. "Come on. Let's get back. There is no way they're not missing you and I don't want to risk the wrath of the god, not to mention my father. This could be considered cheating, after all. I don't wanna tarnish your record."

I feel relieved that he gave me this assurance that I am safe. Normally, he does not talk about his father's work. It's forbidden. But his last point is a little ridiculous, so I scoff as well.

Spark Maidens are not permitted to have a committed relationship during our service time, but we are allowed to date. There is no rule about sex in the Extraction manual, but we are expected to represent the god, so all our actions are judged. If you're sleeping around and people start talking, demerits are added to your Maiden record and the day we are set free from our obligations, these demerits are read aloud in public for all to hear.

We are not formally judged for them, but opinions are formed on that day. If you have a tarnished record, then your prospects suffer. And what is the point of giving up ten years of your life if you're not going to collect the reward at the end?

I take Finn's hand and allow him to pull me out of his bed, sighing as I do this. The spark inside me flares up and I look him in the eyes as I touch the tip of my finger to his chest, dragging it down his pecs, then over his abs, leaving a trace of cyan-blue light behind. Then I coo, in my most sultry voice, "I have zero demerits, Finn Scott. Even if I did get marked, it would not affect my future."

He pulls me close until we are face to face and we kiss. It's a nice, kinda long kiss. And when we pull apart, I look him in the eyes as the words flow out of him like poetry. "You're my future. And the god can't take you away from me, Clara Birch. Not ever. Our love is destiny."

We stare into each other's eyes like the stupid teenagers we haven't been in years, and then giggle like those long-ago versions of us as well. He spins me around and slaps my butt. "Get dressed. Let's go join the party."

I scoot forward, squealing, and start picking up my clothes. His private quarters are bigger than most since his family has been running the Extraction for many generations now, but it's still in the Extraction District so it's got the same cozy feel I remember from his childhood apartments when we were kids. Smooth, slate floors, and river-stone half walls that turn into a warm gray plaster near the domed ceilings make up the most charming parts of it.

Just past the foot of the bed there is a half-circle fireplace made out of the same river-stone rock that lines the walls. And the wooden side tables are dotted with lit candelabras—powered by spark, not flames. All the fabric on the pillows, blankets, and rugs are neutral shades of cream, and tan, and blue. This soothing and cozy charm is multiplied when the round windows dotting both the ceiling and the walls allow rays of hazy sunshine to filter through from outside.

Everything about Finn's quarters says… comfort.

Simple comforts though. Nothing like the luxurious rooms we have over in the Maiden District. But it's nice and I can easily picture myself living here with him.

These quarters are new because his father has finally allowed him to start his apprenticeship as the next Extraction Master and this is my first visit, but now that I've seen it, I will be picturing myself sleeping in this bed next to him and living in this space with him every moment until I am free.

I know it's only three more months, but when my gown is back on, my hair back in place, and I'm sliding my feet into my hand-embroidered silk slippers, my heart begins to ache and a sadness floods through me.

I look over my shoulder at Finn, who has been put back together as well—looking so debonair in his gorgeous cream-colored linen tunic and slate-blue vest, I actually sigh. His family always did have the best tailors—the Extraction Master is pretty much the highest status one can have in Tau City. And one day, Finn will take his father's place and I will stand by his side. We will rule the highest levels of society—in a benevolent way, of course.

Finn comes towards me, hands automatically going to my waist and pulling me close. "What's got you sighing?"

I stare up at him, marveling at how handsome a man he's grown into over the last decade. Same shoulder-length, but messy blond hair. Same deep and penetrating blue eyes. But his shoulders are broad and muscular now. His jaw set with that hard, squared-off chin and covered in just the right amount of golden stubble.

He was still a boy of eighteen when I was Chosen and now he's a man. Did I miss something and not realize it? It didn't feel that way as time was passing. Finn and I were never really apart, we just led separate lives. But we're not kids anymore and it just right now occurs to me that we gave up something irreplaceable so I could be a Spark Maiden.

Our youth.

We're only twenty-eight, it's not like we're old. But still, it feels like a loss.

"I want this to be over now, Finn. I don't wanna go back to the Maiden Tower. I wanna stay here with you and never leave."

He smiles as he kisses me. "Three months. We're practically there, Clara. Nothing will get in the way."

"I know. But I want it now."

"We've waited ten years. We'll be together forever before we know it."

Then he pulls away, slips his hand around to the small of my back, and guides me over to the door.

Being with him feels like going home. And home is something that was always precarious with me as a child because my mother died when I was twelve and my father died just before I was Chosen. Finn Scott and his parents are all that's left of my humbler beginnings as a valet's daughter living in one of the serene and cozy, though not as glamorous, neighborhoods on a tertiary canal just past the Extraction Tower. My father was Aldo's personal assistant. As has been every male in my father's line.

Until now.

I don't even know who the present valet is because I am not male, so the position was given to another family and I didn't follow the news. I didn't want to know.

All those generations, all that inheritance—gone in a blink with the birth of a daughter.

It was part of the reason my father encouraged me to try for the Spark Maidens. I was not blessed with much natural spark and probably would not have bothered pledging if he hadn't urged me the way he did. He knew I would not inherit anything when he died and he couldn't stand the thought of me being left coinless.

Being Spark Maiden number nine wasn't my dream, but I did it anyway because my father worried about me so much and it was such a simple thing to be part of the Choosing process when you're young like that. You just show up and learn manners, and propagate your tiny bits of spark, and get educated in society things, and anyway, it's all free. So why not? What else was there to do? All the up-city girls were in these classes. If I didn't go, I'd have been labeled weird and made an outcast.

I don't remember having companions other than Finn before signing up as a Pledge. But after… even in the early, early days during my twelfth year, there were groups of girls around me who wanted to be friends. And, even after all the tower drama, two of them still are.

Never, did I ever expect to be part of ‘the ten.' And getting drawn as number nine was an especially nice perk. A near promise that I had made it, that I would not walk into that tower for Extraction, and my reward, after another decade of service, was all but guaranteed.

All of that is still true. But only partially for the obvious reasons.

Finn is reaching for the door to his quarters, but then suddenly goes stiff and stops, bracing himself and looking at me with wide eyes. "What was that?"

I shrug, confused. "What was… what?"

"You didn't feel that?" He stands up straight again, looking around. Then lets go of my hand and walks across the room to the window.

"What are you doing?"

"You really didn't feel that?"

"No. I didn't feel anything." I join him at the window, peering out at the festival going on down below. He's got a nice view. His place is not inside the Extraction Tower, but it's practically next door. So I can see the canal, and the Maiden Tower across the way, and hundreds of people celebrating Choosing Day.

Nothing looks out of the ordinary to me, but Finn continues to look.

"What did you feel?" I ask him.

He lets out a long breath and drags his gaze from the window. "It was like a… crash. Or a… boom. Something… big."

"Hmmm. Well, I don't know, Finn. I didn't feel any of that." Then a terrible idea hits me. "You don't think it's a spark outage?"

He must see the panic in my eyes because his whole demeanor changes. He calms. His eyes droop a little, like nothing interesting at all is happening, and then he smiles. "No. Absolutely not. Look." He points out the window. "Don't you think if there was a spark outage people would be freaking out?"

I do think that, but he was the one who looked out the window in the first place. So he thought it might be a spark outage and he went to check.

"It was nothing." He shrugs at me. "I probably imagined it. Forget I ever said anything, OK?" Then he's kissing me again, murmuring words into my mouth. "I love you, Clara Birch. You're my future and our love is destiny."

I smile into the kiss, placated. "I love you too."

We press our foreheads together and sigh, lingering in this embrace for one more moment.

When we leave Finn's quarters and I go one way while he goes the other, I can't entirely suppress the feeling of being set loose. Of being untethered and adrift.

Like he's my everything. And he is. He's my anchor to this world. His is the only family I have left. Yes, I have friends, but family is something different.

I take one more look over my shoulder and smile when I find Finn looking over his shoulder taking one more look at me. Then he winks, looks forward again, and walks up the stairs that lead to the heart of the Extraction District.

A moment later he has disappeared around a corner and another long sigh leaves me. But I gather up the skirts of my gown and head towards the bridge that will take me across the cyan-blue canal and deposit me into the Maiden District where my duties as Maiden-in-Waiting number nine await.

I resist the urge to stop in the middle of the bridge to enjoy the view. It's late afternoon now and I've always liked the way the light bounces off the tower and shimmers across the canal at this time of day. But the smooth, sandy beach awaiting me on the other side of the canal is a whole other temptation. One I don't have the strength to fight.

Once in the sand I kick off my slippers and carry them as I walk parallel to the flagstone pavers that lead into the Maiden District.

Even after ten years, sinking my toes into the sand on my way home every evening is a luxury I don't take for granted. There are other beaches in Tau City, of course, since there are miles of canals winding through the districts. But none of them are like the one reserved especially for the Maidens. It's groomed twice a day and the sand is so white it sparkles.

Another ache fills my heart when I have to step back on to the rocks and leave the water behind. Which is silly. I've lost nothing. There is no reason for the ache.

But logic doesn't seem to apply when it comes to matters of the heart. Finn and I are soulmates, but so far, we've been denied our full love. And even though we've managed to sustain our attraction and longing over the past ten years, I feel like there is always a limit. That even the love of soulmates can wobble when the star-crossing goes on for too long.

Three more months, Clara. That's it. Just three more months and the stars will align instead of cross .

Hopping on one foot, then the other, I put my slippers back on as I approach the Maiden gate. I am waved through with a nod by a guard and then hurriedly make my way through the entrance and towards the stairs that will take me up into our tower.

Haryet Chettle—Maiden number eight—and Gemna Hatley—Maiden number ten—also live in the upper levels with me. On floors eight and ten, respectively, because those are their numbers. Imogen Gibson was Spark Maiden number one in our group. She went into the tower on Extraction Day itself, of course. The leftover nine all came to live here and this is where we've been ever since.

Each Spark Maiden gets her own floor filled with rooms. All kinds of rooms. Dining rooms, and dressing rooms, and bathrooms, and bedrooms, and entertaining rooms. In the first year, every floor had a different party going on in the evenings, some loud and exciting with lots of drinking, others calm and meant for dining and stimulating conversation.

But the parties ended years ago now. After Lucy Fisher, Spark Maiden number four, was Extracted. That's when it kinda hit home that something was wrong in that god's tower.

Haryet, Gemna, and I still live up on our assigned floors at the top. It didn't even occur to us that we might move down. Or maybe it did and we just didn't want to tempt fate by lowering our numbers, even in this small, silly way.

We have been best friends for ten years now. Not a single night has gone by since we moved into the Maiden Tower that we didn't say goodnight to each other. It's crazy how much time I've spent with these two women and I'm not gonna lie, I think I will be a little lost without them once I move in with Finn.

Though it will be the good kind of lost. The kind that comes with brand-new beginnings.

The other Maidens who came before us are gone, of course. We are the last ones left after all that crazy bell-ringing in the middle of the night. This is how our god in the tower lets us know that for whatever reason, he needs another Maiden to keep the Spark flowing through Tau City.

So all the floors below us are empty now. And since the communal rooms are so massive, and the ceilings so high, even the soft steps of my slippers are enough to cause an echo all around me as I climb the stairs.

I hate the silence, but it's as if the god himself is listening to my thoughts, because suddenly there is a commotion of noise coming towards me from a hallway.

I pause, not understanding what this commotion might mean. But then feel foolish as a large group of Spark Maiden wannabes comes into the living space. At this stage of the Choosing we call them Little Sisters and they are bright, and young, and excited because regardless of what kind of luxury they grew up in, the Maiden Tower is a whole new definition of extravagance. They all want to be here to experience it.

Almost everything in the Maiden Tower is decorated in the same color palette—cream and other light-colored neutrals, with just a little touch of sun-faded blue sprinkled about. The dormitory, where these Little Sisters will spend the rest of the Choosing time, is the only exception to this scheme because the color palette is reversed. Everything is blue in their dorm with just little touches of the neutrals that dominate here. Blue is how they segregate ‘them' from ‘us.' Because blue is the color of spark and as Little Sisters, they have not yet perfected the spark inside them.

As a Maiden, however, I could light up the night if I want to.

Not as spectacularly as Spark Maidens with lower numbers, of course. Being number nine means that while my spark display was definitely better than most during our group's final Choosing, it was nowhere close to the fireworks Imogen Gibson could set off with her performance.

All these Little Sisters are wearing blue day dresses, mostly long ones woven out of linen, and each of them have a little accent scarf or a belt made of leather as an accessory. Dressmaking is considered a desirable skill for those wanting to be Spark Maidens. So all these girls made these dresses with their own hands. In fact, they are probably wearing their finest work since it's the very first Choosing, and therefore, the very first time they are on public display.

Tonight is their first gala and they are practically bursting with excitement. Some of them are even displaying tiny bits of spark, mostly as static in their hair or a miniscule glint of light in their eyes. But it really is just tiny bits because they are probably trying to hold it in. Tonight, at the gala, they will light themselves up for the very first time—at least in public. And no one wants to give away what they have planned to astonish Finn's father, Aldo, the Extraction Master.

Spark display is the number one criterion for being Chosen as a Maiden and my time at the first gala is probably my fondest memory of this whole journey.

Compared to most of my fellow Maidens, my spark is rather limited. And back then, as a Little Sister, it was only in my fingertips. But that night, during the first gala, I managed to make spark drawings in the air with my blue light. I drew stupid things—hearts, and simple flowers, and arrows. But no one had ever done that before. Yes, it was basic—especially compared to Imogen, who actually blew a bubble of blue light around her entire body and floated up in the air for six whole seconds—but it was also surprising, so it made people gasp with delight and clap their hands with laughter.

It made them happy. I was the girl who made them happy.

"Ladies, simmer down and please stay in a triple line!" The Matron in charge of the Little Sisters calls this out as she claps her hands. She's an older woman who isn't around much, so her name escapes me at the moment. Sometimes, when a Maiden's duty is over, she joins the Order and becomes a Matron. Their job is to train up the Pledges and keep the Little Sisters in line. This one's tone becomes sharper when a group in back takes too long to form up. "Do I need to remind you that you're being judged on this?" Though I can't see the Matron's face, I can almost hear the raised eyebrow.

Which makes me chuckle and scurry up the stairs that lead to my floor.

But I take a moment to look back at them when I get to the next landing. And when I do this, my gaze finds the girl in back who is responsible for all that Matronly attention. She's tall, with long, flowing auburn hair, and even from up here I get a little lost in those brilliant blue eyes when she directs her gaze right at me. She gives them a good roll. Like she's bored or something.

So brazen.

Or, maybe, just so arrogant.

I turn away without acknowledging her and hurry up the next flight of stairs, eager to get home. When I enter my quarters, I find Haryet and Gemna sitting on my reception room couch, giggling like schoolgirls.

"What's so funny?" I close the door behind me, kick my slippers off, and then skip across the bone-colored flagstone floor, bouncing onto the couch next to them. I sink back into the overstuffed cushions and lay my feet across Haryet's lap.

Gemna answers. "Oh, we were just talking about the new Little Sisters and started remembering how silly we were back then."

Haryet sighs. "Goodness, that was so long ago. And I know people say that all the time, but it really was!" Her eyes go big when she says this, directing them right at me. "Ten years, Clara! Where did the time go?"

Both Gemna and Haryet are blonde and blue-eyed like me. We could be literal sisters. But Gemna is taller and her face is squarer, while Haryet is petite and her face is in the shape of a heart.

The fact that we're almost always dressed alike really contributes to the whole ‘sisters' look. We don't choose our clothes for events. They are chosen for us. And every moment, from this day forward, all the way up to Extraction Day itself, is part of the process. Both for us, who are leaving the Maidens behind, and them, the Little Sisters who will advance up.

I blow out a breath and sink a little further into the cushions. "I don't know. It feels like forever, doesn't it? But at the same time, it went by so fast."

Both of my best friends hum out their agreement.

"It's just about over, girls," I tell them. "And we're not girls anymore. I saw them, by the way. The Little Sisters downstairs in their blue dresses. And it's really weird to think that this is all over and in just three months we will be free, and rich, and moving on."

My friends both laugh. Then Gemna gets up, offering one hand to me and the other to Haryet. "Come on, let's get ready for the gala. There aren't many left, ya know? We should make the most of these end times. Because who knows, we might spend the rest of our lives being ordinary people. Taking care of husbands, and raising children, and playing cards on Sunday nights like our mammas did."

Haryet squeals. "Never!" And we both let Gemna pull us to our feet.

But as they leave me and go to their own floors to get ready, I can't help but think that the boring life Gemna just described doesn't really sound boring to me.

I hope that's what my life is. That's the plan, anyway. I just want to marry Finn Scott and spend the rest of my days taking care of him and raising our family. My mother died when I was twelve, but even back when she was alive, she was sick. So sick, she never got a chance to play cards with the ladies on Sunday nights like the other wives. I wouldn't mind doing that every week. I wouldn't mind that at all.

After entering my bedroom, I stop in front of my full-length mirror and stare at the woman I've turned into over the past decade. My dress is high fashion traditional. Long, and layered, and made of copper-colored silk and cream-colored linen. I'm wearing a single-strand necklace made of gold that I was gifted on the last Maiden anniversary. My long hair is still a honey-colored blonde, not much different than it was when I first came here.

I touch my face. I don't have any wrinkles. I'm only twenty-eight, but some aging would be expected, and my face looks just as smooth and unblemished today as it was ten years ago as far as I can tell.

But those blue eyes of mine are different. They have seen things now. They understand this world a little better. They definitely know what's important and what's not.

This is when my gaze wanders over to the large adjoining room, which is my closet. That's where tonight's gown has been draped over my dressing stand. It's a beautiful dress made of glimmering champagne silk, with the highest-quality linen, and there are thousands of tiny hand-blown glass beads all across the bodice. And when the sun from my spectacular floor-to-ceiling windows finds the dress, they sparkle in a most magnificent way.

It's such a pretty scene, I wish that the official photographers were here to take a picture. Something I could keep and look back on. But photography uses a lot of spark, so photographs are only taken at galas and Extractions.

Next to the gown is another stand that holds all the accessories I will be wearing tonight. Every bit of this is donated by the best outfitters in the Tau City Canal District. Right down to the lingerie and the jewelry.

Do I love the fact that I've been wearing the best dresses and jewelry for the last ten years? Of course I do. But it's not important to me. I've had my share. It's time for the Little Sisters to enjoy this lifestyle now. Time for them to show off and for me to fade into the background a little.

I just want the family I've been dreaming of. That's all. I would give up every dress, every ring, and bracelet, and earring to get that.

But that's not to say that I can't enjoy the time I have left.

So I strip off my finery, wash up, and by the time I'm stepping out of the shower my lady's maid has arrived to sparkle me back up.