by Elicia Hyder
He smiled. “And in this, our priorities are aligned.”
I eyed him skeptically. “If we’re going to be on the same side, there have to be some ground rules.”
He reclined in his seat and folded his hands over his stomach. “OK?”
“No more of that shit.” I pointed inside to my dented refrigerator. “If you need to talk to me, we have to figure out a different system, because I swear if you knock me out again, I’ll—”
“You’ll what?” He looked amused.
“I’ll do worse than punch you in the nuts next time.”
“Fair enough.”
“And no more following me around.”
He stared at me.
“You were at my boss’s house today, weren’t you?”
“I wanted to know how much progress you were making. None, I saw.”
“If you want me to trust you, then no more lurking and spying.”
“That’s not going to happen.”
“Then this”—I gestured between us—“whatever the hell this is, will never work.”
Orion leaned forward, balancing his elbows on his knees. “I know this is all very new to you, but someday you’ll understand the value of what I can do. Of what you are now able to do. I’m the eyes and ears where eyes and ears aren’t allowed. I won’t give that up, not even to make you trust me, because by comparison, you are expendable.”
Well.
“Now, would you like to know what you’re up against or not?”
I was still too dumbfounded to speak.
“Listen, kid, your father wasn’t any help to me either. I have no problem leaving you to follow in his footsteps if you’re going to be more hassle than you’re worth.” He sat back again as my mouth gaped. “But if you ask me, it would be a waste. Even Elias believed you could do what he never could.”
“What’s that?”
“Use the gift for good.”
“So he knew I was his firstborn and not my brother?”
“He knew once I told him.”
“You knew?”
He nodded. “Ever since the night you almost died.”
I smirked. “Which time?”
“The only real time.” His eyes softened. “The night your husband was killed.”
“My fiancé,” I corrected him.
He leaned forward again and lowered his voice. “Didn’t I just tell you I have eyes and ears where you can’t see them?”
“You know about that?”
“I know you had an impromptu wedding ceremony with your Army chaplain the night Josh died.”
It felt like all the blood drained from my head and pooled around my ankles. Had I not already been unconscious, I might have passed out.
“You were on your way to Savannah to celebrate.”
“H-how did you know that?” My throat suddenly felt like sandpaper.
Because it had been such a spontaneous thing, I hadn’t told anyone about that small riverside wedding. Not even Ransom or Paps or Gran. Josh’s death had been so crushing, I wouldn’t have been able to bear the added devastation in anyone else’s eyes.
“The guardians of Imera have watched over you and your brother, even before you were born.”
I thought of whoever had been at my bedside in the hospital.
“One of you would someday become a new gateway, so for our safety and yours, we had to watch you both.”
I bent forward, cradling my head in my hands. “There was a man in the hospital.”
“Yes. I was with you that whole first night.”
“No, it wasn’t you.”
“I was in your hospital room all night. No one else was there except for the medical staff.”
I looked up at him. “I think it was Death. He looked like Josh, but it wasn’t Josh.”
He considered it, without judgment or amusement, which I never dreamed I’d find so comforting. “Could have been. I’ve heard Death comes as an old friend, usually in the form of a loved one who’s passed on. You may have crossed to the other side.”
“What other side?”
“The human body is a gate, a portal between worlds. When a human dies, Death takes the spirit to either Elysium or the Abyss. When a human spirit detaches before the body dies, the spirit is stuck here in the Boundary, hidden from Death, even when the body deteriorates.”
“So Imera isn’t heaven?” I asked.
“God, I hope not.”
I wanted to smile, but I couldn’t. “Did you see the accident?”
He shook his head. “Others were there right after it happened though.”
“Did Josh . . .” The words I didn’t want to ask hung in my throat.
“He didn’t suffer.”
A rogue tear slipped down my cheek. I brushed it away and nodded.
Orion pointed at me. “You must have been even closer to dying that night than we thought. Maybe that explains why your spirit was fighting so hard to detach. You wanted to die.”
I swallowed hard. “Is that how you knew I might be the heir instead of Ransom?”
“Yes.”
“Is there any way to get rid of it?”
“You don’t want it?”
“No, never. It was supposed to be Ransom.”
“If you ask me, the more capable sibling inherited it.”
“I didn’t ask you,” I said defensively. “And you didn’t answer the question I did ask. Can I get rid of it?”
Orion held my gaze a moment before finally nodding. “Yes.”
I sat up like I’d been electrocuted.
“But it’s a complicated process—”
“I don’t care. I’ll take it.”
“Be careful what you ask for, Saphera.”
The sound of my name on this stranger’s lips was jarring. Few people knew my first name, even less used it, including my family.
But I didn’t correct him. Elias had always called me Saphera. Somehow it made me feel reconnected—reconnected to something I’d never thought I wanted to be connected to in the first place.
“Can I give the power back to Ransom?” I asked.
“No. You can only pass it on to your heir.”
“What if I don’t have an heir?”
“You will.”
My brow crumpled. “How do you know?”
“The spirit always finds a way.”
There was no time to get too hung up on children who hadn’t been—and probably never would be—born. I wasn’t exactly the maternal type. “How do I get rid of it?”
“You must mix your spirit’s blood with water from the River Lethe and drink it. The Lethe is the river of forgetfulness.”
“Where’s the river?”
“Imera.”
“And I can’t go to Imera, so I hear.” I scowled.
“No, but I can. I’m allowed to travel as far as the Lethe, but no farther. I’ll bring it when I return.”
“You’re not allowed to travel farther?”
“Guardians aren’t permitted in Imera either. It’s part of the vow we take to guard the Boundary.”
“Why?”
“In the beginning, permanently detached spirits were able to visit Earth via the Boundary anytime they pleased. What it created was a land full of miserable inhabitants who longed to be elsewhere. The Order realized—”
“The Order?”
“The Order of Elders in Imera. They’ve been there longer than any of us. Some for thousands of years.”
“In Imera for thousands of years?”
“Yes. They’re our governing body. They realized the only way Imera would ever truly become a home was for its citizens to cut themselves off from Earth. Those who aren’t ready to make that commitment live in Synora, across the Lethe from Imera’s mainland. Most of us in Synora are guardians, and our minimum service commitment is twenty years.”
“How long have you been a guardian?”
“Longer than you’ve been alive. My time is almost finished as a guardian. I had hoped
to leave Earth better than it was before I took my post. Now I fear it will be exactly the same.”
Something screeched in the distance. We both looked toward the sky.
“Was that what I think it was?” I asked.
Orion nodded. “Nightwalkers. They approach with the darkness, but we have a little time.”
My spirit tingled with anxiety. “You sure this isn’t dangerous?”
“It’s not as dangerous as this conversation not happening.” His face whipped toward me. “But don’t make a habit of detaching this late in the day. Any time after sundown is dangerous.”
I put my hands up. “I have no intention of being out of my body for one second longer than necessary.”
He smiled. “You say that now.”
“Why are you here?”
“After I found Norina Grumley inside the Boundary, I went to confront Elias. As I’m sure you know, it wouldn’t have been the first time he’d been front and center in an outbreak of hypnox poisonings.”
“No. He was my first assumption as well.”
“And we were right. His blood created the hypnox poppy growing somewhere in this city.”
“He told you that?”
“No. He was unconscious but not detached when I got to the prison. His injury told me what I needed to know. Only weapons forged by the gods can cause someone to rot from the inside out. I knew then he was stabbed inside the Boundary. I left a note, hoping he would lead me to the plant.”
“It led him to me.”
“What?”
“Elias found me the night of the fire at the resort.”
Orion sat on the edge of his chair. “Did he tell you where the plant is?”
“No. I think he was about to when—” I lost my words, thinking of that conversation. Elias had urged me to stop arguing and to listen.
I wished I had.
“I think the nightwalker got to him before he could tell me where it was.”
That was clearly not what Orion wanted to hear. He sat back hard in his seat.
“The hypnox really grew from his blood?”
“Yes. It grows where the blood from Nyx’s line is spilled on fertile soil inside the Boundary. The hypnox poppy produces an opioid so powerful it can separate the spirit from the body.”
“And you’re sure one is growing here in Sapphire Lake?”
“Yes.”
“Do you know who stabbed Elias?”
“No, and for that reason, you should be extra vigilant. Whoever killed your father will know he has an heir; it’s only a matter of time until they figure out it’s you instead of your brother.”
“Is Ransom in danger?”
“You both are.”
“Who knows about Elias?”
“Plenty of beings, human and gods alike.”
“There are other gods beside Nyx out there?”
“Yes, but most of the old gods that humans are familiar with are dead.”
“Flash said Zeus and the Olympians are dead.” The corners of my mouth twitched as I tried to suppress my amusement.
“Yes.” Orion wasn’t smiling.
“How did they die?”
“Later. It’s a long story, and it will not help us tonight.” He must have registered my dissatisfaction because he continued. “I promise to tell you everything when we have more time.”
I held up a hand. “But the goddess Nyx is alive?”
“Yes, or you wouldn’t be here.”
“Where is she?”
He gently pushed my hand down. “These questions will tumble like dominoes all night if we let them. We’ll have plenty of time to answer everything later.” He pointed to the darkening sky. “But we don’t have it tonight.”
With a reluctant huff, I nodded. “So if I assume all this shit is true, what other bloodlines might be responsible?”
“We fear it’s Icelus, the God of Nightmares.”
“Is he responsible for the nightwalkers?”
“Yes.” Orion’s eyes widened with surprise. “Did Flash tell you the nightwalkers are nightmares?”
I shook my head. “Elias. I think I was eight. It scarred me.”
He finally smiled. “I’m sure.”
Elias had also told me that soon I’d know the nightmares were real. I hated that he might be right.
“What did he tell you about Icelus?” Orion asked.
“Nothing. I think bloodsucking demons was enough for an eight-year-old. Who is he?”
“A son of Hypnos.”
“I assume Hypnos created hypnox?”
“Correct. He sowed his blood into the earth to poison mankind. From that first crop, the seeds of the hypnox were replanted and replanted, harvest after harvest, diluting in potency to the opium poppy as we know it today.”
“Why did he want to kill humans?”
“Anguish—at least at first. His mortal wife had died in childbirth, and he retaliated against everyone. It sparked the war that killed most of the gods.”
“Damn,” I said, forgetting for a moment that it all sounded nuts to me.
“For his deeds, Hypnos was sentenced to the Abyss. There, he fathered three more sons: Icelus, Morpheus, and Phantasos. The sons were allowed passage to Earth, which was a mistake. Icelus created the nightwalkers, and he and his brothers tried to destroy mankind and take Earth for themselves.
“As punishment, Chaos—the god of the gods—stripped their powers and sentenced them to live as humans, cursed to never-ending cycles of death and rebirth for all eternity.”
“Reincarnation?”
“Yes.”
“But the nightwalkers are still dangerous?”
“As long as they stay between worlds, they’re mostly harmless. They feed off fear, so they induce night terrors in humans and sometimes cause sleepwalking and sleep paralysis. But if they come here . . .” He looked toward the lake.
“Was that what happened at the Drexler the other night?”
“Yes.”
“Did you start the fire to kill them?”
“There was only one, but yes.”
“Why?”
“Because the more they feed, the stronger they become. It tears through the human completely, creating a gateway for other nightwalkers to come here, or even more worrisome, for Icelus to enter the Boundary.”
“That would be bad?”
“Icelus could reclaim his stripped powers and dominate Earth, the Boundary, and Imera.”
I doubted the creator of bloodthirsty monsters would be a benevolent leader. “Reclaim his powers how?”
“Drink the blood of a god.”
I blinked. “My blood?”
“Yes, inside the Boundary.”
“Which is why he can’t come here.”
Orion nodded.
With another dry and painful gulp, I stood and walked to the porch rail. “Did Elias die to kill another nightwalker in his cell?”
Orion stood next to me. “Like I said, I didn’t speak to Elias before he was killed, but I do believe he spent a lot of years wanting to make amends for what happened in the Boro. I don’t know that there’s a better way to do that than to kill a nightwalker.”
We were both quiet for a while. Orion leaned on the rail and looked over at me. “He also might have wanted you to understand the gravity of what you’re up against. I know he didn’t really understand it until he faced the demons himself.”
“How do I find Icelus?” I asked.
“I only know of two certain ways.”
My brow lifted.
“Let the nightwalkers come here and see where they gravitate.”
“While they kill everything in their path?” I asked with a smirk.
His shoulders rose.
“And the second way?”
“Poison everyone you suspect with hypnox. The three sons of Hypnos can’t detach.”
“So it’s impossible,” I said with a sigh.
He straightened and gripped the metal railing. “If it were easy, we wo
uldn’t be here, would we?”
“What do I do?”
“It’s simple. Hypnox causes the human spirit to detach, and any human with a detached spirit is vulnerable to the nightwalkers after dark. You have to get that stuff off the streets.”
“We’re trying.”
“You have to try harder. You must use your gift to find the plant.”
“I don’t know how.”
He nudged his shoulder against mine. “That’s why I’m here.”
Worry fluttered in my chest. “And all I have to do is trust you.”
“Yeah.” He stepped back. “For now, I have to go, and you must assimilate. It’s getting late.”
I turned around. “But I still have so many questions.”
“I’ll be back.”
“When?”
“In the morning.”
“My brother’s coming in the morning.”
“Can you put him off?”
“No. I asked him to come.” I sighed. “And if I’m going to actually do this, I need Ransom’s support.”
“OK. I’ll be here when he leaves. Do I have your permission to put you to sleep?” His tone was mocking.
I thought for a moment. “I’ll leave my bedroom door open when I go to lie down. Then you can come in and put me to sleep. Deal?”
“Deal.” He stuck out his hand.
I shook it. When he moved to pull away, I held on and jerked him close. “But stay out of my bedroom until I invite you in. No doing any creepy shit like watching me change.”
He appeared genuinely offended. “I wouldn’t do that.”
“Mmm-hmm.”
“Remember to dress light. I’ll bring clothes you can put on over what you wear to bed.”
“OK.”
“I’ll see you tomorrow, Saphera. It was surprisingly nice to finally meet you.”
I felt obligated to say the same, but I couldn’t. “I’ll see you tomorrow.”
He pulled an oneiryte vial out from under his shirt. He held the vial between his index finger and thumb. “Do you know how to use this?”
I shook my head. “Flash only showed me how he uses his. Popped on and off my roof.”
“I love that kid,” he said with a smile. “I’ll teach you when we have more time.”
“Flash told me he’s forty-seven. Is that true?”
Orion’s smile faltered. “Unfortunately. He received a bad combination of drugs that caused his detachment.”