The Shattered Dark sr-2

by Sandy Williams

  Before I draw another line, Paige steps through those wispy shadows, escorted by Tylan, who dips his hand into the river, opening a fissure of his own.

  I rip the page out of my sketchbook, start a new map when they disappear. I’m not even halfway through it when the sketchbook is whipped out from in front of me.

  I look up, see Naito standing there. What? Does he want to be the one to map the shadows? He’s not as good at it as I am, but he might be good enough.

  He doesn’t start drawing, though. He just stands there staring down at me.

  “Naito,” Lena says, pulling her sword free from another remnant. “What are you doing?”

  “It’s okay,” Naito says.

  “What’s okay?” I ask, climbing back to my feet. If he’s not going to draw the shadows, I need to. Now. They’re going to fade away if I don’t.

  I try to take back my sketchbook, but he holds on.

  “McKenzie,” he says, keeping his voice low. “Kavok found a fae who can bring her back.”

  “He found a…” A banek’tan, he called it. A fae who can bring Kelia back from the ether.

  “He’s been helping me research. He traced the lineages. He found someone who can resurrect her, but he won’t give me the name unless they all make it out.”

  “Finish the map.” Aren’s here now. He yanks back the sketchbook, shoves it into my hands.

  “Don’t do it,” Naito says. His voice is low. It holds a warning I’d have to be deaf not to hear.

  Could Kavok be telling the truth? Is this just desperation on Naito’s part? It’s clear he believes it. God, I want to believe it, too.

  “McKenzie!” Aren snaps.

  I stare back at the shadows. Shit, they’re almost gone. I drop to my knees again, start to draw a bend in a river, and then Naito loses it.

  “I’ll kill you!” he snarls as he leaps at me. “I’ll fucking kill you if you read them!”

  Naito’s almost on top of me when Lena steps between us. A slight wave of her hand, and a gust of wind changes his trajectory. He crashes to the ground just two paces in front of me. He’s blocking the middle of the fading shadows, but Tylan’s taken Paige to the same place Kavok took Lee. I’ve seen enough of both to finish the sketch.

  “Please!” Naito screams. The desperation in his voice rips at my heart. I know how much he loves Kelia. He’ll do anything to bring her back. I’d do almost anything to help him.

  I watch as the last wisp of shadow disappears. It’s been too long since Kavok fissured out. Aren won’t be able to capture him; he’ll have to kill him. What if a fae really can do what Kavok claims?

  I want to let them escape. I want a fae to bring back Kelia. I want her and Naito to have their happy ending.

  But I can’t put that before everything else.

  “Coen.” The city’s name is just a whisper, but it’s loud enough for Aren and the nearby rebels to hear. They fissure out, going to the west coast of Australia.

  “No!” Naito yells.

  Lena places her hands on his shoulders, shakes him. “Look at me, Naito. Look at me! No one can bring fae back from the ether. Those books you read? Everyone knows about them. They’re fables. They’re fairy tales, Naito. Kelia is dead, just like Sethan is. Kavok tricked you.”

  “No.”

  “She’s not coming back, Naito. I’m sorry. I’m so sorry.”

  “No.” This time, the word cracks into a sob. I’ve never seen Lena do anything remotely tender, but she pulls Naito into her arms, holding him as he cries.

  TWENTY-ONE

  THE HAIL STORM dispersed as soon as Kavok fissured out. A bright sun lights up the sky now, but it does little to warm the air. I’m waiting with Trev for Aren at the silver wall. Naito’s here, too, staring at the ground. He hasn’t said much since Paige and the others escaped, just that Kavok approached him this morning, offering the name of a banek’tan in exchange for help breaking Tylan out of prison. Tylan wouldn’t leave without Paige, though, and the remnants need Lee if they want to get the Sight serum.

  I still can’t quite believe Paige is siding with the remnants. I knew everything wasn’t perfect. She wasn’t telling me the whole and complete truth, but I never thought she’d run off like this. I thought I’d have more time to ask her about the remnants and to tell her about the rebels. I mean, I should have had more time. I’ve been shadow-reading for the fae for ten years. She’s known they’ve existed for, what? Maybe ten days? And she’s just going to choose her allegiance without consulting me?

  I can’t help but be angry.

  And I can’t help but feel like a fool for letting Tylan steal her away. Never mind that it’s not plausible for me to recognize every single fae who supports Lena, but I should have been suspicious. I should have picked up a clue when Paige interrupted Lee, telling him he could stay the night with her. It’s not like Paige to forgive a guy without making him grovel a little.

  I sag against the wall next to Trev. The betrayals hurt, Paige’s and Kavok’s both. I keep trying to make excuses for them. Maybe Paige was under the influence of some magic I’ve never heard of. Maybe the remnants found some way to blackmail Kavok.

  “Maybe I’m just the world’s biggest idiot,” I mutter.

  Beside me, Trev snorts. I throw a glare his way, a glare that doesn’t faze him one bit. He’s leaning against the wall with his arms crossed over his jaedric-armored chest. His sword is loose in its scabbard, not clicked more securely into place, and no less than three knives are within easy reach in their pockets in his belt. He might agree with my statement, but he’s here to keep me safe. He’ll be coming with us to Boulder, too. We’re leaving for Nakano’s compound sooner than we planned in hopes of beating the remnants there.

  I tighten my grip on the strap of my sketchbook. If the remnants do make it to Boulder before us, there’s a chance I might need to map their shadows. There’s a chance Paige and Lee might be with them. There’s a chance the rebels might have to kill them.

  We haven’t talked about that, Aren and I, but I know it’s a possibility. This is a war. The remnants are our enemies, and it doesn’t matter that I don’t understand her decision—Paige has chosen her side. There are consequences to that. There are consequences to everything.

  A lump forms in my throat. I swallow it down as Aren approaches. Nalst and the illusionist, Brenth, are with him. If we need reinforcements, one of them will fissure back for help. We don’t want to leave Corrist vulnerable while we’re gone. With Shane still missing and Naito and me going to Boulder, Lena’s already short three humans, and even if everything goes perfectly at Nakano’s compound, it will take Naito and me a while to get back to the Realm. Boulder doesn’t have a gate, so we’re going to rent a car—rent, I insisted, not steal—and drive to a small town called Wiggins. The nearest gate is on a reservoir near there.

  “Are you sure you’re okay to do this?” Aren asks, stopping in front of me. Whether he’s asking if I’m willing to be involved in the death of my friend or if I’m physically okay and ready to go to Boulder, I don’t know, but the answer is the same either way. I’m going to do what I have to do to help Lena secure the throne.

  “I’m ready,” I tell him.

  “You don’t have to go,” he says. “Naito will help us get the serum and the documents.”

  I focus on Naito, who’s still staring at the ground with his hands shoved into his pockets a few paces away. Neither of us knows how dependable he will be in Boulder. When Lena ordered him to go with us, he didn’t respond at all; he just showed up when Trev and I left the palace.

  “I’m going,” I tell Aren. “And I’m sorry about earlier. I’m sorry I hesitated. I wanted…”

  “I know,” he interrupts. “I want Naito to be happy, too.”

  Aren wasn’t able to capture or kill Tylan and Kavok because I hesitated. The fae double-fissured with Paige and Lee. It didn’t surprise me to learn that. I was pretty sure the maps led to the gate in Coen. When fae are running from a sha
dow-reader, they try not to go to their final destination. Most fae have to wait a few minutes to recover from their first fissure, but some of them have conditioned themselves to be able to fissure quickly two or three times in a row. That’s what Aren did when he abducted me from my campus. He didn’t wait more than a few seconds before pulling me into another gated-fissure. Even Kyol can’t pop in and out of worlds that quickly.

  Aren never saw Tylan and Paige, but he saw Kavok. The archivist had to wait to recover before fissuring out with Lee. If my map hadn’t been such an inaccurate mess, Aren would have spotted the fae sooner. He would have killed him, preventing the remnants from getting Lee back. Lee, who can lead the remnants to his father’s compound just as easily—maybe even more easily—than Naito.

  “We should hurry,” I say.

  Aren draws in a slow breath, nods, then turns to Naito. Naito and I are wearing normal, human clothes. We’re hoping the vigilantes have all left the compound by now, but if they haven’t, we don’t want to show up wearing fae garb. That’ll just invite Nakano’s people to kill us.

  Naito doesn’t look up when Aren stops in front of him. I don’t know what he’s thinking; I just know that he hasn’t been thinking since Kelia died. He’s been trying to find a way to bring her back, not trying to find a way to deal with his grief. He’s the one who helped Tylan escape. He kept me from accurately reading the shadows, first by trying to convince Aren and me that Kyol had ordered me elsewhere, then by physically interfering with my drawing. He has a lot to account for.

  Softly, he says, “Kelia wouldn’t want me to be like this.”

  “No,” Aren agrees. “She wouldn’t.”

  Naito’s mouth tightens. He nods. Another silence stretches out.

  “I’ve been to my father’s compound before. That’s where he…” He clears his throat. “He’s held fae there before. He does research there.”

  He doesn’t have to say more than that.

  The fae take up position around us, and we leave the Inner City, walking beneath the silver wall, then crossing the plateau to the gate that Paige and Lee were taken through less than an hour ago. I wonder if that will be the last time I see Paige. How far will she go to help the remnants defeat us? Will she try to return to her normal life back in Houston? Will the fae let her?

  King Atroth is dead. So is his lord general, but there are other Court fae who are as brutal as they were—the slaughtered humans in London prove that. Paige doesn’t know what she’s gotten herself into.

  We stop by the blur on the river. After Aren opens a gated-fissure, he holds out his hand toward me. I hesitate. I want that opportunity to talk to Paige. If she’s in Boulder using her newly acquired Sight to see through Brenth’s illusions, Aren might be the one who’s forced to kill her. There’s already a long list of things I have to forgive Aren for. Can I forgive him if he takes my friend’s life?

  “McKenzie,” Aren says gently. I think he knows the direction my thoughts have gone. I have to bottle them up and push them aside to think about later. No matter what happens between us, we have to get to that serum before the remnants do.

  I place my hand in his, take the anchor-stone he offers me, then let him escort me into the In-Between.

  I’m not fully prepared for the soul-numbing bite of the cold. When we emerge into my world, I’m shaking. I should have made time to drink cabus. This is my third time fissuring in a little over three hours. My body is so not happy with me right now.

  My knees buckle, but Aren’s there. His hands are firm on my arms, steadying me while I convince my legs to hold my weight again. Aren’s touch helps chase away some of the cold, especially when his chaos lusters find their way to my skin, sending enticing, tingling pulses of warmth through my body.

  “I’m not doing a good job taking care of you,” he says, as Naito and the other fae join us in my world.

  “It’s not your job,” I tell him. I’m balanced enough now to step away and take in my surroundings. It’s night here. Or rather, early morning. A full moon is still in the night sky. It’s bright enough to see the individual pebbles beneath my feet. We’re on the western edge of Boulder, on a hiking trail that leads up into the mountains. The trailhead isn’t far away. A parking lot is there. It’s empty. Hopefully, that means we won’t come across any late-night hikers. They should all be asleep in the city below. It’s still and beautiful from this vantage point, each tiny light a pinprick that looks as innocent as a star, not like a piece of tech that can distract a fae and weaken their magic.

  Naito seems oblivious to its beauty. He doesn’t give the city so much as a glance as he releases Trev’s arm and brushes past me on the narrow trail. I follow him. The fae follow behind me.

  It’s not a bad climb at first. It’s gorgeous here, and the tall grass on either side of the trail seems to soak in the moonlight. The bright, vigorous green darkens when the trail veers left, heading into a copse of pine trees. Even though I know we need to be watching for vigilantes and remnants, it’s difficult not to be captured by the tranquility of the setting. The Realm is exotic and beautiful, but there are so many places in my world that are the same, so many places worth visiting.

  I’m not sure how far we have to hike. Aren had to visit a stone-seller to get us to this location. The palace didn’t have one for Boulder in the archives. I guess we’re lucky it brought us to the west side of the city. If it had deposited us on the east side, we’d have a much longer way to go.

  “We’re heading up there,” Naito says after a while, pointing up and to the left. Despite the size of the three-storied building, I wouldn’t have noticed it if the lights from Boulder weren’t reflecting off its tall windows. It looks like an old resort, one that probably went bankrupt in the recession a few years back. The green, sloping roof and wooden façade act almost as camouflage, making the building blend in with the deciduous trees surrounding it.

  The path beneath my feet steepens. I’m in decent shape, but my legs begin to burn, and the thinning oxygen is making my breaths come in quick, shallow gulps. I concentrate on keeping a steady pace and distract myself by trying to spot the ground squirrels that I keep seeing scurrying through the grass or across one of the big white boulders that we pass. They’re marmots, I think, and even though they look nothing like Sosch, they remind me of the kimki anyway with the way they dart from crag to crag or sit on their haunches, blinking at us with mildly curious expressions.

  I keep climbing, letting my sketchbook hang behind me. It knocks against my butt with every step I take until we finally hit more level ground. Nakano’s compound is about half a mile away. The building Naito pointed out from below isn’t the only one here. Two others, both smaller but with the same green roofs, are nestled side by side farther back from the mountain’s edge. Naito’s father chose a beautiful location for his compound. I have to give him that.

  When we’re within a few hundred yards of the main building, I grow paranoid about the fae’s chaos lusters. They’re wearing long sleeves beneath their jaedric armor, but their faces and hands are uncovered, and even with the moonlight, the blue lightning looks phosphorescent and bright.

  And it’s becoming more erratic the closer we get to the compound. Nakano must be running a ton of tech inside.

  We walk along the edge of the tree line for as long as possible then Naito and Aren kneel in the foliage. The lights are off, and there’s no movement inside the building as far as I can see.

  I crouch by Aren’s side. “Do you think we beat the remnants here?”

  “It’s possible,” he says.

  “But unlikely,” Naito adds. “They don’t have a city to defend. They could have fissured out the second Lee and Paige told them about the serum.”

  “They would have to find a stone-seller to get here, too, though.”

  Naito shrugs. “Their stone-seller might have had an imprinted location even closer than ours.”

  I take in a breath, then slowly let it out. The only way we’re going t
o know for sure is to get in there.

  “Will there be an alarm?” I ask, wanting to know just how fast this search of ours is going to have to be.

  “I can get us in,” Naito says.

  That’s not quite an answer to my question.

  Naito straightens, then says to Aren, “You should stay here. My father has made this place unpleasant for fae.”

  “We’ll be okay,” Aren says, standing as well.

  “No, you won’t be. You’re already feeling the tech. You step inside that building, and you won’t be able to think. He has a low-level electric current flowing through the walls, and the signals he broadcasts—they’re designed to affect fae. The compound will let you walk in, but it might not let you walk out.”

  God, he makes the place sound sentient.

  “What if the vigilantes haven’t left?” Aren asks. “What if the remnants show up looking for the serum?”

  “If the remnants come in, they’ll be just as crippled as you would be,” he says, turning his attention back to the main building. “And if the vigilantes haven’t left, McKenzie and I will take care of them.”

  His voice is as cold as the In-Between, and goose bumps break out across my skin. I don’t have to guess what he means by “take care of them.” He fully expects me to kill a vigilante if we come across one.

  Aren’s looking at me, watching for a reaction. I don’t give him one. I keep my expression and my voice carefully neutral, and say, “I have my dagger. We’ll be fine.”

  “If you want to help us,” Naito says, “check out the residences.” He nods toward the compound’s other two buildings.

  Aren doesn’t take his eyes off me. I’d feel more comfortable with him at my back, but I’m trusting Naito on this one. If he thinks going inside that main building is dangerous for the fae, then I don’t want Aren going in. If something happened to him…