by Debra Kristi
I settle into the driver’s seat and try not to dwell on Ry’s slow progress. Instead, I study the old knobs and dials his car has. Then I notice the switch. The one for the headlights. Somehow it has been turned off. My heart jolts. Maybe the battery isn’t dead. I pull the switch to full illumination. Maybe this will help Ry. Hurry his progress.
I’m watching him jab, strike, and spin when something whispers in my ear. My body momentarily tenses, then I relax and follow the advice. On the floor is a tiny toggle. I tap the switch with my foot, turning the lights to bright. The reaction is instantaneous. An unearthly screech resonates all around me, and then all unnatural darkness fades out of view. Ry relaxes, secures the wands to his chest straps, and jogs to the car. When he opens the driver’s door, I scoot across to the passenger’s side, and he drops in behind the wheel.
Revving the car to life, Ry throws it into gear, and we shoot out of the crater and through the deserted settlement at astounding speed. Caesar runs beside us, and we dart down the road and out of the old ghost town. As we pass through the demolished front gate, Caesar slows and veers away.
I lean out the window. “Aren’t you coming with us?”
“Not this time, Ana. I am still needed here. And you are safe for now. Our paths may cross again someday. Until then, live well.”
“Goodbye, Caesar.” I hold my hand out the window in a farewell gesture. “And thank you.”
Images flash past in a blur. I stare out the side window, taking in the bleak night, watch the turnoff for my house to sail past.
I shift to look at Ry. “Aren’t we going back for my mom?”
A minute passes before he answers. “Ana, we went over this. I don’t want to leave your mom, but she’s strong. She can take care of herself. I made an oath to protect you. It would be reckless of me to return to the house with you in tow. And like I said, the shadows aren’t after her. It’s you they want. Remember?”
“I don’t like leaving her. Even if she has those magic wand things.” I wave my hands at the sticks strapped to his gear. Ry gives me a sideways glance. “I saw the glow through the windows. I can put two and two together. I’m still uncomfortable leaving Mom behind.”
“You don’t have to like or be comfortable with leaving her behind, but you better get used to making difficult choices. That comes with who and what you are.” His words carry a sharp edge.
“What if I don’t want this destiny and responsibility?” I cross my arms and sink deeper into the seat. “I only want to help the people I care about.”
“Don’t even talk that way,” he snaps, his tone flowing with finality. “Aren’t you happy with your life?”
Thoughts of Skylar skip through my mind. We’re in the church parking lot, water splashing over her, and I’m in her life, she’s a kid playing with Jeremy, and the loneliness surges through me. I shiver. Then she’s gone, and all I can see is Jaden. Conceding to Ry isn’t something I’d do lightly or willingly, but yeah, some part of me is happy. Some part of me loves my workout-induced adrenaline highs. Savors them like a drug and can’t see living any other way. The warrior blood running through my veins is part of who I am. I probably embraced it a long time ago without realizing.
“Maybe a little.” I dip my head and gaze at him from under a fall of hair. “I enjoy my speed, strength, and fighting ability. I can’t deny that. These abilities come with being part of this warrior race?”
“Something like that.” His smile is almost lost in the shadows. “Dreams, too. The blood allows us to share our battlefield experience. Experience and knowledge is passed from generation to generation, making us superior in battle from the start. We learn from our ancestors’ mistakes and can therefore avoid making the same ones. Rather brilliant, don’t you think?”
I think his ego sounds bloated.
“You’re different.” The tone of his voice hints to envy. “Your blood is mixed, so it has an added, unpredictable element. No one knows what you may catch glimpses of.”
“Passed-on knowledge?” My brow crinkles. “I haven’t had any dreams of battlefields in forever.” I reposition in my seat. Those dreams were troubling, and I was happy when Dohlan made them stop. Now I see what a huge mistake that was. Dammit.
Ry’s hands twist on the steering wheel. “Don’t let that concern you. You will. Like I said, you’re a different case. You’re seeing what you need to see.” He grins in my direction before returning his attention to the road.
Could be. But I never told him I used to have the dreams. Before Dohlan. “What else is part of who I am? Is magic part of your world?” I run my hands across the gritty red paint on the dash. “Like these. What is the purpose of all these runes?”
Ry rubs the back of his neck. “As you suspected, the runes kept them from following you into the car. By them, I mean the things you call dark echoes.” Ry spares me a sideways glance.
I hold my emotions in check. “These runes keep the evil out? That’s cool, I guess. They’re still ugly.”
He chuckles. “Ugly or not, they’re useful. And they don’t keep out all evil, just specific evil. They wouldn’t keep out Skylar, for example.”
“Funny. Glad to see you can keep a sense of humor after all we’ve been through.” I frown, then change my line of questioning. “And the high beams? Why did they work so effectively?”
“I altered them.”
“Of course you did.” I should have expected that. “So you planned on running into those horrors?”
“I believe in always being prepared.” His answer sounds rehearsed.
“All righty then.” I run my finger along the grain in the leather seat. “Let’s talk about my mom some more.”
He sighs, rolls his eyes.
“Maybe she can take care of herself. I’m still not satisfied with why we’re not helping her. Don’t you care at all? I thought…” I let my words fade, unfinished, then lean forward and stare at him.
“You thought what? I’d really like to know.”
My face heats. “Well, I really don’t know. I just thought you cared more.”
“Of course I care. Nerine’s my mother, too.”
I jerk. “What!” I gasp, unable to wrap my mind around his confession. I have a brother? The Triune—plus one? “But—I—How is that possible?” I stammer. “If that’s true, why haven’t you lived with us all these years? Why the elaborate orphan story? Why so many lies? It doesn’t make sense.” With four short words, Ry has gutted me. Hallowed out a void where my stomach should be. My whole foundation is a lie.
“Of course it doesn’t make sense. Not from your perspective. But from ours, it was a smart direction. You see, when we came to this world—”
“You mean from Hiddenkel?” I blurt out.
“Please.” He gives me a keep-silent look. “Let me explain.”
“But you have a pet name for her.” I jab my finger at him. “You don’t give your mom a pet name.”
His brow wrinkles and he glances at me. “Pet name?”
“You said something like ma…mana…”
“Mãnah. It means mother where we come from.” He steels his jaw, watches the road. “Ready to move on?”
I collapse into my seat and cross my arms. “Continue.”
“I was saying, when we came here, we needed to blend in and hide among the norms. Nerine was pregnant with you at the time, and I looked too old to be a brother and too young to play father.”
“If she’s your mom, why do you call her Nerine?”
“Out of habit, I guess, after all these years. Are you going to constantly interrupt?”
I slouch with a huff. The hum of the car vibrates through my skin as the vehicle packs on speed, moving onto the freeway.
Ry continues his story again. “I stayed with you for a while after you were born. Nerine found work as a florist, using her unique gift. Doing anything that tapped into her warrior training ran the risk of drawing too much attention. Didn’t need to lead them to us too easily.”
“Gift?”
“Haven’t you noticed the distinct vibrancy, strength, and life spans of the flowers she handles?”
I chew on my thoughts for a moment. I’ve commented on Mom’s flowers on multiple occasions. Now it’s starting to make much more sense.
He tosses me a grin of mutual acknowledgement. “Anyway, it became clear as you got older, I had to move out.”
“Why?”
“You’re smart. You would start to notice and remember. As your mother, Nerine could hide the fact she wasn’t aging, at least for several years. Me? Not so much. You were bound to eventually ask questions.”
My chest drops like a ten-ton stone. “Well, that sucks. I think you should have told me.”
He doesn’t answer. He stares at a small band of motorcyclists passing by.
I turn away, stare out the window. Running my finger along its edge, I think about where we’ve been and where we’re going. “So, we went to that mine looking for a door leading to Hiddenkel?”
“Yep. My concern is whatever led Nerine to sabotage our exit.”
“What do you think of that stuff Caesar said, about Mom being a mom first?”
He shrugs.
“I talked to her while you were gone. She mentioned making a mistake. Maybe she was referring to the sabotage. Her words seemed sincere. She said she thought keeping me safe meant keeping me here.”
Ry doesn’t respond. If the look on his face is any indication, he’s tossing the idea around in his head. We fall into silence, the car racing forward through the night on a dimly lit highway. A highly populated urban development rests ahead.
“A warrior’s training always comes first. She knows your importance.” A muscle in his cheek twitches.
“Maybe, but she also suffers from emotions, unlike pure warriors. Do you understand that? They made her protect me, hold on too tight.”
Ry’s jaw tightens, but he doesn’t speak. I tap his knee and raise my arms in a what-the-hell motion.
“A warrior doesn’t go around broadcasting such things. Our family has kept our mixed blood secret for generations. Bringer blood has run in Nerine’s line for eons. That’s why members experience more-than-normal emotion and why the women usually show some small gift or talent in an area of nature.”
My body jerks, straightening.
“I know. Threw me too. Apparently it’s always happened this way. The Bringer’s child,” he flashes a smart-ass smile, “is raised by a family of the warrior clan. She is then a member like any other, only her blood carries a few different properties, setting her family line apart from any pure clan members. This last time, the honor fell to the Usoda clan. I guess it’s only fitting you were born from her line. Or maybe that’s why you were born from her line. I don’t know.”
My chest is heavy again. The surprises are never-ending. “Why would the Bringer give up her child? Does she live with the clan as well?”
“As far as I understand, it’s only the child, and I don’t know why, only that it has always been.” He flashes me a worried look.
I take a deep breath. Is the Bringer always a girl? I shake the question out of my head. I don’t want to consider children when I don’t even have a boyfriend.
Bloodline. I look at Ry again. “So, you have emotions interfering with your warrior training?” I can feel a smile tugging at the corner of my lips.
“No.”
His answer is too quick, and I don’t believe him. I turn my attention out the window to the blur of the road. My eyelids are heavy, and my head bobs forward without permission, even though I still have questions. Hoping Ry hasn’t noticed, I sneak a peek, only to see him glancing in my direction as a brother would. Trying to play it off, I readjust in the seat, pull my legs up, and curl my feet to the side.
“Where are your shoes?” His outburst has me practically jumping out of my skin.
“What?” I look down, remember running on the gravel barefoot, feeling all the cuts as I went. “Oh, that. My shoes weren’t working on the dirt so I had to ditch them.”
“We need to treat those cuts. You’ll need your feet in good condition for what’s ahead.”
Sighing from bone-aching exhaustion, I lean my head against the window. Ry slows the car, looking for a place to pull over and tend to my feet. Grabbing his first aid kit from the trunk, he adds ointment to each abrasion and wraps my feet with bandages. He’s so gentle I barely feel his touch.
“I would have been fine. You know that, right?” Ry lifts me, and I weakly shove at his chest as he tenderly places me in the backseat. “And I don’t need you to carry me all the time.”
He covers me with a blanket and provides a pillow magically conjured from the depths of his well-packed trunk. “All right, Ana. I know.”
“You better know.” My words slur as I struggle to stay awake.
Awaking slightly dazed, I yawn and stretch. Nothing outside helps me get my bearing. No road signs, no cars, no buildings, no lights. Just dark night. Ry curses under his breath.
“What’s going on? Why are we traveling backward with the headlights off?”
“Sorry, didn’t mean to wake you. I wasn’t expecting company.” Somewhere up ahead, lights shine from around a bend.
“Explains all the cursing. Where are we?”
“Another mine. No one should be here, especially at this hour. What luck is this? For the love of Gradnar’s honor. We’ve got to get out of here, and fast.”
Ry whips the wheel, spinning the car around. The smell of burnt rubber is intense as we head down the dirt path, lights still off.
“This mine is supposed to be deserted. But there were several vehicles with their lights on by the entrance, a few with floodlights mounted on the roof. And a bunch of men. This really messes with my plan. Damn, maybe I should have gone the other direction. Up north. We don’t have time to drive all around the map looking for a door we can sneak through.”
“Will any mine work?”
“Only a few have a passage. Some of them are local, all splintering off the same gateway on the other side. If Nerine—if Mom was set on keeping you here, she may have made her way to many, if not all, of them, blocking their passages.”
“So what are we going to do?”
“I don’t know. I need time to think.”
“Take your time. Just get us there.” I sigh and lay my forehead against the window, staring at the edge of the road as it rushes by. Safe distance apparently achieved, Ry turns on the headlights as the car glides onto paved road. Weeds and brush blur past my sight.
I’m surprised by how many houses line the street. I don’t know what I expected, but definitely not this. Not a mine hiding behind a row of houses. Ry turns onto the main road and continues straight rather than turning onto the freeway as I expect him to.
“Aren’t you…?” I motion to the freeway.
“Nah, I think more effectively if I’m not rushed by traffic. This will be better.”
“Ry, if you don’t know where we’re going, shouldn’t we just park?”
“I want to keep moving. Worst-case scenario, we drive down the coast to San Diego or Mexico. I’m sure we’ll find something down there Nerine didn’t get to. It’ll just take longer than I hoped.”
Climbing over the seat, I decide the front is the best place to be if I’m going to try to stay awake for the rest of the trip. “So, I’m part of this warrior race, like you and Mom. Am I going to live a really long time too?”
He looks weary and reluctant to my question. “Yes. And no. You’re half-warrior. Your father was something else. An ancient race of great power. I should really let Mom tell you about him.”
“Yeah, yeah. I already know. He’s Fae.” I flap my hands at my side like little wings.
He laughs. I’m glad I’m so entertaining. “They can be damn scary. I would never make fun of them like that,” he says with a chuckle.
His words make me think of Dreya.
“Did you know my father?” I f
ear I’ll never get the chance to meet him myself, and I’m curious about the man my father is. Or was.
“I knew King Marduk Raine. He was a good king and a good man. You should be proud.”
Was. Past tense. It’s a kick to the gut, and I wipe at my right eye. Exhaling deeply, I pretend I’m strong, it doesn’t hurt. “I am no princess,” I whisper.
Reaching across the seat, Ry pats my hand. “You’re going to be fine. Now I need to think so I can come up with a solution for us.”
I shut up and get comfortable in my seat, watching the highway. It’s dark, long, and windy, making it difficult for me to stay awake. I think about Crystia. Her musical laughter sings in my memory as her blonde hair flares out in the sun. I worry about my mom’s wellbeing and this new revelation in my relationship with Ry. I need to wrap my head around all of it, including what I am.
Being half-immortal warrior, half-Fae must have its perks. Maybe I’ll be able to move with the same speed as Ry someday. That would be awesome! There’s so much I want to know, like how I’ll age and what natural gift I’ll have. I need to understand how everything works.
“Ry?” I say quietly. “What am I, really? I mean, how does a Balance Bringer do whatever it is she does?”
He stares forward out the window, a curve pressing down deep between the arches of his eyebrows. “I’m no expert, mind you. There are better people you could ask, but in general terms, the Balance Bringer puts our world back in balance by restoring nature and purging the illness that feeds off it.”
Something thrusts the air out of my lungs. “Dreya?”
“Most likely.” His look doesn’t overflow with confidence for my impending battle.
“Great.” I pull my hair back, taut. “How do I balance nature? I’ve had no training in that.”
“It’s an elemental thing that should come naturally to you. You’ve already experienced some of it with your ability to stay submerged in the water for extended periods of time. I bet you’ll find you’re more talented with water than you realized.”