“We’ll figure it out,” I say. “I have a plan, about how to get on the Midnight Strider. You just have to trust me.”
“You know I do,” he says, leaning over to nudge my shoulder with his. “You and me.”
“You look terrible,” Kina says as she plops down in the seat across from me.
“Good morning to you too,” I say.
“Are you getting any sleep?” she asks. She has her utensils in her hands, ready to cut into her breakfast, but she waits for an answer.
“Yeah, are you getting any sleep? You’re rarely ever in the room anymore,” Jace adds. His words are muffled by the pancake hanging out of his mouth. His plate has a mountain load of food piled on it. I’m not sure who has more food: Jace or Kina.
“Sounds like Rhiannon.”
“What?” The pancake falls from Jace's face.
“She’s always trying to sneak back in. Sometimes I think she forgets that she isn’t the only one with good hearing.” Kina looks down at her food. “I actually thought she was sneaking out to see you but I guess that’s not what’s happening.”
“She’s been avoiding me,” he says. “I wouldn’t blame her if she's still mad.”
“I really don’t think that’s it,” Kina says, cutting into the sausage on her plate. “But fortunately for me, we don’t talk about you.”
Jace rolls his eyes to look at me.
“How long do you think she’ll stay mad?”
I shrug. “Like I said, you could try apologizing —”
Miko throws a newspaper down at the center of the table. There’s a picture of eyes on the front page. I’d recognize those eyes anywhere. Bright turquoise, slitted pupils.
DRAGON SPOTTED NEAR SHATTERED LANDS
Shattered Lands. That sounds familiar.
“Where are the — Shattered Lands?” Jace asks, reading off of the paper. He glances up at Miko.
“How should I know? Look it up.” She drops a giant book right on top of the table, rattling their plates. A sausage nearly rolls off of Kina’s. She stabs it with her fork. “I got this from the local bookshop around the corner.”
“Did you steal it?” he asks, sitting back in his chair.
“I borrowed it.”
“Maybe Rhiannon knows — or Nadia —”
“Seriously?” Miko stares at me. With her hook, she drags the book into her lap and flips it open. “You two are so helpless. How did you two manage to even get out of Newacre by yourselves?”
“Nova gave us directions, actually,” Jace says.
“That explains so much.”
I frown. We are capable of doing plenty on our own. We managed to survive the Ashen Hills, Jace took on hundreds of revenants on his own. I’m trying to summon the ship of the dead — not that I can tell any of them that.
“Aridetian geography doesn’t exactly interest me,” Jace says. ”But I wouldn’t be surprised if it was on the outskirts of the Badlands.”
“It — is. I hate you.” She sits back in her chair and slams the book shut.
“Love you too.”
“How did you figure that?”
Jace shrugs. “Shattered Lands,” he says. “Shattered, sorta like destroyed, right? The Badlands are whats left in that area after Pryley. Makes sense to me. Is it close?”
“A little southwest from here,” she says, running her finger along the page. “Rhiannon, Kina and I can go check it out.”
“I could use an adventure,” Kina says, wiping her mouth with her sleeve. I glance at her and she stares at me as she slowly reaches for a napkin.
“I want to go,” I say.
“Go,” Jace says, waving his arm. "There's a barmaid with my name on her.”
“Ow!” I pull my heel up onto the edge of the chair and rub my shin.
“Sorry!” Kina says as she gets up. “I meant to kick Jace.” She walks over to us and wraps her arm around my neck from behind, and practically digs her knuckles into my skull. “You’re a fragile little thing, aren’t you?”
I pull away from her and rub my scalp through my hair. She laughs.
Not that I doubted it, but she was definitely Jace’s sister.
More noogies.
I sit up a little straighter when I catch sight of the door. I tap Miko with the back of my hand and nod toward the door when she looks at me.
“Dad?” she says as she stands, the chair slides back across the floor.
“Miko!”
Their hug is tight. Like the last time I hugged Weylan. You have an inner battle with yourself that you would never see them again — or think you won’t. So you make it count.
“Where’s Obaachan?” she asks, as he brushes hair out of her face with his fingertips.
“She’s still in Orvale but she’s fine,” he says. “I figured you’d be here. Any contact with Vihaan?” he asks, and he nearly slips. Miko grabs him and helps him into her chair.
“Dad?” She grabs the newspaper and starts rolling it up behind her back. “What did the guardians do?”
“I’m fine.”
She scoffs. “You aren’t even fifty years old yet and you’re tripping over yourself. You’re an elf, Dad. You have hundreds of years left in you and you expect me to believe you’re fine?”
“Annen Kimiko!” Tanare’s hand slams down on the surface of the table and the entire pub goes silent as they turn to look at us. His voice roars through the sitting area. “Do not talk to me that way.”
She throws the newspaper down on the table in front of him and it unravels as she leaves. She shoves the old wood of the door so hard I can hear it crack from the impact of her cuff.
Kina slips down into the chair beside me.
Everyone in the pub goes back to their own company. Tanare stares at the picture of Vihaan on the front page.
“She’s just like her mother,” he says, when none of us speak up.
“Slightly unstable?” Jace asks.
Tanare laughs. “Bold.”
“Is that how she lost her hand?” Kina asks. I close my eyes as his smile fades from his face.
“You could say that,” he says. “She lost it when she freed me. She doesn’t blame me.” There’s a small smile peeking at the corner of his lips, but it seems more out of confusion than gratitude. “Even though it was my fault.”
“How?”
I look over at Kina, she’s too curious about the story to look at me.
“The Elven guards weren’t going to let us get away,” he says. “Not together, at least. They started shutting the gates, setting traps off on us. Miko’s hand got crushed. She kept screaming at me, insisting that I just leave her there, but I wasn’t going to leave my daughter behind. Not after she risked her life to save me. So I ripped her arm free from her hand, and I carried her out.” He inhales deeply and averts his eyes. “She was only eleven. She’s nearly deaf in her left ear too, you know. But you’d never be able to tell. Miko never looked at those things as disabilities,” he tells us. “She told me it was a sign. That she was capable of too much, she needed a few things taken from her to even the playing field.”
“I noticed she doesn’t like asking for help,” I say.
He nods. “She’s very stubborn. I’m glad she’s managed to make some friends, though I am a little surprised. She’s a bit rough around the edges.”
“A bit?” Jace asks. “She’s also a bit sneaky and doesn’t like to mind her own business.”
Tanare laughs. “I can’t argue with that. You must be Jace.” Jace grins and the two of them shake hands. “We missed you at Artemis’s party.”
“Well, I would’ve been there if I had stuck around long enough to know he was gonna get resurrected.”
I look at the door as other munfolk come through. I wait to see if Miko comes back, but I suppose she needs time to herself
. I knew that feeling.
Jace and Tanare continue their conversation while I excuse myself from the table unnoticed. I leave the inn, and walk out across the bridge, where it had all happened only several months ago. Where I died, and came back to life.
My blood is soaked into the boards, but I can tell they’ve tried to scrub it clean.
I move to the railing and I look out onto the water. Soon enough, hopefully soon, I’ll be able to summon the Midnight Strider. I inhale deeply through my nose, and part my lips to let out the breath. I peer over the railing and stare down at the dark depths, just beneath the glistening surface.
I’m coming for you, Apollo.
Chapter EIGHTEEN
deserted houses
Miko insists a Thirondel charm should be fine to get to the Shattered Lands. Apparently the fallen star, which was attracting attention to the area, had been moved. That’s why it sounded familiar. Someone said something about a fallen star when we were in Thealey.
The Shattered Lands border the destruction left by the Pryley volcano. When we get there, the air is just as polluted as Newacre with the sun barely able to seep through the toxins, but the lack of life reminds me of Edgewick. Deserted houses, broken windows. I doubt anyone’s really lived here since Pryley, but I supposed that benefited rovers and other travelers who were always wandering.
“I’m so glad you came,” Kina says.
“I am too,” I say.
“I wasn’t —” she looks at Rhiannon awkwardly who laughs at the both of us, “— I was talking to her.”
“Right," I say. "Was there any suggestion that she wasn’t gonna?”
I look at Rhiannon and she shrugs.
“She wanted to stay alone,” Miko says. “Why? I don’t know.”
“Did something happen in Newacre?” Kina asks. I don’t say anything. I just look over at Rhiannon again. “Aside from me, I mean. I didn’t mean to crash the party but I won’t apologize either.”
“It’s nothing,” Rhiannon says, taking a step further into the deserted town, she walks ahead of us and turns around to face us. “I mean does it matter? I’m here now.”
She smiles. Her eyes fall on Kina and she turns away again. I know she’s thinking about what she saw. What we saw. It didn’t seem to matter to her that it didn’t happen. I think the possibility was getting to her.
“We should split up,” Miko says. “We’ll cover more ground that way and I’d like to get back to Nevressea as soon as possible. This place is giving me the creeps.”
“You stayed in my grandfather’s house by yourself in Edgewick and you find this place creepy?”
“Obviously I knew I was safe in there,” she says, just before she links her arm with Kina’s. “You’re coming with me.”
“Why me?”
“Because I’ve seen what your brother can do and you have the same genes,” she says and then turns to me. “We’ll meet back here in two hours. Don’t go looking for trouble, Artemis.”
“I don’t —” I start and she raises her eyebrows, “— always look for it,” I grumble. Curiosity isn’t a sin.
I turn around and jog to catch up to Rhiannon, who has stopped to look at an old church building.
“Are you okay?”
“Are you?” she asks me in return without turning toward me. She doesn’t take her eyes off of the building at all, primarily staring up at the bell at the very top. “Can either of us go in there?”
“What do you mean?”
She glances at me without turning her head.
“You’re different, don’t think I haven’t noticed,” she says. “I just can’t put my finger on it. But I will figure it out.”
“Don’t,” I say. “I’ve just been feeling a little off since Newacre. Seeing everything, Zoirin.” I shrug my shoulders. “I mean, what do you want me to say, Rhiannon? I’m losing everyone.” At first I’m proud of myself for coming up with such a good excuse, but the longer she stays silent, the less it feels like an excuse. I feel like I just stabbed myself in the chest.
My heart hurts.
“I wouldn’t want to lose anyone else,” I continue when she remains quiet. “That’s why I came. Vihaan helped me get out, I need to make sure he’s okay.” She finally turns her head to look at me. Her eyes meet mine, and she nods. “Don’t push me away.”
She smiles. “Why does that sound so familiar? Oh, right,” she turns her body to face me and stares at me challengingly. “You first.”
“I don’t know what’s wrong with me,” I say. “But I do trust you, okay? I do, I promise.”
She purses her lips together, giving me a pouty expression, though she’s capable of doing so without actually trying. I roll my eyes.
“Yeah, that’s not gonna work on me.”
She frowns. Rhiannon scrunches her nose and hits me in the arm.
“You know what,” I say, rubbing my arm. “I’m not like you guys, go easy on me.”
She laughs. “So where do you think he is?”
“More importantly, why would he come here?”
“Because nobody comes here. I doubt the guardians want to come here. I barely want to be here.”
“That has little to do with anything, Rhiannon.”
The two of us turn around.
Malachi. His black hair is short, skin very dark. He frowns when he looks at me.
“What are you doing here?” she asks, he pulls his attention away from me.
“The same reason you’re here,” he replies coolly. He looks at me again and furrows his brows, but he doesn’t really acknowledge me other than that. “But unfortunately, the dragon’s no longer here. You wouldn’t happen to know where he is, would you, Rhiannon?” He steps closer to us. “You are fairly good at keeping… secrets.”
“No,” she says quietly, averting her gaze as he comes closer to us. She pulls on her sleeve, shrinking in his presence.
“Are you sure about that?”
I take a step in front of her. “She said no.”
He narrows his eyes and makes eye contact with me for a few seconds, before his gaze drops back to Rhiannon.
“You keep interesting company,” he says as he takes one last look at me. He begins to turn away, though he stops for a moment. “I do hope your friends are… okay.”
I clench my jaw.
“What did you do?” I ask. He doesn’t turn around. Malachi continues away from us, disappearing in the pollution. I turn around. “Are you okay?” I ask Rhiannon. She looks dejected. She takes a moment, but then she finally nods.
“Yeah,” she says, “let’s go.”
*****
Rhiannon tracks down Kina by scent, and the both of us are surprised to see that nothing’s happened. What was Malachi talking about?
“Thank the Immortal Ones you both are okay,” Rhiannon says.
Miko frowns as she sweeps her gaze at Kina before looking back at Rhiannon. “Why wouldn’t we be okay?”
Rhiannon and I exchange glances. She subtly shakes her head at me. “We just thought —”
Miko suddenly holds up her hand to silence me as Rhiannon turns around.
“What was that?” Kina whispers.
Clearly everyone else heard something I didn’t hear. I may not be of mun but I definitely have the hearing of one.
“Hellhounds,” Rhiannon says softly just as one comes into view. "Malachi," she grumbled.
It’s a massive black haired creature, nearly the size of a bear. It reminds me of the first time I saw Jace’s transformation in Edgewick. Not quite a wolf, but no longer man. Hellhounds walked on all fours, and they looked like oversized hyenas. I take a step back, but I stop when one growls behind me. Miko doesn’t waste any time, she takes out her sai, and Kina looks like she’s about to change, but Rhiannon grabs her shoulder.
“Don
't change,” she tells her, “not here.”
“What am I supposed to do? If I can’t change I —”
“Come with me,” I say, reaching my hand out to her. “We’re going to hide.”
“Hide? We can’t —”
“Trust me, Kina. Please.”
She looks at Rhiannon, who nods her head. Kina turns back to me and takes my hand. I lead her into one of the abandoned homes and shut the door. I grab a stool to place it in front of the door and I stand on it. Taking out my dagger, I carve the triskelion symbol into the wood.
“What are you doing?” Kina asks, but I don’t turn around. I focus on the symbol. I focus on the power running through my veins, on the light inside of me. “Artemis?”
“Stay here,” I say as I jump back down from the stool. I drag it away from the door and turn the knob, while still gripping tightly onto my dagger.
“Where are you going?” she asks. She grabs my shoulder to turn me around when I don’t answer her. She's nearly as strong as Jace. “Hey —” she stops when she makes eye contact with me. I can see it in her face, in her expression.
My eyes are black.
She backs up away from me and I leave the house.
I return my dagger to its sheath and I step out onto the street.
Rhiannon kicks a hellhound in the face, but my mind sees her kicking Jace again in the Whispering Woods. I turn away, and Miko’s struggling to get a hellhound off of her. My gaze falls to the ground, there’s a black vine laying in the dirt. I look back at the hellhound, and a smirk peeks at the corner of my lips.
Leaning over, I grab the vine. I pull it between the two of my hands, testing its strength, before holding it in my right. I spread my feet out, my left in front of the other, and I pull my arm back, whipping it forward. The vine turns into a long, thick whip. It grabs the hellhound around the neck. Yanking it off of Miko, it whimpers as its face crashes into the ground and it disappears into smoke.
I turn around and do the same with the one going after Rhiannon. It puts up a stronger fight and starts coming toward me. I let go of the vine and hold out my hands in front of me, palms facing out. I close my eyes.
The Midnight Strider (The Chronomancer Chronicles Book 2) Page 18