by Meg Collett
He pulled back in surprise. “What?”
“Because it was the size of the pinto bean when I found out. It sort of stuck.”
“Holy shit, Ollie, we’re not naming our child after a bean.”
“A nickname, then?”
“Hell no.”
I poked his chest. “Just wait. It’ll stick. You won’t be able to resist calling it Pinto.”
He groaned but pulled me back against him, my belly—our Pinto—between us. It felt right. It felt safe. It felt like Ms. Brightly’s lemon meringue pie on Sunday afternoons.
It felt like all the best things in the world.
F O U R T E E N
Sunny
In the days after the attack in Port Lions, the news didn’t get better.
Across the island, the rabid aswangs ravaged more homes and fishing villages. They were Milhousse’s mad army, and they were sweeping across Kodiak Island, ripping into all the communities and towns on the island. The city of Kodiak was the bull’s-eye at the center of the storm. The aswangs would soon reach it and the fourteen thousand people who lived there.
The hunters of Fear University were the counterbalance to the infestation. We were the ones who cleaned up the mess before the rest of the world caught wind of what was happening. But they were catching on; the facts were undeniable, and there was nothing we could do about it. We were trapped in our glass castle with our own wolves prowling the perimeter. We were under siege while innocent people were dying beyond the reach of our protection.
There was almost no denying it now. This couldn’t be blamed on a natural disaster. These ’swangs were Milhousses’s doing, even Ollie could admit that.
Hand in hand with that was the understanding Dean was nearby.
I could almost feel his presence like a chiming divining rod above an underground spring.
I had a quick bag packed within ten minutes. Most of the students were in the communal areas, watching news of the attacks, and the dorms were completely silent. My footsteps rang off the stairs as I climbed down. My backpack hung heavy between my shoulders.
It had been days since we’d heard from Zero, and I was worried. Even though it was part of our pact that we didn’t ask about her wellbeing or life outside of the dark woods we always found her in, I had to know she was okay. The woods were dangerous, more so than before. Maybe, just this once, she’d come back to the school with me.
I gritted my teeth and swung through the front door of the school, striding into the dark.
“And where the hell do you think you’re going?”
I skidded to a stop and swung around. Thad had a foot propped on the wall beside the front door and his arms crossed, his dirty blond hair tumbling into his face. With a flip of his head, he shook his hair away and straightened off the wall, cornflower blue eyes narrowed at me.
“None of your business,” I said, turning to go, and almost ran right into Hatter.
“She’s going after Zero,” he said with a dark scowl.
“Good idea,” Thad added. “Go out into the woods where hundreds of ’swangs are roaming around with the sole purpose of picking off hunters.”
My heart leaped over him calling me a hunter, but I shoved it aside. I had arguing to do.
“I have a plan, and I’m not going far. I just have to warn her. She doesn’t know.”
Thad snorted. “That girl knows everything that goes on out there. She’s fine, Sunny.”
“I’ll go with you,” Hatter said.
I shot a surprised glance at Hatter. For a second, I couldn’t find the words. “You will?”
He shrugged a shoulder. “You’ll need backup, and I doubt we’ll convince you not to go.”
Suspicion tightened in my belly like a cramp. “Why are you being so helpful?”
Before he could answer, Thad said, “Maybe it’s best if you stay here. I’ll go with her.”
“If you think for one second you’re taking her out there alone, then you’ve lost what little bit of a brain you had left,” Hatter said, his lips peeling back in a snarl.
Thad smirked wider. “And what? You’re taking her? With one arm? How’s that gonna work, Hatty?”
Hatter’s body jerked, and he glanced down at his arm as if he’d forgotten. His face turned red.
When he opened his mouth, I held up my hand and stepped between the guys. “I don’t need either of you to ‘take me’ anywhere. I can do this myself.”
I shouldered between them. Without glancing back, I strode away. It was a fool’s hope, but when I saw two long shadows stretch out on either side of mine, I sighed in disappointment.
I stopped and whirled to face them. “I need to talk to Zero. And she won’t talk to me if you’re there.” I pointed at Thad, my brows raised. I swung my gaze to Hatter. “And she especially won’t come out if you’re stomping through the woods with that attitude of yours.”
“You’re not going alone, Sunny. It’s too dangerous with Ollie’s pack prowling the fences.”
Beside Thad, Hatter’s shoulders twitched as if he’d been about to cross his arms as well. Instead, he just stuffed his hand into his coat pocket. “The idiot is right. It’s not safe. So, you can either deal with us going”—Hatter shot a glare at Thad—“or you’re staying here.”
I growled at them. But my growls never scared anyone. They sounded more like kitten noises.
I could admit they had a point. The woods were especially unsafe right now, and while I trusted my ability to sneak past the pack, it would be better to have backup. I had to find Zero. She had to know it wasn’t safe out there. But how I planned on getting out of the school without the pack noticing turned my stomach when I looked at Hatter.
I didn’t think he could manage it. I opened my mouth to explain, to tell him he couldn’t do it, but the words wouldn’t come.
“Fine,” I said weakly instead.
Rather than head to the front gates, I angled toward the back of the school. It wasn’t that I planned on sneaking out of the school, but I needed to sneak past Ollie’s pack members, or Sibyl’s members now, who were assuredly watching the front gate.
Without explanation, I climbed up the rook’s nest ladder, the rungs warped and splintered from lack of use. The area up top smelled musty. The guards who patrolled this part of the fence only used the nest for shelter or to pass through. I set my bag down on the floor, pulled out my rope, and went about securing it to the opposite wall.
When I dropped the long tail over the side of the fence, Thad whistled low. “Smart. Sneaky, but smart.”
Hatter glared at me. “Is this how you’ve been sneaking out?”
“Both of you can shut up anytime now, unless you want the pack on our heels,” I whispered.
Hatter turned his glare on the rope. His jaw clenched and released with every breath. He was calculating his chances. Maybe he could get down, but could he get back up? I didn’t think so, and from the darkening storm on his face, he realized that too.
“I’m sorry, Hatter,” I murmured. “It’s the only way out.”
Thad glanced between us and then at Hatter’s loose sleeve pinned to his side. I shot him a dark look, my eyes pleading with him to leave it alone. Surprising me completely, he said, “Nothing will happen to her.”
Hatter jerked his face away to look back at the school. Between gritted teeth, he said, “It better not, or I’ll kill you.”
“I’ll go first,” Thad told me, reaching for the rope.
I stepped out of his reach and fastened a metal braking system to the rope. When I climbed up on the nest’s railing, both Thad and Hatter instinctively moved to help me. I ignored them. Looping the rope around my foot, I used the hand brake to descend the wall in one smooth, gliding motion. When I hit the ground, I released the brake and stepped out of the rope. It quickly ascended back up the wall.
Thad came down next, moving fast like he’d done this a million times. He hit the ground and looked up. Hatter stared down at us, his red hair flutter
ing in the night breeze.
Thad saluted Hatter. So much for being a nice guy. I punched him in the stomach. His breath left him in a wheezing whoosh. “What was that for?” he gasped.
“You know why,” I hissed.
“You didn’t have to punch me.”
“Shut up.”
I stalked into the woods on silent feet, my hand ready near my knives. Thad stayed close with his gun drawn. The woods were right at the edge of the old hunting grid Ollie and I had been assigned to. We’d often met Zero out here, and I hoped beyond hope she was nearby.
“Zero,” I whispered.
“That’s your plan? To come out here and call her like a lost puppy?”
I pulled out a knife and raised my brows.
Thad lifted his hand off his gun, holding it up in surrender. “Ollie is rubbing off on you. You used to be sweet.”
It had been a mistake to let him come. I should have pretended to return to my dorm and then sneaked out later. I rolled my eyes at him before turning back to the shadow-strewn trees.
“Zero?”
If she was close, she didn’t show herself. I walked deeper into the woods, farther than I wanted to go, hoping she would unfold from the shadows.
But every step we took, and every second spent out here, brought us closer to running across a pack member.
“Why won’t she just come to the fence? Or to a rook’s nest? This is ridiculous.”
I took a steadying breath. “Because of Sam. She wants him to feel safe at the school, and he wouldn’t if he ever saw her there.”
“Can’t imagine why he would feel that way.”
I stopped and stared at him until he met my gaze. “You of all people know why she is the way she is.”
“Just because she tortured me for weeks doesn’t mean I have some great insight into her soul.” But his jaw clenched, and it wasn’t as easy for him to meet my eyes.
“You know, Thad. You saw her when she thought the Commander was real. She’s done bad things, but she’s not bad. There are far worse things in the world than a broken girl who calls the shadows home.”
He didn’t respond, and from the stony expression on his face, I didn’t expect him to. I continued into the woods, searching behind every tree for a ripple in the darkness. I called Zero’s name a few more times to no avail.
Finally, when I’d gone beyond my old hunting grid, I stopped.
“Zero,” I said to the darkness, “if you’re out there, know the pack isn’t safe anymore. Milhousse’s aswangs are attacking towns all over the island. The pack turned on Ollie, and we’re stuck at the school.” I took a deep breath, my shoulders shaking with the effort. “If you can hear me, please come to the school. It’s not safe out here.”
I stared at the darkness, but I was just a crazy girl talking to shadows. My heart ached, though there was nothing more I could do. Zero, more than anyone else, would be okay out here. At least, that’s what I told myself.
Quieter, so Thad wouldn’t hear, I whispered, “I’m sorry, Z.”
When I turned to go, I sensed a flutter in the corner of my vision and froze.
Slowly, I turned to face the anomaly. A pair of smoky gray eyes appeared first, and then like she was stepping through a shroud of smoke, Zero materialized from the dark.
Her black skin gleamed in the moonlight. She wore her dark pants and worn shirt. Her hair was braided back, her heart-shaped face stark and her eyes wide as saucers.
“The pack turned,” she said.
Thad spun toward us. He hadn’t been paying attention, and he hadn’t seen her come up. Some hunter.
“Ollie is fine,” I said, answering her unspoken question. “She conceded the fight before it went too far.”
Zero cocked her head. Had she even blinked once since I’d seen her? I didn’t think so. “Sibyl allowed that?”
“She’ll be back.”
Zero dipped her chin. “You’ll need to be ready. It’ll be your fight.”
Behind me, Thad tensed. He stepped forward, pulling Zero’s gaze to him. The edges of her skin rippled, already transforming back into shadows.
I stepped in front of Thad to block his line of sight. “I know. I’ll be ready,” I told her.
“I’ll be around.”
“Will you come back to the school with us?” She was almost gone when the words tumbled out of my mouth.
Her face was always blank, but somehow, the blankness turned blanker. Her eyes were far away when she said, “I don’t like the shadows there. They don’t want to let me go.”
I shivered. What did she feel when she moved through the shadows? Were the shadows like hands grabbing onto her, trying to pull her back in? I pictured a great, dark lake and bony fingers wrapped around my ankle, dragging me down as the black waters closed above my head.
“Just be careful,” I said.
She started to nod, but her eyes flicked over my shoulder.
I turned.
And gasped.
“Sam,” I whispered. “What are you doing out here?”
The young man stood next to Thad, his lanky body trembling like a bare limb in winter. He held a long machete in his hand. The metal winked at me.
Sam didn’t look at me. He only watched Zero, who was far too solid at my side.
“Go,” I told her. “Go.”
She didn’t move. She just stared at Sam as if she were seeing a ghost. Maybe she was.
She had killed his entire family in front of him.
It didn’t take a genius to realize why Sam was out here.
“Sam.” I started toward him. “You don’t want to do this.”
He lifted the blade toward me. Thad skirted around him and wrapped his hand around my arm, tugging me away from the young man. When I tried to pull free, Thad’s grip tightened.
“Let me go,” I hissed.
“This isn’t about you.”
I jerked my face up to Thad. “You knew he was following us.”
Thad’s eyes were dark when he answered, “I suspected.”
“You idiot.” I thrashed against his hold, but he held tight.
“Do it, Sam.” Zero was fully fleshed out, her body as solid as mine. I tried to warn her with my eyes, I tried to tell her that he would kill her, but she wouldn’t look at me. “Sam,” she whispered softly. “I deserve it. I don’t blame you. No one would blame you. Please. Please. I’m so sorry.”
He shuddered. The knife glinted in his hand.
“Sam,” I said, trying to pull his attention to where I stood a few feet away in Thad’s grip. But no one would look at me. Why wouldn’t anyone look at me? “Sam, you don’t want to do this.”
“You killed them. Right in front of me.”
Zero trembled. “I know. I know.”
How many people had she killed? How many others would line up behind Sam to take her down? But how many knew she spent her time in the dark, by herself, in the house where her family had lived after they’d turned her over to Dean’s experiments?
I tried to move again, but Thad’s grip remained ever tight. His other hand went around my waist. He pulled me against his side as if he might hug me. I elbowed his ribs hard. He took the blow with a soft grunt.
“They’re dead because of you.” Sam’s small voice didn’t contain the rage it had. Now it was thick with anguish, wrenching up from somewhere deep and broken inside him.
“I know. I know.”
“Sam,” I tried again, struggling against Thad. “Sam, please don’t. Put the knife down.”
He didn’t look away from Zero. She stepped forward, folding in and out of the shadows like a coil of smoke. The knife jerked in Sam’s hand. Why did she want to die? Why was she doing this? Didn’t she understand Sam couldn’t kill her? It would only hurt him worse in the end.
“You slit their throats. I’ve dreamed of slitting yours.”
Zero whispered, “I know.”
“They’re gone,” he said, steadying his hand, “because of you. I’m alo
ne because of you.”
“I know. I know.”
“I promised them I’d make you pay. On their memories, I promised to kill you.”
Without my noticing, Zero was closer. Too close. Sam moved too quickly. The knife slashed through the air.
“Sam!” I screamed. It was like a gunshot ringing through the woods.
I lunged against Thad’s hold.
Zero could have moved. Could have blinked into the night and saved herself. But she didn’t. Of course, she didn’t. She wanted this. She needed this. How long had she been waiting for this?
The only sound I heard was the soft whoosh of air that escaped her lips as Sam buried the blade deep into her abdomen.
She sagged forward.
Sam pulled the blade back and stabbed her again.
“No!” I shouted.
Sam stepped back and let her fall to the ground. She dropped to her knees, one palm forward to catch herself before she hit the ground face first. She touched her other hand to her wounds. Already, in the moonlight, I saw the wet shine of darkness on her hand.
Too much blood. Too much.
This time, when I jerked against Thad’s grip, he released me, and I catapulted forward. Stumbling, I shoved Sam back, and he staggered into a tree. I fell to the ground beside Zero and checked her stomach. I could barely find the wounds for the blood. I wrapped my arm around her and pressed my other hand to her belly to staunch the flow of blood. It was bad. It was really bad.
“Shoot,” I hissed. “Shoot. Shoot. Shoot.”
Behind me, the blade hit the leaves. I looked back to find Sam backpedaling, his eyes wide and locked on Zero as if he hadn’t believed he could do it until he had, until he saw her on the ground.
“Get help!” I screamed at him. “Get help now!”
He turned and ran. Whether he would send help, I didn’t know.
If he didn’t, Zero would die.
“We have to get her back,” I told Thad, pleading with him.
He shook his head. “We move her and she’ll bleed out.”
Tears burned my throat. I helped Zero lie back onto the ground, her body curled around her bleeding stomach.