Nil Unlocked

by Lynne Matson

  Macy’s team was at the base of the mountain steps: Julio supporting Macy, her feet bare and bloody, a freckled girl I’d never seen cowering behind Brittney, who carried a load of torches.

  Thirty meters out, Zane and Michael were hauling ass toward the mountain; together they carried a motionless Sy, Zane’s chest and torso streaked with blood.

  Uri, Alexei, and Michael sprinted two steps behind. Cho loped even farther back.

  Skye.

  She was running, too. Toward me, holding Jillian’s hand, her free hand gripping a lit torch. Jillian’s clothes were soaked in blood. Behind her, black smoke billowed.

  Something was burning in the field.

  Dex and Paulo were nowhere in sight.

  The smoke shifted, and I saw the cat. A tiger paced alongside Skye fifteen meters away, tracking her progress toward the steps.

  NO.

  I bolted down the steps, blade out, toward the tiger. Skye was shouting at me now, her face flushed, pointing to my hand and shaking her head. The massive cat pressed forward, pacing her.

  Two more meters.

  I was almost close enough to take a shot. If I could land a decent blow on the cat, it would give Skye time to reach the steps.

  I slowed, cocked my arm, willed my blade to fly straight.

  “Get to the gate!” Skye yelled.

  When you’re safe.

  “Rives, no!” As Skye screamed, I released the blade and something hard hit my forearm with shocking force. My blade skittered across the rocks out of reach.

  “Run!” Paulo yelled. Beside me, he was lowering a stick.

  “What the hell?” I asked, scrambling after my knife.

  Paulo launched himself at me with surprising speed and grabbed my wrist.

  I shook him off like a gnat. “Stop defending this place!”

  “I’m not,” he snapped. “I’m saving your life. Now get to the gate.” He pushed me toward the stairs with all he had.

  I looked back. The tiger stood near the edge of the field, facing away from the mountain. Facing away from Skye, who flew to my side and wrapped her hand around mine. She jerked me forward. “The gate!” she cried.

  Blood trickled down her right ear.

  “What happened?”

  I reached up to touch her ear. She swatted my hand away. “The tiger,” she said breathlessly, pulling me with a grip of steel, “protects Nil. He saved me.”

  Above us, Macy’s team rounded the stairs out of sight. Ahmad’s group jogged a few meters back, almost at the top. Halfway up the stairs, Zane carried Sy, with Michael and Uri’s help.

  “What happened to Sy?” I asked. We were practically on Uri’s heels.

  “Hippo,” Jillian said. She climbed beside Skye, her eyes blank. Behind us, the meadow burned. Smoke filled the air, choking the blue.

  “Move!” Paulo yelled at my back. “It’s coming. Can’t you feel it?”

  I could.

  Tick.

  Around me the air pressed close, vibrating with an intensity that was still building. Like Nil was sucking in extra oxygen, taking a deep breath before her final exhale.

  We hit the platform and paused. The white sand filling the carving’s lines glinted in the brilliant Nil sun. Overhead, blue sky winked like freedom: no smoke, no steam. Everyone stood in a loose semicircle facing the black mountain, including Maaka.

  A gap in the circle stood out like a blank space on the Wall.

  “Where’s Dex?” I asked, panic rising. “He’s not here.” I swiveled toward the steps. Empty, like the gap in our circle.

  “He didn’t make it.” Skye’s soft voice shook.

  “What?” I spun back, stunned. No. Not Dex.

  Skye nodded, her eyes glistening with grief and sadness and guilt.

  Beside Skye, Jillian didn’t move. Didn’t speak. Eyes forward, a single tear ran down her blank face, a cutting flashback of Talla’s funeral crashing into the now. Watching Jillian, I knew it was true.

  Damn you, Nil, I thought, fighting to breathe. Why Dex? Why take the energy of one of the best? WHY DEX?

  I didn’t choose, the wind whispered.

  And then the air stilled.

  Completely.

  Total calm. Total peace.

  Hope and relief warred with grief and shock for top billing as the carving’s crisp lines blurred. One breath later, a shimmering gate lifted into the air, bigger and more defined and twenty times more brilliant than any gate I’d ever seen.

  I turned toward Skye; she was looking at me. My other hand found hers. Our eyes caught and time stopped.

  For an instant.

  For a lifetime.

  Skye was watching me walk up the beach, her smile making my breath catch; I was touching her cheek, feeling unhinged; Skye was walking behind me, guarding my back with a sharpness that made me proud; I was lifting her chin, drowning in heat; Skye was sitting beside me as I slept, her expression so tender I ached; I was holding Skye on the rocks, my expression defiant; Skye’s lips were on mine, making me want; I was writing words in the sand; Skye was cupping my face; I was kissing her; Skye was reaching for me; Skye was mouthing we’re more.

  I saw a hundred moments and felt a million more; I felt all the love and pride and strength and fear and hope Skye held in her heart, for me.

  We were more.

  It was Nil’s final gift. Glimpses of us, through Nil’s eyes.

  I blinked, still reeling. Skye’s lips curved into a slow smile, and I knew she saw the same. Felt the same.

  I didn’t have to tell her I loved her.

  She already knew.

  The gate snapped into place, the glistening air writhing with life.

  “Go,” she said softly. “Paulo and I will be last. It’s right.”

  I looked at Maaka. “You first.”

  He held my gaze, then without a word, he nodded, strode into the gate, and disappeared.

  One.

  Two.

  “Go!” I yelled at Julio.

  He went.

  One by one, everyone vanished. Into the gate, gone from Nil forever.

  Jillian turned around to face us as she stepped backward into the shimmering air. Her tears fell like rain, glistening like diamonds as she touched her fingers to her mouth, eyes closed. Then she was gone.

  It was just me, Skye, and Paulo.

  “Go!” Skye said, her face bloody, her stance badass and her steel-flecked eyes full of more life and fire than any person had a right to have. She was more; she was my everything.

  I cocked a smile and, pulling her close, I kissed her.

  Then I took the hardest step of my life. Away from Skye, toward the gate, knowing it was an argument I couldn’t win.

  At the last second, I turned, fully intent on pulling a Thad; no way in Nil hell was I leaving her behind with Paulo.

  I grabbed her arms, but something happened. Skye moved with ninja speed, putting her own slick move on me, like she’d read me first. It was me flying through air, me tumbling into the gate, me getting wrapped in heat. My last glimpse of Nil was bright blue flecked with silver clouds, steel in the sky. As the darkness flooded my bones and my head, my last thought was Damn. Krav Maga.

  I smiled, and then I was gone.

  CHAPTER

  75

  SKYE

  DAY 89, NOON

  My training with Yarin had paid off after all. Rives was gone.

  There was no time to savor the relief.

  I turned to Paulo, Nil falling away, everything shrinking into the microscope of this black rock platform; it was just me, Paulo, the writhing gate, and my overwhelming exhaustion.

  Only the exhaustion wasn’t mine.

  This was the end. The end of our time on Nil, the end of something set in motion by our ancestors. Tears spilled from my eyes; they tasted like salt and sea, like a drop of something bigger, a fraction of a whole.

  “Ready?” I said.

  He smiled. “Yeah. Skye, I’m glad you followed me. Now it’s my tur
n to follow you.”

  “Ladies first?” I teased. “Or afraid I’ll throw you in?”

  “Something like that.” He grinned. I’d never noticed how light his eyes were. Like sun-warmed caramel, his eyes were a gorgeous brown, full of depth and light and quiet strength.

  I hugged Paulo hard, this boy who was no longer broken, this boy who was more.

  “See you on the other side, my friend.” Then I dashed into the gate, spinning backward at the last minute like Jillian had done, so I could give Paulo a wave.

  I didn’t have to see the gate to know I’d made it.

  Heat clawed at me with greedy hands, pulling me deeper and squeezing me tight. Paulo gave me a thumbs-up and a smile, but as he faded, his expression changed. A shadow passed over his face like an eclipse, darkening his eyes from the inside out. Paulo gasped.

  Then he was gone.

  So was I.

  Falling through blackness, plummeting deeper into invisible flames hotter than the meadow’s fire. Then the flames turned to ice. A steel door slammed shut behind me, cold and impenetrable; there was no light, no sound. No boundaries.

  I drifted away.

  Lost.

  Pulled not in one direction but two … stretched and torn and ready to splinter.

  Until, through the darkness, I heard the voice that pulled me back. Pulled me through. The barest whisper, streaking through time. Through me.

  Skye.

  With all I had left, I reached for that voice.

  CHAPTER

  76

  RIVES

  DAY 365, AFTER NOON

  I woke on black rock.

  My cheek lay centimeters away from a carving of the sun with an eye in the middle, but this wasn’t Nil. A man with cargo shorts, sunglasses, salt-and-pepper hair, and a strong grip helped me to my feet and pulled me away from the gate.

  “Here, son,” he said, smiling behind his Ray-Bans. I realized he was holding out a pair of black gym shorts and a gray T-shirt. I glanced up, automatically searching for Skye. Everyone had traded their island wear for workout wear, all wearing the same shell-shocked expression. All staring at the gate. All still waiting.

  No Skye.

  Her ninja move came roaring back.

  I spun around, pulse racing. Nil’s clock roared in my head, reaching through time and space and me, counting down to freedom and life and hope and more—or to the deepest, cruelest, most crushing Nil scar ever.

  Tick.

  No Skye.

  It was taking too long.

  Barely breathing, I stared at the glittering gate in the air as it writhed on invisible hooks. A silver, iridescent plane, reflecting me. I looked wild and reckless and furious and like hell on Earth.

  I was on Earth.

  Without Skye.

  SKYE!

  I screamed in my head, desperate for her. She had to make it. She was in my soul, in me; Nil had linked us so completely I couldn’t breathe without her.

  Tick.

  SKYE!

  I was that man windmilling on the edge of a cliff, knowing that if I fell, this time I’d shatter, broken beyond repair.

  I would not let Nil break me.

  I stepped back, closed my eyes, and with everything I had, I reached into the deepest part of me; I reached for Skye.

  Skye, I whispered, holding fast the part of me that belonged to her, refusing to give up.

  Please.

  Like Nil had heard me, the gate turned flat black. Endless, colorless black, like death in the air.

  The ultimate reveal.

  Friend or foe.

  Life or death.

  Skye. There was no alternative.

  Time stalled.

  Tick.

  One second.

  Tock.

  A mane of wild blond fell out of the gate, surrounding a heart-shaped face with closed eyes and wet lashes. Dark blood streaked down the side of her ear, deep ruby slashes against her cheek.

  I reached her first, barely.

  “Skye,” the man beside me said. His voice broke. He threw a fleece blanket over us, covering Skye as I gently picked her up; I cradled her as if she were made of glass. Her heart beat slow and steady, the perfect tick-tock.

  Behind her, the gate shifted back to a mirror.

  The man flipped his sunglasses onto his head and wiped away tears. His steel-flecked eyes were startlingly familiar. He caught my eye and stepped away.

  Skye opened her eyes and blinked.

  “Rives,” she breathed, her eyes finding mine.

  “My Skye.” The words caught on the knot in my throat. She was radiant, fully alive. In my arms, out of Nil’s grip.

  “I heard you,” she whispered, her voice awed, her eyes full of love and wonder. “In my head. You pulled me through. You pulled me here.”

  “Always.” I grinned. “I had to do something after that little Krav Maga move you put on me.”

  It was Skye’s turn to grin.

  “We did it,” she said.

  “No. You did it. None of us would be here if it weren’t for you.”

  Over the carving, the gate shimmered.

  “You can put me down now,” Skye said, rolling her eyes, still smiling. She wrapped herself in the blanket as I set her on her feet.

  Around us, all eyes were still on the gate. Its brilliance flickered. Like a power surge.

  Paulo, I thought. The last rider’s coming.

  With an eerie hiss, the gate collapsed, snapping back on itself, just like every inbound on Nil I’d ever seen. Nothing flashy, nothing like a Nil finale. Just Nil business as usual, which right now felt monumentally wrong. The gate shrank to a black dot and disappeared.

  The doorway had closed.

  “Paulo,” Skye whispered, her eyes wide with shock. “He didn’t make it.”

  Paulo’s on Nil. Nil’s still alive.

  We’d saved all but one, but it was like beheading the Hydra; Nil would just grow back, strong and powerful, and Paulo was there to fuel the darkness.

  “Rives.” Skye still stared at the spot where the gate had vanished, like it might pop back up and spit Paulo out any second. “Paulo was right behind me. He was ready to follow; I know it. But at the last second, something happened.”

  I frowned. “Was he attacked?”

  She shook her head. “He was alone on the platform. It was like something changed his mind, or delayed him enough to miss the gate. His expression—” She broke off. “I can’t explain it. But it’s like the decision wasn’t his.”

  It made no sense. Nil was tired, working toward island rest. Permanent rest. If Nil wanted to die, why keep Paulo?

  “I don’t know,” Skye said. “I don’t understand it, either.” She looked at me, then her eyes drifted over my shoulder and her mouth fell open. “Dad!” Wrapped in the blanket, she ran over and hugged the guy standing beside the grocery bag full of gym clothes.

  “Skye.” His voice was thick with emotion. “I thought I’d lost you.”

  “Totally fine here, Dad. You trained me to take care of myself, remember?” She gave him another big hug, then let go and grinned, stepping back to find my hand with hers.

  “I also remember telling you to stick with me.” His calm tone and fierce gaze was Skye’s in dad form.

  “Skye doesn’t always follow directions,” I said, shooting her a quick grin before sticking out my hand. “Dr. Bracken, I’m Rives Martin-Taylor. Good to meet you, sir.”

  He shook my hand, carefully sizing me up before he smiled. “Likewise.” Then he turned to Skye and pointed to her blanket. “How about some clothes?”

  Around us, life returned one second at a time, like blood flowing back into numb limbs. Macy was smiling; Ahmad was hugging Kiera; Michael talked with Cho. Uri stood apart, head bowed. Miya looked restless; Maaka was nowhere in sight. Zane held Jillian. Her entire bearing screamed shock.

  “Be right back.” I squeezed Skye’s hand, then walked over to Jillian, knowing Skye and her dad needed some space and
I needed to make sure Jillian was okay.

  Zane looked at me as I approached. “Hey, Chief.” His eyes were bloodshot.

  “How’re you holding up, Z?”

  “Okay.” He nodded. He let go of Jillian. She turned to me, her gaze both hollow and hurt. Relief took a backseat to her pain.

  “Jills,” I said. “I’m so sorry.”

  She hugged me, hard. “Me too. It just sucks, you know? So close, Rives. We were so close.”

  “I know.” I didn’t ask for details. Part of me didn’t want to know, didn’t want another bloody visual I couldn’t erase. It didn’t matter how it happened; it was over. Dex was another Nil casualty.

  A gap on the Wall. Another Nil scar, for all of us.

  “You’re gonna be okay,” I said quietly.

  “I know.” The fierceness in Jillian won out. “And I know more of my friends made it back than died. But I still hate it. It’s not fair. I think”—she swallowed—“we could’ve been something.”

  Something more, I thought.

  Sometimes Nil’s unknowns followed you home.

  “Where’s Sy?” Zane asked sharply. He was looking around. “Michael and I tossed him in the gate. He wasn’t conscious, but he was breathing.”

  Michael’s head turned at the mention of his name.

  “Sy?” I called, letting go of Jillian.

  Michael walked over, shaking his head. “Didn’t make it. Lost in between.”

  Jillian shuddered. “That’s awful.”

  “Dude, I didn’t even know that could happen,” Zane said. “I thought gate trips were a given.”

  I thought of Heesham, throwing Miguel in the gate. I’d always assumed Miguel made it through. I gritted my teeth, reminded of how nothing on Nil was guaranteed, not even in escape. Nothing’s a given, I thought. Not when Nil’s involved.

  Standing here, free of Nil, I’d never been more grateful.

  Skye’s dad whistled. “I’m Skye’s dad, for those I haven’t met. When you’re ready, the boat’s at the beach,” he called. “It’s stocked with food and drinks. No fish.” He winked. “Take your time.” He pointed toward a path through the trees, waved, and started walking.