The Shattered Dark

by Sandy Williams

  “It’s beautiful,” I say again. Aren’s watching me, his thoughts unreadable in his silver eyes. He doesn’t look away until we near the base of the palace. He calls out to the guards watching us through hidden slits in the wall, and the small doorway beside the big, elaborate gate opens, allowing us entry.

  “You should try to get some rest before we fissure to Boulder,” Aren says once we’re inside.

  Lena’s decided to give the vigilantes time to pack up and leave for Cleveland, so we have a few hours before I need to be ready to go. Sleep isn’t a bad idea, so I nod and tell him I’ll meet him later.

  I head to my room to get as much rest as I can, but when I turn down the corridor that leads to the second level of the residential wing, I see Paige scrambling across the floor on her hands and knees.

  “Paige?” I say, walking toward her.

  She’s heading away from me, but she looks over her shoulder when she hears my voice, and her eyes grow wide. “It wasn’t me.”

  “What wasn’t—” I stop. In front of her, a fae lies unconscious on the floor. I’m not sure who it is. His face is bloody, and he has at least two bruises swelling up near his right temple. He didn’t go down on the first hit.

  “It was Lee.” Paige rises to her feet. “He’s gone after his brother.”

  I curse. More than one fae should have been watching their doors.

  I start to move past her—I have to find Naito before Lee does—but she grabs my arm.

  “Don’t involve the fae,” she says. “Please. I can talk to him.”

  “He’s already involved them.” I jab a finger toward the fae on the ground, who’s beginning to stir.

  She looks down. “I know, but we had a fight, and I said some things…”

  “He’s a vigilante,” I say. “Do you know what that is?”

  “No.” She meets my eyes. “But he’s not the person he’s trying to be. I swear, McKenzie.”

  “Vigilantes hate fae. They hate humans who help fae.” I start down the corridor again—I don’t have time to stand here and have this conversation. Paige follows.

  “Did the remnants not know what he was?” I ask when I reach a staircase. I take the steps two at a time.

  “He’s never acted like he hates the fae,” Paige says, descending behind me. “He just thinks they’re dangerous and he’s…I can take care of myself, but he’s looked out for me.”

  We reach the bottom of the stairs. They lead out to the arched covered walkway that surrounds the statue garden. Only a few fae are here right now. I spot a guard and head toward him.

  “I thought you hated Lee,” I say to Paige even though I suspected otherwise.

  “I want to hate him,” she says. “I met him at Amy’s wedding. He asked to meet you, but you were with Aren, so we hung out. Hooked up. He’s actually fun when he’s not being an idiot.”

  “You said yourself he was using you to find Naito.”

  “And Aren is using you to fight the Court fae,” she counters.

  I glare at her, but she has a point. Aren and I started off all wrong. “He’s not using me anymore.” He loves me—I’m 100 percent certain of that—and he’d do anything for me.

  I veer toward the guard. Paige notices where I’m heading immediately.

  “Please don’t involve the rebels.”

  I stop to look at her. She changed out of her wet clothes. Someone delivered new ones. The narrow-sleeved white top looks more like a jacket than a shirt. It’s laced up the middle, and the two tails flow over her hips. The tan skirt is short—I think she ripped off the lower half—but she’s compensated for that with boots that reach up to her knees. Everything is fae-made, but somehow, it all looks like something she’d pull out of her own closet.

  This is Paige, I remind myself. My friend. She’s never asked me for anything, and she’s always been there for me even though I haven’t always been there for her, but if anything happens to Naito…

  No. I can’t risk it just because she asks.

  “I’m sorry,” I say.

  There’s a glimmer of hurt in her blue eyes when she releases my arm. It’s gone in an instant, replaced by a carefully neutral expression.

  “I understand,” she lies.

  It feels like someone’s stabbed my chest from the inside. I’m going to lose my only friend, I realize, and it’s like I’m losing my last connection to my human life. Paige has always put up with my eccentricities and random disappearances. She’s always made me feel normal. I guess I finally need to accept that I’m not. I never will be.

  “I’m sorry,” I say again, then I start walking toward the guard. It’s possible Lee passed by here, and the fae didn’t detain him. Under Atroth’s reign, humans were hardly ever stopped or questioned as long as we stayed in the public areas of the palace. It was assumed that, unless the fae were told otherwise, we belonged here. I know Lena is suspicious of Paige and Lee—that’s why she put a guard outside their door—but I don’t know if she’s issued a general alert to all her people.

  I’m only a few steps away from the guard when I see movement in the corner of my vision. Lee leans against the wall in the covered walkway opposite the one Paige and I stepped out of. He slides down it, sinking to the ground then propping his arms up on his bent knees. Blood covers one of his hands.

  Please don’t let it be Naito’s blood.

  I hear Paige take in a breath. She moves toward him before I do, but I’m at her side a second later.

  “Lee?” Paige says when we reach him.

  He doesn’t raise his head. “I couldn’t do it.”

  Thank God. The blood on his hand is his own. I can see the cuts and broken skin on his knuckles.

  “I should have been able to do it,” he says.

  Paige stares down at him. “Are you serious? You’re talking about killing a person. You’re talking about killing your brother.”

  “I hate my brother.” His words come out more like a question than a statement of fact. “I’m supposed to hate the fae. They’ve been trying to kill my father for years.”

  His father has been trying to kill them for years, but I don’t correct Lee.

  “I’ve been telling myself Dad just needs closure, that he just needs to kill the fae who killed my mother, but I’m as delusional as he is. Naito’s right. Dad’s obsessed. Insane. He has to be to order me to kill my brother. I have to be crazy to consider it.”

  “You’re not crazy,” Paige says. “You’re an idiot. What happened to your hand?”

  He finally looks up at her. “A wall hit it.”

  She sinks down beside him. “Like I said, you’re an idiot.”

  “It was a wooden wall,” he adds, a hint of sarcastic humor invading his tone. “I didn’t expect it to break.”

  She rolls her eyes as she inspects his injured hand. Paige went to nursing school for something like two weeks before she dropped out, but she’s still into things like blood and stitches and broken bones. There’s plenty of that here in the Realm.

  I lean a shoulder against the wall and look down at them, at the way he watches her face as she unties the ribbon that’s playing the role of a belt around her waist. She uses it to dab at the blood on his hand. It’s obvious Lee cares about her.

  “Paige mentioned you were looking for me at her sister’s wedding,” I say after they stand. “You knew about my involvement with the fae. How? And how did you know to look for me at the reception?”

  He raises an eyebrow in Paige’s direction. When she nods, he says, “A fae told my father your name.”

  “In person?” I ask.

  “Yeah.”

  “Do you know who the fae was?” Aren and Lena think Atroth gave my name to the vigilantes, knowing that they’d find and kill me, but Kyol has sworn that’s not true. I don’t know what to believe. Nakano’s people did track my cell phone and attack the place where the rebels were holding me in Germany, and it’s clear they had no problem with killing me, but I trust Kyol’s word. He sa
ys Atroth wanted me back alive, not dead.

  Lee shakes his head. “I never saw the fae. I didn’t inject myself with the serum until Dad left for Germany. He called when they didn’t capture you. He told me to check out your place in Houston, so I flew down there.”

  The vigilantes were not trying to capture me, but I let him continue.

  “I broke into your apartment and listened to your answering machine. There were enough messages from Paige threatening to kick your ass if you didn’t show up at the wedding that I figured you’d be there if you were able to. I found the invitation, went to the mansion, asked for Paige, and…”

  He fades off, looking to the right. I turn. Lord Hison is there. He’s watching us, walking slowly—even by human standards slowly—through the sculpture garden. He doesn’t glance away when he sees me looking in his direction. He doesn’t look any happier to see Paige and Lee now than he did when he passed us exiting the throne room. He’d rather this war be fought without human help.

  “Let’s go back to our rooms,” I tell the others. I don’t want to talk out in public like this. Besides, they look as tired as I do, and if I want to be useful in Boulder, I need at least a couple hours of sleep.

  I escort them back to the residential wing. It’s not until we reach the second level that I remember the fae Lee knocked out. He’s not lying on the ground anymore. A new guard is here, and when I step into the corridor, his hand goes to the hilt of his sword. Then Lee and Paige emerge from the staircase after me, and the fae’s gaze moves to them.

  I turn to look at them, too. Paige’s eyebrows are raised. How am I going to explain away what happened? I think Lee is okay now, and I don’t want the fae to be pissed at him.

  “There was a misunderstanding,” I try, facing the guard again. “Is the other fae okay?”

  The guard doesn’t answer for a moment. It’s long enough for me to wonder if he speaks English. Finally, he nods. “He’s fine. I’m to take over his watch.”

  “Is anyone else looking for us?” Paige is whispering to me, but fae have good hearing. The guard shakes his head.

  “I was about to call for a search,” he says.

  There’s no need for that now. “They’re going back to their rooms.”

  I motion for them to go.

  “Paige—” Lee begins.

  She takes his hand, looks into his eyes, and says, very deliberately, “You can stay with me.”

  Apparently, Paige has forgiven Lee. Either that or she wants to keep an eye on him. The guard doesn’t seem to mind them slipping into the same room. Neither do I. Hopefully, they’ll get a decent night’s sleep.

  And, hopefully, I’ll get at least a couple of hours of rest.

  MY door slams open, jarring me awake.

  “McKenzie!”

  I leap out of bed as Lena storms into my room. My leg gets caught in my blanket. I hit my knees, get back up.

  “Where are they?” she demands, inches from my face.

  I’m groggy and off-balance. It takes a second to focus on her, and when I do, I take a step back. Damn. I haven’t seen this look on her face since she ended one of my escape attempts in Germany.

  “Paige and Lee?” I guess. I can’t think of anyone else who would make her this angry.

  “Of course Paige and Lee,” she snaps.

  “They’re gone?” Even though I know Lena wouldn’t have stormed in like this if they were safely tucked in their rooms, I can’t keep the note of disbelief from my voice. Lee already surprised a guard and escaped once. The second guard would have been more alert.

  Or maybe he’d be less alert because who would have thought he’d try to escape again?

  Lena grabs a fistful of my shirt. “If you don’t tell me exactly where they are, by the Sidhe, I’ll ban you from the Realm.”

  I grab her hand, try to loosen it from my shirt. “Lena. I didn’t—”

  “I thought you wouldn’t do this,” she says, shoving me back. “But they’re gone, McKenzie. They couldn’t have made it out of the palace on their own.”

  “And I’m the only one who could have possibly helped them escape.” Sarcasm probably isn’t the best way to address Lena when she’s this pissed, but I didn’t do this.

  “She’s your friend—the only friend you think you have.” There’s a note of something in her voice. Is she suggesting she’s my friend?

  “Lena, don’t!” Aren sprints into my room. When he sees me, he stops and visibly relaxes. “She didn’t kill you.”

  I scowl. He’s a little too lighthearted about that.

  “They were both in Paige’s room when I went to sleep,” I say. “They had a guard.”

  “Their guard is dead,” Lena interrupts. “Lord Hison saw you with them.”

  “But that was”—God, this is going to sound incriminating—“the first time Lee broke out.”

  Aren’s eyebrows go up. I give him a shrug that says, “Yeah, I screwed up,” but there’s no apology in it.

  I turn back to Lena. “Look, we’re wasting time. How long until we’re supposed to leave for Boulder?”

  “A little over an hour,” Aren answers.

  “I couldn’t have been asleep for more than twenty minutes, then.”

  Aren’s posture changes, becoming more alert, more ready for action. “They haven’t had time to leave the city yet.”

  Lena mumbles something in Fae.

  “They’ll try for the gate.” I’m fairly certain of that. Otherwise, it’s a rough journey through the Corrist Mountains to get to the Missing Gate on their northeastern edge. That’s the next nearest place humans can safely fissure.

  I slept in my clothes, so all I have to do is stuff my feet into my sneakers, then grab my sketchbook off the hook hanging beside the door, and I’m ready to go.

  “We can intercept them,” I say, stepping into the corridor. I almost barrel into a fae. Jacia.

  She steadies me with a hand on my elbow. Edarratae pool under her palm until she releases me, then focuses on the two fae still in my room.

  “The remnant, Tylan, is missing,” she reports.

  “I definitely had nothing to do with that,” I say to Lena. She gives me a look that is extremely unamused.

  “Notify Taltrayn,” she tells Jacia.

  Jacia acknowledges the order with a nod and departs. Aren and I leave right after her, heading the opposite way down the corridor. Aren’s walking quickly even for a fae, so I have to run to keep up. I’m not at a full sprint, though—I couldn’t keep that pace up for long—but we’re out of the palace and in the Inner City in just a few minutes.

  “You should run ahead,” I tell Aren.

  “I’m staying with you,” he says. “Tylan is an illusionist. We need your eyes.”

  My side is starting to cramp. I concentrate on drawing air into my lungs, then blowing it out. I don’t want to slow him down any more than I already am.

  I’m sweating, but a cool wind blows from the south, chilling my skin, and I think I hear a rumble of thunder. The sky was clear before I went to sleep. It’s not clear anymore. Thick, gray clouds are gathering above the Inner City.

  “Wait up.”

  Slowing down, I look over my shoulder and see Naito running toward us.

  Aren stops. “Why aren’t you on watch?”

  “Taltrayn told me to go to the gate with you,” he says. Then he looks at me. “You’re supposed to go to the veligh. Watch for remnants there. It’s safer than this.”

  Aren mutters something in Fae about a fool. I can practically feel him seething beside me. He’s probably taking this personally. I don’t really blame him. Kyol has no business overturning Aren’s decision.

  My hand tightens on the strap of my sketchbook. “I can’t get there in time to be any help.”

  “And I’m not letting you run back through the Inner City without an escort.” Aren puts an arm on my shoulder, moves me toward the silver wall. “You’re both coming to the gate.”

  It’s less than a mile t
o the northwest portcullis. It’s closed. Two fae standing guard watch us approach. Others are here as well, but hidden at their posts somewhere within the wall, watching the Outer City. After a few quick words from Aren, one of the swordsmen touches the wall behind him. A faint blue line climbs its silver surface. As it rises, so does the portcullis.

  The other swordsman says, “We haven’t seen anyone approach the gate.”

  Naito steps between me and Aren. “Maybe they haven’t left the palace.”

  “Taltrayn will find them if they haven’t,” Aren says. Then he asks the swordsman, “How many are on watch above?”

  “Eleven,” is the reply.

  “Send six down. Three to protect the humans and three with me.” He ducks under the portcullis with a motion for Naito and me to follow.

  “It’s clear, I presume?” Aren asks when I reach his side again.

  I scan the flat area of land between us and the river approximately two hundred feet away. The foothills are just beyond it. Theoretically, Paige, Lee, and Tylan could go there, hide out in the caverns or in one of the mountain passes in the distance. Then they could choose the time to fissure out of the city. It’s what I would do.

  Well, it’s what I would do if I didn’t know that the rebels knew about the serum and where to get it. I have to assume Paige has chosen her side now, and that she’ll tell the remnants how she was given the Sight. I don’t think Lee will stop her.

  The betrayal hurts exactly as much as it should. We were friends. She shouldn’t stab me in the back like this. She shouldn’t ally with my enemy without asking me what this war is about. I’m going to kick her ass when we recapture her.

  “McKenzie?” Aren says. He’s focused on the row of shops to our left. They’re a good hundred yards away and difficult to make out with the sky growing so dark.

  “I don’t see anything,” I tell him. “Do you?”

  “Maybe. Keep heading toward the gate.”

  The six fae he requested from the wall have arrived. He assigns three to Naito and me, then he and the others disappear into slashes of white light. I see their exiting fissures near one of the gray-bricked buildings. Aren’s looking down the narrow walkway between them. He draws his sword, then—