“I—I know,” she stammered. “But … I … I wasn’t really thinking. I was acting out of anger. Maybe I … I should have got rid of the place and not the people. Things are different now, and we have a bigger plan. If we want the world to know the truth about everything, then all these people who’ve done terrible things need to be around to stand trial for what they’ve done. And if we want the world to know that we’re not dangerous, then we can’t go around torturing and killing people. That makes us no better than them.”
“Perhaps I don’t care about being better than them,” Nathan said, “if it means every elemental gets to live in a world without fear.”
“So you’re serious,” Archer said. “You’re actually intending to kill people.”
Nathan sighed and rubbed a hand over his face. “I don’t know. Maybe. We have new information now, so maybe this is what we should be doing with it.”
“Or not,” Ridley said. “I can think of other things you could do with that information.”
“And I think this is the end of our discussion for tonight,” Nathan said, pushing up from the table. His easy smile was back in place as he headed for the stove and leaned over the pan to sniff its contents. “Saoirse was right. This smells amazing. Mind if we stay and join you for dinner?”
4
After dinner—which was surprisingly not awkward, given the awkward conversation that came before it—Ridley walked with Archer to his cabin. The quiet rumble of thunder hinted at a distant storm, but here at the reserve, the night was clear, the dark sky crowded with a billion glittering pinpricks of light. Far more stars than Ridley had ever seen when she lived in the city. “The stars feel close enough to touch,” she to Archer, a smile in her voice.
He slipped an arm around her back and pulled her closer. She heard the matching smile in his voice as he replied, “Stretch high enough, and maybe your magic can touch the stars.”
She’d commented on the stars so many times since they’d left Lumina City that this had quickly become a Thing for them. A standard statement and response. It went along with the other thing that had become a Thing: lying together almost every evening on a mattress beneath the night sky, wrapped up in a cozy duvet, talking about anything and everything.
“I’m supposed to walk you to your door,” Archer said, leaning his head down to kiss her temple. “Not the other way around.”
“Don’t be sexist.” Ridley snuggled against his side as weariness settled over her shoulders like a heavy blanket. Headaches might not plague her anymore, but shifting into elemental form repeatedly for several hours definitely sapped her energy. “I’ll be perfectly fine walking back to my cabin on my own. But you, my non-elemental friend, might need protecting from the big, bad magic out there.”
“Friend?” Archer repeated with a laugh. “I thought we were a little more than that.”
“Is that the only part of that sentence that bothers you?”
“It was the most important part.”
Ridley smiled. “More than a little more.” They continued walking, and then, because she couldn’t get the earlier conversation out of her head, she added, “I keep thinking about what Nathan said about killing the Shadow Society leadership. And I keep thinking about the people I probably killed inside that base. It seemed different at the time—probably because I didn’t see them face to face, and I don’t even know if any of them were left inside or if they all got out—but it’s no different. It’s the same as what he’s planning.”
Archer shook his head. “It’s not the same. Maybe it still wasn’t right, but I don’t think it’s the same as intentionally planning to kill specific people and then seeking out each of them and following through.”
“I suppose,” Ridley said slowly.
“And when it comes down to it—when Nathan’s face to face with someone—I don’t know if he could really do it. I mean … they’ve done terrible things, these Shadow Society people. But they’re still just people.”
“Well, they might be a little closer to monsters than the average person. But … now that I’m thinking about it properly … I don’t want them all dead. They should be alive to pay for the heinous things they’ve done to others.”
“Yeah,” Archer murmured. “I think I agree. Thing is … if we go through with this crazy plan, there are going to be casualties. It’s not possible to break apart the entire city wall without coming into contact with any people. If we’re going to take part in this, we need to be okay with the fact that some people won’t survive it.”
Ridley breathed out heavily. “I know. Anyway, as you say, that’s if we even go through with this. I’m not sure it’ll ever actually happen. Sometimes part of me thinks …” she paused, feeling guilty at the idea of voicing her thoughts out loud. “Maybe Tanika’s right. Maybe this is enough, the way we live now. We’re safe. We have each other. I have my dad. But then I think,” she rushed on before Archer could say anything, “of all the people who aren’t free. The people who are living in hiding the way I did for years, constantly fearful that someone might find out what they can do. And I remember how I always wanted to end up at The Rosman Foundation after graduation, so I could help people who lost everything after the Cataclysm, like Dad and I did. And if I stay here and do nothing, then I’m helping no one. Even though sometimes all I want is to just do nothing and be safe and enjoy not having to hide who I am. And I know that makes me a terrible person, and most of the time I do want to get out there and change the world. It’s just that sometimes the idea seems so big, so impossible.” She sucked in a deep breath and let it out slowly.
After a pause, Archer asked, “Are you done?”
She thought about it, then said, “Yes. Sorry. Just emptying my brain of all its horrible thoughts.”
“It’s not horrible to think that life would be easier if we simply stayed here and ignored the rest of the world. That’s the truth. It would be easier. You’re not a terrible person for recognizing that, or for wanting it sometimes.”
“So … sometimes you want that too?”
“Yes.” Archer kissed her cheek. “Sometimes I very, very much want to forget everything that’s happened in the past and everything that’s still happening and instead lie under the stars with you forever.”
Forever … Ridley almost commented on his use of the word, but that would take the conversation in a direction neither of them was probably ready for. “Anyway, I was also thinking—”
“So you haven’t emptied your brain of all its thoughts yet?” he teased.
“Apparently not.” She bit her lip, then said, “If it looks like things aren’t going to change any time soon, then … then I want to return to the city so I can talk to Meera. Not for long. Just to let her know I’m okay and to explain things to her. I mean, first Shen disappeared, and then me. Both of her best friends, just gone. Zero explanation. I don’t want her to spend the rest of her life wondering about us.”
“Okaaay,” Archer said, drawing the word out slowly. “Your father would probably have heart failure if he knew you were planning this.”
“I know, but I’d be careful. I’d go over the wall as air and stay in that form until I get to Meera’s place. Then once I’m inside her home, the scanner drones won’t be able to pick up that I don’t have amulets. Her apartment block is big. I’ll just be one more warm body inside a building full of warm bodies.” When Ridley had lived in Lumina City, she’d worn her AI1 and AI2 on a chain around her neck. She also had illegal backup copies on an ankle bracelet. The drones flying overhead had never known the tiny pieces of metal weren’t embedded beneath her skin the way they were for everyone else. But just like Dad, she’d had to get rid of them when they were escaping Lumina City, in case the drones were able to track them.
“That would probably work,” Archer said. “But why not just try to get a message to her instead of actually going into the city?”
“I … could do that,” Ridley said hesitantly. “But there’s just so mu
ch to say, you know? It would be better if I could talk to her. Tell her the truth about everything. Well, about me, at least. I won’t give away other people’s secrets if they’re not mine to share. But I don’t want to have to make up more lies to explain why I had to leave the city and why I won’t be safe there ever again. I’ve told her enough lies already, and I just … I don’t want them sitting between us forever.”
“I know. I understand.” They had reached Archer’s cabin by now. Stopping at the foot of the stairs, Ridley detached herself from Archer’s side and faced him. She laced her fingers between his. She was about to rise up on her toes to kiss him when he said, “Ridley …” He trailed off, whatever he’d been about to say hanging invisibly in the air between them.
An odd sense of foreboding crept into the far reaches of Ridley’s mind. “Yes?”
Archer’s dark eyes searched her face as she tried to decipher his expression, but before she could figure it out, he smiled. It was strained at first, but then warmth reached his eyes and his lips found hers. He kissed her. A rush of butterfly wings filled her insides, and she almost forgot the hint of dread that had brushed against her thoughts. Almost.
“Sleep tight,” he whispered against her lips.
“That’s not what you were going to say,” she replied, her eyes still closed.
“No. It wasn’t.”
“So what were you going to say?”
When he didn’t answer immediately, she lifted her gaze and met his eyes. He asked, “Do you know how much I care about you?”
Ridley’s skin heated and her stomach flipped over. Somehow, she knew that wasn’t what he’d been about to say either. Her heart squeezed as it occurred to her that he might have been about to say more. Was it possible … was he trying to tell her … did Archer Davenport think he loved her? Was he too afraid to get the words out?
She swallowed and answered, “Far more than you ever expected to feel about me?”
This time, when he smiled, it was genuine from the start. “That’s a good way of putting it.”
She shrugged and admitted, “That’s how I feel.”
He kissed her again, then rested his brow against hers. “I was thinking … I can do more to help out than just a video recording. More than conjurations to protect people from falling arxium or whatever other damage we cause to the city.”
Ridley’s brain took a moment to switch gears. She was pretty sure this was also not what Archer had been going to say. “Um, okay.” She tilted her head back so she could see his face. “What do you mean exactly?”
“I’m a Davenport. I have connections. I know the mayor. Maybe I can get more information out of him, like who else is in the Shadow Society. Without resorting to torture, the way Nathan might do it.”
“Would he actually tell you anything? You said you tried to get Lawrence to tell you things—to invite you to meetings—and he wouldn’t.”
“I …” Archer scrubbed a hand through his hair. “Maybe. I don’t know.” He looked out at the night and sighed. “It’s late. Can we talk tomorrow?”
“Sure, of course.” But when Ridley took a moment to think about it, she realized it wasn’t that late. They stayed up much later most nights when they lay beneath the stars, talking and … not talking. Still, she was tired from all her magic-use while training with Saoirse, and Archer was clearly in need of sleep too.
They said goodnight, and Ridley returned to her cabin. She climbed the porch steps with unusual slowness, exhaustion weighing her down. A chilly breeze brushed wisps of hair across her face, and she wrapped her arms around herself as she reached the front door. The air gusted, curling around her, and a sense of unease unfurled in her chest. She stopped, a frown pulling at her brow. She tried to reach out to the magic around her. Was it telling her something? She was about to shift form to better understand the magic when a loud voice nearby startled her.
“Is this a joke?” It sounded like Nathan. Ridley looked around but couldn’t see him.
“Can you keep your voice down?” came a whispered response in Saoirse’s distinctive accent. “And no, this isn’t a joke.” Ridley turned again, following the sound of their voices. They were out of sight, just around the side of the cabin.
“Why didn’t you tell me as soon as we returned here with them?” Nathan hissed. “You’ve been holding onto this information for two weeks.”
Ridley frowned as she stared at the floorboards. This sounded like a conversation she probably shouldn’t overhear. She reached for the cabin’s front door, but Saoirse’s next words froze her hand in place: “Because Maverick didn’t want me saying anything. You know it’s going to complicate things for him.”
Nathan heaved a deep sigh. “Right. Of course.”
“You can understand why he doesn’t want anyone to know.”
“I can, but what we’re working toward is so much bigger than this. We’re talking about changing the world for every single elemental who’s been forced into hiding. Surely Maverick has to understand—”
“He does, but he says he needs more time. He just … he needs to figure out how to tell Ridley.”
Ice shot through Ridley’s veins at the mention of her name. She’d suspected there was something going on between her father and Saoirse, but she hadn’t wanted to even think about it, let alone ask Dad. Because whatever it was, it couldn’t be new. There had been some sort of weird vibe between them since the moment Ridley and her companions had arrived here and Dad discovered that his old friends, Saoirse and Cam and their daughter Bria, were still alive. Something must have been going on between Saoirse and Dad years ago.
When Mom was still alive.
Once again, Ridley shoved the thought aside. It made her sick to think her father could be capable of that kind of betrayal. Maybe it was something else. After all, why would Saoirse need to talk to Nathan about it? Why did it have anything to do with Nathan’s big plans to return magic to society? From what Ridley could tell, Saoirse was closely involved in helping Nathan figure out the precise details the plan. So maybe … maybe whatever was going on with Dad was distracting her, pulling her focus away from more important work?
Ridley shivered, physically recoiling from the idea of whatever might be happening between Saoirse and Dad that was so distracting.
“He needs to tell her soon,” Nathan said, pulling Ridley from her disturbing thoughts. “Very soon.”
Ridley shook her head, tiptoeing away from the door. Nope, no, this was not something she wanted to talk to Dad about. As long as she didn’t know exactly what was going on, she could continue to think the best of her father, rather than—
A floorboard creaked beneath her foot. She froze as Saoirse’s words cut off.
Silence.
Then Nathan’s voice: “Did you hear that?”
In an instant, Ridley became air, twisting away from the porch and up into the night sky as fast as possible, afraid Saoirse or Nathan might do the same and follow her. They would sense her if they did. They would know she’d been close enough to hear them. She shot higher and higher into the sky, faster and faster, reaching for the stars that seemed close enough to touch. It was silly to be so afraid. After all, Nathan and Saoirse were the ones having a whispered conversation about other people. If anything, they should be embarrassed, not Ridley. But that still didn’t mean she wanted to deal with any of this—whatever this was.
When she’d soared so far and so high that she could barely see the lights of the settlement, she thought of Nathan and Saoirse and sensed them somewhere far below. They hadn’t followed her. She headed back, swirling around to the other side of her cabin and slipping through the open window into the bedroom she shared with Callie. The room was empty; Callie was probably hanging out with the school principal she most definitely had a crush on.
Ridley returned to human form, let out a breath, and dropped onto her bed. She pressed one hand over the stone pendant that rested against her chest. She hadn’t removed the necklace since S
aoirse gave it to her earlier in the day. She liked having something that was once her mother’s sitting so close to her heart. Dad loved you, Mom, she thought. I know that. He couldn’t possibly have cheated on you. With that final thought, she banished all thoughts of her father’s possible betrayal from her mind.
5
Ridley dreamed of fire. She dreamed of smoke and screams and a body on the ground, limbs unmoving and eyes unseeing. She tried to look closer, to see who it was, but instead her attention snagged on the bell that stood tall and still and ageless beside the body. Suddenly she was right next to it, her hand reaching for the rope, her fingers wrapping around it, tugging it down—
Ridley jerked awake, her heart a frightened bird in her chest and silence pressing on her ears where there should have been the ringing of a bell. She took a calming breath, reminding herself it was only a dream. But the fear and urgency remained. She touched the stone pendant lying against her sweaty chest, seeking comfort from it. Her gaze moved across the room to Callie’s sleeping form. Her breaths were deep, slow, peaceful, while Ridley’s heart still thrashed against her ribcage. Fear wormed its way into her bones. Fear that made no sense.
A gale screamed past the window, startling Ridley as it shook the pane. For a moment, all she could think of was Archer joking about her desire for him stirring up the elements. But she knew magic didn’t work that way. Something wasn’t right. She wasn’t sure what, precisely, but the longer she sat in bed, her heart still racing, the sicker she felt.
She shut her eyes, breathed out slowly, and let her human form vanish into air. Immediately, her terror intensified.
THEY’RE COMING!
The thought pressed in on her from all sides, so loud, despite there being no words, no sound. Her mind flooded with knowledge: The Shadow Society was coming. They were almost here. They would kill everyone.
FLEE!
Magic screamed in Ridley’s mind as lightning split the sky and rain thrashed against the window. The sense of urgent motion was so overpowering that even though she hung in the still air of her bedroom, she imagined she could feel a swift current dragging her away.
Elemental Heir (Ridley Kayne Chronicles Book 3) Page 4