“Because you weren’t interested. You didn’t want to be part of it.”
“No, Mom decided she was bored and didn’t want to be part of it, and everyone just assumed I felt the same way, so I was left on the outside.”
“Okay, well what does that matter now? You seem to be on the inside again, with Dad sharing his secrets with you.”
Lilah rolled her eyes. The gun twitched, which sent Ridley’s heart rate through the roof. She didn’t want to die by accidental gunshot while Archer and Lilah argued about which of them their father favored more. She examined her level of nausea—still very much present—and wondered if it was worth trying to change form. Would she have enough time to push her magic out and become air, concealing Archer along with her, or would Lilah pull the trigger the instant she saw a wisp of magic?
“I’m not on the inside,” Lilah said to Archer. “Dad would never trust me with any of his secrets. He didn’t tell me anything. I have my own ways of finding out what he’s up to.”
“So you know about the Cataclysm then.”
A loud but slow beep, beep, beep began to whine repeatedly from somewhere nearby. Lilah’s perfectly shaped eyebrows lowered a fraction further, though whether it was because of the alarm or because of Archer’s statement, Ridley couldn’t tell. “The Cataclysm?” she repeated. “What does that have to do with Dad and his secrets?”
“Everything.” Archer shook his head. “What secrets are you talking about?”
“Um, Archer?” Ridley interrupted. “I really think we should go.”
“Not happening,” Lilah snapped at her.
“Come with us,” Archer said.
Lilah let out an incredulous laugh. She even lowered the gun a few inches, though Ridley figured she probably didn’t know she was doing it. “You must be joking.”
“We were wrong,” Archer said quickly. “I was wrong. Elementals are not what we’ve always believed them to be. Just think, Ly. Think! You’ve known Ridley for years. Is she really the cold, soulless person we always imagined whenever Dad told us what elementals are like?”
Lilah pressed her lips together as she took a deep breath. “That doesn’t matter. I’m not turning on this family the way you have.”
“Lilah—”
“Family comes first. Family has always come first.”
“I’m your family too,” Archer said fiercely.
There was a pause as Lilah’s expression became steely. She raised her weapon. “Not any—”
Ridley shoved Archer to the side, launching herself in the opposite direction. Her skin glowed with magic, and a second later, she hit the floor in the form of water—just as a gunshot cracked the air. She barely had time for the thought Lilah actually shot at me to take hold in her mind before she realized she was human again. She couldn’t hold her elemental form with arxium still in her blood.
She rolled over as Archer lunged across the floor at Lilah’s legs. Lilah fell with a shriek, the shotgun clattering heavily beside her. She pummeled her brother with her fists before he managed to get hold of her wrists and force her arms down. “I don’t want to hurt you,” he grunted, just as Lilah kicked hard enough to shove him away.
“I will,” Ridley gasped, already rolling wisps of magic into a ball between her palms. She hurled the ball at Lilah’s head. The force of the magic knocked her flat onto her back, and when the glow disappeared, she lay motionless, a swollen, red mark on her forehead.
Archer looked up at Ridley, aghast. Breathless, Ridley said, “She tried to shoot me. All I did was knock her out. There was no conjuration there, just force.”
Archer climbed to his feet, muttering, “This is not the way I thought any of this was going to go.”
“Yeah, welcome to the club. Can we go now?”
Archer looked down at his sister. “I can’t leave her.”
Exasperated, nauseous, and starting to go a little crazy from the continued beep, beep, beep, Ridley pressed her fingers to her temples. “You can. She doesn’t want to come with us. You’re the one who can’t stay here now that you’ve freed me. You won’t be able to lie your way out of this one.”
“Ridley, she doesn’t know the truth. The Cataclysm, the magic out in the wastelands … She’s as deluded as I was before I—”
“Fine. Whatever. I guess this could all be another elaborate ruse to get me to trust you and I’m not falling for that again. So you’re on your own now. And I’m taking this,” she added, crouching and lifting the gun. It was heavier than she’d expected. She wasn’t sure how to use it, but since her magic wouldn’t be much help getting her out of here, she hoped the oversized firearm at least made her look threatening.
Archer groaned. “Give me that before you hurt yourself.”
“Wow. No wonder Lilah gets so pissed off at you. What makes you think I don’t know how to use this?”
“Do you?”
She glared at him. “Do you?”
The lock of the door they’d been aiming for clicked. They both swung their heads toward it. Ridley had about half a moment to be furious with Archer because of all the time he’d wasted arguing with Lilah. Then the door flew open and two men barreled out.
Archer grabbed the shotgun from Ridley and swung it up to point at the newcomers. Apparently he did know what he was doing, and apparently he looked almost as badass as Lilah while doing it. Ridley found this immensely annoying, though she was relieved to see the men stop in their tracks at the sight of the firearm. “You probably don’t want to come any closer,” Archer told them.
The older one’s expression darkened. “Gotta be kidding me. Jude was right about you.”
Archer grinned. “Yep. You should have listened to him. Too late now.” He motioned sideways with the gun. “You know those rooms you guys like to lock people in? That’s where you’re going. Keep your hands up and don’t make any sudden moves. I might accidentally shoot you.”
15
Ridley and Archer descended Aura Tower in one of the lesser used elevators, then exited the building through a back entrance Ridley knew nothing about but Archer seemed comfortably familiar with. She pulled her hood over her head and wrapped her arms around herself as she looked up and around. Dark clouds gathered ominously above the glittering skyscrapers, and in the grayish light it was once again impossible to tell the time of day. The nausea was slowly subsiding, but Ridley’s heart still pattered out an anxious rhythm. She felt dangerously exposed in human form. She needed to find somewhere to hide until the arxium had worked its way through her system.
“This way,” Archer said, reaching for her arm as he gestured to the right. “There’s—”
“No.” Ridley stepped out of his reach, then began walking in the opposite direction, hugging herself a little tighter. “I’m not going anywhere with you.”
“Ridley—”
“Seriously, Archer, can you blame me for not trusting you?” She tossed the words over her shoulder as Archer hurried after her. “I mean, sure, you just freed me from some weird residential interrogation center, but how do I know you won’t be crawling back there tomorrow to tell them it was all … I don’t know. Part of your plan to get close to me again so you can find out where everyone’s living now after the attack on the reserve.”
“That would make no sense,” Archer said as he caught up to her, “since I already know where everyone went. Well, I mean, I know roughly where the new location is, based on what Nathan told us. And no, I didn’t tell my father. Also no: I won’t ever be crawling back to the Shadow Society. As you accurately pointed out, I can’t lie my way out of things anymore. Look, Ridley, this—can you just stop?” He grabbed her arm and pulled her around, letting go as soon as she faced him. “Please just come with me. We need to get somewhere safe and then we can argue about this all you want.”
“I’ll find somewhere safe on my own,” Ridley retorted, pointing her gaze over his shoulder. “Without you.”
He sighed. “Ridley, please. You have no amulets
, and you can’t currently shift into elemental form. You probably won’t make it a block before a drone detects you. I at least still have mine on me, even if one of them isn’t under my skin anymore.”
Ridley lowered her arms, then tightened them around herself again. The nausea was lessening, but she was beginning to feel dizzy. “No,” she said, with not nearly as much force as she would have liked.
“Plus you’re shaking. When last did you eat?”
“I’m not shaking,” she lied. “And stop acting like you care.”
“Oh, come on.” Archer threw his arms up in a frustrated gesture. “I know I kept things from you. I know. And the—the Cataclysm—your mom—”
“I don’t want to talk about that.” Ridley turned her back to him again, the pain of the reopened wound slicing through her once more. She stepped off the sidewalk, glancing briefly both ways down the street. Her brain registered belatedly that numerous vehicles were moving toward her. Stop, she told herself, but the street was tilting, and her body was reeling, and—
“Jeez, Ridley!” Archer tugged her back onto the sidewalk.
“I’m fine,” she insisted, blinking a few times. The dizziness wasn’t that bad. She’d just turned around a little too quickly, that was all.
“I know I lied about so many things,” Archer said again, a little quieter now. “But you can’t possibly believe I don’t care about you.”
Ridley’s hands clenched into fists. Her jaw tightened. She looked up, finally meeting Archer’s gaze. “Do you remember arguing with me? In Christa’s bunker, when we were locked up together. The first time we ever spoke about my magic. Do you remember defending the way your family responded after the Cataclysm? You told me that we needed protection, that our resources had to go into building the wall and adding more panels over the city. And all the while you knew it was never an accident! That you had actually played a role in the whole damn thing! And now you want me to believe the things you tell me? I’m sorry, but no. I can’t.”
Archer’s dark eyes were glistening now, full of pain, but he didn’t look away. “I do remember that,” he said quietly. “And it was …” He shook his head. “For so long, that was the only way I could stand to live with myself. I forced the truth of the Cataclysm into a dark corner in my mind and pretended I had nothing to do with it. Pretended I wasn’t to blame. So I argued with you because that’s what I’ve always done to keep the guilt from devouring me. It wasn’t right—I know it wasn’t right—and I’m sorry. I’m so sorry.”
Ridley let out a long breath and closed her eyes. She felt her body swaying. Maybe she was dizzier than she thought after all. “I still think,” she said faintly, “we should go our separate ways now.”
The buzz of a scanner drone reached her ears. She opened her eyes as Archer glanced up. “I’m not going to leave you to pass out on a sidewalk and end up in a police cell.” He put an arm around her, and it felt so familiar, so right, so comforting after the past few horrible days. A sob fought its way up Ridley’s throat. She hated her body for betraying her like this. Didn’t it know that Archer couldn’t be trusted anymore? “It’s heading the other way,” he said as he led Ridley down the street, “but there are always more drones. I think if we stick close together, they’ll detect us as a single person.”
“Wonderful,” Ridley murmured. Archer was the last person she should be sticking with, but it was possible she might fall over if he let go of her. So for the moment, while there were no other options, she would trust him to hold her upright. Any more than that …
No. There would never be any more than that.
“I know the drones are a problem,” she said, “but you’ll have to get rid of your amulets soon. If you really are on my side and you’ve just revealed to your family that you’ve betrayed them, your dad might try to track you down. I imagine he could make it happen pretty quickly.”
“I know. And my commscreen. It might be fine if I just switch it off, but I’m not sure. Problem is, my AI1 is still beneath my skin. I can’t just stop on the side of the road and cut it out. We need to get somewhere safe indoors. A building with other people around.”
“The Lins,” Ridley said, thinking of Shen’s family. They lived across the road from Kayne’s Antiques and had been looking out for Ridley for years without her knowing it. At least she knew for sure they were on her side—unlike Archer.
“Too far. We should avoid public transport, and it’ll take too long if we walk.”
“Where, then? I don’t know if I trust anyone in this part of the city.”
Archer paused at the corner of the block and looked right and left. Traffic lights blinked and changed color. He held Ridley a little tighter as they crossed the street. “Do you trust elementals?”
“Logic tells me I should.”
“Remember Serena Adams?”
Serena Adams. The girl who hadn’t blown herself up with magic, as Ridley had recently discovered. She’d been killed by the Shadow Society for being an elemental. “Yes,” she answered.
Archer pointed at the gleaming glass and tapering shape of the building on the next block over. “That’s where her mom lives.”
Days of the week didn’t hold much meaning for Ridley anymore, but here in the real world, it was apparently Sunday morning. This was fortunate because it meant Serena’s mother wasn’t at work. Equally fortunate was the fact that she wasn’t out somewhere else. The part that was unfortunate was when she slammed the door in Archer’s face.
Archer paused a moment before knocking again. Mrs. Adams paused a moment before reopening the door. This time, the gap was barely wide enough to see half her face. “I’d like to remind you, Archer, that you’re not welcome here unless it’s an emergency of life and death proportions.”
Ridley raised her eyebrows. Archer definitely hadn’t mentioned that part when he’d assured her they would be safe with Serena’s mom. “I know,” Archer answered immediately. “This is Ridley. She’s like Serena. I just helped her escape the Shadow Society. We need somewhere to hide for a bit while she recovers from the arxium they gave her. So … it is kind of an emergency.”
Mrs. Adams, whose firm expression hadn’t changed a bit, paused another moment. Her gaze slid to Ridley. Then she stepped back and opened the door fully. “Come inside. Quickly.”
“Thank you,” Ridley said as Archer hastily steered her through the doorway. His arm was still around her, keeping her unsteady body from toppling over.
Mrs. Adams shut the door swiftly and turned to face them, tucking smooth, strawberry blond hair behind one ear. Long-limbed and graceful, she looked like an older version of Serena. It struck Ridley once again that there had never been any resemblance between herself and Claudia Kayne. Why hadn’t she ever wondered about that? And what had her real parents looked like? If she stood beside them today, would other people look at them and know they belonged together?
“Are you hurt?” Mrs. Adams asked. Her face was etched with concern now, the initial hardness gone.
“No, just … dizzy,” Ridley answered. “From the arxium. And maybe … lack of food? I’m still a little nauseous, but I could probably eat something.”
“Let me heat up some food for you.” Mrs. Adams stepped briskly past them. “You can sit in there,” she added, gesturing to a small dining room. “And there’s a bathroom down the hall, first door on the right, if you need it.”
They sat in the dining room, and Archer quietly explained that Serena’s mother had always thought him a terrible influence on her daughter. She’d told Serena to stay away from ‘that Davenport boy,’ though it sounded like Serena hadn’t always listened. Even after Archer visited Mrs. Adams upon returning to Lumina City to express his condolences for Serena’s death and explain his ties to the elementals, she’d essentially told him to get lost. Ridley decided she was liking Mrs. Adams more and more.
She finished off the leftover meal Mrs. Adams had heated up—good old fashioned mac and cheese, made with genuine ingred
ients, from what Ridley could tell—without too much difficulty. It was awkward, sitting there eating while Mrs. Adams and Archer watched her and made stilted conversation, but she tried to focus on the food and not the uncomfortable atmosphere.
“Do you need to rest?” Mrs. Adams asked when she was done.
“I don’t actually feel that tired,” Ridley said. “Apparently someone injected me with a sedative, so I probably slept for a while. I think it was the aftereffects of that, plus the arxium and lack of food, that was making me feel so crappy. I’m definitely starting to feel better. But, uh, I definitely think I could use a shower.” She didn’t want to say it out loud, but she was fairly certain the unpleasant odor of sweat hanging in the air was coming from her.
“Of course,” Mrs. Adams said. “You’re welcome to take a shower. And your clothes …” She hesitated, uncertain. “I could wash and dry them, but the machine will take a while.”
“Oh, don’t worry about it. I can take care of them with a few conjurations.”
“I’m sorry, I’d offer to do it for you,” Mrs. Adams said, “but I haven’t used my magic in years. I just … prefer not to.” She showed Ridley to the bathroom and produced a clean towel for her.
Ridley spent longer than necessary beneath the cascade of warm water, breathing in the scent of the bubbles produced by Tanika’s conjuration and letting her tears mingle with the warm water streaking down her face. So much had happened since the attack on the reserve that she’d barely processed the fact that Tanika was gone. I should have listened harder, Ridley thought, squeezing her eyes shut. Magic had tried to tell her earlier in the day that there was a threat coming, but she hadn’t realized it.
She did another bubble conjuration, watching the way the light caught on the bubbles’ soapy surface, producing shimmering rainbow colors. She thought of Tanika’s many colorful scarves. She thought of the one that had been wrapped around Tanika’s hair as she lay still on the ground in her own blood. Ridley squeezed her eyes shut again.
Elemental Heir (Ridley Kayne Chronicles Book 3) Page 12