“Honestly?” Malachi said. “You should just upload that thing to the social feeds right now and let it go viral.”
Nathan hesitated. “I suppose I could … But I’m not on any of those social things.”
“And you can’t just let something go viral,” Ridley added. “We have no control over that.”
“I’ll post it,” Malachi said with a shrug. “You can share it,” he told Ridley. “Oh, wait, we can ask Callie to share it. She must have a large following from back when she used to make music. That should get things going.”
“It’ll take a hundred years to get a message to Callie out in the middle of nowhere,” Ridley argued, “and then for her to get close enough to a signal to log into her social accounts.” She looked at Nathan. “Sorry, but that recorded video thing was probably never a good idea. We need to just do this, and by the time it’s over and all the arxium’s burned and the wild magic finally calms down and the sun comes out—like really out, the way we haven’t seen it in years—everyone will have their commscreens out, recording what’s going on. And they’ll probably be doing live video, not just recording. So that’s when you stand up in the middle of a busy square somewhere and tell everyone what’s going on. It’ll be everywhere within minutes.”
Nathan looked doubtful. “Everywhere? Really?”
“Ridley’s right,” Shen said. “Waiting to see something on the news is old school. People check social before they check anything else.”
“That video we just watched about Linevale was on the news,” Nathan pointed out.
“Yeah, and I saw it because someone shared it on one of the social feeds.”
Malachi gave Nathan’s shoulder a light punch and grinned. “Come on, man. You’re not that old. Don’t tell me you’ve forgotten how this stuff works.”
Nathan narrowed his eyes. “Okay, fine. That’s what we’ll plan to do. And if I don’t survive, then it’ll be one of you who has to stand up in the middle of a busy square to tell everyone the truth.”
The possibility of Nathan not surviving—of any of them not surviving—was enough to wipe the grin from Malachi’s face.
“Well, we should get going,” Nathan said to Malachi. “Ridley …” he added, looking at her.
“My dad,” she said quietly. She hadn’t forgotten that they’d been about to go out and search the city for him when Shen showed up.
“Please don’t try to find him on your own,” Nathan said.
“What if I just do what we were going to do? It’ll take me longer to cover the whole city on my own, but that’s fine. I’ll stay above the buildings and—”
“Above the buildings is where you were caught before,” Nathan reminded her. “If Davenport is still creating elementals, you could be caught again.”
Ridley paused, chewing on her lip. Nathan had a point. “So … you want me to just wait?”
“We need you, Ridley. You know that. You can’t risk yourself. And you never know, Maverick might be back here by the time we return. If he’s looking for you, and if Saoirse is with him, they’ll probably find their way here.”
Ridley nodded, though she felt that was probably too much to hope for. “Okay. I’ll wait.”
Nathan looked at Malachi. “Time to go.”
They disappeared, and Shen slipped his commscreen into his jeans pocket. “I need to go. I’m probably late for those deliveries now. We’re still on for dinner when I get back?”
Ridley nodded, pasting on a smile that was far brighter than anything she felt inside. “Yes, definitely.”
Shen pulled the door open, then hesitated and looked back. “You will be here when I get back, right?”
“I will,” Ridley said. And she meant it.
But the door shut, and she was left alone in the semi-darkness with that sense of urgency nipping at her, and the prospect of sticking to her word seemed almost impossible. She switched on a lamp, sat on the couch, and reached for the old commscreen she’d been using earlier. With her knees pulled up to her chest, she scrolled through the social feeds looking for any news of other cities’ walls coming down. We can do this, she kept telling herself. We can free Lumina City. We can change the world. We don’t have to hide forever.
But if anything had happened elsewhere in the world, it hadn’t been shared online yet. Trying not to be discouraged, she tapped her way over to Meera’s profile to see if her best friend had posted anything recently. Nothing except a link to a fundraiser event happening at the indoor sports center Meera was apparently a frequent visitor at these days.
Ridley looked at Lilah’s profile next, but nothing had been posted in days. Was Lilah … gone? Was there now a gaping hole in the universe where Delilah Davenport had once been? Guilt squeezed Ridley’s insides tighter. It’s not my fault, she tried to tell herself. She tried over and over, but the guilt wouldn’t loosen its grip.
She was about to toss the commscreen across the couch when a notification popped up in the corner of the screen, sending her heart tripping over itself: Archer Davenport is live now.
25
Ridley’s grip tightened on the commscreen. “Archer Davenport is what?” she whispered, tapping on the notification before it disappeared. A moment later, Archer’s face filled the screen. Ridley’s heart jolted, then took off at a gallop. She almost dropped the device before reminding herself that he couldn’t see her. This wasn’t a video call. He didn’t know she was watching. Well … she didn’t think he knew. Archer Davenport had so many followers and ‘friends,’ there were probably a hundred other people who’d tapped on that notification at the same moment she did—and more joining every second. There was no way he could keep track of everyone watching.
The video background was a plain cream wall, giving Ridley no clue as to where Archer was. He cleared his throat. Pushed his shoulders back. Swallowed. If not for everything that had happened in recent days, Ridley would have smiled. “You look far more confident when you don’t even try,” she would have told him. Except … confident Archer was the one who could tell a great story. She didn’t trust confident Archer. But this Archer? It was possible he might say something she actually wanted to hear.
“Hi,” he said, then cleared his throat again. “My name is Archer Davenport. Some of you know me; some of you don’t. I’ve never done anything particularly amazing, but people know who I am because I had the fortune—or misfortune, depending on how you look at things—of being born into an obscenely wealthy family. We throw lavish parties, we buy yachts and planes and private islands—or we did, before the Cataclysm—and we socialize with actors and singers and politicians. Apparently all these things make us celebrities too, though it really shouldn’t.” He let out a long, slow breath, beginning to look a little more relaxed now.
“The reason I mention this,” he continued, “is because I’m hoping that by the time I’m finished talking, thousands of you will be watching. Thousands of you will know the truth. And you’ll tell everyone you know, and they’ll tell everyone they know, and soon the truth will be everywhere.”
He paused, looked down, then focused on the camera again. “Our world is not what you think it is. You don’t know that the magic outside our walls isn’t the deadly power the government wants you to believe it is. You don’t know that they’re trying to keep you afraid, contained. You don’t know about the machines buried in the ground outside every city, routinely spraying arxium gas into the air to stir up the magic in the wastelands. And you don’t know about the people who are different from you.” He took a deep breath just as Ridley held onto hers. “The people who are born with magic coursing through their bodies.”
Ridley released her breath in a rush. He’d done it. He’d actually said it. Her gaze flicked to the bottom of the screen, where the number of viewers was going up and up and up.
“Let me say that again,” Archer said, “just in case you missed it. There are people in this world who are born with magic rushing through their veins. They’re called elem
entals. You don’t know about them because they’ve lived in hiding for a very long time. Why? Because there is an organization of people known as the Shadow Society dedicated to wiping them out. They have always believed magic is unpredictable and deadly, and that a world with elementals is a dangerous one.
“It sounds crazy, I know,” he added with a brief laugh and that half-smile she’d fallen in love with. “Like I’m telling you the plot of a superhero movie.” His expression grew serious once more. “But this is all too real. And the reason I know this is because I’ve been on the inside. The wrong side. That secret organization of people who murder elementals and then tell themselves they’re just doing their bit to keep the world safe?” He inhaled deeply. Ridley’s arms tightened around her knees. “I was part of it.”
Ridley’s eyes ached with unshed tears. The pain hit her all over again. The pain of losing Mom. The pain of knowing that Archer had been involved, even in a small way. Her hand shook ever so slightly as she squeezed the commscreen a little tighter.
“I … I’ve been responsible for people’s deaths,” Archer continued. “Not directly, but I was involved in—in devastating events, and that means my hands are just as blood-stained as everyone else’s.” There was the slightest tremor in his voice, and he had to swallow before continuing. “I’m sorry.” He looked directly at the camera, and Ridley felt that he was looking at her. “I’m so, so sorry.” She sucked in a trembling breath as the tears she could no longer hold back spilled onto her cheeks.
“I’ve lied,” Archer said. “I’ve betrayed the trust that was given to me. I have deeply hurt people I care about. And I’ve learned that I was wrong. I’ve spent time with elementals over the past year. They’re not dangerous or evil or soulless. No more than any other person who has the free will to choose the way they want to live their life and treat others. Their magic is …” He stared past the camera, shaking his head a little as if he could’t find the right words. “It’s right. It’s beautiful. It’s the most natural thing in the world for them to interact with the elements. To commune with magic. It’s …” He let out another breath of a laugh. “To be honest, I wish I was like them instead of like me. But I’m not. I’ve done terrible things, and I will never stop trying to make up for all the pain I’ve caused.” He looked straight through the camera and into Ridley’s soul. “I will never stop hoping for forgiveness.”
Ridley unwrapped one arm from around her knees and wiped the tears from her cheeks. Within seconds, more tears fell to take their place.
“Why am I telling you all of this now?” Archer asked. “Because the world is about to change, and you need to know why. You deserve to know the truth. Others will tell you a different story. I know the people behind all this secrecy, and I know they’ll try to keep controlling you with their lies. They’ll try to keep you afraid. Of magic, of elementals, of change.
“So here’s the truth of what’s happening: Elementals want to return the world to the way it used to be, and they want to be able to safely live in it.” Archer shrugged and smiled. “That isn’t too much to ask for, is it? That isn’t something to be afraid of. Remember when magic was part of our daily lives? Remember when it helped out with everyday tasks, and when certain medical procedures were quick and easy, and when art and dance and food were literally magical experiences? Remember when we didn’t have to be afraid to leave our own city, and when we didn’t have drones constantly flying overhead? Remember when a magical storm was a spectacular light show in the sky, and not something angry enough to rip through vehicles and buildings?”
Archer leaned forward, getting even closer to the camera. “Don’t you want to live in that kind of world again? I do. Maybe it seems impossible to you, but it’s not. We just have to get rid of our walls, our panel shields, our AI2s. And that stupid law that forbids us from using magic. Just think about that one for a moment. How can it be a law that we can’t pull magic and use it when some people are born with magic inside them already? We’ve been told over and over that magic is too wild now, that it will kill us if we try to use it. And that’s simply not true.” Archer sat back and lifted one hand. Nerves tightened Ridley’s stomach again. Was he really about to film himself performing a crime in front of thousands of—
Yes. Yes he was. Archer curled his fingers and dragged them through the air, pulling bright, glowing wisps of magic from it. Soft blue light illuminated his face. He cupped both hands around the magic and did a quick conjuration, fingers flicking apart and then touching lightly together. His thumbs circled around one another to end the conjuration, and the magic fell from the air as droplets of water.
“See?” Archer said, looking at the camera again. “Not dead. Except for the fact that I just broke a death sentence-worthy law, so someone in authority will make sure I end up dead for what I just did.” He shook his head. “Messed up world, right? That’s why it needs to change. That’s why it’s already changing. You saw what happened in Linevale this morning, right? Same thing happened just an hour or two ago in a city on the other side of the world. It wasn’t a freak storm or angry magic. It was intentional. It’s the start of a new world.”
He sucked in a deep breath and let it out in a rush. “So I guess that’s it. I just wanted to make sure someone told you the truth before all the lies start spreading their way through the media.” He leaned forward again, his hand reaching for the screen. Then he paused, and Ridley knew he was speaking to her when he said, “Be brave. This is the future we dreamed about. You’re strong enough to make it happen.” Then he tapped the screen and the video ended.
Ridley stared blankly at the device in her hand. Her mind was a jumbled confusion of emotions. The truth of her existence was out there. Thousands of people were aware of elementals now. Soon thousands more would know. Her immediate instinctive response was fear. But beneath that was relief. She had never wanted to hide forever. Hopefully now she wouldn’t have to.
Well … unless the Shadow Society remained intact. Archer hadn’t mentioned any names. Ridley didn’t think she could really blame him for that. The director was his father, after all, and she didn’t think she could give up her own father, even if she knew he’d done terrible things. But if no one knew who was part of this secret organization, they would probably—as Tanika had said—continue to quietly get rid of elementals.
One step at a time, Ridley reminded herself. Free the cities first. Then worry about the Shadow Society. Archer had done a great job at making sure everyone would understand what was going on when all the arxium protection came down. Now Ridley had to focus on making sure it actually happened and that his father didn’t somehow put a stop to it.
She switched the lamp off, lay down on the couch, and pulled the blanket she’d used earlier up to her chin. With her face turned away from the door, Shen would hopefully think she was asleep when he got back. Perhaps she would be asleep. Either way, she didn’t really want to talk to him. Her mind was full of everything Archer had said, and that was the way she wanted to keep things: inside her head and wrapped around her heart.
He’d spoken to the public, but so much of it had been for her. She didn’t want to rehash it out loud with Shen. She didn’t want to argue about whether she’d been right to trust Archer or not. She had been right. She knew it with everything inside her. He shouldn’t have kept so many things from her, but he’d apologized again and again, and she believed every word he’d said tonight.
She wished he was here.
She squeezed her eyes shut, trying to deny the ache in her heart for him, but there it was. She desperately wished he was here. She wanted to feel his arms around her as she curled up against his chest and told him how sorry she was for not believing him sooner. How sorry she was for holding her mother’s death against him. From the moment he’d admitted the truth about the Cataclysm, she had held him partly responsible. How grossly unfair of her. All he had done was trust his father and then live with the crushing guilt ever since. How cruel of her to make h
im feel even worse.
Perhaps she was tired out from all her tears, but it didn’t take too many replays of Archer’s speech before Ridley drifted off to sleep. She didn’t hear Shen or the rest of his family come home. She slept solidly until the noise of Shen’s brothers getting ready for school the next morning reached into her dreams and pulled her out. She rubbed her eyes and focused on the window where weak morning light was trying to filter through the curtain.
She reached for the commscreen on the coffee table and turned it over. Adrenaline jolted her awake at the sight of a message from Dad.
Or at least … from the number Dad was using.
* * *
Ridley, this is Alastair Davenport. I have your father. And your grandfather. If Lumina City falls to the elementals, they’re both dead. Let me know when you’ve made your choice.
* * *
Ridley sat up, staring at the message, breathing hard. She read it several times, but that didn’t make the contents any better. If anything, she felt sicker each time she read it. How did he have Grandpa as well? What was Grandpa even doing here? He was supposed to be far from Lumina City. In fact, as far as Alastair Davenport and most other people were concerned, Grandpa was already dead.
Let me know when you’ve made your choice.
Her family or her city. That’s what it came down to. If she didn’t make sure her elemental friends backed off and left Lumina City alone, Alastair Davenport would kill Dad and Grandpa.
Ridley lowered the commscreen to the table and pushed both hands through her tangled hair. If she hadn’t realized it before, it would have hit her squarely in the chest now: Dad and Grandpa were absolutely, one thousand percent her family. It made zero difference that she wasn’t related to them by blood. She would do anything—anything—for them.
Elemental Heir (Ridley Kayne Chronicles Book 3) Page 20