“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 says 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 to 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—
I’m nearly blinded when a virtual wall of light opens up in front of me.
My guards react before I do, leaping between me and the newly arrived fae before the nearest one is able to take my head off. Instinct makes me drop to the ground anyway. I roll, and when I get back to my feet, Aren’s back at my side.
“Diversion,” he snaps out. “Stay close.”
Tylan must have fissured for reinforcements. No less than two dozen remnants fill the clearing between the river and wall. We’re outnumbered, but not for long. Other rebels join us—probably the rest of the guards from the wall—and they surround me and Naito, attacking any remnant who gets too close.
“We should go back!” Naito yells. I just barely hear him above the sounds of the fight…and of the thunder rumbling through the air. The sky is almost black with clouds. They shift as I watch them, and just when I realize that this storm isn’t natural, the hail begins to torpedo down.
Each strike feels like a bee sting. My clothing offers little protection. The tiny pellets bruise my face, my shoulders, my arms. Someone’s controlling this, concentrating the storm above us. If we…
There they are. Paige and Lee. They’re sprinting toward the gate from the east, not from the row of buildings to the west.
“Aren!” I unsling my sketchbook from my shoulder, start to open it up, but I’m knocked to the ground.
Then Aren’s above me, intercepting a remnant, keeping him away from me. I roll to my stomach, scramble forward to grab my sketchbook, but another remnant is there. His boot comes down on the center of a page. I grab the leather strap just as he lunges forward and yank it as hard as I can. The packed earth is treacherous, with the hail building up; the sketchbook slides easily, sending the remnant flying back on his ass.
He hits hard, nearly loses his grip on his sword, the sword that’s just within my reach.
I throw myself on top of him, grabbing his arm before he brings the blade up, but I’m totally screwed. He’s stronger than I am. As he turns over, he hooks his free arm behind my back, then slams me face-first to the ground.
I swing back with an elbow. Miss. Then I lose my hold on his sword arm and—
Warmth spills over my back. His weight disappears just before I’m yanked back to my feet. Aren steadies me as the remnant’s soul-shadow rises into the air.
“Back to the wall,” he grates out.
“They’re here,” I tell him, turning toward the gate.
Aren follows my gaze, curses, then fissures out.
“Get back to the wall!” Naito shouts, showing up at my side, but I’m useless there. I need to be close to read the shadows.
“Map the shadows of the injured fae,” I tell him. When fae are hurt, they instinctively fissure to locations they’re most familiar with. They might fissure home or, if we’re lucky, back to the remnants’ base of operations.
Naito protests, but I don’t listen. I catch the attention of the three nearest rebels and order them to cover me as I run toward the gate.
I lose one of my escorts on the way. He doesn’t enter the ether, but he’s hurt. I have to fight the urge to help him. Keep running.
“Paige!” I shout when I’m less than twenty feet from her. She looks my way.
So does the remnant who’s with her.
Shit. It’s the fae from the corridor, the one who was supposed to be replacing the guard Lee knocked out. I’m an idiot. A complete and utter idiot.
It has to be Tylan. He’s pushing her forward, toward the blur at the edge of the river. I won’t reach them before they fissure out so I open my sketchbook and drop to my knees.
This is always the hardest part of reading the shadows. I have to ignore the strikes of metal against metal and the shouts and cries of the fae. I have to block everything out, open to a blank page, and lock my gaze on the fae approaching the gate. I grab my pencil, putting all my faith in the rebels who are protecting me.
A fissure splits through the air, but it’s next to the gate, not over it, and a fae steps out of it, not into it. I squint across the distance, focusing on the newcomer’s face and…
And it’s Kavok, the archivist. What the hell is he doing here?
I glance up at the sky, blinking as the hail continues to fall. Kavok is doing this? He’s fully capable of calling this storm, but he’s…He’s…
He dips his hand into the river.
He’s betraying us.
I have no time to let that soak in or to contemplate his motive; he steps into the gated-fissure with Lee. Shadows replace the extinguished slash of light, and I draw a long, curving line down the right side of the page. It hooks up toward the middle. A peninsula. They’re somewhere near its eastern coast. I’m guessing it’s Brith until I realize I’m not drawing the Realm. This is—
I can’t block out the remnant who fissures in front of my nose. He’s so close, he steps out of the light and onto my sketch. No rebel is near enough to intercept his attack.
I throw myself to the left, dropping my shoulder and rolling even though I know it’s too late. Only, it’s not too late. Something hits the remnant, spinning him around and throwing him so off-balance he loses his grip on his sword.
A fissure opens behind him. Lena steps out, crouches, then stabs upward, sliding her blade in beneath the remnant’s cuirass. The fae goes pale an instant before his soul-shadow replaces his body.
“Finish it,” she orders, taking up a defensive position to my right. She so shouldn’t be out here, but I grab my sketchbook, pulling it back in front of me, then find Kavok and Lee’s shadows again. They’re fading. My map won’t be very accurate.
The Shattered Dark sr-2 Page 22
