by Ally Condie
“AND THIS DOES?” Tyler thundered.
“Wait a second.” Emma squinted at Opal. “Earlier you said that, if you were right, ‘we’d have to make a decision.’ What did you mean?”
Opal made as if to speak, but paused instead. Her eyes did a circuit of the others.
Tyler’s mouth dropped open. “Oh no.”
Opal looked down at the floor.
“No no no!” Tyler growled, pounding a fist into his open palm to punctuate the words. “We are not doing that. Not again!”
Emma’s eyes widened. Then she got a speculative look. Nico felt his stomach lurch.
Logan was glancing from face to face. “Not doing what, guys?”
Tyler spun on him. “Don’t you see what she’s driving at? Opal wants to test her theory. In person. She wants to go back into the Void!”
Emma rubbed her chin. “Another Darkdeep dive.”
“Come and see what I have for you,” Nico breathed. He covered his eyes.
Logan stared at Opal like she’d glitched. “What? Why? None of this helps us deal with the new Rift we found at Yellowstone. Or the one five miles from here! That should be our focus. If this poor Aster girl got sucked onto another planet, I feel bad for her, but we have our own world to worry about. Earth. Right here.”
“Is that how you really feel?” Opal asked quietly. “All of you?” Her penetrating gaze traveled the group. Nico found he couldn’t meet her eye. “Would you leave me there? Or another kid you knew was in trouble?”
No one spoke. Nico felt a ton of bricks land on his chest.
“You wouldn’t.” Opal crossed her arms. “So why should Aster be any different? We’re the only people who can help her.”
Nico cleared his throat. “Help her how, Opal?”
There was a slight trill to her response. “We go get her. Bring her home.”
No one spoke. Opal’s statement had cast a spell over the showroom.
Outside the bay window, the sun moved behind a cloud, and the room darkened. Nico saw his shadow stretch toward the wall panel hiding the Darkdeep. Into the well. That’s the way we’d have to go.
“I’ll do it,” Nico said softly.
Emma nearly spoke on top of him. “Me too!”
“Come on, guys.” Tyler was so upset he was shaking. “What if going back into the Darkdeep wakes it up again? We just stabilized the Rift in Timbers. Now we know there’s another one. We can’t risk ruining the balance all over again!”
Opal marched to where her bag sat on a trunk. “We’ll bring a balance object. Something to counteract Aster’s removal from Thing’s world. And … we just so happen to have one that we already know works.”
Logan frowned. “We do?”
Opal spun, holding the chess set. “Yep.”
Tyler looked set to explode again, but he froze, then pursed his lips instead. “Huh.”
Nico nodded slowly. “It might work. And while we’re in the Void, we can question Thing about the end of the world, and the Yellowstone Rift. Whether there are other Torchbearers or not. That little green blob has to know stuff it didn’t tell us.”
The more Nico considered it, the more Opal’s wild idea seemed like the only plan that made sense. How else were they going to learn what they needed to know, with Logan’s dad in hiding and all other Torchbearers missing in action, or maybe even long gone?
“Thing might know about Beastmastering, too,” Tyler mused. “Crap. We’re really going to do this, aren’t we?”
Logan put a hand to the bridge of his nose and squeezed. “If we jump into the well, you know it will kick out some figments that we’ll have to deal with, right? And we haven’t even figured out that yellow-eyed wolf-thing!”
“Hey, I’ve missed our imaginary friends,” Emma joked, flapping a hand. “Plus, if recent events are any example, we could use the practice.”
All eyes shifted to Tyler. He groaned, nodded.
Opal beamed from ear to ear. “Let’s get to work.”
Nico inspected the other Torchbearers forming a circle around the Darkdeep. They were all wearing wetsuits. Their last journey had taught them a few things, and everyone wanted to be prepared. They kept diving gear on the houseboat at all times now, in case of emergency.
And here it is. We’re really going back.
All the way to the Rift, and beyond.
“Supply check,” he called out. “Daggers?”
Logan slapped a waterproof bag clipped around his shoulders. “Packed and ready.”
“Balance item?”
Opal held a bundle zipped into a dry bag. “Got it.”
Nico tried to keep the strain from his voice. “Emma, you have the panic bag?”
Emma wore an airtight scuba backpack. “Snorkels. Fins. Food, water, iodine. Yada yada yada. Let’s go.”
“Clock?”
Tyler tapped his sports watch. “I’ll start the timer as the first person splashes in. Which isn’t going to be me, by the way.”
Nico took a deep breath. Shook out his arms and legs. “I’ll go first. Remember the procedure. Think of the Darkdeep and give in to its pull. When we hit the end of that conduit, swim straight for the Rift under the oil platform. That leads to the Void. We’ll regroup there and … and … see what we see.”
“We’re ready.” Opal’s eyes shone in the half-light. “Thank you, guys. I mean it.”
Emma squeezed her hand. Nico glanced down at the well, embarrassed.
Below his feet, the Darkdeep waited, as black and motionless as infinity itself.
Stop stalling. It never gets easier.
“Here we go,” Nico said in an overloud voice. “Stay with the group at all times. If possible.”
Words of assent flew around the room.
Nico cracked his knuckles. Bent his knees.
Three.
Two.
One.
He dove in.
16
OPAL
Light disappeared.
So did sound. Touch. Taste. And smell.
Opal hurtled through the Darkdeep, though not a hair on her head stirred.
Black everywhere. Then a sensation of falling.
A blue-green blur appeared and suddenly Opal burst through it. Suddenly she was underwater, grappling with the strong Pacific currents.
She kicked outward, then down, peering into the gray-green depths, looking for the telltale glow of the Rift.
There.
Opal dove for the pulsing rip in space-time. At her side, the others did the same.
In moments, the Rift’s pull enveloped her, and she was sucked into its shimmering vortex.
An electric shock. A blast of heat.
Then, nothing once more. Only this nothing was different.
The Torchbearers had entered the Void.
Took you long enough.
A lime-green blob with spindly arms and a wide grin was hovering beside a second gash in reality, below the one Opal and her friends had just exited. Thing. The alien spoke in the mind-bending way communication worked inside the Void—sending thoughts directly into her head.
Opal shivered. She’d never get used to it.
The group drifted in the strange, prismatic-colored vacuum that existed between worlds. It took Opal a moment to get the hang of moving around again. She closed her eyes, concentrating, and zipped in the direction she wanted to go. That was the trick in the Void—your body did what your thoughts commanded.
Help! Logan was floundering in an ungainly circle, exactly as Opal had the first time she’d entered this in-between space. Logan had never been through the Rift before—during the Taker battle, he’d been in charge of stealing a boat and plucking them from the collapsing oil rig.
Opal understood his panic. You couldn’t swim or kick like in the ocean. There was no ground to stand on, nothing tangible to grab with your hands.
Logan.
His fevered gaze shot to her, a look of distress on his face.
It’s okay, she tol
d him. Think about where you want to go. Then it happens.
He nodded. Gritting his teeth, he let his eyes go unfocused. After a few seconds, he stopped whirling and sank down to where the others had clustered.
Logan flashed a lopsided grin. Wow.
Opal gave him a reassuring smile.
Tyler peered longingly up at the shimmering slash they’d come through—the passage back to their world. I don’t like being so far away from it.
You’re not far, Thing chided. Distance has no meaning here.
To prove the point, Thing disappeared. Suddenly, the creature was inside their impromptu circle. Logan reared back in surprise and had to be steadied by Emma, who chuckled softly to herself. Or to everyone, since her giggle sounded inside their minds.
Opal gave Thing an appraising look. Had the maddening little creature left its own world only a moment ago? Or had it been waiting? How did Thing know they’d be right here, now? What had it been doing since they last met face-to-face?
I’ve been expecting you. What part of my message was unclear?
Opal swore Thing’s eyes twinkled with amusement. It looked the same—little green body, big black eyes—but also … different. Fuller? More … itself?
There’s been a lot going on, Opal sent in a testy tone.
More than you know. Thing tilted its bulbous head. What in the Void are you wearing?
Wetsuits. Nico moved closer to Opal. We’re not taking any more chances with the Rift. We have our daggers too, in case there’s trouble.
There was an edge to Nico’s voice. He wasn’t messing around.
No enemies are nearby at present, Thing reassured them. But we shouldn’t dawdle.
Your message! Emma zipped in next to Nico. What did it mean?
And why all the secrecy? Nico added irritably. A cryptic note and a single chess piece? Why not just tell us what’s going on straight out?
Thing’s tone grew icy. We’re not the only beings who travel this realm. Or have you forgotten the Takers? I didn’t want to send anything that revealed too much. Plus, I knew you’d figure it out. And since you’re here, I assume you did?
Opal nodded. I’ve been investigating the life of Yvette Dumont. She was a governess aboard a ship named the Dauphin. There was a ward in her charge. A girl named Aster. I … I think she’s here with you.
Thing’s grin widened. Excellent. I’m not entirely sure how the balance works—as I said before, it’s not one-to-one—but I had no idea Aster was here until I returned. Yvette and I had assumed she drowned when the ship sank. Aster being alive on my world is a missing piece we never considered. Not in all the years that Torchbearers tended the Rift.
Nico’s voice growled in everyone’s mind. You’re saying she’s on your planet right now?
Yes, Nico. That’s exactly what I’m saying.
How is that possible? Emma asked in amazement. Her ship went down hundreds of years ago!
Only in your timeline. On my world, it’s been less than ten months.
Everyone stared at the tiny alien in shock.
Opal was thunderstruck. A girl who’d been lost at sea over two hundred years ago was not only still alive, but in her life only a few seasons had passed. It was almost too overwhelming to consider.
Emma’s spectral form began to shimmer. With excitement? If Aster returns to Earth with us, everything will be back where it belongs! The balance will be fixed!
What about the Beast? Tyler countered, frowning. He’s not from our world, but he’s there now.
Thing pursed its thin lips. Interesting. Have you communed with the leviathan lately?
Tyler shook his head glumly. I can’t seem to make contact.
Thing shrugged. The creature can communicate. Beastmasters had a method, I’m sure of it.
You don’t know? Tyler asked. How is that possible?
Thing shrugged. I had little interest in events I could never see. I was trapped in a jar on the houseboat, you might recall.
Before Tyler could say more, Logan’s voice entered Opal’s head. Maybe we should leave Aster where she is until we know whether she and the Beast balance each other out. He held up a hand as Opal whirled on him. Think about it! We don’t want another Dark Halloween situation. Plus, everything is a disaster on Earth right now. What if we make it worse?
Opal glared at Logan so hard she thought he might blip out of existence. We are not leaving someone behind. That’s horrible, Logan! We have to bring Aster back and figure it out from there. But then a strange thought struck her. Does she want to return, Thing?
Of course. Thing glanced at the glimmering Rift into its world. She’s healthy and eager—though she’s certainly had some hair-raising experiences. Remember, Aster would be returning to your world little older than when she left. And we must hurry. We’re running out of time.
Out of time how? Nico demanded, but the tiny green alien was already arcing away. Thing slipped through its swirling gateway, then returned a beat later leading someone by the hand.
Aster, Opal breathed.
Thought or a sending, she didn’t know.
The girl wore an old-fashioned blue dress and brown lace-up boots. Some kind of glowing purple substance stained her footwear, and her skirt was torn at the hem. Aster’s sleeves were rolled up, her expression one of determination. She looked to be a year or two older than Opal. Her hair was bound in a single braid thrown over her shoulder.
Opal reached up to touch her own braid. It wasn’t like looking in a mirror or anything—the girl was taller, and her hair was dark blond—but Opal felt an immediate connection. This was someone who knew the world wasn’t always as it seemed.
Colors began to twist and spin around them. Opal thought she heard a low, faraway roar. Not animal in nature, but … nature in nature. As if a world was groaning. But which one?
The Void has become unstable, Thing sent in distress. The balance has tilted once more.
We thought of that. Opal unwrapped the parcel in her hands and held out the chess set. Aster’s gaze locked onto it. The board had clearly belonged to her, and she seemed astonished to see it again.
Thing nodded swiftly. Smart thinking. I’ll take this back across and perhaps a tenuous stability will return.
Aster turned her head sharply to regard Thing. A warning look smoldered in her eyes. Not fear, exactly. More like she knew something Thing wasn’t saying. Thing seemed to be studiously ignoring her glare.
Are we sure this is a good idea? Tyler sent, eyeing the chaotic swirls around them. What if we take her back and she, like, poofs into ash like the Avengers?
Thing’s tone was clipped. Aster has done well for a human, but it’s unsustainable. She cannot survive on my world forever.
Opal met the girl’s eye. Felt a challenge there.
It’s not up to us, Opal sent. She makes the call.
The older girl nodded. Pointed to the Timbers Rift.
Opal gave a mental snort. You see? There’s nothing left to say.
Not that she’s said anything. Logan folded his arms to glare at Thing, accidentally listing to one side before righting himself. My dad claims the end of the world is coming. He said that the Torchbearers knew it, and nothing can prevent it. Do you know what he’s talking about?
Thing’s expression became guarded. The end of the world is always coming. No matter which one you’re on. The Order understood this.
Nico threw up his hands. What does that mean? And how many Torchbearers are there? How many Rifts into our world? What haven’t you told us yet, Thing? We’ve been to Yellowstone, you know.
Opal’s gaze slid to Aster. She felt powerful emotions radiating from her, but couldn’t decipher them. Why didn’t Aster speak?
The Void bulged like a blown bubble, then seemed to squash down around them.
There’s no time for this right now, Thing sent, avoiding Nico’s questions.
We gotta go! Logan started flailing up toward the Timbers Rift, which was glowing white-hot. Looks li
ke now or never!
Opal regarded the girl from another time. The one whose name was carved into Torchbearer lore. She’d lost her possessions. Her parents. Her world.
Aster glared at the group, unblinking. Then she reached out and gripped Opal’s fingers.
She’s willing to take the risk, Thing said.
The set of Aster’s jaw confirmed it. And then, like a lightning bolt, words seared into Opal’s mind.
Sharp and clear, a new voice rang in their heads, one tinged with having been other places, seen other things.
I’m coming with you, Aster said firmly. I’m going home.
PART THREE
THE HUNT
17
NICO
Frigid gusts hammered the houseboat’s front door.
A thin layer of ice now coated the pond outside—not yet sturdy enough to walk on, but getting there. Nico, Tyler, and Logan huddled in the foyer, peeling off their sodden wetsuits. Tyler’s teeth were chattering nonstop. Nico’s fingers burned from the cold. He tried to control his ragged breathing.
The journey home had been nothing short of terrifying. They’d never tried to reenter the Darkdeep on their way back through the Rift before. For a heart-stopping few moments Nico couldn’t find its black current as he scrambled around underwater, spinning in frantic circles at the bottom of the ocean. His mind nearly blanking with panic, he’d thought they were going to have to surface in the storm-swept Pacific, miles from land, with no prospect of getting rescued from the ruins of the ancient oil rig that had concealed the Rift for decades.
But at the last instant, he’d sensed the Darkdeep’s pull.
Linking hands, they’d kicked hard, running out of air as they surrendered to its gravity. Just as Nico was about to despair, the Darkdeep seized them. Sucked them into its nothing space. The inky flow swallowed them whole, shooting the Torchbearers down its length and spitting them out at the bottom of the island pond in Still Cove.
Nico had torpedoed upward and hit the newly formed ice, then punched through it with a roar of desperation, shattering the delicate patina into a thousand tiny shards as the group sloshed for shore, gasping and blowing. Then the bitter cold had set in. His legs had barely sustained him as they staggered across the stepping stones out to the houseboat.
