Across The Divide

by Stacey Marie Brown

  “I’m done for today.” I stepped around him.

  “That’s not up to you.” Liam grabbed for my arm. I swung around with a snarl, halting him in his steps.

  “I. Am. Done. For. Today.” I leaned closer to Liam, stressing each word. He seemed to sense my seriousness and let go of my arm.

  I whipped back around, walking into the open elevator. He moved alongside me. Without a word he returned me to my room, locking me in for the night.

  I proceeded toward Sprig’s cage, needing to see the little guy. The lid of the container squeaked and spilled in fluorescent light when I lifted it, peering in.

  My heart sank to my knees. Sprig was still in the corner and appeared like he hadn’t moved an inch. His form was curled in a ball, laboring in and out as he breathed.

  “Sprig?” I reached down to touch him. “Buddy?”

  The skin underneath his thick fur blistered with heat.

  “Sprig?” My throat closed, trying to swallow the dread piercing my lungs like a dartboard. “I brought you honey.” I tugged the packages from my bra. Maybe sugar would help him. I tore into one of the containers, placing it under his nose.

  His nostrils flared and twitched, but he didn’t open his eyes. Oh my god. My stomach plummeted like a roller coaster, then rose with nauseated panic.

  I squirted the honey on my finger, pressing it to his mouth. Nothing. There wasn’t anything that would keep Sprig from his honey. Zero.

  “Buddy, come on.” I lined his lips with the sugary substance, trying to entice him out of his deep slumber. When Lexie first came to us, she wouldn’t eat. I rubbed applesauce along her lips to get her to lick it off and start eating. It had worked.

  I hoped it would again. Seconds ticked by and Sprig did not respond to the honey. His breathing only grew more forced.

  “No!” The word discharged from my mouth, my panic building to anger. “No, you have to be all right. Get up!” The blast of anger rapidly fizzled, plucking tears from my eyes.

  “I can’t take you too... please, Sprig.”

  His chest went up, faltering, before he breathed out.

  Oh my god. He was dying.

  My knees buckled and I slumped to the floor. “I can’t lose you too,” I whispered, the pain in my chest making it difficult to breath. “Please don’t leave me.”

  The lights above my head flickered off, plunging me into obscurity. I looked at the dark lights. My chest filled, sweltering with fury. The switching off of the lights turned on my anger.

  Fury at Rapava billowed inside me like a hot-air balloon. Rage at this place, at Ryker and Croygen for following me here, Sprig for getting sick, Lexie for going behind my back to contact DMG. Everything. But most of all myself. For letting it all happen. For being a victim again…

  No. More.

  I grabbed my foot, ripping off my boot with a lurch. My nails shredded as I dug at the insole, ripping it out of my shoe. The rock sat in the heel of my boot, looking innocent and docile.

  “You want me?” I growled at it. “Fine. You can have me.”

  The rash stupidity of this nibbled at my conscience. A voice told me to stop, that I would only make it worse. But I shoved the thought back, tired of listening and playing the game. I was ready for recklessness. Anything to get us out of here, to stop the loss of all the people I loved.

  I tipped the shoe, the stone rolled to the edge.

  Zoey, stop! My gut screamed at me.

  No, Zoey, this is what you want, the stone called.

  There was no doubt who won as the gray rock plopped in my hand. The moment it touched my skin, it grabbed hold of me. I felt my head hit the floor.

  “Zoey, I knew you’d come back for me. I felt our connection. I like you. You and I will do amazing things together.” The stone’s deep, soothing voice spoke into my head. “Do not doubt yourself. You made the right decision to say yes to me.”

  “But I haven’t said yes.”

  “Yet,” it responded. “But you will.”

  Flashes of images assaulted my brain almost too quickly to decipher. Finally it landed on one.

  I stood off in the distance with Ryker, Lexie, Sprig, and Croygen beside me. The DMG building was on fire. The ground exploded and erupted as the surface below was bombed. Experimental animals ran off, escaping the blaze and running free. The prisoned fae fled for higher ground. Happiness filled me as I watched it burn. Every last paper, test tube, needle, piece of lab equipment, and document was destroyed. Rapava sat on his knees in front of it, his head in his hands as he screamed.

  “Excuse me.” I left my group, walking over to Rapava. He glanced over his shoulder at me, fear buried deep in his eyes. “It is done. You are done.”

  His lip curled. “You think so? I will start over, and I will only come back stronger. This war is not over.”

  “Yes, it is.” I grabbed the sword at my waist, holding it how Ryker showed me, and swung. Rapava’s head was sheared off his body in a spray of blood. I flung it into the dirt where it rolled away.

  The image went black, the stone’s voice coming back to me.

  “But if that is too quick for you, Zoey, you can torture him like he has done to you and those you love.”

  “That option sounds good too.”

  “But he is only a drop in the bucket. We have far more to accomplish and do together. This doctor is nothing and only a bump in the road to our greatness.”

  More pictures of me emerged shaking hands on stage, accepting an award for advancements in the cure of disabilities and diseases.

  “You can have a medical research hospital named after you. Think about all the lives you will save and the children and their families you can help.”

  The image changed. The ranch-style home with the pool it showed me once before came into view. The parents I never had, the friends, and kids were all back. This time Ryker was the one next to me, rubbing my belly with his baby inside. His arms wrapped around me as we watched Lexie play in the pool. Sprig sat on the patio table eating a bag of honey-coated mango chips, with a jar of honey next to him so he could dip them. Croygen lay on a raft in the middle of the pool, a beer in one hand, frowning as Lexie’s splashes fell inside his drink.

  It was everything I wanted. This was the picture which touched my heart the most. The stone pressed deeper into the fantasy, creating every detail so real and perfect it was like I was really there.

  “One word, Zoey, and all the hurt is all forgotten. You will have everything you’ve ever wanted. You will never remember the pain or despair.”

  “Holy shit, Zoey!” A voice came from outside me.

  I growled at the intruder. No, not this time. No one would take this away from me.

  “Fuck! What is wrong with you? Wake up!”

  The stone bored deeper into me, holding tight, flashing more perfect images of my life. Then suddenly I saw fire and destruction, watching the world burn, laughing. But before I could latch on to them, they were gone. The film flicked by faster and faster.

  I felt a sharp sting to my face, my body being shaken. Then a pain crushed my hand.

  I screamed and my hand unlocked, the stone falling away. My lids tore open, and I sucked in a gulp of air. Croygen stood over me, his foot on my wrist. The stone lay only a few inches from my fingers. My hand uncurled, automatically reaching out for the object.

  “No.” Croygen pressed his boot harder into my hand. Insert Viking instead of pirate here and I was having a full déjà vu moment. These guys always came and prevented me from saying yes.

  “Get off me,” I snarled, tugging at my arm.

  “No,” Croygen said again, shaking his head, his black eyes glowing enough they reflected. “Is that what I think it is?” He wasn’t really asking a question, so I didn’t respond.

  “Fuck, Zoey, you had it this whole time?”

  “Yes.”

  Croygen waited for me to continue.

  “Ryker must have put it in my boot after I returned from Seattle,” I said.
“I didn’t know I had it till the other day.”

  Croygen snorted. “That bastard is smart or plain lucky. He kept it safe and close and still concealed it from Vadik.”

  “Are you going to steal it now?” I retorted.

  Croygen watched me, his head tilted. “Is that what you think?”

  “You’re a thief, aren’t you?”

  “I steal to sell for money, not to use it myself.” Annoyance constricted his vocals.

  “Really? You don’t want it at all? Have all the riches and wishes you ever wanted granted?”

  “It’s not a genie in a bottle.” He slipped his foot off my wrist but grabbed me under my arms, bringing me to my feet before I could react. “I grew up hearing the legends and cautionary tales of the four treasures of the Tuatha Dé Danann. They are not to be messed with. Their powers go beyond anything we could ever know…and not usually for good. They were hidden for a reason.” He kept a tight grip on me, his gaze turning to the lump of rock on the floor. “I can’t deny the draw of it. To have something that powerful in my grasp…” Croygen pulled away from me, rubbing his head. He swore under his breath. “Get it away from me now.”

  “What do you want me to do with it?” I tossed my arms up. “I am obviously no better with it than you.”

  “But you are.” His head came up, looking at me. “You’ve carried it with you for months now. I’ve been near it five minutes and already want to cave. I don’t have willpower like you do. You are stronger than you think.”

  “Ryker had it for years. In his boot. Every day,” I replied. Both of us stared down at the rock.

  “Yeah, we all know he’s a god with steel nuts.” Croygen rolled his eyes.

  Thinking on how long Ryker carried it, was able to say no, and not give in to temptation gave me strength. He’d be pissed at me right now and tell me to suck it up and be strong. I rolled my shoulders back. Using my shirt, I picked up the rock and dropped it back in my shoe. I laid the sole back in and shoved the boot on my foot.

  “There.” I laced them tight, triple knotting them.

  “Thank you,” Croygen breathed out, collapsing back on my bed. We both continued to stare at my boot.

  “It would be so easy,” I whispered.

  “Yeah. It would,” he agreed.

  Silence.

  “Would the costs be that bad?”

  “From what I’ve heard.” Croygen leaned over his legs. “Yes, more than the benefits. The four objects were not designed for good. The weapons, like the spear and sword, are supposedly neutral and are only influenced by the owner’s intention. They were made from light magic. The stone and the cauldron are not. They have their own agendas and were made from dark magic. They want to take and destroy. Whatever you think the benefit is, it will never outweigh the bad they bring. It is the one truth we fae are raised knowing. Whatever it has been telling you is a lie. Its willingness to help you is only for its own benefit. It will take your energy and use it against you, making itself even stronger. And you will die a horrible death.”

  He slid his fingers back through the sides of his temples, his hair slicked back in a bun. He and Ryker were the two men who could get away with a look like that. The style fit them, and they were even sexier with it.

  “As a kid you think it’s your parents trying to keep you in line.” He clasped his hands together, his elbows on his legs. “The older you get, you realize they should have made the tales even scarier.” His gaze went to my feet again. “Fuck, I can’t believe I am sitting in a room with the Stone of Fál. I grew up hearing about it but always thought it was more a legend. It’s a little surreal and uncomfortably tempting.”

  “But you knew it was real. Ryker had it.”

  “Truth?” Croygen lips hitched up. “I thought he was full of shit, had something he thought was the stone, or was passing it off as the stone.”

  “I think he would have preferred that.” I sighed, my mind wandering to the man only floors under me.

  We both went quiet before Croygen flicked his head to the cage. “So why is he so quiet tonight? Don’t think I’ve heard him this silent for so long…even when he’s sleeping.”

  It was as if someone came up and wrapped their hands around my throat. I pushed myself up and walked to the table.

  “He’s sick.” The words caught in my throat. I stroked his fur, his breathing still strained and uneven. The honey glistened on his mouth, left exactly where I put it. Tears tickled the back of my lids.

  Sprig is dying.

  Ryker was too, and the more he fought Rapava, the weaker he grew. Each stab wound, cut, and metal poisoning took him away from me, and my possession of his powers was doing enough on its own. I felt helpless. Any choice I made was the bad one. I loved him—more than I thought myself capable. But to sacrifice my sister? No, Ryker and I would never be, if that was the choice. If we survived this, he would probably want nothing to do with me anyway.

  Lexie. Ryker. Sprig. Croygen. Me. All our lives were on the line.

  “Croygen, I can’t take this anymore. We need to get out. All of us.”

  The pirate lay back on my pillow, shoving his arms behind his head, and stared at the ceiling. “And how do you suppose we do that?”

  I licked my lips, my feet shifting with frustration. “I don’t know, but Sprig can’t take any more testing…and Ryker…I can’t hurt him anymore. He is not healing. And he is too fucking stubborn to stop provoking the doctor.”

  Croygen’s head turned to me, one eyebrow crooked up.

  I rolled my eyes.

  “A mule does come to mind when I think of you two.” He smirked. “Actually, I’m surprised you even got together. Like knocking blocks together.”

  “Croygen.”

  He swung up, thrusting his feet back on the floor. “What do you want to do? You tried to escape once before. Want to recall that major fail? Took you weeks to earn some sort of trust here. And look what you had to do to earn their confidence back. Dissect your boyfriend.”

  I rubbed my head at the cruel memories. The side of me which could turn off emotion and do what I needed to survive used to cause me pride. Now it scared me. What else could I do? How far could I go?

  “Now the asshole is totally fucked up, physically and mentally…wanting nothing more than to kill you and is too hurt to help with the escape. Sprig is useless, and even if he were all right, his jailbird antics don’t work against the goblin metal. Your sister can’t run or even walk fast.” Croygen held his arms up, swinging them like a conductor. “Say it with me, Zoey. We. Are. Screwed.”

  The truth of his words weighed me down. I hit the wall and slid to the floor. I let my arms and legs flop with defeat. I was trying hard to keep up hope and strength, but every day a little more was taken from me. Realizing the stone was not even remotely an option only stole the little breeze I felt in my sail.

  I heard a sigh from Croygen, and I lifted my head to peer at him.

  “I mean, I am known as the pirate ghost for a reason…”

  A speck of hope flared in my heart.

  “Ruthless, unbelievably handsome…”

  I tilted my head to the side.

  “Nightmare to my enemies, fantasy to wome—”

  “Yes, we get it,” I interrupted.

  “There’s no way out of the injections. Even without our powers we need to think of a way to escape.” He stood and paced. “We at least have a card for the elevator.”

  I pulled my knees to my chest. “Ryker is being held on the bottom floor. The door is secured by an eleven-digit code. All I’ve been able to pick up is it ends with a four and nine.”

  Croygen stopped walking. “You’re making this sound easier and easier,” he huffed. “You sure we can’t leave his ass here?”

  I glared at him.

  “Damn, the sex must be good.”

  I smiled in response.

  “Please don’t ruin my theory that at least he has a small dick. No one, not even a fae, should be as lucky as t
hat bastard.”

  My smug grin only grew more.

  “Fuck. Now I really want to ditch his ass.” Croygen shook his head. “What women do for this fucker amazes me. Amara. You. I mean, this guy wants to kill you, and you still will do anything for him.”

  “I don’t know if he wants to kill me.”

  “Don’t fool yourself. I have never made a promise, but the obligation I felt toward him for decades was strong enough. I’ve heard the longer it goes unsettled, a promise becomes almost unbearable until you fulfill it.”

  I pushed myself into a standing position. “I am not leaving him, Croygen. That’s final.”

  He sighed and rubbed his face. “Fine, but don’t say I didn’t warn you.”

  “Warning received. Let’s move on to the plan.”

  Croygen crossed back to his bed and fell on it, the springs squeaking with the force. He leaned back, his shoulders against the wall, and pulled one foot onto the bed. “The plan, sweetheart, is for you to get the code... then we’ll go from there.”

  “But it could be weeks,” I retaliated. “He will die by then.”

  “He’s a lot stronger than you think,” Croygen said. “I’ve seen him come back from injuries in days that would disable other fae for years. He will come through. And if not, we have one less body to carry.” He grinned.

  Croygen was mostly talk when it came to Ryker. He might say he would leave him, but I knew he wouldn’t. He would rather save Ryker and force him to pay through an obligation for the next several centuries.

  “Okay, I will work on getting the code. You try getting another key card, in case we need to separate.”

  “Won’t be too hard. The nurse, Delaney, has taken a slight liking to me. Slip one off her easy enough.”

  “Really?”

  “Don’t sound surprised. Human or fae…they all eventually succumb to my charms.”

  I snorted.

  “What? You don’t think I can seduce her?” He jumped off his bed and strolled to me. “There isn’t a woman on earth I can’t seduce.”

  “Really?” I taunted. “Me. Amara. Naming two.”