Blood and Salt

by Kim Liggett

“And go where?” He tilted his head, like he was amused.

  “Anywhere. I’ve got money. You can have it.”

  His smile faded as he eased his hands over my knees. “Maybe we could go together. We can bring Rhys and Beth, too.”

  I felt my heart pick up speed at the thought . . . at his touch. “What about Coronado? Won’t he be waiting for us?”

  “Not if we time it right. At dawn on the summer solstice, he’ll be watching the eastern perimeter, because it’s the closest entry point to the sacred circle. We could leave from the old stables on the western edge, slip through their fingers.”

  For a moment, I got caught up in the idea, Dane and I escaping from all of this, starting life anew; then a crippling thought washed over me.

  “I can’t leave my mom here.”

  “Then I’ll stay,” he said with such sincerity, it made me ache. “Besides . . .” He leaned forward, his hands slowly moving up my thighs. “I always felt like I was waiting for something, too.” He slipped his hands beneath the hem of my shorts, pulling me toward him. “Maybe that something was you,” he whispered, his lips hovering mere centimeters from mine . . .

  “Ash!” The front door slammed open. My brother’s voice cut through the atmosphere like a hatchet.

  Dane pulled away.

  “We’ve been looking everywhere for you.” Beth grinned, her warm brown eyes twinkling in the lamplight, completely clueless as to what she just walked in on.

  “As you can see, I’m fine.” I closed the medical kit with a little too much force. I couldn’t believe this was happening to me right now.

  “What’s he doing here?” Rhys asked without looking at Dane. “I told you to stay close. You’re supposed to be at the bonfire.”

  Dane stood. “I was just leaving.”

  Rhys looked down at the blood-soaked gauze. “What happened?”

  “I fell. It’s nothing.” Dane pulled his shirt back on.

  “Funny.” Rhys squared his shoulders. “You don’t strike me as the clumsy type.”

  Dane smiled at me. “Thanks for a memorable evening.”

  He stepped outside and my brother slammed the door behind him.

  “That’s it.” Rhys glared at me through his disheveled bangs. “We’re leaving.”

  31

  FEVER

  RHYS TORE PAST ME, down the stairs, to my mother’s room. “I know I said I’d give you three days, but I’ve had enough.”

  I looked at Beth pleadingly, but she seemed just as shocked as I was.

  Rhys threw clothes into his bag. “From the moment we got here you’ve changed. This whole thing was never about the dead girl . . . about helping Mom. There was never a plan. This was all about Dane. God, I’m such an idiot.”

  “Can we please talk about this?” I twisted the end of the ribbon between my fingers.

  He pulled the bag of cash and gold from underneath the bed. “We’ll have plenty of time to talk on our way back to civilization.” Storming back upstairs and out the front door, he plunged into the prairie grass, making a beeline for the corn.

  “Rhys!” Beth scurried to catch up to him.

  “And we’re taking Beth with us,” he said over his shoulder.

  Beth stopped in her tracks, that loopy smile engulfing her face. “You’d do that? You’d take me with you?”

  “We have to stop him,” I whispered to Beth as I pulled her along into the knee-high stretch of coarse grass. “He doesn’t know about the corn.”

  She looked at me in shock.

  “Please just wait . . . I can explain everything . . . it’s not what you think.”

  I tried to stop him, but Rhys took a determined step into the corn and was thrown back at least ten feet, knocking the wind right out of him.

  “What was that?” He inhaled sharply as he staggered to his feet. “They must’ve built some kind of invisible fence—like for a dog—but on steroids.” He rubbed his shoulder.

  Beth raced to his side, her eyes shiny with tears. “I thought you already knew.”

  “Maybe if we can get past the barrier.” He ran toward the corn and it flung him back, again and again and again, until he could hardly pick himself back up.

  Tears were spilling down Beth’s cheeks now as she stood by, watching him rage against the stalks.

  “It’s not an invisible fence,” I said as I stepped forward. “Not the kind you’re thinking of.”

  “Did you know about this?” he gasped as I tried to help him find his footing, but when I didn’t answer he jerked away from me, almost falling over again.

  “You knew we couldn’t leave?” He shook his head in disbelief. “You knew this whole time and you didn’t say anything?”

  “I’m sorry, Rhys.” My voice shook. “I wanted to tell you. I just . . . I didn’t want to make it worse.”

  “Worse?’ he screamed. “Do you realize what you’ve done by bringing us here? We’re trapped.” He began to pace. “This can’t be happening. Somebody must’ve slipped something in my drink.”

  “It’s real. All of it.” I swallowed hard as I turned to face him. “I saw Coronado tonight. I saw the Arcanum. They killed Tanner from the junkyard. Coronado wanted to kill me. But Dane saved me.”

  “Ash,” he groaned in frustration. “The visions aren’t real—”

  “These weren’t visions,” I said. “The corn is more than a protective barrier. It’s alive and it’s eating people.”

  “Okay . . . all right.” He laughed as he backed away from me. “They’ve got you brainwashed, too. Use your head. If we can’t get out of the corn . . . and no one can get in . . . how could you have possibly seen Coronado and the Arcanum?”

  “Dane,” I blurted. “Dane can walk the corn. He’s the only one. It’s a secret, but he can get us out of here.”

  “How?” My brother turned on me.

  “I . . . I don’t know . . . we’ll hold hands or something. He said we might be able to slip by Coronado and his men at dawn on the summer solstice.”

  “Are you serious right now?” He grabbed my shoulders, giving me a hard shake. “Is that what he told you? That we can all walk through the corn together, holding hands, singing ‘Kumbaya’?”

  “She’s telling the truth,” Beth said with a faraway look in her eyes. “I don’t know how I know about Dane, but I do. He can lead us to the outside world.”

  Rhys dragged his hands through his hair and let out a frustrated scream. “Every fiber in my body is telling me not to trust that asshole. Didn’t Mom always say we should trust our instincts? There’s something not right about him . . . about any of this.” He stared out over the corn. He was so disgusted he couldn’t even look me in the eyes. “There has to be another way.” He took Beth’s hand and pulled her away.

  “Where are you going?” I called out in desperation.

  “We’re going back to the bonfire. One of us has to keep up appearances. We’ll tell everyone you came home with a fever. A fever we need to let you burn out.”

  32

  TABOO

  “HE’LL COME AROUND.” Dane’s voice bled through the stalks behind me.

  I turned to find him standing in the corn. “I’m sorry I told your secret, but I didn’t know what else to—”

  “You were trying to make amends. I understand.” He came toward me, his eyes glistening. “I’ll take him through the corn when he’s ready. For now, I want to help you find answers. You deserve to know what’s happening to you.” He held out his hand. “Don’t worry. I won’t let go again.”

  I swallowed back the guilt threatening to pull me under and stepped forward to take his hand. As soon as I touched him, relief flooded me. He made me want to forget about everything. I wanted to live in this moment for as long as I possibly could.

  As we moved through the corn, it felt like we were all al
one in the world, but I was never truly alone. The conduit feelings were always with me . . . clawing at my skin, scratching to get out. Before I even had a chance to take in another breath, that familiar feeling rose up, consuming me until there was nothing left to do but fall.

  • • •

  Marie ducks under the thick fringe of a willow tree, clutching a rock threaded with light pink quartz and a folded piece of parchment.

  “A’kuay’hdah, hakku nay’si’sa,” she whispers to the Great Spirit as she slips the black silk ribbon from around her neck, tying the parchment to the stone. “With this promise, I offer you my most prized possession. This is the ribbon my mother gave to me when I came of age. It’s not a trinket of whimsy. My mother imbued it with power and magic to help me find my one true love. All I ask in return is to be granted immortality. This is my fate. Hear my plea.” She places the parcel against the dark gray trunk.

  As if the breeze is answering her call, the branches sway and dance all around her. A smile flashes across her face and then quickly disappears.

  “Fate is a curious thing,” a whisper filters through the leaves. “Just like the Ouroboros, the snake eating its own tail, your plea has been answered, but not the way you intended.”

  “I don’t understand. I need this . . . now.” Marie stands, searching the leaves for answers. “I fear he’ll leave me if I can’t offer him an immortal life.”

  “And so it shall be . . .”

  The sound of wings descends upon the clearing. Shadows of black birds permeate the space as they land on the branches of the willow.

  • • •

  Darkness envelops me—the past and the present merging together. Grainy images press in on the edge of my consciousness. A stiff black feather tracing down a woman’s bare spine, blood speckling smooth milky skin, clouds of red-tinged water, the black silk ribbon billowing around entwined limbs, the shimmer of leaves.

  But it’s the sound of crinkling rope that pulls me back to the moment.

  “I thought you loved me,” Marie whispers as her body is being dragged into the corn.

  Blindly, I careen after her, feeling the stalks snap at my skin. A soft halo of light beckons in the distance, illuminating the sacred circle. I stop. As I stare through the stalks, toward the chasm in the center of the circle, I hear a scratching, scraping noise, like something’s trying to claw its way out. A chill rushes through me. This place doesn’t feel magical, far from it. It feels barren and cold. A place for the dead.

  • • •

  “Ashlyn,” Dane whispered.

  I opened my eyes to see his face before me. He looked like an angel, with the sun just beginning to rise through the bedroom window behind him.

  “Is this a dream?” I asked.

  He let out a soft sigh. “I don’t know what your dreams are like, but no.”

  I tried to sit up, but he gently pressed me back against the cool cotton sheets. “I blacked out again,” I realized. I wasn’t sure how much time had passed. A red welt ran the length of Dane’s cheekbone. “What happened to your face?”

  He averted his eyes. “It’s nothing.”

  “Wait . . . did I do that?”

  His silence spoke volumes.

  Why would I go after him like that? “Did I give you that scratch on your neck, too?”

  “I surprised you, that’s all.” He brushed it off. “It’s my fault. You’re not supposed to interfere with a conduit when she’s having a vision, but you keep running away from me.”

  I inspected my hands. There was nothing there to indicate I’d punched someone—no soreness, no scratches. “How do you find me?”

  “You know how I can feel the energy in the corn? I feel you, too.” A hint of a smile passed over his lips as he leaned over to adjust my pillow. “You’re surprisingly predictable.”

  “You’re not, though, are you?” I inhaled slowly, taking in his scent. “You can pull me back. How?”

  “Maybe I’m your lucky charm. All I have to do is get you to look in my eyes while I say your name.” He swept my hair from my shoulder. “What did you see tonight?”

  “Marie. She tied a letter to a pink quartz and set it under a tree. She asked the Great Spirit to grant her immortality, but the Great Spirit refused. Marie thought Coronado would leave her if she couldn’t give him eternal life.”

  Dane took my hands in his.

  I stared out the window at the lake. “As she was being dragged through the corn she looked up and said, ‘I thought you loved me.’” My skin prickled up in goose bumps at the memory. “I know Coronado was probably using Marie to get to Alonso and Katia, but why did he have to kill her? Just because she couldn’t make him immortal . . . or was it to hurt Katia?”

  “Coronado is very cunning,” Dane said softly as he looked down at me.

  “I know he’s bad, but when I saw him face-to-face at the outer perimeter, he didn’t seem like a monster. And when he said Marie’s name, I got the feeling he really loved her.” I exhaled, hoping to dispel the bitter feeling from my bloodstream, but it lingered.

  “What do you think Marie’s trying to tell you?” Dane asked.

  “I don’t know, but the visions keep leading me back to the chasm in the sacred circle. There’s something there that Marie wants me to see.”

  “You’ll find it, when the time is right.”

  “That’s the thing . . . time’s running out. There’s only three more days until the summer solstice. And the memories are getting stronger, and coming more often. Everything’s merging together . . . dreams and reality. I’m afraid I might disappear completely.”

  Dane stroked the palm of my hand. “I’ve always been able to pull you back. I remember that first night. You were talking about a light.”

  “That was real?” I looked up at him in shock. “You were actually with me?”

  A sly smile played across his lips.

  “Did you kiss me?” I raised my eyebrows.

  “Maybe.” He twined a strand of my hair around his finger.

  I glanced down at his lips. “Why didn’t you say anything?”

  “At first, I wasn’t sure if it was my dream.”

  The black silk ribbon unfurled from my wrist to coil around Dane’s. He smiled. “I’ve never seen anything more beautiful than you on that night.”

  “But that wasn’t really me,” I said as I pulled my hand away to secure the ribbon around my wrist again.

  “It has nothing to do with you being a conduit.” He leaned in closer. “It’s you. It’s always been you.”

  I reached out and touched the brand on his inner arm, my fingers lingering on the warmth that still lived there. “Does it hurt?”

  He stared back at me with an intense expression that I couldn’t decipher. “It does right now.”

  I pulled his arm toward me, pressing my lips against his scarred skin. I kissed it long and slow, pouring all of my intention into that one kiss.

  “Would you want an immortal life?” I whispered.

  A deep crease settled between his brows. “If you’d asked me that before tonight, the answer would’ve been no.”

  “What’s changed?”

  “Do you really want this to end?” He brushed his hands from my waist, over my hips, tracing the curve of my body beneath the sheet.

  My blood seemed to rush to the surface of my skin to meet his touch.

  He leaned in closer. “Have you tried resisting the memories?”

  “It’s impossible,” I whispered.

  He caressed my cheek. “You told me that when you touch me, it’s similar to the feeling you get when the memories take over.”

  “Yes,” I said, a deep blush settling into my face.

  “Maybe you should practice on me.”

  I tried to laugh it off, but he leaned in so close, my breas
ts swelled against the pressure of his heart beating within an inch of mine.

  He laced his fingers through my hair as he stared down at me, eyes glistening, lips parted. “Resist me,” Dane murmured.

  I felt drunk with the promise of his mouth. With each breath in, I imagined pulling him closer. His scent wrapped around every inch of my skin, caressing me. He was so close, if I just arched my back I could reach his lips, but I wanted him to be the one to do it—the one to break. His fingers spread out in my hair as he moved closer. The tension was excruciating. The heat unbearable. When he finally pressed his lips against mine I thought I might burst into flames. There was nothing innocent about the kiss; it was dark and deep, something I wanted to dive into and never return from. I ran my hands down the sides of his body, his muscles tensed beneath my touch, and then he pulled away, smiling down at me with that sexy dimple that destroyed me.

  “Sleep tight,” he whispered as he left me alone in my bed, gasping for more.

  Breathless.

  33

  CONDUIT

  “LET’S GO,” RHYS SAID as he tossed some clothes on my bed.

  I pulled the sheet up tight under my chin. “Where?”

  “We’re going to see the conduit.” He jerked open the drapes.

  “Teresa?” I squinted at the sun shining through my window. “Why?”

  “Beth thought it would be a good idea,” he said as he headed back toward the door.

  “You know that’s Dane’s mom, right? Shouldn’t we be asking him first?”

  Rhys gripped the doorframe. “It’s been arranged. He should be here any minute.”

  “What?” I grabbed the clothes and started putting them on under the sheet. “But I thought you didn’t tru—”

  “I don’t,” he said as he left the room.

  Pulling my hair back with the ribbon, I brushed my teeth and raced upstairs.

  Beth was wearing the same type of undergarment I’d mistakenly worn to the games. She grinned and waved as if last night had never happened. I knew what she was trying to do by getting us all together. It was sweet, but I’d never seen my brother as upset as he was last night. He was going to need some time.