by Gabby Fawkes
“We’re screwed,” I stammered, shaking my head. “Completely and utterly screwed. In a few hours, New York City will become twenty-four hour sunlight.”
And after New York City, who’d be next? Surely it would spread throughout the country. One city changing the rules would have a ripple effect everywhere. The traditionally sun-class states, where barely a single moon community resided — like Texas, California, Florida — would all turn, too. The moon-class states like Washington and Montana would turn the other way. The whole country would divide itself up. And what about all the mixed states on the East Coast? Would they demand their moon-class folk return underground just like Geiser was doing with New York City? No, this meant war. Whether today, tomorrow, or two years from now, I wasn’t sure. But it meant war, all the same.
Beside me, Retta fixed mournful eyes on me. Her hand gripped mine. “This is bad.”
“We can’t stay here,” I whispered. I tried to stand but she tugged on my hand. “Retta, we have to go. It’s not safe. Geiser will work out where we are. The fight’s over. The good guys lost.”
But Retta kept her hands locked around my wrist. “We’re not giving up.”
“We have to,” I told her.
She twisted her lips, her frown deepening. “No. You said it yourself. This isn’t over.”
“Yes it is!” I cried, wrenching myself free. “He’s in power. We didn’t stop him.”
Everyone was watching us now. Retta leapt up to her feet too, her eyes blazing with passion.
“We didn’t stop him getting in power,” she said. “But we sure as hell are going to stop the ceremony.”
I stared at her in disbelief. “Us? How?” I threw my arms out at my bedraggled friends. “How do you think we can stop a huge magical ceremony like that?”
Retta looked fired up. “I don’t know! We start a frickin’ riot! We burn some shit down! The last thing we do is give up!”
I paced away, running my hands through my hair. My mind was swirling. What options did we really have? Run from Geiser forever, or go back to New York City and fight? Accept defeat, or try to win?
I turned back. Cora was on her feet now, too.
“We can’t be the only New Yorkers who oppose this,” she said. “If we go back to the city, we could find some other like-minded people.”
Aaron stood. “We could start our own underground movement!”
Birch looked up at him with excited eyes. Juniper shook her head sternly.
“Whatever we do,” Retta said, “we’re not taking it lying down.”
The three of them at least seemed in agreement. But I just wasn’t on board. I was a fugitive. I couldn’t just waltz back into the city. Geiser would have eyes all over the place waiting for me. Me and Nik both.
Lucas suddenly sat straight up like a bolt of inspiration had hit him for the first time in his life. “I have an idea.”
Everyone turned to look at him. Our expression were all sceptical.
“What?” Retta asked, sounding incredulous.
Lucas was up on his feet now, snapping his fingers as he paced back and forth. “There’s a thing in the Peace Treaty. A term… Uhhh… what is it?”
I caught Cora’s eye. She looked as uncertain as I felt.
“The Sirens are only allowed isolation in peacetime,” Lucas said, as if quoting from a history textbook. “If the moon and sun classes bring the world to the brink of war, they’ll intervene. It’s to stop a second Shadow War.” He looked up and grinned. “I learned that in fourth grade.”
I raised my eyebrows slowly. “So you’re saying the Sirens are going to swoop in and save the day to stop the sun-class bringing us to the brink of a second Shadow War? Doesn’t that seem a bit, I dunno, convenient?”
He shook his mane of golden hair. “Sirens don’t swoop. They’d prefer to turn a blind eye. But if I make a Siren call, they’ll have to respond. If we’re there at the Statue of Liberty, they’ll be able to see what’s happening with their own eyes. They’ll have no choice but to intervene and stop the ceremony.”
I looked at everyone else. “What’s a Siren call?”
“Any Siren overground can summon help,” Lucas explained. “It’s one of our things.”
Cora spoke, her voice unsure. “And how do you make this call? Do you just phone your folks and ask them to come save us? Send a text?”
Lucas frowned. “We don’t have telephones. There’s a spell. I think.”
My stomach dropped. Even if the Sirens did want to help, I didn’t have much faith in Lucas’s ability to cast spells. He might be throwing us a bone here, but I wasn’t in the least bit confident it would work. My reticence was made worse by the fact that Lucas spoke like he was literally missing most of his brain cells.
“Say for a minute we do a Siren summon —” Cora said.
“ — call,” Lucas corrected, clearly revelling in the one and only time in his life he’d been the most knowledgeable person in the room.
“Right,” she said. “In what way would they intervene? What exactly could they do to stop Geiser’s ceremony? It’s not like they hold any kind of authority overground.”
“That’s where you’re wrong,” Aaron interrupted. He looked up from his phone. “The law seems pretty broad and open to interpretation.”
“You’re reading up on Siren law?” Retta asked.
“It’s all on the night web,” Aaron replied. “Obviously. It says if the Sirens perceive Geiser’s ceremony to be an act of aggression toward the moon-class, they have the right to do whatever they deem necessary to maintain peace overground.”
I raised my eyebrows. “That’s nice and vague.”
“What if they deem it necessary to nuke us all?” Cora asked.
Lucas scoffed. “Sirens don’t have bombs. You overgrounders have such weird views.”
“Can you blame us?” I said. “We know literally nothing about your society. Or what you do. Or how you think. Or how you live. You’re a complete mystery. And I’m not so sure it would be a good idea to drag Sirens into this.”
He folded his huge, bugling arms. “We prefer not to get dragged into your shit either. But you need help, so maybe you should just take it.”
I’d never heard Lucas sound testy. He was right though. Beggars couldn’t be choosers. Though I really wasn’t feeling good about any of this, he was the only person offering us a lifeline. And while calling on the mysterious Sirens to solve our problems didn’t sit well with me, I should at the very least shut up and hear him out. I buttoned my lips.
“So,” Aaron said, “If the ceremony is considered a form of aggression — which it is — and the Sirens respond to Lucas’s call — which they will — then the next thing that will happen is they block the ceremony.” He shrugged. “How is anyone’s guess.”
We all looked at each other.
“There’s only one way to find out,” Retta said.
“How do we do a Siren call, then?” Cora asked Lucas.
“There’s this spell thing,” he said, scratching his head. “And you, like, enchant an item and put it in the ocean where you want the Sirens to come to.”
I sighed, my confidence hitting an all-time low. “There’s no way we’ll be able to get close enough to the Statue of Liberty. The place will be crawling with security.”
“I have an idea,” Birch said, holding up his bow. “What if we enchanted an arrow and fired it in the ocean? We wouldn’t have to be super close to the water to do that. Could it work?”
“I don’t see why not,” Lucas replied. “If I put the incarnation —”
“— incantation,” Retta corrected.
“— spell thing,” Lucas continued, “on the arrow and someone shoots it into the ocean, that’d do it.”
I paused for a few beats. I wasn’t on board. I couldn’t get my hopes up. This was nowhere near a firm enough plan for me. Shoot an enchanted arrow in the ocean and hope for the best? Yeah, no. That sure as shit wasn’t going to cut it. There w
ere way too many variables. Way too much that could go wrong. How would we even get close enough? Who’d shoot the arrow? Me? With what bow?
Just then, Juniper thrust something into my arms. I looked down and saw my bow, intact, completely mended.
“You fixed it?” I cried.
She nodded. “While you were sleeping. There’s an extra special something in there to replace the magic that was lost when it was broken.”
I frowned at her curiously. “What?”
“A veiling necklace,” she said.
“But I —”
Retta interrupted me. “I took it from your room. I know you said that you didn’t want it, but I thought there might be a time when you needed your big glowy white orbs again.”
“Thanks,” I said, gazing with awe at the bow.
It felt like mine, like it was completely perfect. And just like when I’d held Juniper’s before, I could feel the unique mix of magic and history flowing through it.
Suddenly, I brightened. “I’ll fire the arrow.”
Everyone turned to look at me.
“You can’t,” Juniper begged. “You’re in too much trouble already.”
“What’s one more indiscretion?” I said.
“But I want to do it!” Birch exclaimed.
Juniper turned to him, shaking her head like an angry teacher. “No you definitely won’t.” She looked at me. “Sorry, Theia. You understand why we can’t get involved, right?”
I nodded. “It has to be me,” I said. “I’m the only one who can do it. Beside, I’m a fugitive already, right? What’s one more felony?” I tried to sound nonchalant, like my growing rap sheet didn’t worry me at all.
Nik’s eyebrows rose. “You actually want to do this? To stop the ceremony?”
I thought I detected a look of admiration in his eyes. Maybe that was just wishful thinking. Still, it felt kind of nice.
I felt the weight of my bow in my arms. It seemed to be urging me on. Telling me to keep fighting.
“Heck yeah,” I said.
One by one, my friends’ eyes began to spark, as if the fire of passion was being ignited in their bellies once more.
“This will be hella dangerous,” Aaron said.
“We’ll need a place to hide after it’s done,” Cora said. “We won’t be able to go back to the warehouse.”
“Staying overground won’t be an option at all,” Nik replied. “We’ll all have to go to Underground New York.”
“Underground New York?” I asked, my head reeling. What else didn’t I know?
He nodded. “It’s all still there from before the Peace Treaty. All the buildings and streets and infrastructure. It’s neat. A bit dusty, maybe. Mom has a house on the Upper East Side. She can put us up.”
I thought of my own mom standing shoulder to shoulder with Geiser during his announcement. “Fine,” I replied. “It’s not like I have a home to go back to anyway.”
I looked over to Gus.
“I’m definitely coming,” he said. “After what my parents did to me, I’m donezo with Harriman. I’d live in a sewer before I went back to that house. Plus, you know, sexy Vanpari boys.” He winked at Nik, who flushed and looked away. I stifled a grin.
“We’re moon-class anyway,” Cora said, looking at Aaron and Lucas. “So obviously we’re in.”
“I would,” Birch said, glumly. “But Juniper won’t let me.”
She folded her arms and looked at him sternly.
“I wouldn’t expect you to give up your lives for this,” I told them.
But Retta was a different story. Of all of us here, she was the one with the most to lose. She was fully embedded in the sun-class community. She had a rich, supportive family. A home. An education. She had everything going for her.
A large smile burst across her lips. “I thought you’d never ask.”
We laid my bow and arrows out on the dining room table. Aaron placed the incantation he’d printed off the night web beside it.
“And it definitely says a Siren has to do the incantation?” Retta asked, casting doubtful eyes toward Lucas.
I felt the same. I wasn’t sure how much I trusted Lucas to pronounce all the words correctly.
Aaron nodded. “The only person who can summon a Siren is another Siren.”
“I got this, T,” Lucas said, pumping his fist against his chest. “Just chill.”
He picked up the paper and began to read the incantation. The words he spoke were like nothing I’d heard before. It was almost like a mournful wail, along with some squeaks and clicks. In any other circumstance, I’d probably have found it funny. Who am I kidding? It sounded funny in all circumstances, this one included.
I waited, listening to Lucas’s weird wailing sound drone on and on, growing ever more uncertain with each passing second.
Then suddenly, a burst of golden light blasted from Lucas’s mouth.
“Duuuude!” he cried.
“Don’t stop now!” I exclaimed.
He continued his wailing noise. The sparkling light streamed from Lucas’s mouth and swirled around the room. Then it whooshed into the arrow on the table.
The light cut out. Everyone stood there stunned, blinking.
“That was awesome!” Birch cried. He and Lucas fist bumped.
But my sole focus was on the arrow. It was now emitting a soft, pulsating glow. I reached forward and touched it. A shock, like electricity, zapped me. I drew my hand back.
“Did it work?” Retta asked.
“Hell if I know. There’s only one way to know for sure.” I heaved the bow up. “Let’s take back our city.”
33
Leaving Harriman was harder the second time. Even with my friends around me, it felt different. Final. Like I was leaving a part of myself behind. I felt like a completely different person from the one I’d been last time I’d made this journey. A smidgen more jaded but a heck ton more badass. I guess surviving several assassination attempts will do that to a girl.
I watched out the window as we sped past the graveyard where my dad was buried. I felt a pang of grief. I wished I’d had the chance to visit his grave, to do something about him being stuck in Limbo. Even just a chance to speak about it with Gran. But there hadn’t been time. I’d had to put that stuff to the side. I hoped that summoning the Sirens and stopping Geiser’s ceremony would solve whatever thing it was trapping Dad in Limbo in the first place but I kinda suspected it wouldn’t. There was more to that particular story and, as agonizing as it was, I had to put it aside for now.
Lucas reached the freeway and gunned the van, as if he was in a race with the rising moon. I was glad now that he’d spent our whole time in Harriman sitting on his ass. It meant he could be alert when it mattered most. It also meant the rest of us could nap in the back of the van. Not that my frantic mind was going to let me do that anytime soon.
As I lay back in the darkness, listening to at least three different frequencies of snoring, I felt something soft brush against my arm. Feathers. At first I thought I must’ve touched one of Cora’s wings. But then I realized whatever it was was… nestling. Unless a wood pigeon had decided to hitchhike a lift to NYC, it was Nik’s familiar.
I tensed. Things between me and Nik were dire. His attitude since I’d found out he was half Vanpari had pissed me off. We might’ve fought side by side at Heidi’s egg hatching party, but we’d had our barbs out the whole time we’d been in Harriman. There’d been no chance to talk anything through, let alone attempt to mend it. I wasn’t even sure I wanted to. Nik had a total turd streak that I, quite frankly, couldn’t be dealing with right now.
“Theia?” Nik’s voice came from the darkness. “You awake?”
“Uh huh... ” I said, reticently.
“I want to apologize.”
“What for?”
“For freaking out. About you finding out I was Vanpari. And then how I acted about Gus. I’m really sorry. I was just focused on Elliot.”
I paused for a moment. “Ok
ay,” I said, my voice lacking conviction.
“Okay?” Nik repeated. “That’s it?”
“For now.”
“Oh.” It was his turn to pause. “But before all that stuff happened, I thought you and I were going to —”
“Nik, stop,” I said firmly. “I don’t want to talk about this. Not here. Not now.” I softened my voice, hearing how sharp my tone had been. “Maybe if we make it out of this thing alive, then we can see what happens.”
“Okay,” he replied in a sad, disappointed voice.
I felt the feathers against my skin move away.
As the tip of the Statue of Liberty’s black-flamed torch appeared through the windshield, everyone in the van held their breath. I looked nervously from one face to the next. This was it. Crunch time.
In the sky, helicopters buzzed like bees, a mixture of journalists and cops. The ceremony was probably the biggest thing to happen in the city since the original Peace Treaty was signed. Every TV channel had turned up for it. Every police helicopter was circling above. And we were about to try and break through the ring of steel. Because of course we were.
We inched closer. Since it was nighttime, the statue’s flame was burning black. If Geiser had his way, it would be for the last time. At midnight, his ceremony would turn it to a yellow flame and it would remain that way forever more. Twenty-four hour daylight. The sun-class taking over. And all these people milling the streets for the ceremony were for it. The thought made me shudder.
“I won’t be able to get any closer,” Lucas said. “The crowd is too dense.”
We’d made it to the far side of Liberty State Park, but it was obvious there was no way through beyond this point. We’d have to walk the rest of the way to the ocean.
“Let’s ditch the van,” I said. “We’ll get lost in the crowds better this way.” I handed my bow to Aaron. “Are you sure this is going to work?”
He nodded decisively. Then, right before my eyes, he put up a glimmer and the bow disappeared from sight.
I reached out and touched my fingertips to the invisible place where I knew my bow to be. Even though I could feel it there, I chewed my lip with trepidation. I hated not being attached to my weapon. It made me feel vulnerable. But there was no way I’d make it through the crowd holding a bow and glowing arrow otherwise.
