Shattered Souls (The Toren Series, Book 1)

by Lola StVil

  It has to be enough. It has to be.

  I need her to know I haven’t given up on her, haven’t written us off.

  I have no idea what I’m going to say, but as I watch her walk away, I know I have to say something.

  I take a step towards her, and as I open my mouth to shout her name, a guy appears, blocking my path. I glance up.

  “Milo? What the hell are you doing here?” I ask.

  He’s the last person I expected to see.

  “Where else would I be?” Milo asks. “Some of us give a shit about our friends and don’t skip out on them.”

  I choose to let that one go.

  “I meant how come you’re at this school?”

  “I was only ever in a human school because I needed to be close to Summit. Now she comes here, I do too.”

  I nod. It makes sense. He doesn’t give me even a second to explain.

  “Listen, Lucas, I don’t know what game you’re playing here, but Summit has been let down enough in her life. If you’re messing her around, you’ll be sorry. I’m not just a pretty face, you know,” Milo warns me.

  I suppress a grin.

  I could take him and we both know it, but I can’t help but think it’s good that Summit has someone who is so completely on her side. I can’t say it, but I’m grateful to Milo for looking out for her for all of those years.

  I debate telling him the truth.

  It’s probably not helping my case with Summit having Milo in her ear all day telling her I’m a douchebag and she deserves better, because that’s as sure as hell what I’d be telling her if the roles were reversed.

  I know I can’t tell him though.

  He won’t be able to resist telling Summit, and she’ll overreact. She’ll do anything she can to stop the plan because it’s a huge risk and she seems hell-bent on keeping me alive and well.

  “I’m not messing her around, Milo,” I state.

  That much I can tell him.

  “Really?” he says. “Because she kind of thought you might ask her to the ball tonight. Now it’s clear you’re not going to, she’s putting on a brave face, but I can tell she’s hurt by it.”

  Now I’m confused. I just don’t get it.

  One minute she’s running away from me, and the next she wants me to take her on a date?

  It gives me hope that it’s not too late.

  Once tonight is over, I can explain to her why I didn’t ask her to the ball, even though I can’t think of anyone I’d rather ask, and hopefully, she’ll see it was worth it to get rid of my Drin.

  I can’t explain any of this to Milo, but I can tell him this:

  “Milo, she wants me to stay away from her,” I say.

  I can hear the hurt in my own voice, and Milo’s face softens a little.

  “You don’t understand women at all, do you?” he says with an exasperated sigh and an exaggerated eye roll.

  “She wants you to be with her, but she also wants you to be safe. She would never admit this, but deep down, she wants your feelings for her to be stronger than the Drin. She wants you to fight for her.”

  That’s good news, because that’s exactly what I’m doing.

  “Milo, I have a plan to fix this. After tonight, everything will be okay.”

  “I hope so,” he muses. “But whatever you do, don’t bring any more drama into this situation. Summit just found out about the Cavern of Shattered Souls in our history class.”

  “Damn, how’d she take it?”

  “Not well.”

  I nod. It figures.

  No one ever takes it well when they first hear about the Cavern of Shattered Souls and the Winter Queen. The Winter Queen might sound like someone pure and good, but that couldn’t be further from the truth.

  She is the eater of souls, the destroyer of life. No one who has met The Winter Queen has lived to tell the tale. She has killed thousands of people, and their remains have never been found. For a lot of us, the threat was enough to make us behave as children, but I can’t imagine how horrifying it must be learning about her once you’re old enough to understand that she isn’t just a myth used by parents to get their children to behave.

  She is in fact very real.

  And every bit as bad as the stories about her.

  “Nix and I had nightmares for months about that place when we were kids,” I say.

  Even now, the mere mention of her name sends a shiver down my back.

  “Me too,” Milo agrees. “Look, I have to run, but whatever you’re planning, do it quickly, okay?”

  I nod. I intend to. I intend to have this whole thing wrapped up by tonight.

  Milo hurries away.

  Summit is long gone, and I decide against waiting around and trying to explain. It’ll be better to tell her about this after it’s all over.

  The bell goes to signal break time, and suddenly, I’m surrounded by chaos as every classroom empties out into the hall.

  I hurry towards the door, determined to get home and start working on a plan for the diversion. It worries me a little that I still have no real idea of what we can do to distract all of the guards, but I’m confident I can come up with something.

  As Fish pointed out, I’m resourceful.

  I do a double take as I spot Ryder up ahead of me. Holding hands with Sabrina. What?

  I have to look twice, just to confirm I’m not losing my mind. How could he do that to RJ? Doesn’t he know the first rule of the guy code? Exes are off-limits. For the record, so are sisters and mothers.

  I cringe as I spot RJ coming around the corner. Ryder spots him too. He drops Sabrina’s hand as though it’s suddenly repulsive to him.

  It all falls into place. That’s what he meant when he was asking me if it’s okay to lie to someone to protect their feelings. RJ doesn’t know. But Parker does, and she doesn’t approve.

  And I sort of told him it was okay. This isn’t okay. Not by a long shot.

  Am I as bad as him? Is what I’m doing, lying to Summit to protect her, as much of a betrayal as this?

  No, I tell myself. My situation is different. I’m lying to Summit so we can be together, not because I don’t want to admit to doing something that would rip her heart out.

  RJ hasn’t spotted Ryder or Sabrina. He heads off towards his locker, oblivious to the scene unfolding before him.

  Sabrina glares at Ryder, a look so intense I can almost feel it myself.

  “That’s it!” she hisses at him. “I’m done with the lies and the secrecy. You have until tonight to tell RJ the truth about us, or I will. He deserves to know the truth, Ryder.”

  With that, she storms away from him angrily without another word.

  I decide now isn’t the time for me to get involved in this. I have enough to worry about without making this my problem right now, but I do intend to have a serious chat with Ryder about it once tonight is taken care of.

  For now, I slip unnoticed out of the exit and head home.

  ***

  The plan is set. At least in my head. I need to brief the team on it, and then we’re good to go.

  The plan is simple enough that it just might work.

  I quizzed my father earlier about what to expect from tonight. He told me that the main attraction will be the fireworks display. I managed to keep him talking about them and found out that they’re expected to go off at around ten, and last for around twenty minutes. That should be more than enough time for Fish to get in and out of the vault.

  The guards will mostly be outside with the crowd at that point, and there’ll only be two of them inside. I’m going to have Parker stage a fit.

  Ryder will run to the guards, babbling about it being a long-term reaction of her Nuke bite. I need him to be in full-on panic mode, convinced Parker will die.

  In the meantime, I’ll be with Parker, banging around to make it sound like she’s really thrashing away. One of the guards will have to come with Ryder. It wouldn’t do to have a guest die at the ball.

&nbs
p; I’ll keep him talking.

  That leaves only one guard, whom RJ will distract by telling him a fight has broken out between a Quo and a demon in the ballroom.

  That’s Fish’s chance to get in. She’ll find a way out through the tunnels beneath the castle and we’ll meet her on the hillside.

  Nix will stay on the terrace until the last moment, checking that all of the other guards remain in place. One rogue guard could ruin the whole thing.

  I know there’s a lot that can go wrong, but I’m not going to let fear stop me. I know the team has my back and together we will do this. And if it all goes wrong, I will take responsibility for what happened and they know it.

  I stand with my parents inside the huge ballroom. It really is an overdone event.

  The walls are strewn with silver-and-gold weaved fabric that reflects the lights that hover in the air, twirling and spinning. The shadows cast a metallic glow across the whole room, and everyone is bathed in an ethereal light that glints off the flashes of gold and silver on everyone’s attire.

  The banquet table is piled high with every delicacy under the sun, and the champagne and Coy are both flowing.

  The dance floor is already half full of couples in love who spin away to the sounds of the haunting music that is playing from the full orchestra that sits suspended on a floating platform above the dance floor.

  The whole event screams wealth and opulence, but not in a tacky way. As much as I hate to admit it, I’m impressed.

  I need to get away from my parents and get ready for the team arriving. They are due any minute, and I haven’t spotted Fish yet. I can feel my palms growing sweaty with nerves.

  My father says something I don’t catch to my mother, who nods and moves away from us.

  “Are you okay?” my father asks me.

  I nod, barely registering that he’s spoken.

  “You seem distracted,” he goes on.

  No shit, Sherlock.

  My father seems to have mistaken the time I spent picking his brains earlier for some sort of breakthrough between us. I don’t hesitate to end that thought for him.

  “If I wasn’t, you’re not the person I would come to about it,” I snap, refusing to look at him.

  “Son, we can’t go on being on different sides like this,” he tells me, his voice full of emotion.

  Maybe he’s right, but he caused this, not me. And now certainly isn’t the time for a happily ever after for him.

  “Then tell Mom what you did, she has a right to know,” I counter, knowing that he won’t and this will end the conversation.

  “You’re still so young. There’s so much you don’t understand yet. You don’t know what you are asking of me,” my father replies.

  “Whatever,” I mutter angrily, walking away.

  What does my age have to do with anything? I might be young, but I still know right from wrong, and what he did was wrong. Simple as that.

  As I head away from my father, my rage bubbling up inside, I spot the team enter the room.

  Parker comes in first. She is wearing a short silver gown with tiny gold butterflies that seem to fly up from her shoulders and flutter around her head. Her eyes light up as she looks around the ballroom.

  She is closely followed by RJ and Ryder, both of whom scrub up pretty well in their suits. RJ sets off his with a silver tie, while Ryder has chosen a gold tie. I shake my head in wonder at RJ’s trusty silver fedora. Even at an event like this, he won’t leave it at home, and somehow, he manages to pull it off.

  A flame ignites in my soul as Summit walks in behind them. She is a vision in gold. Her floor-length gown looks like it has actual gold flecks running throughout it, and as it catches the light, it shimmers. The dress shows off her every curve and as I look at her, stunned, I can’t help but imagine myself kissing her exposed shoulder bone, my lips tracing her shape.

  The light dims when I see she’s linking arms with her date.

  Her date! She should be here with me. Whoever he is, he’s history.

  I relax when I see her date is Milo. Wearing a gold tux with matching shoes and a silver scarf. I can’t help but smile at his carefully put together outfit with just enough silver embellishments that he matches Summit, but not enough to outshine her.

  As I send up my silent thanks to Milo for once again being there for Summit when I can’t be, I drag my eyes away from her and scan the crowd again. I finally spot Fish moving gracefully among the crowd, probably eyeing up her next mark. I smile to myself. If I wasn’t seeking her out, I never would have recognized her.

  She is wearing a short white dress with a silver floral design and high heels. Her hair cascades around her face in soft curls. Who would have believed this was the same girl from Istanbul with the hoodie and her hair pulled back in a loose knot?

  Now everyone is here, the plan can begin. There’s no going back now. This is happening.

  I wonder for a moment if I’m doing the right thing, and then I see Summit in my mind’s eye, shimmering like a beautiful vision. I didn’t think it was possible for anyone to look so perfect. It convinces me that I’m doing the right thing. I head towards the back of the ballroom, where the room opens out onto a large terraced area. I figured we would get more privacy outside, and I’ve already briefed the team on when and where to meet me.

  I hurry outside, taking in the softly twinkling balls that float above the terrace like stars and the sea of golden swirls that have been carefully crafted on the wooden floor.

  I leave the terrace and walk down a pebbled path which curves to the left and opens out into a circle with a marble fountain in the center.

  Nix is already there. I grin at him, and he steps forward and places his hand on my shoulder.

  “All set?” he asks.

  I nod.

  I can hear someone approaching.

  “This damn path wasn’t designed for heels at all,” Parker complains haughtily.

  The twins appear. Parker’s face is twisted as she concentrates on walking on the pebbles without breaking an ankle. I catch Ryder’s eye and we both smile.

  “It’s not funny,” Parker says, but she obviously sees that it is kind of funny, because she can’t hold back the wide grin that covers her face.

  “Where’s RJ?” I ask.

  “He said he’ll be along in a sec,” Parker says. “So what’s the plan?”

  Before I can answer her, Fish appears beside her. I marvel at how none of us heard her coming. It confirms what I already know. She’s good.

  “Good evening, Fish,” I say.

  “Sorry I’m late,” she says, “but this place is a dream come true.”

  “Watch your purse there, Parker,” Ryder laughs.

  Parker laughs too, but her hand moves to the clasp on her purse. Fish notices and snorts a laugh.

  “Relax. You lot are like peasants compared to the walking banks in there. And anyway, pick pocketing is fun, and I don’t mix business with pleasure.”

  We all laugh at her openness about exactly who she is.

  All except Nix, who is glaring at Fish. She seems to feel his eyes on her and she glances up, spotting him for the first time.

  Her smile slips and for a moment, the two of them lock eyes, sizing each other up, their gazes intensifying as they stare at each other. Fish regains her composure first.

  “Phoenix,” Fish says, sounding oddly formal, which is belied byher relaxed expression.

  I wonder briefly if she’s enjoying his obvious discomfort.

  “Rebecca,” Nix responds, sounding equally formal.

  It says a lot when stealing from the Whitehalls isn’t the strangest thing that’s happening tonight.

  “Rebecca?” Ryder mouths to Parker.

  Parker shrugs; she isn’t the only one perplexed by the way Fish and Nix are reacting to each other. No one knows Fish’s real name. She keeps it to herself, a closely guarded secret.

  So, how is it that Nix knows it?

  I didn’t even know they kne
w each other, and here they are sharing their deepest secrets with each other right before my eyes?

  “I’m guessing you’re here to break the law?” Nix says tightly, seemingly oblivious to the shock on our faces.

  “I’m guessing you’re here to judge me about it?” Fish fires back, her cocky demeanor truly back.

  “Okay, what’s going on with you and my brother?” I ask before I can help myself.

  “Nothing,” both Nix and Fish reply as the same time.

  They each turn and glare at me.

  Whatever it is, we don’t have time for it right now.

  “Okay, well whatever ‘isn’t’ going on, you two need to put it aside—now,” I say.

  I hold Fish’s gaze for moment, then Nix’s. They both make an effort to focus on me instead of each other. I’m glad Nix’s part of the plan won’t involve any contact with Fish.

  “Here’s what we’re going to do. At ten, there is a huge fireworks display scheduled. Everyone will be outside watching them, which means the thick of the security detail will be out here too. They’ll leave two guards in place at the entrance to their personal lodgings.

  “The plan is that Parker, Ryder, and I will wait just inside the door to the terrace.

  “Nix will be out on the terrace with everyone else.

  “RJ will be in the ballroom with Fish.

  “Parker, you’re going to—” I am cut off by the sound of RJ’s footsteps as he storms into the room and viciously attacks Ryder.

  CHAPTER SEVENTEEN: RISK

  I watch, momentarily frozen in shock as RJ launches himself at Ryder with a roar that can only be described as animalistic. Ryder, caught off guard, flies through the air and lands hard on his back, RJ on top of him. RJ pulls his fist back, bringing it down hard into Ryder’s mouth. The sound of his fist connecting reminds me of leather smashing against leather.

  I wince.

  Ryder manages to dodge the next blow, and pushes up with his full body weight. RJ finds himself thrown off Ryder. They both scramble to their feet and face each other in a standoff.

  You can almost see the adrenaline seeping out of them both.

  “Listen, man, I can explain,” Ryder says, putting his hands up in a gesture of surrender.