“What?” she chuckled—chuckled. Ren almost stopped to stare, but she had to get out of here. It was almost as if Seble’s personality—and annoying hatred of Ren—had done a complete 180. What in the hell was wrong with her?
Stopping at the gangplank, Ren took one step down. “It’s been nice and all, but I’ll probably never see you again. So…”
“None of us are born like this, Ren. You don’t get it. And sometimes I’m afraid you never will. You’ve gotta have self-discipline to succeed in just about fucking anything, dumbass.”
Ren froze. Slipped down the stairs and landed on her ass. Her right eyelid twitched, eyes widening as she slowly swung her gaze back to Seble.
“You can’t run from your problems, Ren.” A warning.
Itzel’s warning.
What in the actual fuck.
Freckles, frizzy hair, hard glassy eyes—Itzel’s glassy eyes—stared back at her. She had Seble’s clothes on and Seble’s longbow on her back, but the face—the face was Itzel’s.
“Fuck you, Seble.”
“Fuck me?” Itzel barked a laugh. “I’ll fuck you first—come here.” She snatched a knife from the strap on her thigh and charged. Ren barely rolled out of the way before the knife came pounding down again. It was jagged, serrated like a broken bone. “You can’t run, Ren. You just can’t. Are you ever going to finish anything? Or are you just gonna be a failure for the rest of your fucking life?”
Ren grasped her spear in both hands, still unsure of how to use it. Felt her fever flaring up. “Fuck you, Seble—this is not fucking cool.”
“First your boyfriend—then your grades. Jeez, Ren. How many fuck-ups can one person manage, huh?” she stabbed for Ren’s chest, prodding and poking absentmindedly. Going for the kill, but faltering. “It’s kinda like you’re just God’s greatest failure. You know, just like how your boyfriend thinks he’s God’s greatest gift? You two really do make the perfect couple.”
“Don’t make me do this.” Ren said, dropping the spear to the ground. “In fact, I’m not.” Seble wouldn’t kill her—right?
“You know, sometimes I wonder if you’re just not all there up here.” And she backed away, tapping her forehead with her knuckles. “You brought us here for what? Parties? Booze? Or did you bring us here to fucking die?!” the last word was shrieked. Itzel charged forward, knife angled for Ren’s stomach. Ren knew where the blade would go—in and up, slicing through the meat beneath her ribcage.
Ren couldn’t allow that.
Fire welled up beneath her fingertips, licking through her palms. Growing along her arms like unruly vines. “I don’t want to do this.”
“Fuck that!” Itzel screeched, springing into the air. She dove for Ren, coming down on her like a crashing wave. Ren blocked the knife with her arms, flames growing taller as she thumped onto her back. Slamming her forearms against Itzel’s face, a scream ripped through her ears. The same blood-curdling screech that echoed through the Kirabo compound as Itzel was boiled alive. The knife clanked to the side of Ren’s cheek, glinting in the dead grass. Ren rolled, sliding on top of Itzel’s scorched form. She grasped for the knife.
“You’re no better than them.” Ren growled, holding the blade against Itzel’s bobbing throat. “I don’t know what kind of fucked up magic—” her wrist tweaked, the blade cutting through Itzel’s throat before Ren even made the choice to kill her. No, the words wouldn’t come. Her body wouldn’t move. Warm blood sprayed from the incision like water, staining her in scarlet. In the lifeblood of Itzel—Seble—whoever in the fuck it was.
No, no, no. She hadn’t meant to do this. But her body was laughing. A deep gurgle of laughter spewed from her throat like vomit. Her shoulders racked, her hands bathed themselves in her blood.
Hands painted in crisscrosses of white. Hands gnarled and broken.
22
They were not her hands.
The face reflected in the blood stained blade was foreign to her. Almost.
“Ren.”
A face painted to resemble a skull. Sunken black lines hollowed out the cheeks. Molten gold eyes brightened in the spray of blood. Mafioso.
“Ren!”
Ren snorted awake. She cried out, but a palm silenced her. Calloused and large. “I’ve made a decision.” Kato said, leaning over her. “If he’s going to steal your sleep, we might as well do something about it.”
The village was sleeping when they left.
They trekked through the pits of sulfur belching along the eastern coast, finding their way through the towering earthen wall once the sun breached the horizon in an explosion of muted orange light.
“Your friend is lucky.” Kato said as they trudged along the beach.
“Why’s that?”
“Because you are a determined woman, Ren.”
Warmth flushed Ren’s cheeks. “Yeah, well, that can go both ways.”
“I know.” He said, his grin fleeting and lopsided.
As they entered the thick brush of trees that lined the Kirabo camp, their pace slowed.
“Thank you.” Ren murmured as they crept through the brush. “I know this is suicidal and all, so…thanks.”
“If it will make you feel less obliged to repay me; the Kirabo kidnap my people almost weekly. The Blood Raids, remember that phrase?”
Ren nodded, the phrase making her skin crawl.
“They kidnap Mesh in these to sacrifice to the goddess, Moira.” Kato shook his head slightly. “We worship her as well, but we do not make blood sacrifices to her. You’ve seen our land. The Scourge is always growing. Someday it will enter the Wilds.” He threw her a look. A glare. “The Kirabo believe that they can prevent that.”
The Scourge. Did he mean all of the dead things around their village? Was it some type of…plant virus?
“And Mafioso?”
“The Mafioso.” Kato corrected, running his hand through his dark hair. “Is another story entirely.” He smiled. “If we make it out of here alive, perhaps I will tell it to you.”
“Right.” If we make it out of here alive. Regret mixed with excitement—Ren could get Mia out. She could save her friend, learn her past, and go home. But her dream—Itzel flashed through her head. Stuff about how Ren was a failure, how she failed with her boyfriend and her grades. What was she even talking about? Was her mind mixing her dreams up with a mush of her fragmented memories? Dammit—if she could have had that dream at any other time.
Forget it for now. You’ve got bigger problems, Ren, come on. If you wanna live, you’re going to have to fucking concentrate.
Dammit, even the little voice in her head sounded like Itzel. Fuck.
Branches oozed and twisted through the forest, the brush thickening the farther they went. Ren followed Kato at a jog, trying her best to keep up with his longer strides as he bounded off. Pressing himself up against a gnarled oak, he looked at her pointedly. “We are probably a mile or two out. From this point on, no more talking.”
Ren nodded.
Ocean air breathed through the trees, rustling branches, making leaves dance. As they came closer, Ren’s heart thundered in her chest. Her arms trembled as she ran to keep up with Kato. Would Mia still be alive? Would Ren be able to find her? If she was held up in a shed like Ren and Itzel had, then it shouldn’t be too hard. What stake did Kato have in all of this? He told her about the blood raids and how his people were being kidnapped…was he coming with her to get someone who had been left behind? Was it someone important to him? A sister? A wife?
For some reason, the thought of Kato rescuing his wife made Ren queasy. She stole a glance at the planes of his muscled back moving beneath his thin linen shirt. She wondered how those wide shoulders would feel beneath her fingertips. Beneath her palms.
Focus, dumbass! Are you seriously thinking about that at a time like this?!
Okay, okay. Focus.
The tree line began to thin—finally—as Ren’s lungs screamed for air. Kato came to a halt before a copse of thick bushes
that shielded the inner compound. The platform, the sheds—everything. Ren met him at a run. Meeting his eyes, she looked for a hint of—well, something. Their plan was to get Mia and go, but Kato had to have come for someone else. Right? It only made sense that coming back would be lucrative for him, especially since—if they got caught—it would probably mean immediate death via boiling in a vat.
He was waiting for her to do something. Ren simply shrugged.
Pulling back the bushes, they stepped into the clearing.
And Ren saw nothing. Nothing but sand.
23
Okay.
Okay—Ren was dreaming again. She had to be.
“Wake up.” Ren hissed as Kato stared at the vacant beach, slack-jawed. “Wake up, wake up, wake up!”
“You’re. Not. Sleeping.” Kato snapped.
“Then we took a wrong turn. This isn’t the place.”
Kato rounded on her. “I have lived on this Island for my entire life. We did not take a wrong turn. The Kirabo moved.”
Ren threw her hands in the air. “It looks like they were never fucking here!”
Trees that once shrouded the compound were gone, replaced by gravel and sand. The shed Ren and Itzel had shared, along with the bamboo cages, were gone. Replaced by water. By crashing waves and foaming sea.
This couldn’t be happening.
It just couldn’t.
“Mia!”
“If they’re still here—”
Ren crashed through the sand, climbing over a rolling dune, “Mia—it’s Ren!”
“She’s not here!”
“You—you might never get this, but—” a sound like static crinkled through the sand. Followed by the explosive crackling of an earth-splitting quake.
Ren froze. Scrambled toward the noise.
“—fuck. Fuck—oh, God. I—I don’t know what’s going on—” thick rock cracked, static weaving with the shrieking of quaking ground, “—I’m—I’m flying…”
Silver glinted, winking at the center of the beach. Ren raced for it, dove for the rectangular piece of metal as the noise became deafening. Screaming in her ears, earth crumbling, the sound of shaking ground being torn from its roots.
“—Itzel—you’ve gotta save me. Ren—Ren, please…” Scooping the silver rectangle out of the sand, Ren closed her hands over a cell phone. Mia’s cell phone, “…I’m s—still alive. I don’t know—” the quakes cut her off. Shouts and whoops and hollers made Mia scream.
The recording cut out there.
“Mia?” Ren brought her ear to the phone. “Mia—come back.”
Kato’s shadow hovered over her. “Another one?” he murmured, eyes wide as Ren took the phone from her ear.
“Y—you know what this is?”
“I think I know what happened.” He said, crossing his arms. His gaze glanced over her, his eyes moving south. “But it shouldn’t be happening. It’s…impossible.”
Ren almost dropped the phone but clenched it instead. Steel bit at her palms. “What’s happening? Where the fuck is my friend—what the fuck is going on here?” she had had enough. “You brought me here purposefully, didn’t you? Prick—answer me!”
“Careful.” He warned, eyes narrowing as they flashed. “The Kirabo kidnap and melt my people—my friends—and you think I have led you here on purpose?” he leaned toward her, his words a breath of hot air: “I have more at stake than you do, Outsider. The Kirabo take my people while, from you, they have only taken one friend.”
“Two.” Ren spat, dropping her gaze. “And, sorry, but I’m pissed!”
Kato snorted. “The Mafioso has tricked us. No matter,” he leaned away, “we cannot track floating earth.”
“What do you mean floating earth?” she hissed, the cell phone imprinting on her palms as she clenched it tighter.
“You heard the quaking, right? In that…cell phone.” He said. “It’s simple: the Mafioso picked up the camp and moved it somewhere else. Made it fly. Probably into the Wilds.”
No, that wasn’t simple. In fact, an entire camp moving through the fucking sky was so far from simple that it wasn’t even in simple’s galaxy.
“Well, if it’s so simple, what do we do about it?” How could she get Mia if she literally flew the fuck away?
“I report to the Shamaness. You keep your fingers out of this. She already warned you to forget your past. The Shamaness only warns once.”
24
“Why should I forget my past?” Even though she couldn’t remember much, she still wanted to understand. What was she running away from? Her boyfriend? Her school life? Mia would be able to answer these questions. Hell, maybe even the Outsiders on the north shore could. But the Shamaness wanted her to forget. Why?
“It will only bring you pain to remember.”
Ren snorted. “That’s the go-to answer for you people, isn’t it?”
Kato shot her a glare. “It is the only one that will make sense to you.” He said. “For now.”
As the village came into view, Ren saw that it was alive. Villagers pounded across the boardwalk, those with sallow skin and sunken cheeks slinking along after the healthier looking ones. Some brandished longbows and sharp arrows, while others carried rucksacks on their backs along with sloshing canteens laced to the hip of their breeches.
In the distance, a figure standing near one of the boardwalk’s massive stilts shot a hand into the air and ducked underneath the planks.
Kato murmured island-speak, his tone grateful. “You saw her, yeah?”
“I’m assuming that person was Seble?” Because of course it was.
“Yeah. Follow her. She’ll give you an excuse for not being here this morning.”
“And you?”
He shrugged as he stopped. “The Kirabo camp is gone. Along with our people, the Mafioso…and so much more. The Shamaness needs to know.”
Ren nodded. “Right.” Because she really didn’t know what else to say. All of this made so little sense to her. But one thing was clear: she had to find Mia. Which meant finding the Kirabo camp and fighting the Mafioso. But, in order to fight him, she’d need to have ample control of the magic that burned through her. Magic. Ren almost barked a bit of laughter.
“Go.” Kato said, pointing. “She won’t slow down for you.”
If this would keep the Shamaness in the dark about Ren disobeying her orders, then Ren would do it. Slinking away, she trudged around the side of the village and slipped beneath the boardwalk, hands sliding around the thick stilts that plunged into the cracked ground beneath her feet. Ren registered soft breathing, following footsteps she could barely hear.
“I’ve got you a gift.” Seble’s voiced bounced around under the planks. A whoosh of cold air blanketed Ren’s face as her spear went flying. Tapping on the ground before Ren’s feet, she bent to pick it up. “You’re welcome.”
“Thanks.” Ren gritted out.
Above her head, muttered greetings passed by. The words a part of a constant morning ritual as parrots squawked in the distance. Bugs muttered a static-like tune as Seble lead her farther beneath the boardwalk, sunlight fighting to squeeze through the planks as they went deeper. Before long, yellow light bore down on flat ground free of boardwalks and huts. Seble raced to the light, Ren sprinting after her. Bringing her face to the sky, Seble exhaled long and low before bounding off along the scattered tree line that populated the edge of the Wilds. Ren wished she’d slow down.
Stopping on the rollicked lip of a cliff, Seble took in the salt sprayed ocean air. “Outsider.” She called, thumbs tucked into her broad leather belt. “Come here. I want you to see something.”
Ren trudged along. “What?”
With a smirk, she pointed down. “Past the Wall. Near the ocean.”
From here, she could see the blanket of mist that destroyed the helicopter she rode in on. It was a churning funnel of melted vanilla that surrounded the entire island in a haze, twisting and turning on itself. It stood like a magnificent white fence brandi
shed against an emerald sea. Ren’s gut clenched at the thought of flying through that hell.
“Look down, Outsider.”
Ren grimaced. That word again. She looked.
People. Little ants from up here, but—people. They wore pants and hardhats and boots—like rainy day boots. Some hobbled around, talking on cell phones, holding—what’s that? Guns? Hell—it didn’t fucking matter. Her people, her people! Civilization! Her eyes roved over the beach, her smile widening, threatening to break her face. They were working on something, screaming at one and other. Commanding. Greeting. Joking.
And then she saw a tower. A black thing twisting in on itself. Something long and spoke-like rose with a metal whine, rising high only to plunge down into the sand. The men in hardhats surrounded it, watching it move. Watching it drill down into the sand. Nearby, a vat of…something…was connected to it. Even from here Ren could smell the putrid scent of gasoline and raw chemicals. It made her throat seize up.
“What is that?” Ren asked—though she was sure Seble wouldn’t know.
“Your people.” Seble said, arms crossed. “And their Scourge monstrosity.”
Scourge monstrosity? “You know, you could have just said—I don’t know.”
“I don’t!” Seble said, eyes snapping wider. “But I know what it has brought. Ever since it appeared on the beach, our land has been dying! People like you brought this on us. People like you!” she backed down the cliff, moving to solid ground. With a grunt, she slid her spear from her back. Angling its iron tip at Ren, she growled: “The village thinks I am teaching you spear-play, Outsider. I am a tough teacher and if they do not hear screams they will know I am a liar. Come.”
“Whoa, whoa, whoa.” Ren held out her hands, spear sliding in her right. “You bring me up here—tell me damn near nothing about whatever the hell this all is—and you expect me to just forget?”
Wild Magic (The Island Book 1) Page 7
