The Shattered Dark

by Sandy Williams

  I’m nearly blinded when a virtual wall of light opens up in front of me.

  My guards react before I do, leaping between me and the newly arrived fae before the nearest one is able to take my head off. Instinct makes me drop to the ground anyway. I roll, and when I get back to my feet, Aren’s back at my side.

  “Diversion,” he snaps out. “Stay close.”

  Tylan must have fissured for reinforcements. No less than two dozen remnants fill the clearing between the river and wall. We’re outnumbered, but not for long. Other rebels join us—probably the rest of the guards from the wall—and they surround me and Naito, attacking any remnant who gets too close.

  “We should go back!” Naito yells. I just barely hear him above the sounds of the fight…and of the thunder rumbling through the air. The sky is almost black with clouds. They shift as I watch them, and just when I realize that this storm isn’t natural, the hail begins to torpedo down.

  Each strike feels like a bee sting. My clothing offers little protection. The tiny pellets bruise my face, my shoulders, my arms. Someone’s controlling this, concentrating the storm above us. If we…

  There they are. Paige and Lee. They’re sprinting toward the gate from the east, not from the row of buildings to the west.

  “Aren!” I unsling my sketchbook from my shoulder, start to open it up, but I’m knocked to the ground.

  Then Aren’s above me, intercepting a remnant, keeping him away from me. I roll to my stomach, scramble forward to grab my sketchbook, but another remnant is there. His boot comes down on the center of a page. I grab the leather strap just as he lunges forward and yank it as hard as I can. The packed earth is treacherous, with the hail building up; the sketchbook slides easily, sending the remnant flying back on his ass.

  He hits hard, nearly loses his grip on his sword, the sword that’s just within my reach.

  I throw myself on top of him, grabbing his arm before he brings the blade up, but I’m totally screwed. He’s stronger than I am. As he turns over, he hooks his free arm behind my back, then slams me face-first to the ground.

  I swing back with an elbow. Miss. Then I lose my hold on his sword arm and—

  Warmth spills over my back. His weight disappears just before I’m yanked back to my feet. Aren steadies me as the remnant’s soul-shadow rises into the air.

  “Back to the wall,” he grates out.

  “They’re here,” I tell him, turning toward the gate.

  Aren follows my gaze, curses, then fissures out.

  “Get back to the wall!” Naito shouts, showing up at my side, but I’m useless there. I need to be close to read the shadows.

  “Map the shadows of the injured fae,” I tell him. When fae are hurt, they instinctively fissure to locations they’re most familiar with. They might fissure home or, if we’re lucky, back to the remnants’ base of operations.

  Naito protests, but I don’t listen. I catch the attention of the three nearest rebels and order them to cover me as I run toward the gate.

  I lose one of my escorts on the way. He doesn’t enter the ether, but he’s hurt. I have to fight the urge to help him. Keep running.

  “Paige!” I shout when I’m less than twenty feet from her. She looks my way. So does the remnant who’s with her.

  Shit. It’s the fae from the corridor, the one who was supposed to be replacing the guard Lee knocked out. I’m an idiot. A complete and utter idiot.

  It has to be Tylan. He’s pushing her forward, toward the blur at the edge of the river. I won’t reach them before they fissure out so I open my sketchbook and drop to my knees.

  This is always the hardest part of reading the shadows. I have to ignore the strikes of metal against metal and the shouts and cries of the fae. I have to block everything out, open to a blank page, and lock my gaze on the fae approaching the gate. I grab my pencil, putting all my faith in the rebels who are protecting me.

  A fissure splits through the air, but it’s next to the gate, not over it, and a fae steps out of it, not into it. I squint across the distance, focusing on the newcomer’s face and…

  And it’s Kavok, the archivist. What the hell is he doing here?

  I glance up at the sky, blinking as the hail continues to fall. Kavok is doing this? He’s fully capable of calling this storm, but he’s…He’s…

  He dips his hand into the river.

  He’s betraying us.

  I have no time to let that soak in or to contemplate his motive; he steps into the gated-fissure with Lee. Shadows replace the extinguished slash of light, and I draw a long, curving line down the right side of the page. It hooks up toward the middle. A peninsula. They’re somewhere near its eastern coast. I’m guessing it’s Brith until I realize I’m not drawing the Realm. This is—

  I can’t block out the remnant who fissures in front of my nose. He’s so close, he steps out of the light and onto my sketch. No rebel is near enough to intercept his attack.

  I throw myself to the left, dropping my shoulder and rolling even though I know it’s too late. Only, it’s not too late. Something hits the remnant, spinning him around and throwing him so off-balance he loses his grip on his sword.

  A fissure opens behind him. Lena steps out, crouches, then stabs upward, sliding her blade in beneath the remnant’s cuirass. The fae goes pale an instant before his soul-shadow replaces his body.

  “Finish it,” she orders, taking up a defensive position to my right. She so shouldn’t be out here, but I grab my sketchbook, pulling it back in front of me, then find Kavok and Lee’s shadows again. They’re fading. My map won’t be very accurate.

  Before I draw another line, Paige steps through those wispy shadows, escorted by Tylan, who dips his hand into the river, opening a fissure of his own.

  I rip the page out of my sketchbook, start a new map when they disappear. I’m not even halfway through it when the sketchbook is whipped out from in front of me.

  I look up, see Naito standing there. What? Does he want to be the one to map the shadows? He’s not as good at it as I am, but he might be good enough.

  He doesn’t start drawing, though. He just stands there staring down at me.

  “Naito,” Lena says, pulling her sword free from another remnant. “What are you doing?”

  “It’s okay,” Naito says.

  “What’s okay?” I ask, climbing back to my feet. If he’s not going to draw the shadows, I need to. Now. They’re going to fade away if I don’t.

  I try to take back my sketchbook, but he holds on.

  “McKenzie,” he says, keeping his voice low. “Kavok found a fae who can bring her back.”

  “He found a…” A banek’tan, he called it. A fae who can bring Kelia back from the ether.

  “He’s been helping me research. He traced the lineages. He found someone who can resurrect her, but he won’t give me the name unless they all make it out.”

  “Finish the map.” Aren’s here now. He yanks back the sketchbook, shoves it into my hands.

  “Don’t do it,” Naito says. His voice is low. It holds a warning I’d have to be deaf not to hear.

  Could Kavok be telling the truth? Is this just desperation on Naito’s part? It’s clear he believes it. God, I want to believe it, too.

  “McKenzie!” Aren snaps.

  I stare back at the shadows. Shit, they’re almost gone. I drop to my knees again, start to draw a bend in a river, and then Naito loses it.

  “I’ll kill you!” he snarls as he leaps at me. “I’ll fucking kill you if you read them!”

  Naito’s almost on top of me when Lena steps between us. A slight wave of her hand, and a gust of wind changes his trajectory. He crashes to the ground just two paces in front of me. He’s blocking the middle of the fading shadows, but Tylan’s taken Paige to the same place Kavok took Lee. I’ve seen enough of both to finish the sketch.

  “Please!” Naito screams. The desperation in his voice rips at my heart. I know how much he loves Kelia. He’ll do anything to bring her
back. I’d do almost anything to help him.

  I watch as the last wisp of shadow disappears. It’s been too long since Kavok fissured out. Aren won’t be able to capture him; he’ll have to kill him. What if a fae really can do what Kavok claims?

  I want to let them escape. I want a fae to bring back Kelia. I want her and Naito to have their happy ending.

  But I can’t put that before everything else.

  “Coen.” The city’s name is just a whisper, but it’s loud enough for Aren and the nearby rebels to hear. They fissure out, going to the west coast of Australia.

  “No!” Naito yells.

  Lena places her hands on his shoulders, shakes him. “Look at me, Naito. Look at me! No one can bring fae back from the ether. Those books you read? Everyone knows about them. They’re fables. They’re fairy tales, Naito. Kelia is dead, just like Sethan is. Kavok tricked you.”

  “No.”

  “She’s not coming back, Naito. I’m sorry. I’m so sorry.”

  “No.” This time, the word cracks into a sob. I’ve never seen Lena do anything remotely tender, but she pulls Naito into her arms, holding him as he cries.

  TWENTY-ONE

  THE HAIL STORM dispersed as soon as Kavok fissured out. A bright sun lights up the sky now, but it does little to warm the air. I’m waiting with Trev for Aren at the silver wall. Naito’s here, too, staring at the ground. He hasn’t said much since Paige and the others escaped, just that Kavok approached him this morning, offering the name of a banek’tan in exchange for help breaking Tylan out of prison. Tylan wouldn’t leave without Paige, though, and the remnants need Lee if they want to get the Sight serum.

  I still can’t quite believe Paige is siding with the remnants. I knew everything wasn’t perfect. She wasn’t telling me the whole and complete truth, but I never thought she’d run off like this. I thought I’d have more time to ask her about the remnants and to tell her about the rebels. I mean, I should have had more time. I’ve been shadow-reading for the fae for ten years. She’s known they’ve existed for, what? Maybe ten days? And she’s just going to choose her allegiance without consulting me?

  I can’t help but be angry.

  And I can’t help but feel like a fool for letting Tylan steal her away. Never mind that it’s not plausible for me to recognize every single fae who supports Lena, but I should have been suspicious. I should have picked up a clue when Paige interrupted Lee, telling him he could stay the night with her. It’s not like Paige to forgive a guy without making him grovel a little.

  I sag against the wall next to Trev. The betrayals hurt, Paige’s and Kavok’s both. I keep trying to make excuses for them. Maybe Paige was under the influence of some magic I’ve never heard of. Maybe the remnants found some way to blackmail Kavok.

  “Maybe I’m just the world’s biggest idiot,” I mutter.

  Beside me, Trev snorts. I throw a glare his way, a glare that doesn’t faze him one bit. He’s leaning against the wall with his arms crossed over his jaedric-armored chest. His sword is loose in its scabbard, not clicked more securely into place, and no less than three knives are within easy reach in their pockets in his belt. He might agree with my statement, but he’s here to keep me safe. He’ll be coming with us to Boulder, too. We’re leaving for Nakano’s compound sooner than we planned in hopes of beating the remnants there.

  I tighten my grip on the strap of my sketchbook. If the remnants do make it to Boulder before us, there’s a chance I might need to map their shadows. There’s a chance Paige and Lee might be with them. There’s a chance the rebels might have to kill them.

  We haven’t talked about that, Aren and I, but I know it’s a possibility. This is a war. The remnants are our enemies, and it doesn’t matter that I don’t understand her decision—Paige has chosen her side. There are consequences to that. There are consequences to everything.

  A lump forms in my throat. I swallow it down as Aren approaches. Nalst and the illusionist, Brenth, are with him. If we need reinforcements, one of them will fissure back for help. We don’t want to leave Corrist vulnerable while we’re gone. With Shane still missing and Naito and me going to Boulder, Lena’s already short three humans, and even if everything goes perfectly at Nakano’s compound, it will take Naito and me a while to get back to the Realm. Boulder doesn’t have a gate, so we’re going to rent a car—rent, I insisted, not steal—and drive to a small town called Wiggins. The nearest gate is on a reservoir near there.

  “Are you sure you’re okay to do this?” Aren asks, stopping in front of me. Whether he’s asking if I’m willing to be involved in the death of my friend or if I’m physically okay and ready to go to Boulder, I don’t know, but the answer is the same either way. I’m going to do what I have to do to help Lena secure the throne.

  “I’m ready,” I tell him.

  “You don’t have to go,” he says. “Naito will help us get the serum and the documents.”

  I focus on Naito, who’s still staring at the ground with his hands shoved into his pockets a few paces away. Neither of us knows how dependable he will be in Boulder. When Lena ordered him to go with us, he didn’t respond at all; he just showed up when Trev and I left the palace.

  “I’m going,” I tell Aren. “And I’m sorry about earlier. I’m sorry I hesitated. I wanted…”

  “I know,” he interrupts. “I want Naito to be happy, too.”

  Aren wasn’t able to capture or kill Tylan and Kavok because I hesitated. The fae double-fissured with Paige and Lee. It didn’t surprise me to learn that. I was pretty sure the maps led to the gate in Coen. When fae are running from a shadow-reader, they try not to go to their final destination. Most fae have to wait a few minutes to recover from their first fissure, but some of them have conditioned themselves to be able to fissure quickly two or three times in a row. That’s what Aren did when he abducted me from my campus. He didn’t wait more than a few seconds before pulling me into another gated-fissure. Even Kyol can’t pop in and out of worlds that quickly.

  Aren never saw Tylan and Paige, but he saw Kavok. The archivist had to wait to recover before fissuring out with Lee. If my map hadn’t been such an inaccurate mess, Aren would have spotted the fae sooner. He would have killed him, preventing the remnants from getting Lee back. Lee, who can lead the remnants to his father’s compound just as easily—maybe even more easily—than Naito.

  “We should hurry,” I say.

  Aren draws in a slow breath, nods, then turns to Naito. Naito and I are wearing normal, human clothes. We’re hoping the vigilantes have all left the compound by now, but if they haven’t, we don’t want to show up wearing fae garb. That’ll just invite Nakano’s people to kill us.

  Naito doesn’t look up when Aren stops in front of him. I don’t know what he’s thinking; I just know that he hasn’t been thinking since Kelia died. He’s been trying to find a way to bring her back, not trying to find a way to deal with his grief. He’s the one who helped Tylan escape. He kept me from accurately reading the shadows, first by trying to convince Aren and me that Kyol had ordered me elsewhere, then by physically interfering with my drawing. He has a lot to account for.

  Softly, he says, “Kelia wouldn’t want me to be like this.”

  “No,” Aren agrees. “She wouldn’t.”

  Naito’s mouth tightens. He nods. Another silence stretches out.

  “I’ve been to my father’s compound before. That’s where he…” He clears his throat. “He’s held fae there before. He does research there.”

  He doesn’t have to say more than that.

  The fae take up position around us, and we leave the Inner City, walking beneath the silver wall, then crossing the plateau to the gate that Paige and Lee were taken through less than an hour ago. I wonder if that will be the last time I see Paige. How far will she go to help the remnants defeat us? Will she try to return to her normal life back in Houston? Will the fae let her?

  King Atroth is dead. So is his lord general, but there are other Court fae who a
re as brutal as they were—the slaughtered humans in London prove that. Paige doesn’t know what she’s gotten herself into.

  We stop by the blur on the river. After Aren opens a gated-fissure, he holds out his hand toward me. I hesitate. I want that opportunity to talk to Paige. If she’s in Boulder using her newly acquired Sight to see through Brenth’s illusions, Aren might be the one who’s forced to kill her. There’s already a long list of things I have to forgive Aren for. Can I forgive him if he takes my friend’s life?

  “McKenzie,” Aren says gently. I think he knows the direction my thoughts have gone. I have to bottle them up and push them aside to think about later. No matter what happens between us, we have to get to that serum before the remnants do.

  I place my hand in his, take the anchor-stone he offers me, then let him escort me into the In-Between.

  I’m not fully prepared for the soul-numbing bite of the cold. When we emerge into my world, I’m shaking. I should have made time to drink cabus. This is my third time fissuring in a little over three hours. My body is so not happy with me right now.

  My knees buckle, but Aren’s there. His hands are firm on my arms, steadying me while I convince my legs to hold my weight again. Aren’s touch helps chase away some of the cold, especially when his chaos lusters find their way to my skin, sending enticing, tingling pulses of warmth through my body.

  “I’m not doing a good job taking care of you,” he says, as Naito and the other fae join us in my world.

  “It’s not your job,” I tell him. I’m balanced enough now to step away and take in my surroundings. It’s night here. Or rather, early morning. A full moon is still in the night sky. It’s bright enough to see the individual pebbles beneath my feet. We’re on the western edge of Boulder, on a hiking trail that leads up into the mountains. The trailhead isn’t far away. A parking lot is there. It’s empty. Hopefully, that means we won’t come across any late-night hikers. They should all be asleep in the city below. It’s still and beautiful from this vantage point, each tiny light a pinprick that looks as innocent as a star, not like a piece of tech that can distract a fae and weaken their magic.