The Dark Sky Collection: The Dark Sky Collection

by Amy Braun

  The fire erupted beside me. I cringed at the crushing swell of heat, so intense I was sure that part of me had caught fire by accident. I was melting under my clothes. I stepped back and set the timer for the bomb. Ten minutes would be enough time for us to get out.

  I hoped.

  I moved away from the fire, watching in horror as the blaze crept around the edges of the black furnace like claws. Parts of the uncontrollable fire latched onto parts of the wall and surrounding table, starting smaller blazes.

  Riley screamed behind me.

  I whirled around, watching him slide from the table to the ground. His hands were pressed to either side of his head, as if crushing it would take away whatever pain he was feeling. Behind him, the Hellions trapped in the cold stone room slithered closer to freedom– to us. They were starting to slide their ragged torsos through the crevice of the door, not caring that they ripped open their skin on the sharp edges.

  I raced to Riley and grabbed his arm, slinging it over my shoulder again and bringing him to his feet. “Okay, it’s set, let’s can go.”

  We took two steps before Riley halted. “I’m not going anywhere, Claire.”

  The sadness in his voice caught my attention. He looked up, and my heart broke. “Your eyes…”

  Riley’s bright blue eyes were tinged with red, much like Abby’s were when the Vesper attempted to make her a Hellion. But this was worse. The corners of Riley’s eyes were bleeding. Thick, dark blood lined his lower eyelids in grotesque tears. My chest tightened.

  “Riley… What–”

  “He’s in my head, Claire. I can feel him. I’m trying to hold him back, but he’s too strong. He’ll break through eventually.” He released my arm from his shoulders and gently held my biceps. “This is as far as I can go.”

  Tears stung my eyes. “Don’t say that. Don’t you dare.”

  “I can buy you time,” he said. “You can’t carry me out of here, and you know it. The bomb is planted, and you have to get out and far away before it goes off.” He smiled sadly. “I know you like to make a big bang.”

  “Stop it,” I cried, my voice breaking with my heart. “Stop talking like this. You’re coming with me.”

  Riley’s hand stroked the side of my face slowly, threading through my hair. His bleeding eyes traced over my face, memorizing it.

  “No. I’m not.”

  “Riley–”

  He cupped the back of my neck and kissed me. I didn’t stop him. I loved Sawyer, I would always love him, but a piece of me loved Riley, too. He was my friend, there for me when I needed someone. He listened to me, defended me. Made Abby laugh and showed her the stars. He was a good person trapped in a horrible situation, dying in a worse one. I had never been able to save him.

  But he was saving me.

  I kissed him back. Not the way I would kiss Sawyer, but enough to let him know that he mattered to me. That I would always remember him. That I would miss him.

  Because as hard as I tried to tell myself that there was something I could do, I knew what this kiss was.

  It was goodbye.

  Riley broke the embrace. His features were hard and severe again. He stepped back and gripped his sword tightly. His bleeding eyes flashed. A sharp jolt went through my skull. I lost all conscious thought.

  Riley was compelling me.

  “Run, Claire! Now!”

  He turned and bolted for the Hellions that broke free of the stone door. I turned and ran for the main entrance.

  My chest burned with every step, tears blinding my vision. My heart screamed at me to go back, to fight with him and find a way to break the Vesper’s hold.

  But I couldn’t fight the compulsion. Riley’s final command was nailed in my skull like a spike. Even if I could break it, I knew I would die if I went back. If the Hellions didn’t tear me apart, the bomb would turn me to ash.

  More than that, if I turned around now, I’d be dishonoring Riley’s last wish. The blood leaking from his eyes was a sign that I couldn’t heal him. He knew that, too. He chose to give his life for mine when he knew he couldn’t be saved. I couldn’t disrespect that, no matter how many tears and nightmares it would give me.

  I barreled through the front doors and out into Hellnore’s wasteland. I didn’t think to put my mask or goggles on, so the foul smelling air and harsh ash stung my noses and eyes. I coughed, swallowing the sob that lodged in my throat, and kept moving for the ridges. I had minutes left, maybe seconds, and I didn’t know what would happen when the bomb detonated. I had to be as far from it as possible to avoid the debris and the shockwave.

  I didn’t look anywhere but dead ahead. The bomb would go off any second now. I fumbled to get the mask back on my face, hurtled the high point of the ridge, and slid over a ridge of sharp volcanic rock–

  The factory exploded.

  The blast was louder and more violent than I expected. It was like a torrent of bricks had rained onto a glass house. Obsidian shards blasted in every direction, chased by darts of red and orange flames. The factory lit up like a beacon, clouds of thick smoke beginning to drift from its remnants like dark ghosts.

  I stared at the blaze with stinging eyes and ringing ears, my adrenaline-fuelled heart filling with knives of pain.

  There was no way anything– or anyone– could have survived that explosion.

  The Vesper’s army of Hellions was dead.

  And so was Riley.

  My heart constricted at the thought. The cold, hard truth of it. Riley was dead because of me. I would never forgive myself for that.

  I shrank back against the hard ridge of the mountains and let the tears come. I allowed myself a minute to mourn the friend I’d lost, though I knew I had to escape before any other Hellions were drawn to the fire. The pain was a fresh wound, and I needed to know its weight before I started my final escape.

  When the tears stopped, I took a deep breath. I felt the tightness in my chest, accepted it.

  And vowed that no one else I cared about would die in pain and fire the way Riley had.

  Staying low, I set the goggles over my eyes. Slightly more protected than before, I crawled along the ridge toward the cave where I left the skiff. I never once looked back at the burning factory.

  I realized too late that I was being followed.

  I looked over my shoulder, directly at the Hellion skiff hovering behind me.

  I turned forward and started running. I cursed myself for not looking for more problems earlier. I’d been grieving too much. I didn’t think the Hellions would notice me with the massive blaze from the factory.

  I really was terrible at escaping.

  Air blasted down on my head as the skiff sailed over me. It swerved around and started to land directly in my path. I glanced around. The mountain was too steep to climb and the flatlands would give me less cover than I had now.

  I still had some flashbangs, but they wouldn’t last forever. My only combat weapon was the bloody Hellion helmet. I couldn’t believe I was still carrying the stupid thing. With everything else going on, I simply forgot…

  Riley’s forlorn, bloodstained face filled my mind. The thorns of heartache dug deeper into me.

  While I was searching my bag for a flashbang, the Hellion skiff had landed. Four Hellions leaped out, their faces unmasked. Davin led them, a smile on his face and murder in his eyes.

  “Nice fireworks, darling,” he barked as he marched toward me. My hand curled around a flashbang. “Always liked watching things burn.”

  I pulled the tube out and lashed out at him with it. Davin slapped my wrist, a sharp sting that knocked the flashbang from my palm. I swung the helmet up, needle-point first. Davin pushed his hand down to stop the attack. The needle went straight through his hand.

  He frowned at it. “Ouch.”

  He gripped the helmet with his damaged hand, then kicked me in the chest. I stumbled back, losing my footing and crashing hard against the ridge. I grimaced at the shocks going through my body when my elbows struc
k the ground.

  Davin pulled his hand free from the helmet. He flipped his hand back and forth, inspecting the wound with that same frown. Then he locked his bloody eyes on me and stalked forward.

  He made a clicking noise with his tongue and waggled a finger at me. “You’re a bad girl, Claire. And you picked the worst time to be so naughty.”

  I didn’t get the chance to ask what he was talking about. Davin’s fist crashed into my temple, and the world went black.

  Chapter 19

  Sawyer

  Sweat slicked my palms as I brought the Dauntless closer to the ugly mouth of the Breach. She had been through many storms. Wind, snow, rain, she had survived it all.

  I wasn’t sure she could hold out against the tumult of Hellnore.

  “Masks on,” I called while I could still be heard. The worst of the storm was now cleared thanks to Deanna and her engineers, but there were still traces of lightning sparking through the warped clouds of the tunnel. Driving a metal ship through the Breach seemed like an even worse idea than it had before, but there was no turning back now.

  I grabbed the mask hanging under my chin and lifted it over my nose and mouth, then gripped the goggles perched on my head and dragged them over my eyes. The fore and main decks of the Dauntless were draped in shadows. The crew below huddled as close to the sides, clutching ropes knotted to the railing in case we pitched. The winds were strong coming from the tunnel, and I imagined they would have been almost insurmountable without Deanna’s machines.

  Everyone on the decks cringed at each snap and burst of lightning, which turned the angry clouds a grotesque, bruised purple and provided little light.

  The shadows of the Breach crept higher, swallowing the ship completely. The wind became more violent, whipping my exposed skin, shoving my hair, and snapping my coat around my waist. I tightened my grip on the helm’s spokes until my knuckles were white.

  Tremors started wracking the Dauntless. Wooden crates and barrels clacked against the floorboards. Metal chains slid and swayed over the deck. The crew clutched their ropes tighter and curled into themselves. I kept my hold on the wheel and nudged the accelerator.

  Fierce winds bit at me and snapped the sails violently. Vibrations rattled through the ship and past my skin to my very bones. My teeth clattered together as I drove forward.

  Flashes of lightning ignited the bruised clouds. In them, I began to see shapes. Two of the domed skiffs I’d seen taking Claire from Satbury, and another Hellion ship I’d never seen before.

  It was a circular aircraft with curving blades on the edges. I didn’t want those blades anywhere near the Dauntless, but thanks to the sputtering exhaust port, it was going to move toward us whether I wanted it to or not.

  In the middle of the circular ship was a machine that looked like the Palisade. My breathing hitched, but instead of blue energy crackling from the filaments on top of the tubes, the lightning was a bruised purple.

  Not that it made me feel any better.

  The domed skiffs darted forward, their spike bows aimed straight at the Dauntless’s side.

  “Shoot it down,” I roared, hoping my shout wasn’t lost in the wind and the crew would spring to action. Thanks to these rough winds, I couldn’t leave the helm.

  Gemma and Nash, who’d been by my side the whole time, sprang into action. They sprinted down to the deck and turned to the weapons crates while Beck shouted at soldiers to prepare to fire.

  The domed skiffs closed in. They were too high for cannon fire.

  Beck wasted no time. When the Sky Guards were in place and aiming at the domed skiffs, he gave the command to fire.

  Ultraviolet bullets burst from the barrels of flintlocks and muskets, streaking through the Breach’s air like blue hornets. They shattered a giant hole in the dome of the leftmost skiff, cracking the glass and puncturing the hull, but the skiff was only fifteen feet away–

  Gemma burst through the line of soldiers, a small grenade in her hand. She launched it outward, tossing it straight into the broken cockpit of the left skiff. The detonation consumed the entire cockpit, flames blooming against the glass and bursting it outward. The skiff pitched downward, skimming under the Dauntless.

  Gunfire continued to hammer the second skiff. The glass dome cracked and shattered, but the Hellion craft didn’t slow. It rammed into the Dauntless, the sharp spike dashing into my ship. I cringed at the squeal of metal and the jolt of impact. I couldn’t tell how bad the damage was, couldn’t see if anyone had been hurt.

  The skiff was starting to pull away when Nash launched for it. My best friend didn’t hesitate, leaping onto the railing and grabbing the metal beam that supported the glass. He threw another grenade straight down at the Hellions scrabbling inside. The beasts kept trying to pull back–Nash, move, move, move–

  He vaulted backward as a second explosion ripped through the air, scattering glass and metal across the Dauntless’s deck.

  I heard a high-pitch scream. Gemma. My heart stopped. I didn’t even bother to watch the Hellion skiff tumble into the Breach’s shadows. I just cared about my friend.

  Beck staggered upright, his arms slung under Nash’s. My friend’s head lolled.

  No. I couldn’t breathe. No, no, no–

  Gemma skidded to a stop in front of Nash. Then she slapped him across the face.

  Nash shuddered awake and stood up straight. My relieved breath wheezed through my mask. Gemma stabbed a finger into Nash’s chest. He shrugged sheepishly. She wore a mask, and couldn’t kiss him, so she threw her arms around his neck and hugged him tight. I imagined he would get an earful later.

  Flares of purple light captured my attention. I turned my head from my friends to the circular ship that carried the storm-maker, watching bolts of lightning jump from it to the sky. The storm-maker was gaining power, and the circular blades ringing the ship were spinning faster as our enemy approached. The storm-maker began to tilt, like a cannon being repositioned.

  I screamed orders, but Beck was already moving. He’d taken a musket from one of the Sky Guards and rested it on the railing, using the Dauntless for cover. He didn’t show any concern or care for the bolts of lightning zapping over his head or the ultraviolet bullets zipping inches from his shoulders. He waited for his shots, and took them.

  The first bullet struck the underbelly of the circular ship. It must have hit part of the engine, because the ship began to teeter against the winds of the Breach. The three Hellions on board scampered back and forth, frantic for options. They were Beck’s next targets.

  Crack! Crack! Crack!

  Three shots turned the monsters into clouds of ash.

  The storm-maker’s lightning was spastic. It skittered in wild directions, twitching as the ship began to fall. Beck adjusted his aim with the musket and fired twice more.

  Crack! Crack!

  Shots smashed into the storm-maker’s console. Fire erupted from it, exploded, and engulfed the Hellion machine. The circular ship tilted down and collapsed into the clouds of the Breach.

  A cheer roared up from the main deck, many of the soldiers clapping Beck on the back and shaking his shoulders. I smiled and shook my head. I was glad they were cheering, but we still had a long way to go before we could officially celebrate.

  Up ahead I could see light. A pinprick of red. I eased the accelerator forward, the lurch of the Dauntless serving as a warning for the crew to settle in for the rest of the journey. It wouldn’t be much longer now.