Sisters of Salt and Iron

by Kady Cross

  Like a grave.

  I picked up the sack of bones and walked outside. My friends sat on the walkway, eating candy from Roxi’s unending supply, and talking. Someone had bandaged Kevin. Some distance away, the news people had their lights and cameras going. The campus was fairly empty now, except for emergency workers, police and those few living who remained behind.

  “Isn’t that your father?” Gage asked Mace, gesturing to where two police cars were parked, red-and-blue lights bright in the dark.

  He nodded. “We should probably get out of here.”

  I took a step toward them and fell to my knees. I was exhausted. Depleted. Done.

  “Lark!” Roxi cried, rushing toward me. I fell forward, my hands hitting the ground. This place still wept, but not like it had. I could feel peace where there had been only pain. I smiled as my vision doubled.

  Hands clutched at me as I was split in half. I cried out at the loss.

  And then I came apart.

  LARK

  I woke up in the hospital, Nan and Wren hovering over me.

  “Is it over?” I asked. “It wasn’t a dream, was it?” It felt like a dream, but all those ghosts...and Joe and Laura. I wanted that to be real.

  “We were awesome!” Wren exclaimed.

  Nan shot her a glance—obviously she could still see her. It would be nice if that continued. Wren would like that.

  So, not a dream, then.

  “Aside from being awesome, you apparently exhausted yourself mentally and physically. I thought the doctors were going to call Child Services on me—some of your levels were so low. One of them asked if you were anorexic.”

  “I’m sorry,” I said.

  She patted my hand. “I’m just glad you’re all right. They did call your mother, though.”

  I made a face. “Was she overwhelmed by motherly love and concern?”

  “Yes, of course.”

  Wren shook her head. Her hair wasn’t as bright as it normally was, and neither were her eyes. Halloween must have taken its toll on her, too. “No. She wasn’t. She told the doctors it was a cry for attention.”

  Nan frowned at her. “Wrenleigh, listening in on my telephone conversations is not allowed. Understood?”

  Wren nodded. “Yes, Nan. But that’s what she said.”

  I tried not to let on that it hurt. “That sounds like her. How long do I have to stay here?”

  “The doctors gave you an IV loaded up with all kinds of nutrients and minerals and different solutions.” Obviously medicine was not Nan’s forte. “I confess I stopped listening after the doctor said you were going to live. They said if things continue to improve you can go home tomorrow. They’re going to send home supplements for you, as well.”

  “Is this because of the merge?” I looked at Wren when I spoke.

  “Yep,” she replied. “It knocked me out, too. I was in the Shadow Lands until just a few hours ago. You’ve been out for almost twenty-four hours. Technically, they’re saying you have a case of acute exhaustion. I told Nan there was nothing ‘cute’ about it.” She giggled.

  Nan arched a brow. “It’s still not funny, dear.”

  I smiled. “Is everyone okay?”

  “Kevin got hurt, but he’s fine. They’ve all been by. Ben more than once.”

  Nan pulled her cell phone out of her purse. “That reminds me. I told the poor boy I’d let him know when you were awake.” She stepped away from the bed as she dialed.

  I turned to my sister. “Can you believe what happened? What we did?”

  She shook her head. “No. It’s like I was walking through someone else’s dream. I know I was there, and I know the details, but it’s like watching a movie.” She smiled. “Kevin said that we were hot.”

  I laughed. “He would say that.” I reached out and took her hand in mine. “I’m sorry you had to recover all alone while I was in here.”

  She gave me a sheepish look. “I wasn’t alone.”

  “Kevin?”

  “No. Well, yeah, a little.” She leaned closer. “Emily.”

  “What?” I struggled to sit up a bit. “She’s free?”

  “Apparently when we left Noah in the void, his hold over her was broken.”

  “Where is she? Why isn’t she here?”

  Wren glanced over her shoulder. “She didn’t want to scare Nan. She said she’ll come see us once we’ve fully recovered. She said something about having a lot to teach us.”

  “That’s kind of like putting on rubber boots when you’re already in the mud puddle.”

  My sister frowned. “That makes no sense. Why would you do that?”

  “Exactly.” I played with her fingers. “Did she say anything else?”

  “She said she wanted to get Alys out of the void.”

  “As long as we don’t have to deal with Noah again, I don’t care what she does. What did Kevin do with the bones?”

  “No idea.”

  Nan came back to the side of the bed. “Ben and your friends want to know if they can come visit for a bit.”

  “They’d better,” I said, loud enough for Ben to hear over the phone.

  Twenty minutes later I was surrounded. Nan had left me with a kiss on the forehead and said she’d be back in the morning to take me home.

  Ben stood up by my head and held my hand. He kept playing with my hair, too, and massaging my scalp. I felt like a cat, rubbing my head into his hand. It was awesome. I hadn’t felt so relaxed in forever, though that might have been the drugs. They gave me something to make sure I got plenty of rest.

  Kevin stood near Wren. Every once in a while, when he thought no one would notice, I caught him looking at her. He could see her, I knew he could. He could see her as clearly as I could. Whatever Noah had done to him, it had made his abilities as a medium stronger.

  I watched as he slowly reached out and laced his fingers with hers. My breath caught when she turned her head to look at him. I had no idea how it could ever possibly work between the two of them, but they’d figure it out.

  Mace stayed down at the bottom of the bed, but every few minutes he’d tickle my feet to make sure I wasn’t drifting off. He stopped once I kicked him. He smiled at me.

  “Olgilvie’s locked up,” he told me. “They found some of Laura’s things in his apartment.”

  “Creep,” I muttered. “At least we don’t have to worry about him anymore.”

  “Oh, hey,” Roxi said, whipping out her phone. “I took a picture of you at the concert when you were all, like, Death Goddess. Where is it?” I watched as she swiped through the millions of photos on her phone. Wren made a noise when she paused at one of Wren and Noah at Kevin’s party. Roxi didn’t notice and thankfully kept swiping until she found the right one. “There. Look.”

  Wren leaned in closer. On the screen was a girl who could have been either one of us, but she looked super bad-ass confident. Half of her hair was white and the other half red—just like what I’d read online about the Melinoe myth. She was dressed in a leather suit that looked like something Catwoman would wear.

  “That’s me?” we chorused. And then we looked at each other. It was at that moment that I realized she really was my other half. Not in a weird way, because I knew who I was, and what I was. But it was nice knowing that no matter what, Wren would always be with me.

  “We have to help Emily,” I said. “And Alys.”

  Wren nodded.

  “Emily? Alys?” Ben looked down at me. “You’re not talking about more ghost stuff, are you? Lark, you’re in the hospital.”

  I smiled and gave his hand a shake. “It’s not anything big. Besides, the only ghost I want to see for a while is my sister.”

  “As if you had any choice,” Wren chirped.

  A nurse came by with a bouq
uet of flowers. I already had one from Ben and one from Nan. “Who sent those?” I asked. They were gorgeous—white and red roses. I really hoped they weren’t from my parents.

  Gage, who had taken the vase from the nurse, set them on the bedside table and opened the card.

  “‘J.B.—thanks for reminding me what it’s like to be alive. You rock. Love, Joe.’”

  We all exchanged glances.

  “Joe?” Mace asked. “As in Joe Hard?”

  “How is that even possible?” That was Roxi as she snatched the card from her boyfriend’s hand. “Oh, my God. It really does say that.”

  Gage frowned at her. “Yeah—I didn’t make it up.”

  She kissed him. “I know. I’m sorry.” That’s all it took to make Gage happy-smiley again.

  I stared at the flowers. “How did he do that?” I wondered out loud. “He moved on. I saw him do it.” How would he even place an order for flowers? Online? My head hurt just thinking about it.

  Ben squeezed my hand. “How about you don’t wonder how and just appreciate that he did?”

  I smiled at him. “There you go being all wise and stuff.” But he was right. It really didn’t matter how Joe had done it. What mattered was that he had, and that Wren and I had helped him get back to Laura. That was all that mattered.

  My friends stayed a little while longer but left when I started yawning. Ben gave me a kiss and told me to call him when I got home the next day. Since it was Saturday, he could come over and baby me if I wanted. Maybe watch a movie and get me caught up on homework.

  “Sounds like a plan,” I said, and pulled him in for another kiss.

  When everyone was gone, it was just me and Wren. She wandered over to Joe’s roses and gave them a sniff. “Do you think it’s a coincidence that they’re red and white?”

  I laughed. “No. Not at all.”

  Smiling, she skipped back to the bed. “Are you tired?”

  I nodded, yawning as if on cue. “I am, yeah.”

  “Do you want me to leave?”

  I shook my head. “No.” I patted the bed. “Crawl in. There’s room.”

  She immediately slipped under the blanket, sliding in so that she faced me.

  “I’m sorry,” she whispered. “About Noah. About everything.”

  “I know.”

  “I’m going to make it up to you.”

  I looked her in the eye. “There’s nothing to make up. You thought he liked you, and you turned the tables on him in the end. Just think, if you hadn’t met him, we wouldn’t know what we are, and Emily would still be his prisoner. Who knows what he would have gotten up to on Halloween if not for us? And we freed all those ghosts.” I yawned as sleep came knocking. “We’re rock stars.”

  I closed my eyes. I was just drifting off to sleep when she said, “Hey, Lark? What’s red and white and black all over?”

  I opened one eye. “You?”

  “Yes!” She squealed, laughing like an idiot. “Or, I was.” She grinned.

  I made a noise that could have possibly been laughter, or a groan. “Are you going to talk all night?”

  “No. I’m going to watch you sleep, and it won’t be at all creepy.”

  I thought about the eyes I’d found in the Shadow Lands and all the other things we should probably talk about, and then I decided that it could wait. All of it could wait—and maybe we didn’t need to talk about any of it. I really didn’t care. I was going to be okay. Wren was okay. Our friends and Nan were okay, and our mother was still a selfish, clueless bitch. All was right with the world.

  I wrapped my hand around one of hers. “I love you, Wrennie.”

  She kissed my forehead. “I love you, too.”

  I fell asleep, and as far as I knew, she really did lie there all night watching me. And it wasn’t at all creepy.

  Well, maybe just a little. But that was just us.

  * * * * *

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  ISBN: 9781489211118

  TITLE: SISTERS OF SALT AND IRON

  First Australian Publication 2016

  Copyright © 2016 Kady Cross

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  This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are either the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, business establishments, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.

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