Nil on Fire Page 18

  Still smiling, the boy popped back to his feet, a lithe move worthy of a gymnast. “I’m Dominic. And you?”

  “I’m Skye.” I smiled.

  “Rives.” Beside me, Rives offered his hand.

  Dominic pumped Rives’s outstretched hand, then pointed to the cave with his spear. “You going in?” he asked, moving aside on the ledge.

  “The girl you saw,” I said, my tone urgent. “Is she okay?”

  “Other than having a small heart attack?” Dominic’s grin widened, then he waved his hand. “She’ll be fine. We scared each other all the way to our roots, I tell you. And now? I see you, coming from the water like a living ghost. I see no one for days, and then? I see three people in three minutes.” He shook his head incredulously.

  Rives grinned. “Where are you from, Dominic?”

  “Abaco, born and raised.” He smiled again. “And you?”

  “France. And Hawaii.”

  My teeth chattered, drawing Rives’s attention. The water beneath the falls was so cold.

  “Your lips are literally turning blue.” He frowned. “We either need to check on Lana ASAP or go back. Your choice.”

  “I want to check on her,” I said, climbing out of the water. Standing, I bounced on my toes, trying to get my blood pumping again. “Not to bother her, but just make sure she’s okay.”

  Rives followed me out of the water.

  “You can stay with Dominic and clue him in on Nil.” I was already at the passageway entrance. “I’ll only be a minute.”

  “You sure you don’t want company?” Rives glanced at the cave opening.

  I knew he wanted me to say yes, but I felt the need to do this alone. I wasn’t sure what I was going to do exactly, but I felt drawn to Lana.

  I wondered if this was how Rives had felt with Maaka.

  “I’m good, Rives.” I smiled to take the sting out of my words. “I’ll be quick. I’ll shout if I need you, but I really just need to make sure she’s okay.”

  “Follow the arrows,” he called to my back.

  Darkness swallowed me in one giant gulp. I shivered, telling myself it was just because I was cold. I hugged the left side, where arrows pointed my way. I’d been here before, many times, but the chill of the passageway seemed to have worsened—like the darkness itself.

  I passed the junction where the skeleton rested without a glance.

  At the end of the passageway, I paused. Now I let the shadows cloak me, hoping to remain invisible. Sinking back into the darkness as much as I could, I leaned my head forward, looking for Lana.

  She stood in the Looking Glass Cavern, her profile to me. She faced the pool, hands clenched into mad fists, shoulders shaking as tears full of anger and misery and lost expectations rolled down her cheeks; I knew this to be true because I could feel them. Not the tears, but the emotions: they coursed through the cavern like a roiling cloud—and then she turned toward me.

  Anger and pain and hurt hit me like a physical wave, as fiery as the invisible heat of a gate, only with this wave, I didn’t burn; I felt. I felt how much Lana hurt. I ducked back quickly, praying that she didn’t see me. I knew she wouldn’t want me to see her, not like that.

  I already knew she didn’t want anything from me at all—except to leave her be.

  I should go back, I thought. To Rives and Dominic. But it felt wrong to leave Lana alone when she was so obviously upset. She was stuck here as much as I was, but unlike me, she had no support system at all.

  She doesn’t want you, I thought with a pang of regret. Your pity or your help.

  I felt the truth of that in my bones.

  I would honor Lana’s wishes and let her be. Somehow I knew I’d see her again.

  Turning back, I left her alone.

  The darkness was only too happy to have me. The fatigue that constantly swirled around me pressed in, reveling in the dark, but the exhaustion was different now. Richer, filled with emotion. The same emotion that was in the cavern, I thought with a start.

  Had I felt Lana’s emotion, or the island’s? Is there a connection?

  Understanding brushed my mind, a thread to follow. As I reached further, I felt the line in my head, the stark barrier between Nil and me, the one I’d so carefully reinforced during my battles with the darkness before I’d ever set foot on Nil.

  But I wondered. If I looked beyond the darkness now, when I was conscious and in a place so clearly connected to Nil, would I see Talla? Or would I see someone else? Something else?

  Would I actually see Nil?

  I’d barely had the thought when the darkness surged; it took all my will to stop it from pouring over the line. My back pressed against the rock as I held the line.

  No.

  My thought was fierce as I flew into mental motion, erecting more barriers, thickening the line dividing me from Nil. Walls rose higher in my head, built out of my sanity, as clear as glass but as hard as diamonds. I would not relinquish anything to Nil.

  Nor would Nil give in to me. The blackness stayed black.

  Darkness swirled outside my crystal walls, snarling and hungry; it pressed against the barrier like billowing black smoke, searching for a way in even as pinpricks of light punctuated the dark.

  My barrier held. I could hold Nil at bay forever; I knew that now. I felt my own strength. A mental force, a show of will, on both sides of the glass.

  The problem was, keeping Nil at bay took everything I had, and there was no energy left for walking. So I did the only thing I could.

  I called for Rives.

  CHAPTER

  35

  RIVES

  93 DAYS UNTIL THE AUTUMNAL EQUINOX, MORNING

  I stared at the cave where Skye had disappeared.

  I wished I’d had a torch to give her, but I’d had nothing. No torch, no knife. All the metal blades had mysteriously vanished during our time away. All I’d had to offer was me—and she’d said no.

  So I’d let her go. Just because Skye didn’t need—or want—my backup, I’d never stop wanting to give it to her.

  Merde.

  It was going to be a long three months.

  Dominic’s voice broke into my musings. “Skye’s a fiery one, yes?”

  I rubbed my neck. “You have no idea.”

  Dominic laughed, a full rumble all the way from his gut. “My auntie says that women are the strong ones, that they hold all the power. I think she is right.” He laughed again.

  He shook his head, then his laughter ebbed like a retreating tide. His gaze turned earnest. “Hey, mon. I sit here with you, in this place”—he waved his pronged spear at the wall of water falling in front of us—“and I don’t know what is happening. Where am I? Where are we?” Dominic cocked his head at me. “I keep thinking I’m in Atlantis, the lost city, but that city was underwater, and I’m on land. But it was a water light that took me, only it was on the sand. It makes no sense to me. No sense at all.”

  Dominic’s story didn’t make sense to me, either.

  “Water light?” I frowned.

  “You know the ones. Under the water, where the light appears and waits, a glowing wall in the water, and the sharks and the fish, they disappear into the light.” He shrugged. “Some say it is mermaids come to claim the sea, some say it is the city of Atlantis reclaiming its own. I say it is an old wives’ tale, but I tell you, I have seen a water light myself. I was only twelve years old, and I remember it like it was yesterday. And two weeks ago, a water light, it appeared on land. On the sand where I stood. It took me, mon. And now here I am.”

  Dominic’s story caught me off guard.

  A Nil memory rushed back.

  Me, on the beach near Nil City, the sun blazing overhead. I’d just come out of the water, a desperate attempt to clear my head of Skye when I saw her. I always saw her. She’d waved me over, her face determined and defiant and full of fight. I’d walked to her, drawn like a magnet. Then her words set me on fire.

  So I’m thinking there’s a second gate, s
he’d told me, her words an excited rush, a companion gate, a gate underwater on both ends that only transfers cold-blooded things. That imprints on cold-blooded things, like fish. It’s the balance to our gate, the counterweight. She’d paused, her steel-flecked eyes sparking with intelligence and passion. Make sense?

  Hell, yeah, it makes sense, I thought, firmly back in the now. The balance of it all. And living proof sits right here.

  Now the question was, how could we use this information to our advantage?

  Skye would know, but she wasn’t here.

  “No,” I told Dominic, who watched me expectantly. “It’s not Atlantis. It’s Nil.”

  Dominic cocked his head. “Never heard of it.”

  “You wouldn’t have. But I promise you, it’s very real.”

  I glanced back at the cave entrance. Darkness blinked at me, not unlike the darkness of Skye’s dreams. No sign of Skye or anyone else. Just blackness that was far from flat.

  Don’t leave her alone.

  Pouring in with the falls, the warning came in a rush.

  “So what is Nil?” Dominic asked.

  I scrambled to my feet, talking fast; I needed to find Skye, now. “Nil’s an island. There’s a City to the south, on the coast. If you get there before we get back, ask for Paulo. He’ll fill you in.” I ducked inside the passageway, turning back at the last second. “Sorry, Dominic. Skye needs me. Go to the City. I’ll tell you everything I know. Or Paulo will.”

  Dominic nodded, then pointed with his lips toward the opening at my back. “Be safe in that dark place.”

  Rives.

  Skye’s call rang crisp and clear in my head, packed with an unmistakable Come get me now vibe. And then it was gone.

  The echo of her whisper hadn’t faded before I was running. I found Skye three-quarters of the way in. Her back pressed against the wall, she sat in a motionless crouch, head down, arms wrapped around her waist, feet flat on the ground, like she’d slid down the wall and stayed there.

  “Skye?” I bent down beside her. “You okay?”

  No answer, no response. Fear lanced through me like ice.

  “Skye?” I touched her cheek. Her skin was cold.

  “I have to get out of here.” The words took a Herculean effort to get past her lips.

  “Are you hurt?” I asked.

  No answer, no response. She seemed trapped inside herself, held by the dark.

  I didn’t need a whisper in my head to tell me to get her the hell out.

  I lifted Skye up and cradled her against my chest. I started back the way I’d come.

  “No,” she rasped. “Other way.”

  I turned back toward the Looking Glass Cavern and instantly her body melted against mine. I moved by rote, crouching as needed, thighs burning, wondering what happened to Skye in the few minutes we were apart. Was she hurt? Bitten? Attacked?

  I stepped into the Looking Glass Cavern; the rush of light made me blink. At the same moment, Skye’s entire body relaxed.

  “Wow,” she breathed, opening her eyes and stretching like a cat in a shaft of sunlight. “So that was weird.” She smiled and actually yawned. Yawned. Like everything was totally fine, like she’d just taken a quick nap, like a minute ago she hadn’t been almost paralytic, huddled in Nil’s bowels. “I’m good. You can put me down now.”

  “You’re good.” I bit off the words as I gently set her on her feet. She stretched fully, her face relaxed. I stared at her, shocked at the quick 180. “A minute ago you couldn’t lift a finger, Skye. Couldn’t move at all. Weird doesn’t cover it.”

  She stood on her tiptoes to kiss me full on the mouth. “I know. But I’m okay now.”

  “You’re okay now,” I repeated, stepping back to look her in the eye. “Well, I’m not. I heard you, here”—I pointed to my head—“and then I found you curled in a ball. You couldn’t move, Skye. I had to carry you out of there, for God’s sake. What happened?”

  She sighed. “I saw Lana. She was here, and she was crying. She looked so alone.”

  I’d completely forgotten about Lana.

  “And?” I prompted.

  “It was weird.” She drew out her words. “She’d already told me to leave her alone, but it felt wrong to leave her crying when she was so obviously upset. I stood there, inside the passageway, in the dark, not sure what to do.” Skye swallowed. “She turned toward me and then—her anger and pain rushed at me; I can’t explain it. I felt it, like a wave, and I knew in that moment she wouldn’t talk to me. So I turned back. But inside the passageway, the darkness grew stronger. More—real. Like it drew power from the dark, from itself. It tried to cross the line, but I didn’t let it.” She actually looked triumphant.

  “What line?” I asked, not following.

  “The line between Nil and me.” She said it matter-of-factly, as if it were obvious. “It’s not something I can see, but can feel. After all those months of dreaming, I know exactly where it is and how to keep myself safe, in here.” She tapped her head. “But back there, I thought maybe since I was awake, I could look into it to see the real Nil. But Nil doesn’t want me to see.” She shrugged, like it was no big deal. “I’m fine now. I called you and you came. I know my limits, Rives. I didn’t anticipate the power in places belonging to Nil, and I know now that there are some things I’ll never know. I let my guard down. I won’t do it again.”

  I stared at Skye, stunned. She really believed what she was saying.

  “Do you hear yourself? This is twice, Skye. Once yesterday, once today. Twice in two days that Nil got in your head.”

  “Once.” Her steely eyes flashed. “Just once. Nil didn’t get in my head today. Didn’t you listen? I kept Nil out. It just took so much focus I couldn’t move; that’s why I called you. And you came.” She smiled, then lifted her chin defiantly. “I’m stronger than Nil knows, Rives. Have some faith in me, okay?”

  “I do have faith in you, chérie.” I held her gaze tight. “You’re the strongest person I know. I trust you, Skye, enough to follow you here, okay? But…” I paused, glancing around the cavern. “Nil’s still an unknown.”

  And so is its strength, I thought. But I knew Nil was strong enough to reach into our world and lure Skye here, which spoke of a power beyond our understanding. How could Skye defend herself against that?

  Feeling cold, I glanced at the wall behind Skye. It was packed with history and life. Carvings taunted me, etched by human hands. Hands belonging to people whose fate was written long ago. Had Nil crossed the line with all of them, gotten into their heads too? It had gotten into my head once, in this very place. Yesterday Nil had definitely gotten into Skye’s head, deep enough to pull her back. And today? Maybe Nil hadn’t gotten into her head, but it had messed with her mind, enough to incapacitate her.

  I dreaded a third strike.

  3-2-1-4.

  Nil numbers, Nil nightmares, running the length of the cavern wall. Maybe three strikes on Nil didn’t mean you were out; maybe they just meant you made it to second base. The next step, the next phase.

  The middle.

  Damn if I wasn’t thinking like Maaka, but it was better than thinking we were almost done before we’d even started.

  “Rives?” She pointed at the wall packed with primal graffiti. “Do you see something?”

  Yes. No. I don’t know.

  A memory flashed; a thought struck. Me, standing here alone, listening for Talla. Fast-forward, take two. Me, standing on the platform with Skye, yearning for knowledge.

  Merde.

  Nil had already been in my head twice, deep enough for me to lose time.

  I ripped my gaze away from the cavern wall to look at Skye. “That line you talked about? It can blur. And we don’t want to be on the wrong side. I think maybe that’s when we lose time. When Nil steals time.” Suddenly I wanted to go, to get out of this sprawling cavern with its pool reflecting light back at me. Here we stood, spilling secrets in the belly of Nil.

  “Let’s go. But not through
that passageway. We’re taking the ocean route.”

  “Aye, aye, Captain.” She winked. “Keep an eye out for buried treasure, will you? And by that, I mean clues.”

  “Always.” But I didn’t smile.

  Look around. Pay attention.

  Only now I looked with one eye, because the other stayed trained on Skye.

  CHAPTER

  36

  NIL

  LATE MORNING

  The island watched the one called Lana, for she was watching too.

  *

  Her back to a rock, Lana sat on the white sand at the beach’s edge, studying the black cliff that housed the Looking Glass Cavern. She’d seen Skye emerge from the ocean, the boy—the Leader—with her. At the water’s edge, he’d wrapped her in his arms as if he couldn’t bear to have any air between them. A surge of envy had flared inside her as they kissed, then Lana’s anger resurfaced, dousing her inexplicable surge of jealousy. She didn’t want to be kissed, not here, or be part of a twosome. She didn’t need anyone else, haole or otherwise.

  She did, however, want Skye and her band of friends to stop following her.

  It made her furious that Skye had seen her crying in the cavern. A few minutes before her meltdown, she’d been shocked to run into a boy in the passageway. She’d been feeling her way along the wall, trailing her fingertips along the cold rock, and then, without warning, she’d touched a human hand. She wasn’t a screamer, but she’d screamed then. She never even saw him, just heard his voice as he apologized, a deep voice vibrating with his own fright. She hadn’t spoken, just ran around him, all the way to the cavern. Standing in front of the pool, her heartbeat had finally slowed, her own fright wearing off. And anger had followed. Why had her simple journey turned so complicated, so crowded? Her anger had driven her to tears, and then abruptly she’d felt she wasn’t alone. And when she’d turned, there was Skye, an expression of pity and concern on her face before Skye ducked back into the shadows. It was unbearable.