Nil on Fire (25 page)

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.

So Lana had left.

She hadn't waited for Skye to barge out and annoy her; she was done with
haole
meddling. The problem was, now Lana wasn't sure where to go. In the span of two days, the
haoles
had driven her from her cave, the City, and then the Looking Glass Cavern, the three places she was to spend her first quarter on the island.
Reflection before Sight
, her grandmother had told her.

Lana sighed. Her grandmother had made everything sound so straightforward. But the reality was anything but. At least now she finally had the solitude she craved. She would embrace this moment for what it was.

White sand sprawled in both directions, crisp and calm, cooler than the hot sting of the charcoal sand to the south. In this quiet moment, the rising sun warmed her shoulders and the powerful waves crooned; they rolled into shore with whispers and promises of more to come.

Soft fur brushed her leg. Lana woke with a start, startled to find that she'd actually fallen asleep. A tabby kitten rubbed against her calf, mewing softly.

“Well, aren't you a pretty little thing,” Lana said.

Smiling, she reached down and picked up the tabby, cradling the tiny body against her chest. The kitten purred, its body vibrating with happiness. The last wave retreated, leaving a stretch of silence in its wake, and the hair on the back of Lana's neck abruptly prickled.

An odd huffing noise sounded behind her, followed by a low growl. Tabby in hand, she turned, slowly. For the second time in one day, she screamed.

A massive brown bear stood on its hind legs, stretching to a height taller than her. It clacked its jaws, a terrifying sound. Ears back, the bear dropped to all fours as Lana stumbled backward, fully aware that the small boulder she'd slept against offered little in the way of defense, prolonging her life by seconds at most.

I'm dead
, she thought.
It's over.

What a pitiful end. She had no way to protect herself, nowhere to run. Time rushed backward and forward, a blur of memories and a well of regrets, the heartbeat of the kitten in her arms melding with the warm sand beneath her feet and hot sun overhead. Her world shrunk to the predator lurching toward her, its mouth open, teeth bared.

Her arms wrapped protectively around the kitten, Lana closed her eyes, willing the attack to end quickly.

The air in front of her thickened with heat and sound and the rush of hot breath. Liquid sprayed across her face, sticky and warm; something landed near her feet with a ground-shaking thud.

Her eyes flew open. The brown bear twitched at her feet, a dark body in a hollow of its own making. Crimson droplets stood out on the snow-white sand, ridiculously out of place. Paulo stood over the bear, bloody knife in hand, his torso and tattoos splattered with fresh blood.

“You killed it,” Lana said, dumbstruck.

“Yes, I know.” Paulo regarded her with a weary look, one she was accustomed to seeing only on elders. “And I wish I hadn't had to.” Stepping back from the bear, he cleaned the blade on a nearby leaf as he spoke. “I've been tracking him for weeks. He's been hanging around the City. He steals from the firepit occasionally, and he's gotten bolder. I suspect he's just hungry and out of sorts. Was, I mean.” Paulo glanced down at the silent bear with a pitying expression, then his head snapped up to look at her. Fire lit his eyes from within. “Let this be a wake-up call, Lana. My friends tried to warn you about this place. It's not the island of old. Honestly, you're lucky I was here, at this moment.” He cocked his head. “But perhaps it wasn't luck. Perhaps it was meant to be. We're fast-forwarding to your middle, Lana. Whatever your plan was, it's shot. This bear is only part of it. You have to be smarter. You have to be alert at all times. There is no downtime, not here.” His look turned scrutinizing. “Unless you're ready to die. Cowering before a bear isn't wise. Looking large, fighting back—that at least gives you a chance. For a second there, I thought you gave up.”

Lana bit back her retort, hating the truth she heard in Paulo's words.

“Two more things.” Paulo's voice was disturbingly matter-of-fact. “First, you owe me. I actually don't want anything from you, but there's something we all need. So I ask this: regardless of what you choose to do in the coming weeks, if you're still alive in three months, meet me at the equinox gate. There is no doubt in my mind that we will all see the end that day.”

“You're asking me to leave early,” Lana said, her temper flaring. “To cut my journey short. To give up the chance for Sight. You ask too much.” The edge in her voice matched the blade of Paulo's knife.

“Your life is worth less?” His voice was soft.

For the second time in minutes Lana held her tongue. She stared at Paulo, feeling her years of planning pop like a child's balloon.

“What's the second thing?” she demanded.

Paulo pointed at the sun. “Take note, Lana. This is what noon feels like on the island.” With a wry smile, he stepped away, only to slowly turn back. “I'm going to get reinforcements to see what parts of the bear we can use. Feel free to hang out with the carcass until I get back, but I'd be careful if I were you. Other creatures will smell the blood. We might not be the only predators interested.”

Lana felt her own blood drain from her cheeks.

“I'd guess bear hunting and cleaning wasn't part of your island training. Mine either.” Paulo's eyes were understanding. “Good luck on your own, Lana. You'll need it.”

This time when he left, he didn't look back.

*   *   *

The one called Paulo kept walking.

The one called Lana let him go.

The island watched them both, waiting. Slowly inhaling. And then it breathed deeply, as it could only at this hour.

Noon.

Noon brought a surge of strength; it flowed through the island from both sides of the seam. The flash of energy burned bright; the island captured a fraction to keep. No more than a trickle, the bit of electria spilled into the island's reservoir, and so it would stay. In time, each bit conserved would be sufficient to give the island what it ached for: freedom.

The seam widened a fraction, and like a thread pulled taut, echoes of yesterday's pain drew the island directly to one it remembered. One it knew well, the one called Charley. Her pain mixed with determination and will, a powerful blend of human emotion so strong the island couldn't turn away, and for a timeless moment, it absorbed those feelings, plumbing their depths, noting their power.
Yes
, the island mused, perhaps the island could use her powerful connection with her mate to alter the fabric of the future.

Perhaps it could use
her
.

She already possessed the information she needed, if she chose to see.

The island waited to see if she would open her eyes.

*   *   *

“Dr. Bracken.” Charley spoke slowly, her words measured. “We have to do something. I don't know what, but I can't just sit here for three months, waiting.”

Skye's dad sighed. The lines on his forehead seemed to have deepened overnight.

“I understand what you're saying, Charley, I really do, but there's a limit to what we can accomplish from here. Simply put, we're here, and they're
there
. The best thing we can do is to be ready for when they return.”

At least Skye's dad didn't say
if
they return.

Charley might have fully lost it then, because she
knew
Thad would return. Just like she knew that right at this moment, he was safe. She didn't know how, or why, but she knew that at this moment, his heart beat steady and strong and he wasn't in danger.
Well
, she amended to herself,
other than the fact that he's on Nil, which is an awfully dangerous place to be
. But he wasn't in imminent danger at this moment, of that Charley felt certain. Just like she felt certain she'd heard him moments ago.

Keep the faith
, he'd told her.

And she would.

Thad
, she thought with all her might,
I'm not giving up. Not on you, or Rives or Skye. Stay safe. I love you.

Skye's dad regarded her quietly. “Charley, we need to call your parents. Let them know what's going on.”

“I've already called them,” she said briskly.
And they have no clue what's going on.
“I've told them we're traveling with Skye and Rives and you, and I gave them your cell phone number. But…” She paused. “They know nothing of Nil, and I'd like to keep it that way.”

“I won't lie, Charley.” The professor's voice was stern.

“I'm not asking you to. I'm just asking you to offer as little information as possible. I'm not on Nil; I'm on an island in Micronesia with you, exactly where we told them we would be. We're taking an extended summer vacation. It's educational, even. An archaeological expedition.”