Nil on Fire (29 page)

Skye had grown more frustrated with each day that passed.

I don't know what we're looking for
, she'd exclaimed, at least twice a day.

No one else did either. Except me. I knew what
I
was looking for. Animals. Predators. Anything that might look at us as a meal. So far we'd been lucky.

Too lucky.

We'd been beneficiaries of a deceptively docile status quo, one that could shift at any moment.
Would
shift, when Nil decided to play. Anticipating the worst, I'd spent the last ten days watching Skye's back and everyone else's, and the nights watching her sleep. Here, she slept without waking, without fear. Me, I slept like crap—when I slept at all. I dozed fitfully, Skye in my arms, my body on high alert. Not exactly rest. Then again, Nil was never meant to be a vacation.

As least not for us.

But maybe for the people lucky enough to crash here on their Day 1, like Paulo.

Skye hadn't answered me. She stood perfectly still, her eyes sweeping the inside of the cave. It was the same look she'd give a hotel room or hostel when we were traveling, making sure we'd left nothing behind. We'd spent last night here, in this cave near where we'd ditched the wolves a few weeks ago. Apparently all the islanders stayed in Cave Med on their Day 1. The rest of us only got the invite on round two.

“We're missing something,” Skye said.

“Something here?” I frowned.

“No. I don't think so.” She sighed. “This feels like a pit stop, just a place to sleep or hide. But something.” She bit the inside of her cheek, her expression pensive. “This place is inside, but it's not where I'm supposed to look.”

“There's a cave on the north shore,” Paulo spoke up. “I've stayed there before. Maybe it has a clue?”

Skye nodded without enthusiasm. “Maybe. But if you've stayed there, then you already know it's nothing new.” She sighed again. “We should get back to the City. If we leave now, we should be back by noon.”

“You've got my vote to roll,” Zane said. “Maybe noon will bring good news, like a mysterious benefactor has just shown up with a full spread of In-N-Out burgers, or better yet, Lana's chilling out in the City without a chip on her shoulder.” He grinned as Paulo laughed. “Hey, a dude can hope. Noon is the best time on the island, right?”

“You know it.” I returned Zane's grin. “But I think you've got a better shot at a burger benefactor than you do with Lana.”

Zane grabbed his heart in mock hurt, then broke into a comical jog.

Skye didn't say a word as we left the cave. We walked in silence, climbed in silence. And when I tried to read her thoughts, I couldn't. Iron walls locked her mind out of reach. I couldn't care less, as long as her mental walls kept out Nil too.

Skye gasped.

“Hey.” I stopped, and she did too. “What's going through your head,
chérie
?”

“You know how we came at noon?” Skye gripped my hand. “I just realized we'll leave at midnight. Or at least it means the next equinox gate will
open
at midnight. So while we came in the light, we'll leave in the dark.” She let that gem of an announcement sink in.

“And Rives…” Her voice bled worry. “Darkness makes us vulnerable. It heightens our fears, and makes everything harder because our own eyes betray us in the dark. The night we leave, the darkness in here”—she tapped her head—“will have the edge.” She bit the inside of her cheek. “I used to be so certain that the island wanted to die. But now—now I'm not so sure.”

“Don't you still feel that fatigue?” I asked. “The island's exhaustion?”

“Yes, but I also feel the island's
want
. Sometimes I feel it wants to die, sometimes I'm not sure. Sometimes I feel that it wants to live, desperately. It's like the island is conflicted.”

“I don't think Nil gets a choice.” My voice was hard. “We're here. If we can end it, we will.”

“That doesn't mean Nil won't fight,” she said quietly. She lifted her eyes to mine, dread in their depths. “This whole destroy-the-island plan was a whole lot easier when I thought Nil was with us. If Nil's against us, this whole trip just got a lot tougher.”

“Whoa there, space cowboy.” Zane popped his head in between us. “I don't think Nil was ever with us, or not with us. It's just how you look at it, Skye. From what I can tell we've pretty much been on our own since Day One, and in the end, I think it'll play out the same way.”

“How so?” I asked.

“We live as a group, we leave as a group. We almost did it once, and now we know to brace for Nil trying to mess with our heads. Or
in
our heads.” He shrugged. “The island can't really touch us until a year, right? So we just watch out for dogs and cats and everything else that likes meat until we can work our group disappearing act in September.”

Skye's face had gone white.

“Zane, that's it,” she whispered. “That's what Nil wants.”

“To get us home in time for Halloween?” He grinned.

“No. For us to die as a group.” She looked at me, appalled. “Can you imagine how much power Nil would gain from all of us dying at once?”

My blood ran cold.

“Won't happen,” I said quickly. “Zane's right. The island can't touch us until a year, and then it's still based on when each person arrived. The three hundred sixty-five days is person-specific. Only five of us came through that summer gate.”

“Unless the island goes after us another way,” Paulo said.

“How?” Zane frowned. “Wolves? Lions? Alien attack?”

“No.” Paulo's voice was grave. “The Dead City. It has happened before.”

“Dead City?” I echoed, just as Zane asked, “What happened? I mean, obviously something bad.” Zane waved his hand. “The word
dead
was a dead giveaway.”

“I don't know. I just know rumors. Remember, I wasn't supposed to come; it was my brother.” Paulo raised his hands defensively. “He had the training, the history. All I know are bits and pieces.”

“Well, give us whatever you've got,” I said.

Paulo nodded. “This City—the one you call Nil City—we know it as the Silent City, because there were always empty houses and you would often be alone, in silence. The idea was that you would come and build a house to leave a legacy behind for those to come. A work project, also symbolic. The decision was made to stop building at ten. There were only one or two islanders here at any given time, and the empty houses represented both the past and the future. The general plan was to stay in the Listening Cave first, where we spent last night, with the rest of the time being spent in the Silent City or the Looking Glass Cavern. All places of reflection. But…” Paulo paused. “There are rumors of another city. One that was abandoned.” He looked at me. “The Dead City.”

“Where was it?” Skye asked.

“I don't know. Just like I don't know when it was abandoned, or why. But maybe Lana does.”

“We need to know.” Skye's tone was determined. “Or we might make the same mistakes, or meet the same fate. And I refuse to lose anyone else I care about.” She kissed me fiercely, full Skye heat flooding her veins and mine. Then she dropped her hands into fists and spun around to Zane so fast that he stepped back. “I hope your long shot is hanging out by the fire. Because we need answers, and we need them now.”

 

CHAPTER

42

NIL

LATE MORNING

The one called Zane stared at the one called Skye. He did not see the pieces she was putting together, just as she did not see the picture they formed.
But she would,
the island reasoned.

Because she was
the one
.

*   *   *

“Whoa,” Zane said. “No offense, Skye, but when you go all Pamela Landy on us, it's way intense.” She wore the same expression he'd seen the morning she'd killed the leopard with nothing but a rock sling, and damn if she wasn't a little scary.

Rives half smiled.

Skye narrowed her eyes as Zane raised his hands. “I'm not saying it's not effective. If that's what you're after,” he added hastily, then mumbled, “Scary Pam.”

Now Rives laughed.

“Who is Pamela Landy?” Paulo asked.

“
Bourne Supremacy
?” Zane's head whipped toward Paulo, who still wore the same interested, slightly blank expression. “
Bourne Ultimatum
? Nothing? What is wrong with you people? Total classics.”

He shook his head, then he braced, struck by a stillness. No, a
thickness
, in the air, a potent anticipation and it wasn't his.

A fifth wheel
, Zane thought.

He looked at Rives. “Chief,” he said, “maybe it's because there's no bugs or frogs, and there's barely any birds, but it's always so quiet here.” Zane's eyes darted from one end of the beach to the other before landing on the mountain and sticking. “It's like the island is listening. Or waiting. And not just for noon.”

“I think it is,” Skye said. “Both listening and waiting.”

“Like us,” Paulo said thoughtfully.

“Wrong,” Rives growled. “This place is
nothing
like us.”

He glared at the mountain.

For a long moment, no one spoke.

“Gate!” Skye cried. She thrust one finger toward the island's interior.

In the distance, a gate shimmered as it rose, framed by the blue Nil sky. It locked into place, then shot north, flying fast.

They watched the iridescent wall speed over Nil ground, until it vanished from sight.

“A single,” Rives observed. “One and done.”

“What a tease.” Zane sighed. “We never had a chance.”

“But would you have run?” Paulo asked quietly.

His question hung in the air, like noon.

*   *   *

The island had already turned away, toward the barrier between worlds. The seam had widened. Power coursed through the crease, flowing from there to here and back again. The seam could no longer be sealed, but it could be contained. It
must
be contained. But first, the island would look.

As always, it was drawn to
her
.

The
other
her, the other one to leave early, yet with the same fire burning in her heart.

*   *   *

This is it
, Charley thought.
Rika's house.

It had taken weeks of asking, cajoling, and downright begging, not to mention bribing; Dr. Bracken had lightened his wallet more than once in return for information regarding a woman named Rika. But still, nothing.

Until today.

At ten o'clock this morning, a boy who looked about eleven years old had shown up at their house. He'd knocked politely, and when Charley answered, he'd said, “I've come to take you to Rika.” As if it was just that simple, as if Charley had an appointment scheduled and the appointed day had arrived, and that all their days and hours and minutes of asking were wasted because the appointed hour had yet to come.

Crazy
, Charley had thought.

But she hadn't thought twice about going with him. She'd scrawled a quick note for Dr. Bracken and off she'd gone, following the young boy at a leisurely speed, each on their own bike. As soon as they'd arrived at this house, the boy had waved and biked on, never looking back until he'd turned from sight.

Now Charley stood alone, in front of a house she desperately hoped was Rika's.

Modest and quiet, an island cottage with a yard dotted with weeds and wildflowers stared back at her, as did the three white cats on the porch. The wooden house was painted salmon pink, the shutters a pale blue. Not threatening, just curious. Anyone could live here, anyone at all.

Leaving her bike, Charley walked up to the front door.

It opened before she could knock. A woman with big brown eyes highlighted in bright-gold eye shadow smiled wide, showing startlingly white teeth. Her long brown hair swirled down around her shoulders, broken up by one braid, no gray. Large beaded hoops swayed from her ears as she moved; so did her gauzy black dress. The two-dozen bracelets on her arms—bracelets of gold, bone, shell, leather, and more—rustled as she waved Charley in.

“Come in, child. I've been waiting for you.”

“You have?” Charley asked. She stepped inside the house and looked around. Light streamed in through the open windows. A living room, bright and cheery, sat to the left. To the right, a small kitchen was tucked in the corner, clean and neat. “I didn't know I was coming to see you until a few minutes ago.”

“I've been waiting for years. Of course, I thought it would be another, descended from another. But then”—she flicked her hand in the air—“it changed. And now it's you.”

Charley didn't move. “What changed?”

Rika shrugged as if to say
Everything
. “The future. The present. You.” She smiled, her dark eyes radiating power. “Let's do this properly, Charley. I'm Rika, and it's a pleasure to have you.”

Charley nodded, fully aware that this moment wasn't hers. She hadn't offered her name, yet Rika knew it, a simple but effective way of saying
I know you
.
I know
more
than you.

Point made
, Charley thought as she stepped inside. There were a dozen ways Rika would know her name, Charley told herself. After all, Charley had been asking about Rika for weeks. Charley smiled. She would play the game too.

“Nice to meet you, Rika,” she said. “Thank you for meeting with me.” Rika's words swirled in her head like a sandstorm, chafing and raw.
I've been waiting for years. I thought it would be another.
“You expected Skye?” Charley cocked her head.