Midnight Sky (Dark Sky Book 2) (5 page)

“
Abby, stop–”

Her head whipped from side to side so intensely I thought she would snap her own neck. Something flashed through her eyes when she opened them again, but I couldn’t tell what it was. Riley gasped.

The Sky Guard’s son pushed past me. “Hold her down,” he hissed, getting to his knees beside Sawyer and me.

I hesitated, unable to tear my eyes away from what I was seeing.

“Do it, Claire!”

Riley’s shout jolted me, and I found myself complying. Sawyer moved one of his hands from Abby’s arm, allowing Riley to replace it. He grabbed her face and held her head steady. I was about to protest when his fingers dug in, until I saw her eyes. 

The pinkness I saw just hours before was darkening, staining her irises blood red.
 

I started shaking. I was unable to breathe. Riley nudged me out of my place, both he and Sawyer struggling to contain a child half their size.

I didn’t know what to do, had no idea what was happening. My chest felt like it was caving in, and my stomach was in knots. My eyes were blurring.

“
Abigail, you will stop!
”

Riley’s booming voice trembled the walls, silencing everything, including Abby. 

My sister stared at the soldier and the pirate, lucidity slipping over her again. I raced forward, shoving Sawyer and Riley aside. Abby tilted when she was released, collapsing into my arms and sobbing. I hugged her tight, feeling her cold, frail body and the tremors made of either chills or tears.

“I’m sorry,” she whimpered. “I didn’t–didn’t want to–but I was scared and hungry and he told me–”

Abby’s rant tuned into another series of wracking sobs. I cradled her, barely holding back my own tears. A gentle hand found my shoulder. I didn’t look at its owner, but Sawyer sounded close when he spoke gently.

“Who told you, Abby?”

She cringed and tightened her back. It didn’t look like she was going to answer, and Sawyer wouldn’t press for one.

“Vesper,” she whispered. 

Riley sucked in a breath behind me. He and Abby were the only ones who knew what the Vesper really was. All the rest of us knew was that the ruling King of the Hellions was ill, and likely hiding in the Breach feeding on the blood the Hellions stole from the people of Westraven and Aon beyond. 

I didn’t know much about him, or what he was capable of, but from the fear in Riley’s eyes and the whimpering cries of my sister, his power must have incredible reach.
 

“I can see him,” she continued, confirming my dread. Her voice barely above a breath. “He watches me from the dark, and he wants me to be like him. He has a crown of broken bones, he wears bloody rags, his teeth are knives, his claws are meat hooks, and his eyes…”
 

Abby shuddered and cried again. “He says I’ll be one of them! He promised!” She pulled back and looked at me. “He says his legion is hungry, and they’ll rip apart the sky to feed again!”
 

I hugged my sister, shushing her and smoothing her hair, trying to relax her. But my hands were trembling. My heart was pounding. I couldn’t think through the fearful haze warping my mind. I looked at the crew of the
Dauntless Wanderer
, desperate for answers or help. They all looked at me with confused, lost, and sad expressions.

All but Riley, who couldn’t even meet my gaze.

Chapter 3

“Tell me everything you know about the Vesper,” I demanded, staring at Riley with barely controlled anxiety.
 

Fear for my sister’s life cut through the peace and calm I’d felt just an hour ago. Now I was awake and alert, and desperate to do something.

Riley stared at me from across the deck of the
Dauntless
. I was the one asking the questions, but Sawyer was standing at my side. Gemma and Nash, neither of whom was seriously wounded despite what the blood on their faces and arms suggested, had roused Moira from her sleep to tell her what happened. Moira was a whirlwind of distress and barreled into the room, almost knocking Nash and Gemma down when they followed her into the cabin to watch Abby as she fitfully slept. I was reluctant to leave her for even a second, especially when the red tinges in her eyes hadn’t faded, but I needed answers. I didn’t think Riley would lie to me, but I did think he knew more than he let on.

“They were careful when they spoke around me, so there isn’t much I can tell you–”

“I don’t care. I need to know what’s going on. I need to know what he’s doing to Abby.”

Riley held my gaze for a long time, as though he wanted me to drop the subject. I refused. Even if I did let it go, Sawyer was right beside me. He wanted answers, and he wouldn’t take Riley’s physical well-being into account when he got them.

Seeing that he couldn’t escape this conversation, Riley sighed in defeat.

“Like I said, they were careful when they spoke around me. But they had looser tongues when they thought I was sleeping. Some of the Hellions thought they could practice their Aonian,” He stalked over to the crates near the starboard side of the deck and settled onto one. He hunched over, resting his elbows on his knees. He was the picture of defeat.

“The Vesper was the first of his kind in a place they called Hellnore. It must be the world beyond the Breach. I don’t know how he was made, but they way the Hellions speak of him, you’d think he was a god.” He shrugged limply. “Maybe he is. The point is that anyone who encounters him is unwaveringly loyal.” He lifted his eyes. “There’s nothing you can do to change that.”

Sawyer stiffened. I shared his unease.
 

“It’s said that Hellions aren’t born, but created. If the Vesper deems them worthy, he takes away their humanity. He makes them monsters. They say he’s ushering in a new world, and that Aon will pay for the damage it brought to their home. Westraven will suffer the worst, because we were the ones that found the Breach. In the Vesper’s eyes, we were the ones that invaded. He just took advantage.”

And now he’s looking for revenge,
I thought.
 

“That still doesn’t explain why he wants Claire,” Sawyer pointed out.

“No, and I didn’t hear anything about that,” Riley rubbed his hands together slowly. “If they wanted something built, they could have chosen any engineer. But I agree that they want her specifically, and that he’s using Abby to get to her.”

I looked down and swallowed my anxiety. I didn’t want to tell either of them that if she continued to suffer, I would probably give the Vesper exactly what he wanted.

“How…What is he doing to her?”

I could feel him looking at me, but couldn’t bring myself to return the gaze. My heart felt like it was wrapped in chains and held down by lead. Every beat was strained and heavy, constricted against my ribs. My sister’s affliction didn’t seem real, couldn’t be real, but every time I closed my eyes and pictured her face, there was blood and hunger in her eyes.
 

“What she said,” Riley began tentatively, “it’s true. He’s found a way to get into her mind and infect her somehow.”

I couldn’t stop the gasp escaping my throat. I covered my mouth with a shaking hand. Fresh tears blurred my vision. When I found my voice again, I could only utter one word.
 

“How?”

Riley looked down. “It’s one of his powers. He can control and manipulate the minds of anyone he meets. Hellion, human, doesn’t matter.” He paused and shook his head. “He’s not like the Hellions we know. He’s not even like Davin, who’s an anomaly in his own right since he can speak clearly and has memories of his old life.”

Sawyer tensed again, but said nothing.
 

“The Vesper is more,” Riley continued. “I’m not ashamed to admit that he terrifies me. The things he’s capable of doing…” He swallowed tightly. “I don’t even know how to begin describing them. I don’t want to.”
 

Part of me wanted to press him for the details, no matter how awful they were, but I couldn’t do that to Riley. Not when he was so tightly wound, barely holding onto his sanity. I was at a loss for words, for any kind of action, but thankfully I wasn’t the only one with questions.

“But Abby’s never met the Vesper,” Sawyer pointed out. “You said yourself that he was beyond the Breach regaining his strength.”

“He is, but that doesn’t make him weak. I doubt even the Hellions know the extent of what he can do. Not that they really care. They worship him, and everything he does only increases their loyalty.”

“But how is he doing it from the Breach?” pushed Sawyer.
 

“I don’t know.”

“You have to–”

“
I don’t know!
” Riley suddenly shouted. “I learned everything I did when I was chained in my cell, freezing and barely alive. They starved me so I couldn’t move, and then they started tearing at me,” Riley pulled back the collar of his tunic, revealing jagged, angry scars that stretched from his collarbone to his upper left pectoral. “They waited until I begged for mercy, then left me to heal, and did it all over again. Forgive me for not wanting to spy on them and think there was any hope.”

Riley roughly pulled his tunic back in place and bent over again, running his hands through the straight, pale blond hair that now reached his shoulders. Sawyer didn’t press him further.

“I’ve had the Vesper in my mind, too. When he gets inside, he’s like a disease. He festers in your skull, planting words and ideas, making you think what he wants you to think. He destroys everything you are, and you never even know it’s happening until it’s too late.”

Sawyer had nothing to say to that, either. For once, he actually regarded the traumatized young man with pity. I focused on Riley, my mind flashing back to his scars, the terrified look in his eyes when he was about to be thrown in the
Behemoth
’s furnace for fuel. If I didn’t know better, I would say he had forgotten it, blocked it from his mind so it couldn’t destroy him completely. But I heard his distant screams in the middle of the night. I saw how uncomfortable he was in the dark, or how he sometimes jumped when he heard a screech. Riley might have been holding up better than my sister, but he was still broken.
 

“Thank you, Riley,” I said. “If you think of anything else, please tell us, but don’t go out of your way. We don’t need it now.”
 

Riley looked up. His face was still full of distress, but there was unending gratefulness in his brilliant blue eyes. He nodded slowly.
 

I turned to Sawyer. “We need to focus on closing the Breach.”

He looked at me hesitantly. “We’ve been looking everywhere, Firecracker. We started searching for your parents’ ship, but you said you can’t remember the name.”

I narrowed my eyes. “I was a child when it happened. A lot has been on my mind.”

Sawyer raises his hands defensively. “It’s been a decade, Claire. We don’t even know where the Breach is.”

“Riley does. We should put aside looking for the ship and try to get more information. That could help point us in the right direction.”

The moment I mentioned Riley’s knowledge of the Breach, Sawyer shot him a dark, untrusting look. I carried on as if I hadn’t seen it, and didn’t think the gesture was childish.
 

“If there truly was a way, my parents would have found it. Garnet mentioned they were already trying to work on it. He told me when he…when he questioned me.”

I slid my thumb under the chain around my neck and lifted the key into sight. Sawyer stared at it unhappily. I wondered if he was just being moody, or if like me, he was remembering the horrible torture I’d endured at Garnet’s hands when he asked me questions I had no answers to. I quickly hid the key under my shirt, telling myself that the painful buzzing under my skin was only brought on by unwanted memories.
 

“Do you even know where to start looking?” Sawyer asked. “We’re not getting anywhere by asking seedy looters who would rather punch people than talk.” Though from the sound of his voice, he was searching for another fight.

“My parents lived in the drafter district. We can start there.” I dropped my eyes. “In truth we probably
should
have started there, but I just didn’t think about going back.”

Neither man said anything about my decision. Or my previous lack of one.
 

“Let me know when we’re going. I’ll be ready.” Riley said, pushing to his feet and walking for the netting. He grabbed it then paused, glancing over his shoulder at me. Sympathy reigned in his eyes.

“I’m sorry, Claire,” he told me. “For what’s happening to Abby, for your situation, everything. If you need me, I won’t be far.”

His offer was so heartfelt and sincere that I ached to hug him for it. Having someone sincerely care about my plight made it slightly easier to endure. I smiled weakly as he descended from the
Dauntless
.

“He’s hiding something,” Sawyer accused when Riley was out of sight.

My smile vanished. I pivoted to face the marauder captain. He was looking over my shoulder, as though he expected his newest recruit to return and shoot him. I was appalled at his frigidness.

“How can you say that? You saw what he went through,” I argued. “He was nearly thrown in a fire, remember? Of course he’s hiding something, and he has a right to. Who knows what he had to do to survive.”

Sawyer’s golden eyes slanted down. “Exactly.” He dipped his chin until his face was just inches from mine. “Why let someone live as a servant for two years, then try to throw him in a furnace?”

“He wasn’t a servant,” I defended. “He was
tortured
, forced to give them information on Westraven. It wasn’t his fault. Maybe he snapped and fought back. Maybe he tried to escape.”

“That’s too many maybes, especially for someone who was close enough to hear the Hellions and find out about the Vesper.”

I squinted. “You’re not seriously suggesting he’s a Hellion spy.”

He matched my stare. “You’ve encountered the Hellions aboveground, Claire. How many have you heard speak Aonian?”

I pressed my lips together so I wouldn’t have to answer and give him satisfaction.