Nightingale (7 page)

After a pause, Ryker finishes, “Got caught trying to scale the side of the house. How did you not wake up, Lark? He always said you slept through everything, but how could you sleep through Bethina screaming at us?”

I shrug. “I always slept well when Beck was around.”

Ryker presses the bottle into my hand and I take a small sip. Then a larger one. Heat rushes down my throat and into my gut.

Suddenly, nothing else matters except getting Ryker alone. I need to find out what he was talking about. Has he been in contact with Beck? I lean into him and link my arm through his. Kyra’s eyebrows shoot up and she grins.

“I have an idea,” I say. “Why don’t we get out of here?”

8

How could I be so ridiculously stupid? 

The stars above me blink and twirl like the fireflies at Summer Hill.

Oh. Right. I’m drunk. And determined to get Ryker alone.

Which is why my friends and I are out here, in the dark and cold, trying to figure out what to do next.

“If we get caught…” Kyra says. “Lark, are you sure? You’re not supposed to go out at night. Especially with only one guard.”

Mother’s brightly lit home sits only a few hundred meters away. Close enough that anyone walking in or out of the party can see us. My friends and I snuck out the rear kitchen door and down the side yard that separates Mother’s property from the one next to it.

Ryker tilts his head slightly and raises his eyebrows. Like he’s daring me to change my mind.

I won’t. Not when he has a secret I want.

The world spins around me and I hold out my arms for balance. “I’m not with any guards tonight. I’m only with friends.”

“Not funny.” There’s a hint of irritation in Kyra’s voice. I can tell she’s struggling between doing what she wants and doing what she knows she should.

“C’mon, Kyra. If Lark’s willing to break the rules, you know it’s worth it.” Ryker nudges her with his arm.

             
“Besides, it was your idea,” I point out.

             
“Fine.” She pushes out her bottom lip. “What’s the plan?” 

             
Fueled by champagne and nerves, I recall Kyra’s earlier suggestion. “Maybe a trip to the Haight? Didn’t you say there was a
fabo
band playing?”

             
My friends stare at me in shock. The Haight is a notoriously rough neighborhood filled with lower-class clubs. It’s full of Singletons and common workers, and not a place our kind go.

             
“Did I just hear Lark Greene suggest we go, not only to the Haight, but also to a club?” Maz gapes at me. “What happened to Little Miss Rules?”

             
I purse my lips.

             
“Leave her alone, Maz.” Mischief glints in Ryker’s eyes. “Lark wants to try something new. Don’t make her feel bad for it.”

             
I tighten a tissue-thin wrap over my shoulders and admire how my new green wristlet stands out against my fitted elbow-length navy gloves.

             
Groan.

             
Everyone will know who I am.

             
And worse. As soon as Mother realizes I’m gone, she’ll have us tracked via our wristlets.

             
Why didn’t I think of that before? Oh, right. Because I’m drunk and this is a completely stupid idea.

             
I point to my wristlet. “They can track us.”

             
Maz and Ryker exchange glances. But Kyra smiles at me. “Not if they can’t find us.”

             
“How is that possible?” I ask. The State knows everything. If not from our wristlets, then from the cameras scattered throughout the city. It’s unlikely we’ll get within a hundred yards of the Haight before Mother sends someone to retrieve us.

             
“You’ll see.” She links arms with me. “Do you think you can transport? Annalise said you did fine this morning after a few tries.”

“It only took two tries,” I say defensively.

Kyra waves her hand before me and the frigid night air disappears.

“What was that?” I ask.

“Warming spell. Comes in handy when you’re running around the snowy city in a strapless gown.” She cocks her head. “So, can you do it?”

             
The memory of my first solo-transport feels more distant than just a few hours ago. “I don’t know. It was hard the first time.”

             
“Try and if it doesn’t work, you can piggyback with me.”

             
I lick my lips and draw a deep breath. I may be inebriated, but I don’t want to look like an idiot in front of my friends. “Don’t laugh,” I say to the group.

             
Maz holds up his hands. “Never.”

             
Kyra shows me a picture on her wristlet. “This is the alley on Haight. I’ll meet you there.”

             
She blinks out, leaving Maz, Ryker, and I behind.

             
A plan forms slowly in my mind. Maybe we don’t have to go anywhere at all. Maybe I can send Maz ahead and Ryker and I can talk alone for a few minutes? “Maz?” I say. “You next?”

             
He shakes his head. “I’m going last. Why don’t you and Ryker go at the same time? Just in case something happens?”

             
My legs shake. “Okay.” I don’t move.

             
“Are you ready?” Ryker asks.

             
“Yes.” Not really. If I can’t do this on the first try, then what? Will Kyra have to come back to get me? How mortifying.

             
I picture the alley in my mind and step forward. To my surprise, everything goes black. My toe hits the ground and I wobble to gain my balance.

             
Next to me, Kyra shuffles her feet. “Not bad. But next time, try not to land so close. Personal space and all.”

             
“Sorry.”

             
Maz and Ryker step out from the shadows. Even though he saw her minutes ago, Maz lifts Kyra so her feet dangle off the ground and kisses her on the lips. I turn my head. Open affection disturbs me. It feels wrong.

             
Ryker fidgets with the sleeves of his coat and walks closer to me. “Do you think they’ll always be so nauseating?”

             
I laugh. “Probably.”

             
“When I get my mate, I promise we’ll never act like that.” He jabs his thumb in Maz and Kyra’s direction.

             
I pause and double check his wristlet. It’s blue, not orange like a Singleton.  “You don’t have a mate?” By this time, everyone should be sorted out and paired off. 

             
“When I switched houses, all the Dark witches had already been paired off.” He shrugs. “Not that I mind. If Lena wasn’t human, I’d want to be with her.”

             
Well. Ryker is full of surprises today, isn’t he? “You…loved her?” I say the word slowly. It’s not something that rolls naturally off my tongue.

             
“I guess. I like her more than any other girl. I think about her all the time. But it doesn’t matter. She’s not for me.” He tilts his head back and stares at the sky. “Besides, she’s bound to someone else. Last week. Kyra told me.”

             
Part of me wants to tell him that’s why he should have followed the rules and not formed an attachment to her, but he sounds…sad. Ryker actually liked Lena. And he’ll never be allowed to be with her because she’s human.

             
“Laaark,” Kyra singsongs. “Let’s go.”

             
I glance at Ryker. There are a million questions I want to fire at him about Beck and Lena. But with Kyra and Maz here, it isn’t the time. There’s a reason he waited until we were alone to say what he did.

             
We step out onto a bustling street. I’m not entirely sure where we are, having never ventured outside of the allowed areas.

             
People, who I think are mostly humans, pack the street. Music floats around us as Maz guides us toward the venue. The closer we get, the thicker the crowd grows.

             
Suddenly, worry nibbles at me. “What if someone recognizes me?”

             
Ryker and Maz exchange knowing glances before they burst out laughing.

             
“What?” I demand.

             
“We’re counting on you to scare the hell out of them to keep them quiet,” Maz says. “Give them that bitchy look of yours. The one you threw at those diplomats on the train.”

             
My mouth drops open. “What?” Apparently, I’m stuck on that word.

             
Kyra pats my hand. “No Dark witch will dare snitch on you. Not with the rumors floating around about your abilities. As for humans, Malin has little contact with them.”

             
Great. So I terrify everyone.

             
But as we walk down the street, four across and wearing formalwear, I begin to think maybe it isn’t such a bad problem after all. Most people do a double take and upon recognizing me, scurry away. Excitement builds in my chest. Maybe being famous isn’t so bad after all. 

             
Kyra stays at my side, quiet. She holds her finger against her wristlet and her eyes scan the crowd. Of course. She’s in guard mode. We may be sneaking out, but if something happens to me…

             
“What’s there?” I ask, pointing up the block to the where people stand at least six deep.

             
“Looks like a daily display of Sensitives,” Ryker says. We’ve stopped before a slightly run down building. 

             
My heart plummets at the mention of Sensitives. “It doesn’t look the same as on the wallscreen.”

             
Ryker shakes his head. “Do you think the State would broadcast this?” He motions to the crowded street around us. “I bet most of the ones we see are staged.”

             
Even though he’s probably right, my eyes grow wide. Am I the only person in the entire society who isn’t cynical about the State?

             
Kyra and Maz slink through the blacked out front door of the building and I follow them. Music pulses through the confined, dark space.

             
“Are they…like us?” I yell into my wristlet. I have no word for non-witch. Human doesn’t sound right, since we’re all human. Plus, I’m still not convinced our wristlets aren’t being tracked or listened to.

             
Ryker’s eyes glow slightly under the black lights. “Who?”

             
“The people being sentenced out there.”

             
He gives me a funny look. “I don’t know. Probably not. Most look like normal people.”

             
I take a step back toward the door but Kyra holds her wristlet to her mouth. “Let it go, Lark.”

             
But how can I? Those innocent people are accused of crimes and will be condemned to hard labor and lives away from their families. It’s wrong.

             
And yet I know Kyra’s right. The people want to see that the State is strong on this issue. It’s the only way to protect the witches. Or is it? Everyone has told me the best way to stay safe is to hide in plain sight, but is it the truth?

             
The concert goers gyrate around me and sweaty bodies bump into me without an apology. I dodge swinging arms and force my way through the dimly lit club. The hem of my dress drags on the ground, and I lift it so no one steps on it.

             
It’s not the most pleasant place, but for once, I’m anonymous. A wide grin stretches across my face. Never in my whole life have I been in public and not had people pay attention to me.

             
It’s…odd.

             
A cheer rises from the crowd as a woman, wearing not much more than her orange wristlet and three strategically placed pieces of fabric, struts across the stage. Her shorn hair is so short that if I couldn’t see the curve of her breasts, I’d believe her to be a man. She throws something and the audience goes wild. The more they scream, the more feral she looks. 

             
I hold my wristlet to my mouth and beam to Ryker’s feed. “What is this place?
             
He places his wristlet to his ear before speaking into it. The words blast out of my wristlet. “It’s an off-grid club. Our wristlets only work over the local feed. They scramble the State’s signals.”

             
Off-grid club? Scrambled feeds? I had no idea such things were even possible.

             
“Won’t the Listeners get suspicious?” I ask.

             
I can’t hear him laugh, but his eyes crinkle and he grins. “Not when they’re paid off, they won’t.”

             
Jaw meets floor.

             
Music that sounds like trains colliding pours from every wristlet around us. I cover my ears to block the noise, but Kyra, Maz, and Ryker bob their heads to some unheard rhythm.

             
It’s positively awful.