Nil on Fire (26 page)

Skye's dad crossed his arms. “How so?”

“Because we're going to dig into Nil's past. We're going to talk to every islander we can find, we're going to scour that stupid Death Twin and its mate, and we're going to figure out how to help from our end. There must be a way. And if there is, we're going to find it. We're not going to waste one more minute.” Charley sat ramrod straight, her golden eyes blazing. She held up Skye's uncle's journal. “And I think I know exactly where to start. Or rather, with whom.” She stared at the professor with calculating eyes. “What do you know about a woman named Rika?”

As the professor's eyes widened, Charley smiled in triumph.

Thad
, she thought fiercely,
stay safe. Stay strong. It's not over yet.

*   *   *

By the Wall, Thad froze.

Behind him, the ocean's roar crashed through the trees. Around him, the breeze whispered and giggled and generally screwed with his head. But somehow, in the midst of it all, he'd have sworn he'd just heard Charley.

In his head.

He was furious. Classic Nil, playing tricks. Playing games with his head. Hell, Nil was messing around
in
his head. First it had flashed Rives's face on the body wedged in the rocks, now it was mimicking Charley. Thad clenched the knife in his hand so tightly his knuckles went white.

He closed his mind to everything but the here and now.

Charley's home, Charley's safe
, he reminded himself. Nil loved playing head games, loved pulling the strings, only Nil rigged everything from the start, so Nil always won. But Thad knew that now, and it gave him an advantage.

So did the knowledge that he'd already won, once.

Nil says listen
, the breeze crooned, its salty finger stroking his spine.

Not a chance.
Thad's half smile turned cold.
I'm no longer playing.

*   *   *

Time marched on. The seam narrowed, the surge of noon gone. The island had done all it could. The one called Charley knew whom to seek, but the one called Thad refused to listen, an unfortunate choice.

If his mind stayed closed, he would help no one, especially himself.

 

CHAPTER

37

SKYE

93 DAYS UNTIL THE AUTUMNAL EQUINOX, AFTER NOON

I sat beside Hafthor near the firepit. My legs were restless, like me. I needed to go. To
search
. Each moment sitting felt like a moment wasted.

Relax, Skye
, I told myself.
Think first, act second.

What I needed was a plan.

Which was exactly what I didn't have.

“Eat,” Hafthor's command interrupted my musing. “You are too thin.” He gestured to my fish wrap, which I'd barely nibbled.

I took a bite and Hafthor nodded, appeased. Since I'd returned from the Cove, I'd learned he came from a small village on the Icelandic coast, a fact that explained his prowess with all things fishing. He'd caught our lunch, cleaned it, and chopped the whole catch into individual fillets, and then with my help—although I had the sinking suspicion he hadn't needed help at all—we'd seasoned and cooked them over the fire. Throughout it all, he'd moved with the same calm demeanor: unruffled, methodical, yet no movement wasted. He ate the same way. So far he'd eaten three fish wraps to my one.

“Your tattoo is amazing.” I gestured to his shoulder, where lines of crisp black ink stretched like arms. It looked like something I might find etched somewhere on Nil. “It looks like a rune.”

“It's an Icelandic compass,” he replied. “It's said to always lead the bearer the right way, even when the way is not known.”

“Seems perfect for this place.” Maybe I needed an Icelandic compass.

“Totally deep,” Zane said, sitting down on my other side. He pointed at Hafthor's tattoo with his fish wrap. “Nil would approve.”

“And that is a good thing?” Hafthor furrowed his blond brows.

“Tough to say.” Zane shrugged, then took a hefty bite.

Paulo strode into camp, his hair and clothing wet as if he'd just left the Cove or the sea. His eyes sifted among the group eating lunch around the firepit and landed on Hafthor.

“I need some help with a bear,” Paulo said.

“What kind?” Zane's expression was curious. “Panda or polar? Grizzly?”

“Dead,” Paulo answered evenly.

Zane choked on his fish wrap. Molly passed over a coconut cup of water as Davey thumped Zane on the back.

Hafthor finished his lunch in two massive bites and gently set his cup down as he stood. “How far?” he asked Paulo. “And how big?”

“Above the Cove, on White Beach. And big. At least two hundred twenty kilograms, maybe more. I'm not even sure if it's full grown.”

“I'd say it is now,” Davey offered. “What?” Davey shrugged as Hafthor shot him a bland look. “I'm just saying the bloody thing isn't getting any bigger. Being dead and everything.”

Rives stood beside Hafthor. “How can I help?”

“I'm not sure,” Paulo admitted. “I don't know much about bears. But I figure we could use the pelt, right? And I figure at least some of it is edible. Seems like a terrible thing to waste.” Emotion flashed across Paulo's face. “Otherwise it's just another death.”

“Bears are edible, but the meat will taste different based on what the bear had been eating,” Hafthor said. “Berries are good. A bear diet of fish, less so. The meat will taste of low tide, sat too long.”

“Sounds delish,” Zane mumbled. “Can't wait.”

Hafthor turned to Paulo. “Is it a polar bear? If so, we must take care with the liver.”

“
Hay-ell
, no.” Calvin looked as if he might throw up on the spot. “Not happening. No way I'm eating bear liver.”

“Wise choice.” Hafthor nodded. “If it's a polar bear, the liver is toxic. Too much Vitamin A.”

Calvin stared at Hafthor, his jaw dangling open.

“It's a brown bear,” Paulo said. “And we'd better get a move on. It's getting ripe in the sun, and I don't want anything else to come calling from the stench.”

Rives bent down and brushed a light kiss on my forehead, then after a brief discussion, left with Paulo, Zane, Hafthor, and Kenji. I hadn't seen Thad all morning. Same for Amara, although I doubted they were together.

I turned to Molly, Davey, and Calvin, an unofficial trio, feeling left behind although I hadn't even wanted to go, fighting the desperate need to do
something
—something not involving a bear. Lana was wrong. I didn't know everything; I barely knew
any
thing. I had no idea
what
to do and that was the problem.

The ocean rumbled at my back, liquid whispers blending into one urgent plea:
search
.

How?
I bit the inside of my cheek so hard it drew blood. At the same time, I realized Molly, Davey, and Calvin were all staring at me. Maybe the trio had seen something I hadn't.

“Listen, since the three of you have been here, have you seen anything unusual? I mean, unusual for this place?”

Three blank faces stared back at me.

“Like the labyrinths,” I explained. “Like the Man in the Maze carving in the Arches.”

Still blank.

“Okay, who wants to take a field trip?”

“Mind if I join you?” Thad asked as he appeared at my side. He carried a satchel over one shoulder.

“Sure. We're going to see the Man in the Maze.”
And I'm going to look at my uncle's clue again.
This trip felt right. “Where've you been? On a field trip of your own?” I smiled, taking in his wet brow. He'd walked fast enough to sweat.

“Checking the crops. We've got a fraction of the taro we used to have.” Thad sighed.

“Then it's a good thing we're only here for three months,” I said.

Thad's eyes flicked to me. They were startlingly blue. “You're right, Skye. I need to stop thinking about indefinite survival. So whatever it is we need to do to wrap this up by then, let's do it.”

“I'm trying, I promise.”

He nodded, his eyes clear, his jaw set. I saw Thad in that moment, really
saw
him: the boy whom my friend loved with all her heart, the boy whom my own love trusted with his life, the boy who had once been Leader and still felt all the weight of the same. A boy who'd already done this once, escaped, and was back.

Because of me.

“I'm so sorry, Thad.” My words tumbled out with force. “I didn't mean for this to happen, I swear.”

“I know.” His voice still lacked the vibrant warmth I'd grown accustomed to. He didn't meet my gaze, didn't even look at me as we started to walk. A heavy weight settled in my heart.

I wondered why he'd bothered to come along with us at all.

We were a quiet group walking to Black Bay. Instead of talking, I was looking. At every tree, every bit of island space, fully invested in my island investigation without a clue what I was looking for.

I'll know it when I see it
, I told myself.

I hoped that was true. It didn't
feel
true; it didn't feel like anything at all.

Inside the Crystal Cavern, the air markedly cooled. My hand reflexively went to my wrist, then my neck. Both still felt extraordinarily bare. When we'd arrived, I searched the platform for the raw diamond bracelet Rives had given to me last time we were on Nil; I'd hoped it would still be lying on the platform, where it had fallen when I'd leaped into the equinox gate. But I'd had no luck. My failure had bothered me more than it should.

I rubbed my bare wrist as I walked through the cavern. The trio followed slightly behind; they seemed content to let me lead. Awe lit their faces, but they never slowed. It gave me an appreciation for Rives, whom everyone looked to constantly for guidance and support, and made me grateful in a weird way that Thad was here, because I knew Rives relied on
him
.

Maybe that's why Thad's back
, I thought. Another balance to Rives, one I couldn't give.

We exited the cavern into warm light. Black Bay glittered just past the trees. Coarse black sand glinted through the gaps like bits of obsidian.

A speck of silver glitter caught my eye.

I assumed the sparkle came from inside the cavern, sunlight bouncing off crystal. Then the shimmering speck exploded. In seconds, a glistening, iridescent gate hung fifteen feet away; it hovered a few inches off the ground and stretched well over our heads, a gorgeous mirror reflecting the five of us standing like stone.

One cue, every shining speck turned matte black.

“Run!” I yelled.

I grabbed the hand of the person closest to me, which happened to be Calvin. Pulling him deeper into the woods, soon he pulled me—
Oh my stars, Calvin runs fast
, I thought. Together with Molly, Davey, and Thad, the group of us crouched behind a knotty thicket: Calvin on my left, Thad on my right, Molly and Davey at my back. The soft ground felt spongy beneath my sandals.

“Animal,” Thad murmured. Sure enough, a four-legged creature with hooves and a rack of antlers dropped out of the gate. With fur the color of apple cider and dotted with marshmallow spots, the animal twitched once, then lifted its head, nostrils flaring.

Just a deer
, I thought, relaxing.

The gate collapsed and winked out. I started to stand but pressure on my shoulder stopped me. “Sit tight,” Thad whispered. “Round two straight ahead.”

I looked in time to see a second gate rise less than two yards away. Closer than the last—much closer, too close to run from—it quickly turned deadly black. Writhing and churning, the gate glittered like onyx in the canopied light. It was coldly beautiful, not unlike the darkness of my dreams: textured and layered and alluring, full of secrets and whispers.

I ached to touch it.

“Person,” Thad said, breaking my trance. I snatched back my hand as a dark-haired boy tumbled onto the ground. Past the boy, the deer wobbled to its feet.

Something whizzed past my ear, missing the boy and deer by inches. A spear hit the ground and stuck.

“Jesus!” Calvin breathed. “Someone's trying to kill us.”

“No.” Amara stepped out of the woods. “If I was aiming for you, you'd be dead. I was trying for dinner.” She pointed at the deer, which was bounding away. “I'm sick of fish.”

“But you almost hit someone.” I gawked at Amara, horrified at her willy-nilly spear throwing.

“No, I didn't.” Amara's voice was cool. “You weren't even close.”

“I was talking about her!” I pointed to an unfamiliar girl with a long dark braid, who stood by the edge of the woods, wearing City clothes and a look of pure hatred. Amara's spear lay at her feet.

Amara's eyes widened. “Oh my God. I didn't even see her.”

Thad had moved up to the boy on the ground, who sat squinting and blinking, his chest rising and falling too rapidly to be good. Pulling a pair of shorts from his satchel, Thad squatted down beside the boy. “Hey, buddy.” Thad's voice was calm and steady. “You breathing okay?”

The boy shook his head. His dark hair had frosted tips and, I suspected, a hefty dollop of gel, because sand, leaves, and even a twig looked glued to his head.

“Deep breaths, in and out,” Thad said, his tone relaxed. “Just breathe. That's it. Slow and steady.”

The boy stopped wheezing.

“Nice job. Okay, so, I've got a pair of shorts,” Thad continued in the same calm tone. “Want to slide them on?”

The boy looked down and jerked, as if he'd just realized he was naked. His wheezing started again, worse than before.