Nil on Fire (46 page)

Walking alone, I went over to the platform's carving and bent down. The diamond eye winked at me, the rings begging to be touched. Gleaming at me was a small bracelet, rough twine holding a raw diamond, a gift from my past.
Happy birthday
, Rives had told me as he'd slipped it on my wrist, his expression radiating love.

I love you
, I thought, grieving for what I'd already lost, what I had to give up.
I love you with all that I am, with every last part of me.

I picked up the bracelet and slid it on. Nil's memories had shown me exactly where to find it; I'd watched it fall as if I'd been standing there myself.

I stood there, alone, until footsteps and shouts made me turn.

Kenji skidded onto the platform, breathing hard. “We couldn't find the girl before a tiger made us turn back. Paulo stayed with Calvin to help light the last torches to guide his run. Paulo says we don't have long. And there was a fire funnel cloud in the meadow, totally crazy. Rives and Thad are coming up now. Zane and Lana too.”

Rives.

Relief turned my legs to jelly. Rives was okay. Right now, that was enough.

I leaned against the far wall, resting my shoulder against the same spot where Paulo had waited on the day we'd arrived. He'd asked to be last tonight, but the job was mine.
Our destiny
, his aunt had told my uncle,
it wraps the island from beginning to end; I feel it
. He'd been last before. Now it was my turn. Paulo's ancestors had been with Nil at the beginning, and I'd be with Nil at the end. I'd make sure tonight
was
Nil's end.

And yours
, the night whispered.

Yes
, I thought.
We'll go down together.
I breathed deeply, aware I couldn't block Nil out. But I could keep myself
in
, as in intact, until the very end: Nil's, and mine.

Rives appeared on the platform with Thad and Zane, his chest and arms streaked with black and red like war paint. My breath hitched until I realized it wasn't his blood; it was Zane's. His temple bloody, Zane's teeth were gritted in pain, his left knee bent, his foot twisted the wrong way, his ankle bloody as he leaned on Rives.

His pain hit me like a wall of heat. Burning, scalding. Choking.

Real.

The crushing, visceral pain tipped my hand; it erased the last selfish shard of doubt that had lingered in my heart. Zane's pain was a grain of Nil sand compared to the unthinkable suffering of our entire world should Nil survive this night. Because only one of us could win: me, or Nil. And I refused to lose, even though it would cost me everything.

I would be last. It was the only way.

I locked eyes with Rives, a boy covered in soot and sweat and the blood of our friend, a boy I loved more than my own life, and I made my unequivocal choice: I would win.

For Rives, and for his children to come.

 

CHAPTER

76

RIVES

AUTUMNAL EQUINOX, BEFORE MIDNIGHT

We never should have split up.

Nil had divided us, and damn near conquered us. Gotten into our heads, messed with our minds. The meadow massacre almost did us in. The fire twister didn't last long, but it was long enough.

If we'd been caught in the open, we'd have been roasted alive.

But thanks to Zane, we were slow, buying us the crucial time we needed to stay alive. Then again, we wouldn't have been there if Zane hadn't let Nil into his head in the first place.

Stop with the what-ifs
, I told myself. If I kept up that train of thought, I'd get to how I should never have let Skye go to the Death Twin, never let her even get close.
As if I could ever tell Skye what to do.
That thought brought me full circle back to this horrific moment.

To the
now
.

Skye was preparing to sacrifice herself for Nil, and no one could convince her otherwise.

A few meters away, Skye twisted something on her wrist, something that glittered in the torchlight, shining in the dark like the steel flecks in her eyes. With a start, I realized it was the bracelet I'd given her the last time we were here, a birthday present, a symbol of
more
.

Understanding struck.

Nil had pulled us apart, become a wedge between us. And I had let it. I'd played right into Nil's hands.

Merde.

I was a fool.

I strode to Skye, stopping so close I could whisper in her ear if I wanted to.

“Skye,” I said quietly. A wild curl blew around her face. I fought the urge to tuck it behind her ear, aware I'd lost the right to touch her.

She lifted her eyes to mine. “I'm scared,” she admitted. The torchlight cast shadows on her face, dark and greedy.

“You can't be brave if you're fearless,” I said, my chest aching. “And you're the bravest person I know. If you weren't afraid, I'd be worried.”

She stood there, nodding, twisting her bracelet, biting the inside of her cheek.

Watching her struggle, the pieces of my heart fused and shattered all over again. My Skye stood right here: the girl I wanted to travel the world with, the girl I wanted to capture on film until we were both old and gray, the girl of my dreams and my future. The girl who had single-handedly chosen to take down Nil, sacrificing herself for
us
, even though the cost was her life. This was the fierce, selfless, stubborn girl I'd fallen in love with. How could I ask her to be any less?

I stepped close enough that I could bend forward and graze her lips with mine. But I didn't. I stood, motionless, as my gaze found hers. Her steel-flecked eyes were packed with questions.

“I'm a fool, Skye.” My voice was hoarse. “A bloody idiot, as Dex always said. I love you, Skye. So much it hurts. I can't imagine what you're going through, and I'm so sorry I haven't been there to support you. I'm an idiot for wasting the precious time we had left. You are the fiercest, bravest person I know, and the most selfless. I know that you wouldn't do this unless you thought it was the only way. I just wish it weren't.”

A tear streaked down Skye's face, a clear track against the dirt and soot. “I know.”

“Please forgive me.” My voice cracked.

“There's nothing to forgive. The end is written.” Her smile was wry.

“Maybe it is, maybe it isn't. I always thought our future was
ours
. I'm not ready to give that up. To give
you
up.”

“But you have to.” Skye wiped her cheek, steeling herself against her emotions; I watched her rein it all in. “There's no way out, not for me. Whatever Nil did to me, we're linked. You have to let me go,” she whispered.

Never
, I thought. I choked out the only words I could. “I love you, Skye. And I always will.”

She threw herself into my arms. Her skin burned; her body shook.

“Too much,” she whispered.

It's all too much
, I thought.
For her. For me. For us.

With Skye in my arms, I didn't want the moment to end. I wanted the world to stop, right here, right now; I wanted this moment to last forever; I wanted
more
; I wanted it all: Skye, our future, our happily ever after. I wanted a lifetime of these moments.

But it was almost midnight. Our time was up.

Thad blew his whistle, making time slip into a faster gear. More whistles echoed down the line like dominoes; within seconds Calvin would light the fuse and start running.

The black diamond eye on the ground shimmered.

Molly drew in a sharp breath.

“What is it?” I didn't let go of Skye as I spoke.

“The wind!” Molly said. “The fuse won't stay lit. And it's not burning like it should.” She blinked, slowly. “It's out.”

“It's
out
?” I frowned. Skye went still.

A second later, the shimmering ground took flight. In the center of the platform, a writhing wall of air vaulted straight up into the sky, black on black, massive and powerful. A picture frame of freedom for us, and death for Skye. One doorway, winner take all.

Only winning meant losing.

Skye dropped my hand, regret in her eyes, resolve in the set of her chin.

I couldn't breathe.

“Calvin's running,” Molly said. Her eyes were unfocused, then she startled. “Oh no!” Her hands flew to her mouth. “Brace yourselves.”

An explosion rocked the ground. We fell to our knees, except for Zane, who was already on the ground. Unaffected by the massive jolt, the gate locked into place. The black dropped away, leaving a liquid wall behind: a glittering doorway, a million grains of silver sand as bright as stars.

Now
, it whispered.

“Go!” Thad yelled, pointing at Kenji. Without a word, Kenji hurtled through the gate.

Molly turned to Skye. Tears streamed down Molly's face, but her voice stayed calm. “Paulo chose. He knew what he was doing.”

“Chose?” Skye looked lost.

Molly nodded. “He walked into the cave, by choice. The fuse went out, so Paulo lit the gas himself, with the last torch he had.”

Horror filled Skye's eyes as comprehension dawned. “He walked into the cave with a lit torch?
That
was the explosion?”

Molly nodded again. Tears spilled from her eyes without pause.

Thad tapped Molly's shoulder. “Molly, you have to go. Now!” He shoved her toward the gate. She stepped into the doorway, then her eyes went wide as she whirled to face us, a shimmering, brilliant version of herself. “Help Dominic!” she cried. And then she was gone.

On cue, Dominic stumbled onto the platform, coughing. His left side was burned from his hip to his calf; his skin glistened with wet blood. “That fire was something else, mon.” His front tooth was broken. His smile didn't reach his eyes

Thad pushed Davey toward the gate. “Go! I'll help Dominic!”

Calvin bounded up onto the platform after Dominic, blinking and coughing.

The entire platform rocked as the mountain trembled.

Out of the corner of my eye, silver flashed. Lana jumped in front of Skye, beating me by a split second. An instant later Carmen's knife slid into Lana's shoulder rather than Skye's heart.

“No!” Carmen screamed, wrenching out the knife and lunging for Skye. I caught Carmen by her arms and held her tight.

Lana pressed her hand against her injured shoulder. Blood trickled between her fingers. “I didn't need the Sight to know you were trouble,” Lana told Carmen, her voice tired. “Or that this place must end. I saw firsthand what it can do, Carmen. It's evil. And you're just a pawn.”

“Checkmate,” I said forcefully.

Gripping Carmen's biceps, I threw her into the gate.

“Lana!” Zane said. He'd crawled over to us in the darkness. “Are you okay?”

“A mere flesh wound.” Her smile was a grimace.

“Who's hurt worse?” I looked between the two. “Who's stronger?”

“You really have to ask?” Zane pointed to Lana. “She's totally stronger.”

I turned to Lana. “Go first. Then pull him through. You got it? And watch out for Carmen on the other end!”

Nodding, Lana strode to the gate. Blood dripped down her useless left arm. She stepped into the doorway. Light glittered across her face, reflecting the crescent moon above. Then, she vanished.

One second. Two.

Thad had helped Zane get close to the gate, keeping himself out of range. “I don't want to throw you in,” he said. “Can you make it on your own?”

Zane nodded. He hopped on his good foot into the gate, falling fast into the portal with two thumbs up.

Dominic went next, then Calvin.

Tick tock.

“Rives!” Thad shouted.

I turned around and came face to face with James and a massive Bengal tiger.

“He is next,” James said, his hand on the tiger's back. “It is right.”

I didn't have time to argue, not that it would've mattered. It was a freaking Bengal tiger. It strolled past me and into the gate as if it owned the place.

Heads up, Calvin
, I thought as the cat vanished.

Two heartbeats later, James followed the cat.

It was me, Thad, and Skye.

I couldn't miss the torch in her hand or the tears on her face. This was it. The moment I'd dreaded, the moment I lost everything.

Skye.

Thad squeezed my shoulder, then leaped into the gate. The ground rumbled beneath my feet, ominous and angry.

Skye stared at me. Her torch lit her face with a golden glow, setting the sparks in her eyes on fire.

I couldn't leave her. Not here, not ever.

“No.” My heated defiance flooded the platform. “I'll walk in with you. We'll do this together. We'll finish this
together
.”

“We are,” she said softly. “But you know two people can't go at once. It has to be me.”

“No, it doesn't.” Fire roared and smoke choked the air. Desperation choked me. “I'll do it.”

“You told me once you'd do anything for me.” Her voice shook, but her gaze didn't waver. “And now I'm asking you to live. To walk into that gate and let me go. I won't throw you in this time. I need it to be your choice. I need you to do this for me.”

I didn't move.

“Please,” she whispered. “Go. Do all the things we talked about. Take a picture of the river Seine, the one you were named for, in the place where your parents kissed. Go to the university like you planned. See the world. Fall in love. Live.” She pointed at the gate. Tears spilled from her eyes like falling stars. “Go. Please.”

Please.

I broke. I broke
for her
.

Because this was how she wanted it to end.