31

Kai led Bree by her good hand down the starry passage. It had taken an enormous amount of persuading to get her to come with him through the fields of Resonance Pools, all the way underground, and finally to this cave. They’d made it through without incident, and Kai marvelled at how few people they saw on their trip.

It crossed his mind—not for the first time—that a passage leading to such important places should really be under more watchful guard. Now he focussed on making sure they weren’t being followed and didn’t encounter anyone by accident.

“What is this place?” Bree yanked on his hand.

“Shh, someone might be here.” Kai couldn’t ignore the feeling of happiness that bubbled through him from Bree’s small hand in his. No worries could douse the delight in his belly.

They reached the room with the hologram globe of earth floating in the centre, spinning slowly. Bree’s eyes grew wide watching it.

As far as Kai could tell, they were alone. “You see how it’s split up? We’re in a different section than last time. I was wondering if you remembered crossing from one section to the other?”

Bree pulled her hand from his and crossed her arms, tucking both hands into her armpits. “I can’t say that I remember. I wasn’t exactly conscious when they carried me out of the desert.”

“And I still feel like rubbish for that. But apart from that, is there nothing at all that you remember?”

Bree stared at the ceiling and frowned. “There are images, but they seemed more like dreams to me than anything else.” She shrugged and went back to studying the globe. Curiosity seemed to get the better of her. “So how does this work?”

“Let me see if I can remember.” Kai spun the globe and zoomed in. He focussed on the slum and zooming in took them straight to her house. A tremble passed through her arm to his.

“This is not right.”

“It gets worse. Believe me.” He took her down the hallway, and they crouched in the shadows outside the doorway to the surveillance room. “We might have to wait a while.”

“Why is there nobody here?”

“I’ve wondered that myself. As far as I can tell, this is the centre of their operations. Why would they let us just walk in?” Saying it out loud made his heart cold.

“We should leave. I don’t like this.”

“Hold on.” Kai circled the room, scanning for images of the graveyard. It was the movement of a Grave Keeper that caught his eye. “Bree, help me remember this number.”

Bree hunted around on the workstation in the centre of the room and found a pen. She jotted down the co-ordinates on the back of her hand.

Kai grinned at her. “One more then we can get out of here.” He scanned the screens, homing in on the milky-grey one. He read them out to Bree and she took them down on the back of her hand as well.

“This next bit may or may not work. Come on.”

Kai tried to take Bree’s hand again as they left through the side door, but she was having none of it and tucked her fingers into her armpits. They reached the end of the passage and the doorway that would take them to the spirit cuttings without incident.

Kai studied Bree’s face. Her cheeks were rosy and her eyes sparkled. “Are you enjoying this?”

“No. Obviously not. I’m supposed to be washing dishes and not getting into trouble. This is so much better.” Her mouth pulled to a deliberate straight line, and one eyebrow popped up high. She couldn’t do anything about the twinkle in her eye.

“Yeah, right. Brace yourself. This might get ugly.” He hauled the navigation disc out from underneath his shirt and opened the door. The steps were deserted. The web had moved on. “Give me the first number.”

“Oh dear. The last number...it smudged a little. I can’t tell if it’s a two or five.”

“Let me see.” Kai pulled her hand close and tilted his head this way and that. “I’m going with five.” He pressed the centre button and the gadget lit up, humming. A holographic keypad popped up, and he typed in the number.

A second ring lit up and a beam shot out from the device.

“How do you know how to do that?” Bree seemed intrigued.

Kai shrugged. “I don’t really know.” For a moment, he considered telling her that his Affinity was in full swing, but this was Bree. Bree, who didn’t believe in Tau and wanted nothing to do with His power. “Instinct, I guess. Come on. Let’s get through this. Don’t touch the rail. It’ll burn you.”

He reached for her hand, and this time she didn’t pull away. They walked down the steps together. The beam of light blazed ahead through the darkness, not only showing them which way to go, but also lighting enough of the path for safe walking. Hand-in-hand they crossed the first bridge and made it to the central ball. Kai’s ears hurt from straining to hear any sign of the web returning.

The light beam led them to the other side of the ball and across another bridge. Each step they took that didn’t bring disaster built confidence, and Kai felt the tension in his shoulders ease.

They reached the doors without incident. As they stepped close to it, the light beam retracted into the navigator and shut itself off. Kai put it away and studied the doors ahead. They rose up tall ahead of them, two doors that seemed to be made of compacted sand.

“I’m not sure what will be waiting on the other side. The first time we arrived in the graveyard, it was deserted. The Grave Keepers only came later. I hope that’ll be the case now as well.”

Bree nodded. Her pupils were huge in the gloom. It made her look young and frightened. Kai wanted to hug all her fear away.

“Ready?”

She dipped her chin in the smallest nod. Kai shoved against the doors with all his weight, and they swung open. Heat rolled over them in shrivelling waves, but the darkness was thick and absolute. Kai stepped out of the cuttings, expecting to feel grass beneath his shoes. His foot sank into deep, soft sand. This didn’t feel right.

Bree’s hand trembled in his, and he gave a little tug to help her. As she stepped out, her whole body began to shake.

“I don’t like being here. It feels familiar.”

Kai bent down and ran his fingers along the ground. He picked up a small handful of sand and rubbed it between his fingers. This was not graveyard ash. This was desert sand. Kai allowed his light to increase as the door swung shut behind them.

A low sound from behind them stopped him. Gutteral, monstrous. He would know that snarling anywhere. DarKounds.

Bree’s breathing quickened into the unmistakable pant of panic.

“Get back!” Kai flung himself toward the door and willed it to open. It began to swing but too slowly. Sleek, black darKounds eased closer on paws of smoking acid. They covered the desert sand as far as he could see. There were too many to count.

~*~

Evazee huddled on her bed in her cell. She had no recollection of how she’d gotten here. Her missing imprint swallowed her world. It was over. Moments of knowing, saying the right thing, and seeing the truth unlock people’s hearts. It was all over now. There weren’t even tears left in her to cry. Just a gaping emptiness that she wished could swallow her whole.

Her force field buzzed off. The bed dipped as someone sat and began to take the pins out of her hair. It tumbled loose, fingers moved through it and then began to brush in smooth, rhythmic strokes, detangling knots and sending tingles all down her spine.

“It’s normal to feel lost for a little while.” Shasta’s voice flooded through her, and she surrendered to the warmth in his words. She shifted so he could reach the other side. A sense of well-being seeped through her from the tip of her head, slowly working down toward her toes.

“Come here.” He pulled her up toward his chest, cradling her in his arms. The now-familiar scent of him flooded her senses, and she breathed deep. With every breath, she felt the sting of her loss lighten until she held all the regret in her hand as she would a helium balloon.

“You know what to do with that balloon, don’t you?”

“I should let it go.” Fluffy clouds filled her brain. Thinking was hard.

“Let it fly. You don’t need it any longer.”

“But I’m so empty.”

“I can fill you.” His voice was a low baritone, full of promises of every kind, deep and soothing.

Evazee clung to him and was swept away.