JUNE 10, NIGHT
Nil nightmare round two had begun.
Or maybe the first one never ended.
The sick thing was, the latest installment of the twisted Nil saga had caught me completely off guard. You’d think by now I’d be used to the unexpected, but where Nil was concerned, I was more than a slow learner. It was like I had a Nil blind spot. I tended not to see the twists coming.
Not a happy thought. Or a safe one.
Thad constantly cautioned, Eyes wide open.
Always, I’d think.
But now? Now I worried that even with my eyes wide open, the blind spot was still there, keeping me from seeing the truth. Keeping me from seeing the danger. Putting all of us at risk. Putting Skye at risk. And that was the worst part. Skye was in danger, and I finally saw it, thanks to the roaring blackness in her head so large that my blind spot didn’t matter. Her dad knew it too.
It was written all over his face as she outlined her latest plan to revisit the Death Twin on the Summer Solstice.
“Let me talk to your mother,” he said quietly. Then he looked at me. “Rives, a quick word?”
Skye crossed her arms. “Anything you can say to Rives you can say to me.”
“Not everything.” Her dad’s expression didn’t change. “We need a guys’ moment. Father to boyfriend. We won’t be long.”
Skye rolled her eyes, clearly annoyed.
Pulling me into his office, the professor put his hand on my shoulder with a grip so firm that movement wasn’t an option. “Rives, I know Skye. And I know you do too. Which tells me that she’s going to that Death Twin, with or without us.” His jaw ticked. “Clearly you agree with me, because you’ve already agreed to go.”
I nodded.
“So we’ll go with her. Hopefully she’s right, that blocking the gate—that changing an islander’s mind—will end the vicious Nil cycle once and for all. But something tells me there’s greater danger on that Death Twin than Skye appreciates, and you’re the only one who can keep her safe. Promise me that you’ll watch out for my daughter.”
“I promise,” I said.
Skye’s dad studied me. “I hope you can keep that promise.” He sighed. He dropped his hand, then ran it through his hair. “And Rives?”
“Yes, sir?”
“Whatever you do”—his voice was dangerously quiet—“you keep her away from that gate. At all costs. You understand? Do not let her go back.”
Ice shot down my spine.
At all costs. Do not let her go back.
Merde.
Despite her denial, deep down Skye was considering a return trip to Nil. Her dad saw it, and now, so did I. Maybe Skye didn’t see it yet; maybe she wouldn’t admit it to herself. Hell, I’d barely considered the sick idea, because I hadn’t wanted to. But why else would she want Thad to look at the journal?
And then it clicked.
To save Paulo.
That’s why she wants to go back.
It was a miracle the Bracken house wasn’t full of stray dogs and cats; Skye’s urge to rescue things in distress had few limits.
She’d even rescued me.
But to go back to Nil? The idea shook me to the core.
“Rives?” The professor pinned me with his gaze. “Promise me. Do not let her go back.”
“You have my word,” I said.
As I walked out of his office, I fervently hoped I could keep that promise. All I knew for sure was that I’d die trying. I just hoped it didn’t come to that. But where Nil was concerned, nothing was a given.
Skye sat in the living room, a look of satisfaction on her face, her phone in her hand. My gut said her plotting had reached epic proportions.
“Guess what?” She was beaming. “I just talked to Charley. Instead of meeting us in Seattle, she and Thad are going to meet us in Hawaii. They’re going to the Death Twin with us.”
“You’re joking.” I stared at her, shocked. “Thad would never agree to that. And they can’t afford it anyway.”
“He did.” Skye smiled. “And they can. They only have to fly from Seattle, remember? And they’re using money they saved for our summer trip. Charley and I have been talking, and she agrees with my idea. She thinks closure would be good for all of us.”
Closure. I almost snorted.
“And Thad actually agreed to this. He jumped right in.” My statement dripped disbelief.
Skye had the grace to blush. “Well, at first he yelled something in the background that sounded like Hell, no, but then eventually he said he’d go. Well, specifically he said”—Skye made air quotes with her fingers—“‘There’s no way in hell Charley’s getting anywhere near Nil without me.’ He said they were a package deal.”
I could relate on all counts.
“A road trip, then.” I studied her carefully. “But Skye, listen to me. This trip ends at the Death Twin. No farther. We are not going back to Nil.”
“You have my word,” she said solemnly.
But her mind was closed, like her expression.
She was up to something, and I didn’t like it.
I had ten days to figure it out.