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 anything. 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.
“Yup, you’re naked. The rest of us showed up naked too. But right now would be a good time to breathe. In and out,” Thad said. “Breathe.”
Breathing in time with Thad, the boy calmed down a noticeable measure. He slid on the shorts, his breathing still coming in alarming spurts.
“I’m Thad,” Thad continued, as if this sort of thing happened every day, which, I realized, here it did. “And this is Skye, Calvin, Davey, and Molly. What’s your name?”
“Chuck,” the boy rasped. “Hashtag what happened?”
Thad didn’t miss a beat.
“You’re on an island called Nil. You came here through a gate, a portal. Same for us. But right now you just need to know you’re going to be okay.”
The boy stared at Thad. “Hashtag crazy. Hashtag creepy. Hashtag can’t process this right now.”
“Hashtag annoying,” Davey grumbled.
“Out of curiosity,” Thad said, “what date is it?”
“June twenty-second,” the boy said.
Thad nodded. “Chuck, this is what we’re gonna do. We’re going to take a little tour, then we’re going to go back to the City, and we’ll fill you in as we go. Deal?”
Chuck nodded.
Behind me, Calvin jumped, bumping my arm as he stumbled back. He hopped on one sandal-clad foot; clumps of dirt fell from the other as he shook out his bare foot and cursed. “That’s a grave!” he yelled. “I just sank into a grave!”
He pointed to where he’d been crouched. The soft earth had shifted, revealing bones. His hand shook.
“Looks like the Reaper ate your thong,” Davey observed.
“My thong?” Calvin asked, horrified.
“Your sandal.” Molly looked puzzled. “Are you going to leave it?”
“Are you asking me to dig into a grave?” Calvin backed up another few feet. “Because I’m not touching a grave. No way.” Still protesting, he backed into a tree and froze.
Thad walked over and clasped his shoulders.
“Look, it’s creepy finding a grave, I know. Happened to me yesterday and I wigged out. But it’s okay. It’s not your grave, and it’s not your funeral. The bones here won’t hurt us, eh? It’s the other stuff.” Thad grimaced. “All I’m saying, try to relax. And keep your eyes wide open.”
Chuck’s wheezing had intensified again, drawing everyone’s gaze.
“Breathe,” Molly told him, smiling. “Maybe focus on the ocean?” she suggested. He nodded and turned toward the sea.
“Skye.” Calvin’s voice was low. “So, this grave. I’m guessing from what Thad said, it’s not unusual for Nil?”
I shook my head. “Unfortunately, no.”
“This place is one giant cemetery, isn’t it?” Davey mused. Chuck’s wheezing resumed.
“Not helping.” Molly rolled her eyes.
“Just trying to figure out what’s unusual,” Davey said. “Other than you actually talking to me.” He winked.
Molly scowled.
“What about that?” Davey pointed toward the beach. “Is that unusual? Because that’s a helluva big fish.”
“That’s Dominic.” I waved and smiled.
On the black sand ahead, Dominic held a massive fish. He waved back with his free hand. As we headed toward Dominic, I realized the girl with the braid was gone, just like the deer. Only the deer hadn’t looked ready to kill us, and it hadn’t taken Amara’s spear.