83 DAYS UNTIL THE AUTUMNAL EQUINOX, AFTER NOON
Would you have run? Paulo had asked after that gate had vanished.
No, I’d thought. If anything, I would have run away from the gate. I had business to finish, ripples to stop. I eyed the mountain, picturing the platform in my mind, knowing our gate would rise in eighty-three days.
And then we would destroy it, if I could just figure out how.
Rives stood beside me on the black sand beach, his strong hand wrapping mine, our hearts and heads woven so tightly that we were one. The island had sealed our bond, branding a bit of each of our souls on the other, but the love we shared was ours and ours alone.
I could not lose Rives.
But the island wanted something, maybe someone. And now Zane had me thinking it wanted everyone.
The thought terrified me because it felt true.
An animal cry reached my ears, a predatory call that stole my full attention. An answering call replied to the first, louder. Possibly closer.
The three boys stared at the mountain, all oddly oblivious, all strangely still. Despite his hand in mine, Rives felt very far away.
“Rives,” I hissed, tugging his hand.
He jerked his head toward me, his eyes clearing as he blinked. “How long have I been staring at the mountain?”
“Long enough. We need to go, now. Something’s coming.”
I slid my sling off my shoulder, rock in hand. On cue, a deer leaped from the bushes, its hooves gouging deep grooves in the black sand, slipping and slowing as it tried to gain traction.
“Zane. Paulo,” Rives said sharply. Their heads snapped toward us, their eyes as clouded as his had been. “Let’s move. A deer just showed up and something’s chasing it. Keep your eyes open and minds to yourself, all right?”
As he raised his knife, two animals burst from the tree line. They moved sleekly, their coats a blurry mix of black and caramel, their teeth bared in feral snarls.
Hyenas, I thought. I was flanked by Rives and Paulo; I was caught between Dex and Jillian. The animals hit the sand in tandem, hunting the deer.
“Skye!” Rives jerked my hand, urging me to run. He held his knife out defensively; Paulo gripped his spear tight. Zane was unarmed and I wasn’t much better off. I’d have to stop to aim.
The deer stumbled.
The animals pounced. They bit the deer repeatedly as it tried to escape; they nipped its legs, its hindquarters, its flanks, anything they could get their teeth on. I’d never seen hyenas attack so efficiently, and so brutally. I hated hyenas. I stood rooted to the sand.
“Not hyenas,” Rives said as he pulled me along. Unwittingly, I’d slowed. “African wild dogs. They don’t usually mess with people, but—” He left his sentence unfinished.
The deer may have survived Amara’s spear, but it didn’t last long with the dogs. The dogs feasted as we left them behind.
I realized I’d never been afraid, at least not for myself, but my fear for my friends had grown exponentially. I couldn’t bear to lose anyone else I cared about—especially Rives. Especially since I was the reason he was even here. I would protect him at all costs from the greatest threat.
In that moment, I chose.
Rives must live, and Nil must die.
It was that simple.