37 DAYS UNTIL THE AUTUMNAL EQUINOX, MID-MORNING
Something was wrong.
Epically wrong.
Something invasive and invisible had shifted in this world, and it threatened to obliterate my world. But it wasn’t over. Another shift was coming, I just didn’t know when. All I knew was that it was Nil-related and Skye-centered.
She had disappeared while Paulo organized a fresh team to gather heart pine and twine for Chuck to craft into an island fuse. Thad had vanished too. Somehow I wasn’t surprised to find the two together, sitting on the rocks at the beach. A memory flashed: me giving Skye a bracelet on these same black rocks, her birthday wishes written in the sand.
Now her back was to me, a sign that spoke volumes.
Thad stood as I approached.
“Care for some company?” I asked.
Thad turned around, gesturing to the now-empty space beside Skye. He swallowed. “All yours, brother. I’m heading to South Beach. I’ll catch you later, eh?”
I nodded, but my eyes locked on Skye. She faced the water, sitting too still for my liking. “What’s going on?” I said as I sat down. “And please don’t tell me nothing. I’m not stupid, Skye. Or blind. And I’m going out of my mind with worry.”
“I know.” Her words were soft. She turned toward me, her hands wrapped around her knees. “Do you remember what Maaka told you on the platform?” Skye’s eyes were dark. Packed with emotion, yet unnervingly distant.
“He told me lots of things. Which one?” I said.
“About the fire. He specifically told you not to bring fire into the gate.”
Remember what I told you, Maaka had warned me, the day before we took this trip. Had he known I’d be having this convo, right here, right now?
I wrenched myself back to the present.
“And?” I raised an eyebrow.
“We need to bring fire into the equinox gate,” Skye said unequivocally. “That’s the second part of the equinox equation. We blow up the island from within by lighting the gas-filled cavern, and then we take fire into the gate.”
“We,” I repeated. Something tilted beneath me, cold and real. “You and me?”
She shook her head. Sadness flickered in her eyes, tempering the steel. “Not you,” she said quietly. “Me. This time I’m last.”
“No way.” I was on my feet. “Who knows what would happen! The gate could implode. It could kill you, Skye. Maaka specifically said not to do it.”
She nodded, her face too calm. “I know. Because he wanted to save you.”
The vision of Skye dead on Nil rock flashed through my head. Skye sat before me, eyes blank, voice hollow. I started to shake. “What are you saying, Skye? That you want to die? That you don’t care if you die?”
She blinked slowly. “I’m saying that I know what I’m doing. That I’m doing what needs to be done. I should have been the last one through last time. This time, it has to be me. There is no other option.”
“Of course there is!” I exploded. “There are always options. Choices.” Choose me, my heart begged.
Her expression didn’t change.
“You’re telling me you’re willing to die. For Nil.”
“Not for Nil, for everyone else.” Skye’s voice was soft.
“Not for me.” My voice broke. “I want you to live.”
Skye said nothing.
“This isn’t you talking,” I said abruptly. “It’s Nil. Nil did something to you when you touched that water and you’re not thinking clearly. This isn’t your choice!”
Anger and hurt flashed in Skye’s eyes, setting them on fire for one brilliant instant; in that moment, I recognized my Skye. “Of course Nil did something to me when I touched that water!” she snapped. “I saw everything! Every escape, every death. Every thought, every hope, every fear. Every moment of suffering. And if I have the chance to stop it from repeating, I have to do it. Don’t you see that?”
I swept her into my arms and held her tight. “Yes and no. I see how you’re driven to end it more than ever, but I don’t see why you have to be the last one through. I won’t lose you, Skye.”
Too late, cackled the wind.
Skye didn’t return my embrace. Didn’t respond. I held her at arm’s length, searching her eyes for the flash of fire I’d seen seconds before. It was gone. But my Skye was still in there, trapped.
“I’ll find another way,” I vowed. “I refuse to lose you to this place. I refuse to lose you at all. You’re my best friend. Remember our plans? Our future? You, the travel writer, and me, the photojournalist? That’s us. You and me. Seeing the whole world together, not just this hellhole.” My eyes scoured her face, her eyes, the set of her shoulders, hunting for any trace of Skye.
Nothing.
“We’ll figure out another way,” I said, desperate to break back through to her. “I can’t imagine life without you, and I don’t want to. I won’t let Nil win.”
A single glistening tear trailed down Skye’s face.
“It already has,” she finally whispered.