4 DAYS UNTIL THE AUTUMNAL EQUINOX, LATE AFTERNOON
I worked on autopilot.
For the past three weeks, I’d gone through the motions. I’d hunted with Thad and brought back rabbits and a small boar. I’d tracked a rhino with James, where he was the master and I was the student, just to know where the hell the animal had settled. The answer: nowhere close to us. I’d scavenged with Paulo and stripped plants to make twine. I’d worked with Kenji and Hafthor to coat the twine with sap to amp up the flammability for the island fuse, a tedious process that couldn’t be rushed. I’d gathered candlenut fruit and made torches, knowing we needed them to light our way on the last night, wondering with every move whether the torch I crafted would be the one to kill Skye.
If our plan worked, the island would die.
So would Skye.
“Rives.” Thad’s voice broke into my brooding.
I sat on the sand, near the beachside pit lined in hot rocks, where the boar would be cooked by nightfall. I cared little. My appetite was nonexistent, like my future.
Sensing Thad waiting, I turned.
“Molly says there’s a boy who just showed up on Black Bay,” he said. “Unlucky dude caught the late gate in, I guess. Want to go with me to greet him?”
“Not really.”
“Is that a yes or a no?” Thad waited patiently.
“A yes, I guess.”
We walked in silence. I was still pissed at Thad. He’d taken Skye’s side. They talked constantly, at all hours.
Skye and I barely spoke at all.
“Skye could use your support, you know.” Thad’s voice was quiet.
“Support her suicide? Are you insane?” Thad still had Charley, waiting back home and sending him mental love notes. I was making torches to send the girl I loved to her death.
I fought the urge to punch him. I glared so hard he stepped back and raised his hands.
“I’m saying support her. Right here, right now. While you can. You’ve shut her out, Rives, right when she needs you most.”
“Right.” Bitterness dripped through my words like acid. “She shut me out, Thad. It’s her choice. Her decision. Half the time she sleeps on the beach.”
“Only because you won’t talk to her.”
Silence fell. The Crystal Cavern glittered, full of Nil ice.
When we broke back into the open air, I turned to Thad. “You have no idea how I feel,” I said, my anger barely restrained. “None. So, please”—I clenched my fists—“don’t tell me what to do, all right?”
Thad ran his hand through his hair with a sigh. “You’re right. I don’t know how you feel. But I do have a clue how Skye feels, and right now she needs you, even if she doesn’t say it. Or can’t say it. I’m your wingman, but you’re hers.”
Not anymore, I thought.
“Just think about it, okay?” he said.
“Trust me, it’s all I think about,” I snapped.
Thad looked toward the beach. “Two more things. First, tonight’s Nil Night. Skye insisted. For morale and good luck for our trip tomorrow. Her words.”
Good luck. Right. I almost snorted.
“And the second thing?”
“Charley told me that we’ll find what we’re looking for.”
“What the hell does that mean?” I asked.
“I think—and I can’t believe I’m saying this—that it’s something to do with the light and the dark. Like if we look for the dark, that’s what we’ll find. Or if we look for the light, we’ll find that, eh?”
“She’s wrong.” My voice was flat. “It’s all the same. The light, the dark, it’s all Nil. All I’ve been looking for is another way. Another plan, another solution—one that doesn’t involve Skye torching Nil and taking herself down in the process. I’ve got three days left to find it, Thad. Seventy-two hours. That’s it. And then I need to convince Skye to go with Plan B, and I have no Plan B. That’s what I’m looking for. So why can’t I find it?”
Thad crossed his arms. “Charley told me that Skye needs to look inside. That Skye already knows the answer to the riddle, that the answer lies within.”
“What riddle? This whole place is a riddle.” I shook out my hands because they’d lost all feeling. Thad stayed silent.
“Did Charley give you anything else? Anything that can help? Something concrete?”
“Well…” Thad looked uncomfortable. “She also said, ‘All is not lost, yet.’”
“Obviously. Because Skye’s still alive.” I turned away, wound tighter than Mount Nil and just as ready to blow. “Let’s go find the rookie and get this done.” And by this, I meant Nil. It was a nightmare from which I couldn’t wake.
The rookie sat huddled on the black sand, blinking. Judging by the marks in the sand, the kid hadn’t moved far from his landing spot.
I knelt beside him. “Hey, buddy, I’m Rives. What’s your name?”
He jerked to look at me. “Garrett.” His dark eyes were wide with fear.
“Well, Garrett, today’s your lucky day. You ended up on Nil, an island that shouldn’t exist. But the good news is, in four days you get to leave, so it’s a short visit for you. Key thing is to stay alive.” I smiled, hoping it looked warmer than it felt. “Want some clothes?”
* * *
Hafthor, Paulo, and Zane were eating pineapple when Thad and I walked up and introduced Garrett.
Garrett looked up at Hafthor. “Half a Thor?” he asked, a quizzical expression on his face.
Hafthor held up both hands and nodded. “No hammer.”
“Oh my God, did you just make a funny?” Zane burst out laughing. He cupped his hands around his mouth. “It’s official, guys. The end is near. Hafthor’s making jokes.” He high-fived Hathor and something inside me snapped.
I swung at Zane but Thad stepped in front of me. “Take a walk, Rives,” he said quietly. “Go cool off.”
I strode away, then broke into a run.
Rivesssss, hissed the sea. I won. She’s mine. And I own you, too.
Like hell you do, I thought.
I still was desperate for a Plan B. Because if Skye had the answers, she sure wasn’t sharing them with me.
Maybe there is no Plan B.
Cruel laughter echoed in my head, followed by a cold thought: You’re finally learning, Rives.