AUTUMNAL EQUINOX, BEFORE MIDNIGHT
We never should have split up.
Nil had divided us, and damn near conquered us. Gotten into our heads, messed with our minds. The meadow massacre almost did us in. The fire twister didn’t last long, but it was long enough.
If we’d been caught in the open, we’d have been roasted alive.
But thanks to Zane, we were slow, buying us the crucial time we needed to stay alive. Then again, we wouldn’t have been there if Zane hadn’t let Nil into his head in the first place.
Stop with the what-ifs, I told myself. If I kept up that train of thought, I’d get to how I should never have let Skye go to the Death Twin, never let her even get close. As if I could ever tell Skye what to do. That thought brought me full circle back to this horrific moment.
To the now.
Skye was preparing to sacrifice herself for Nil, and no one could convince her otherwise.
A few meters away, Skye twisted something on her wrist, something that glittered in the torchlight, shining in the dark like the steel flecks in her eyes. With a start, I realized it was the bracelet I’d given her the last time we were here, a birthday present, a symbol of more.
Understanding struck.
Nil had pulled us apart, become a wedge between us. And I had let it. I’d played right into Nil’s hands.
Merde.
I was a fool.
I strode to Skye, stopping so close I could whisper in her ear if I wanted to.
“Skye,” I said quietly. A wild curl blew around her face. I fought the urge to tuck it behind her ear, aware I’d lost the right to touch her.
She lifted her eyes to mine. “I’m scared,” she admitted. The torchlight cast shadows on her face, dark and greedy.
“You can’t be brave if you’re fearless,” I said, my chest aching. “And you’re the bravest person I know. If you weren’t afraid, I’d be worried.”
She stood there, nodding, twisting her bracelet, biting the inside of her cheek.
Watching her struggle, the pieces of my heart fused and shattered all over again. My Skye stood right here: the girl I wanted to travel the world with, the girl I wanted to capture on film until we were both old and gray, the girl of my dreams and my future. The girl who had single-handedly chosen to take down Nil, sacrificing herself for us, even though the cost was her life. This was the fierce, selfless, stubborn girl I’d fallen in love with. How could I ask her to be any less?
I stepped close enough that I could bend forward and graze her lips with mine. But I didn’t. I stood, motionless, as my gaze found hers. Her steel-flecked eyes were packed with questions.
“I’m a fool, Skye.” My voice was hoarse. “A bloody idiot, as Dex always said. I love you, Skye. So much it hurts. I can’t imagine what you’re going through, and I’m so sorry I haven’t been there to support you. I’m an idiot for wasting the precious time we had left. You are the fiercest, bravest person I know, and the most selfless. I know that you wouldn’t do this unless you thought it was the only way. I just wish it weren’t.”
A tear streaked down Skye’s face, a clear track against the dirt and soot. “I know.”
“Please forgive me.” My voice cracked.
“There’s nothing to forgive. The end is written.” Her smile was wry.
“Maybe it is, maybe it isn’t. I always thought our future was ours. I’m not ready to give that up. To give you up.”
“But you have to.” Skye wiped her cheek, steeling herself against her emotions; I watched her rein it all in. “There’s no way out, not for me. Whatever Nil did to me, we’re linked. You have to let me go,” she whispered.
Never, I thought. I choked out the only words I could. “I love you, Skye. And I always will.”
She threw herself into my arms. Her skin burned; her body shook.
“Too much,” she whispered.
It’s all too much, I thought. For her. For me. For us.
With Skye in my arms, I didn’t want the moment to end. I wanted the world to stop, right here, right now; I wanted this moment to last forever; I wanted more; I wanted it all: Skye, our future, our happily ever after. I wanted a lifetime of these moments.
But it was almost midnight. Our time was up.
Thad blew his whistle, making time slip into a faster gear. More whistles echoed down the line like dominoes; within seconds Calvin would light the fuse and start running.
The black diamond eye on the ground shimmered.
Molly drew in a sharp breath.
“What is it?” I didn’t let go of Skye as I spoke.
“The wind!” Molly said. “The fuse won’t stay lit. And it’s not burning like it should.” She blinked, slowly. “It’s out.”
“It’s out?” I frowned. Skye went still.
A second later, the shimmering ground took flight. In the center of the platform, a writhing wall of air vaulted straight up into the sky, black on black, massive and powerful. A picture frame of freedom for us, and death for Skye. One doorway, winner take all.
Only winning meant losing.
Skye dropped my hand, regret in her eyes, resolve in the set of her chin.
I couldn’t breathe.
“Calvin’s running,” Molly said. Her eyes were unfocused, then she startled. “Oh no!” Her hands flew to her mouth. “Brace yourselves.”
An explosion rocked the ground. We fell to our knees, except for Zane, who was already on the ground. Unaffected by the massive jolt, the gate locked into place. The black dropped away, leaving a liquid wall behind: a glittering doorway, a million grains of silver sand as bright as stars.
Now, it whispered.
“Go!” Thad yelled, pointing at Kenji. Without a word, Kenji hurtled through the gate.
Molly turned to Skye. Tears streamed down Molly’s face, but her voice stayed calm. “Paulo chose. He knew what he was doing.”
“Chose?” Skye looked lost.
Molly nodded. “He walked into the cave, by choice. The fuse went out, so Paulo lit the gas himself, with the last torch he had.”
Horror filled Skye’s eyes as comprehension dawned. “He walked into the cave with a lit torch? That was the explosion?”
Molly nodded again. Tears spilled from her eyes without pause.
Thad tapped Molly’s shoulder. “Molly, you have to go. Now!” He shoved her toward the gate. She stepped into the doorway, then her eyes went wide as she whirled to face us, a shimmering, brilliant version of herself. “Help Dominic!” she cried. And then she was gone.
On cue, Dominic stumbled onto the platform, coughing. His left side was burned from his hip to his calf; his skin glistened with wet blood. “That fire was something else, mon.” His front tooth was broken. His smile didn’t reach his eyes
Thad pushed Davey toward the gate. “Go! I’ll help Dominic!”
Calvin bounded up onto the platform after Dominic, blinking and coughing.
The entire platform rocked as the mountain trembled.
Out of the corner of my eye, silver flashed. Lana jumped in front of Skye, beating me by a split second. An instant later Carmen’s knife slid into Lana’s shoulder rather than Skye’s heart.
“No!” Carmen screamed, wrenching out the knife and lunging for Skye. I caught Carmen by her arms and held her tight.
Lana pressed her hand against her injured shoulder. Blood trickled between her fingers. “I didn’t need the Sight to know you were trouble,” Lana told Carmen, her voice tired. “Or that this place must end. I saw firsthand what it can do, Carmen. It’s evil. And you’re just a pawn.”
“Checkmate,” I said forcefully.
Gripping Carmen’s biceps, I threw her into the gate.
“Lana!” Zane said. He’d crawled over to us in the darkness. “Are you okay?”
“A mere flesh wound.” Her smile was a grimace.
“Who’s hurt worse?” I looked between the two. “Who’s stronger?”
“You really have to ask?” Zane pointed to Lana. “She’s totally stronger.”
I turned to Lana. “Go first. Then pull him through. You got it? And watch out for Carmen on the other end!”
Nodding, Lana strode to the gate. Blood dripped down her useless left arm. She stepped into the doorway. Light glittered across her face, reflecting the crescent moon above. Then, she vanished.
One second. Two.
Thad had helped Zane get close to the gate, keeping himself out of range. “I don’t want to throw you in,” he said. “Can you make it on your own?”
Zane nodded. He hopped on his good foot into the gate, falling fast into the portal with two thumbs up.
Dominic went next, then Calvin.
Tick tock.
“Rives!” Thad shouted.
I turned around and came face to face with James and a massive Bengal tiger.
“He is next,” James said, his hand on the tiger’s back. “It is right.”
I didn’t have time to argue, not that it would’ve mattered. It was a freaking Bengal tiger. It strolled past me and into the gate as if it owned the place.
Heads up, Calvin, I thought as the cat vanished.
Two heartbeats later, James followed the cat.
It was me, Thad, and Skye.
I couldn’t miss the torch in her hand or the tears on her face. This was it. The moment I’d dreaded, the moment I lost everything.
Skye.
Thad squeezed my shoulder, then leaped into the gate. The ground rumbled beneath my feet, ominous and angry.
Skye stared at me. Her torch lit her face with a golden glow, setting the sparks in her eyes on fire.
I couldn’t leave her. Not here, not ever.
“No.” My heated defiance flooded the platform. “I’ll walk in with you. We’ll do this together. We’ll finish this together.”
“We are,” she said softly. “But you know two people can’t go at once. It has to be me.”
“No, it doesn’t.” Fire roared and smoke choked the air. Desperation choked me. “I’ll do it.”
“You told me once you’d do anything for me.” Her voice shook, but her gaze didn’t waver. “And now I’m asking you to live. To walk into that gate and let me go. I won’t throw you in this time. I need it to be your choice. I need you to do this for me.”
I didn’t move.
“Please,” she whispered. “Go. Do all the things we talked about. Take a picture of the river Seine, the one you were named for, in the place where your parents kissed. Go to the university like you planned. See the world. Fall in love. Live.” She pointed at the gate. Tears spilled from her eyes like falling stars. “Go. Please.”
Please.
I broke. I broke for her.
Because this was how she wanted it to end.
I backed away. “I love you.” It wasn’t enough, not even close. My voice cracked. “You won’t be alone. I’ll be with you, okay? To the end.”
My eyes never left hers, not when I stumbled as the rock shifted, not when I felt the heat, not when it closed around me, not when it stole my breath. The last image I had was of Skye standing alone on Nil ground, a burning torch in hand, the wind whipping her blond hair around her face like golden flames, her unblinking gaze fixed on me. She lifted one hand to her mouth, pressed her fingers to her lips wet with tears, then held out her hand, offering me one last kiss.
I reached for her, but she was already gone.
The darkness rushed in, severing me from Skye forever. The cut cleaved all the way to my core, cruel and permanent.
To my relief, I blacked out.