Poppy and I do all we can to barricade the cottage until daylight.
After the last Night of Reckoning and the red paint, Poppy’s been stockpiling sheets of canvas, scraps of muslin.
“I have to see Nico before the Offering.” I speak my rambling thoughts as we spread an already paint-stained sheet over the kitchen table.
“Of course, yes.” Poppy’s suddenly working more quickly. “You’ll need to leave soon, then.”
I take in the room. “But there’s still so much to do. I suppose I could wait until—”
“No. Go now. I can finish this.” He throws his arm out, motioning all around us. “Nico needs to know you’re all right. I haven’t seen him since the day you disappeared, but you can imagine he didn’t take it well. He deserves to know you’re safe.”
Well, I can’t exactly argue with that. “You’re right.”
“And take your time,” he says. “You don’t have to come with me to the offering. Go back to the Night after you see Nico. It’ll be safer while everyone’s at the Coliseum for you to get away.”
“But you’ll never get this done in time on your own.”
“I can handle it. Don’t worry yourself.”
“Poppy.” I look him straight in the eyes. “You’re being too proud. I’m helping and I’m not taking no for an answer. Besides, I have to stay for the Offering anyway. I need to be there.” He shrugs. “Think about it … Not only will I get to spend a little more time with you but I think it might be helpful for other Basso to see I’ve returned from the Night. Proof it can be done.”
“Veda … Listen to your poppy for once, eh?” There’s a pleading deep in his eyes, but I ignore it. He needs me here and just doesn’t want to be trouble. I’m not falling for it.
I raise an eyebrow. “If anyone asks, I’ll keep to the story that I escaped, but if I plant even one seed, light a small fire in someone, it’ll be worth it. If one person is motivated to fight back tonight, to possibly uncover the truth about the Imperi pretending to be the Night, my being delayed is a small price to pay.”
He heaves a long breath. “I suppose you’re right.”
“I’ll see you in one hour. At the docks.”
He nods. “One hour.”
FROM THE BACK of our house, I follow the canal, my boots sludging slowly through mud and oversaturated ground where the channel has flooded. I’m in my old clothes, taking the same route I’ve taken countless times as if nothing’s changed. But so much has.
Going over what I plan to say, what I’m going to share with Nico and what I’ll need to keep to myself, I reach the small pond down from Denali Manor.
Up the hill, I see the back of Nico’s home, the fence surrounding it taller than ever, but I think I can climb it.
I hike along rocks and steep ground until I’m face-to-face with the iron fence. It towers at least a foot above my head.
TWO DEEP BREATHS and I jump, my fingertips grasping the top rung, which is all cold, wet metal. Boots left with nothing to cling to, I slip and fall, landing on my knees, the pain stinging something fierce. After a moment to gather myself, I brush leaves and mud off my legs to reveal the holes in my stockings have torn even larger, my bloodied knees now in plain sight. I try three more times with no success.
“Damn it.”
“Veda?” I hear Nico, his tone riddled with disbelief.
“Nico?”
“What the Sun are you doing?”
“Trying to find you. How’d you know I was back here?”
“You weren’t exactly being quiet,” he says, and I can tell he’s smiling. Then, as if with zero effort, Nico hops over the fence.
“That was—” All set to say something sassy, I stop short because Nico’s right there. A sprig of spearmint hangs from his mouth, and he gently places his hands on my cheeks. Nose inches from mine, he examines me.
“Where have you been?” He leans in. “It was the Night, wasn’t it?” he hisses. “I’ve been going mad with worry and Poppy didn’t know a thing and my Sun I’m so glad you’re all right!” He wraps me in a perfectly warm, perfectly lovely, lingering hug.
If I thought Poppy’s cozy scents of mint leaves and castile soap and earthy soil was home, this? This is heaven. I’m enveloped by all things Nico … The sweet of vanilla and the bitter of spearmint along with the freshly laundered wool of his scarf. I could stay here, my head resting on his shoulder, his warm breath grazing the top of my head, forever and then some.
He pulls away, eyes red around the edges. Nico stares, waiting for me to speak. Surely anticipating I’ll spill every single detail of the past four days.
The Night is good, the Imperi is bad, no other details …
“I want to tell you everything, but…” I glance behind us. The Sun slowly rises higher above the horizon, reflecting off his windows. Imperi soldiers march on their morning drills on the other side of the hill, their boots clapping lowly against stone walkways. “Can we go somewhere else?”
“Of course. Yes.”
Without so much as a word, we both head down the hill and to the pond and the bench that sits beneath a white wooden trellis. The small area—where we first met and have used as our secret place all these years since—is concealed by thick trees and plants and, in the spring, abundant wildflowers.
We sit side by side on the bench. The chill of the stone slowly sneaks through my layers and into my skin as I work out how in the Sun to begin. Where to start.
Nico moves to take my hand in his, catching my eye to make sure it’s okay. I give a slight smile because it’s always okay and lace my left hand with his right. He grazes my wrist with the pad of his thumb, arcing my skin back and forth. Ad astra.
The friction of his skin arcing mine sparks a tiny fire that spreads from my wrist to my chest and down to my belly, where it ignites an unsuspecting swarm of butterflies.
Heaven.
And as much as I want to avoid what must come next, bury everything deep, deep down, I force myself to jump right in because there’s no other way.
“When we were caught the other morning and you told me to run, I did. But they chased me, so I couldn’t go home and ended up at the main tunnel. Even though I was running fast as I could, they were right behind me. I was hoping to somehow lose them in the tunnel when someone stepped out of it. Dorian.”
Nico leans in, brow furrowed. “The glassmaker’s apprentice?”
“Yes. Him. When he saw what was happening, he took me down a sort of stoop. A den. A…”
“Devil’s den.”
I nod and pause a beat as Nico works over what I’m saying, putting some of the pieces together. And I see it the moment everything sparks for him. His eyes go wide and he opens his mouth, but I beat him to it.
“You can’t say anything to anyone.” Nico only stares. “Promise me, Nico. Promise me you won’t tell a soul. If anyone finds out, I would be executed. Dorian too and, I fear, that would just be the start.”
“I … Okay … I promise.”
“And, please, no snap judgments?”
He nods slowly, silently.
“No arguing or commenting until I’m finished?”
Slow nod.
“Dorian’s a member of the Night.” Nico’s expression hardens, but before he can say anything, I continue. “And they’re good, Nico. Not at all like we’ve been told.”
He releases his hand from mine. “What?”
“I know it’s hard to hear. But you have to trust me. I’ve seen it with my own eyes.”
“Then they’re putting on a good show.” He sarcastically spits the words out. “You’ve only been gone a few days, and you’ve already forgotten all they’ve done, Veda?” I’m shaking my head no. “Your parents? So many missing Basso?” He’s staring at me like I’ve lost my mind.
I fold my arms over my chest. “It wasn’t the Night.” I turn my body so I’m facing him, gaze straight into those dark eyes of his. “It was the Imperi.”
“Right.” He almost laughs the word. “If you truly believe that, you’ve been brainwashed.”
“How are you so sure?” My voice quakes, and for the first time ever, those dark eyes of his doubt me.
And maybe in this moment I doubt him.
“The Imperi takes care of us, protects us. They keep us with food and materials, health and happiness, all of that…” He trails off.
“They do that for you, Nico. For Dogio. Not so much for Basso.”
He swallows hard.
He stays quiet, staring at the pond. Then, “You’re right.”
“What?”
“We live in different worlds.” He glances toward the pond, and I can see the faintest shine of water in his eyes. “I haven’t been a good friend.”
“What?”
“No … I mean, here I am in a position of power; I should have done something long ago to help change things.”
“How could you?”
“I don’t know, Veda, I guess that’s the problem.” He looks into my eyes. “Because even I feel powerless most of the time.” Nico sighs deeply. “And if I feel like I have no control, I can’t imagine how you’ve felt. I can see how easily you could be turned against the Imperi, and I don’t fault you for that.”
“You don’t fault me?” Brow furrowed, I take a step away from him.
“I didn’t mean it like that…” He stumbles over his words. “Just that we’ve had completely different experiences. Based on that reasoning, it makes sense you don’t trust the Imperi and I do.”
“Well, your reasoning’s stupid, Denali. That’s obvious, even without the whole they’ve-been-lying-about-the-Night part.”
Nico takes me in, chest swelling with a deep breath I know is him giving up, not wanting to argue with me. “Fair enough,” he concedes, crooked smile quirking at his lips so that dimple deepens.
I smile back. “Fair enough.” I decide not to push any further. I told him all I planned to tell him. The truth (most of it).
Nico checks his hourglass. “We should get going.”
His words tug me back to reality, and I glance down at my own hourglass. “Poppy! Damn it, I promised him I’d meet him in an hour.”
“When was that?”
“Nearly an hour ago.”
I stand up and start to walk away.
“Veda?”
I stop and turn on my heels to find he’s right behind me. “Yeah?”
“I’m glad you’re home.”
“Me too.”
I take his hands in mine. But instead of holding on, clasping our fingers together like we normally would, Nico wraps his arms around the small of my back. Pulling me into his chest, our eyes connecting, unspoken words long overdue pass between us. Slowly, slowly, our mouths inch closer.
“I’ve…,” Nico breathes.
“Me too…”
Lips a mere sigh away, our foreheads touching, noses grazing, we kiss.
I stop breathing.
I realize I’ve stopped when I can taste his breath, his lips, all things Nico. He’s all warmth, mouth spiced of spearmint, one hand clutching my back, the other in my hair, twirling a long wave and then pushing it off my shoulder. My knit hat falls off as I put my arms around his neck, pulling him closer, closer, never close enough.
I’ve wanted this and evaded it for years.
Blurry. That’s what it is. Nico and I, we blur together into one. Opening my eyes I steal a glance. Instead of the satisfaction, the triumph, I expect to see, he’s hurting. His eyes are closed tight, and there’s a tear teetering in each of the corners.
Then it’s over.
The kiss, my first kiss, ends too soon.
“Nico!” a voice calls from above.
My eyes widen.
“It’s Arlen. I have to go.” He rubs his fist across his face, wiping the emotion clean in one movement.
“Oh … Right … Me too.” I’m still lost in warmth, in spearmint, in the blur of what just happened.
“I’m sure I’ll see you at the Offering.”
Before I can get another word out, he kisses me on the cheek, scales the hill, and jumps the fence.
I run nearly the whole way to the docks, and by the time I get there, I’ve missed Poppy.
He’s nowhere to be seen, but I’m able to catch the next boat, surely not far behind him.
As I stand at the front of the transport, hands gripping the wet metal railing, chilly, saltwater-laced wind whips across my face like icy needles. I stare out over choppy water, toward the dark silhouette of the Coliseum in the distance.
Another Offering.
I’m still light headed, confused as ever, and those butterflies in my stomach have turned to restless, buzzing wasps.