I swing back with an elbow. Miss. Then I lose my hold on his sword arm and—
Warmth spills over my back. His weight disappears just before I’m yanked back to my feet. Aren steadies me as the remnant’s soul-shadow rises into the air.
“Back to the wall,” he grates out.
“They’re here,” I tell him, turning toward the gate.
Aren follows my gaze, curses, then fissures out.
“Get back to the wall!” Naito shouts, showing up at my side, but I’m useless there. I need to be close to read the shadows.
“Map the shadows of the injured fae,” I tell him. When fae are hurt, they instinctively fissure to locations they’re most familiar with. They might fissure home or, if we’re lucky, back to the remnants’ base of operations.
Naito protests, but I don’t listen. I catch the attention of the three nearest rebels and order them to cover me as I run toward the gate.
I lose one of my escorts on the way. He doesn’t enter the ether, but he’s hurt. I have to fight the urge to help him. Keep running.
“Paige!” I shout when I’m less than twenty feet from her. She looks my way. So does the remnant who’s with her.
Shit. It’s the fae from the corridor, the one who was supposed to be replacing the guard Lee knocked out. I’m an idiot. A complete and utter idiot.
It has to be Tylan. He’s pushing her forward, toward the blur at the edge of the river. I won’t reach them before they fissure out so I open my sketchbook and drop to my knees.
This is always the hardest part of reading the shadows. I have to ignore the strikes of metal against metal and the shouts and cries of the fae. I have to block everything out, open to a blank page, and lock my gaze on the fae approaching the gate. I grab my pencil, putting all my faith in the rebels who are protecting me.
A fissure splits through the air, but it’s next to the gate, not over it, and a fae steps out of it, not into it. I squint across the distance, focusing on the newcomer’s face and…
And it’s Kavok, the archivist. What the hell is he doing here?
I glance up at the sky, blinking as the hail continues to fall. Kavok is doing this? He’s fully capable of calling this storm, but he’s…He’s…
He dips his hand into the river.
He’s betraying us.
I have no time to let that soak in or to contemplate his motive; he steps into the gated-fissure with Lee. Shadows replace the extinguished slash of light, and I draw a long, curving line down the right side of the page. It hooks up toward the middle. A peninsula. They’re somewhere near its eastern coast. I’m guessing it’s Brith until I realize I’m not drawing the Realm. This is—
I can’t block out the remnant who fissures in front of my nose. He’s so close, he steps out of the light and onto my sketch. No rebel is near enough to intercept his attack.
I throw myself to the left, dropping my shoulder and rolling even though I know it’s too late. Only, it’s not too late. Something hits the remnant, spinning him around and throwing him so off-balance he loses his grip on his sword.
A fissure opens behind him. Lena steps out, crouches, then stabs upward, sliding her blade in beneath the remnant’s cuirass. The fae goes pale an instant before his soul-shadow replaces his body.
“Finish it,” she orders, taking up a defensive position to my right. She so shouldn’t be out here, but I grab my sketchbook, pulling it back in front of me, then find Kavok and Lee’s shadows again. They’re fading. My map won’t be very accurate.
Before I draw another line, Paige steps through those wispy shadows, escorted by Tylan, who dips his hand into the river, opening a fissure of his own.
I rip the page out of my sketchbook, start a new map when they disappear. I’m not even halfway through it when the sketchbook is whipped out from in front of me.
I look up, see Naito standing there. What? Does he want to be the one to map the shadows? He’s not as good at it as I am, but he might be good enough.
He doesn’t start drawing, though. He just stands there staring down at me.
“Naito,” Lena says, pulling her sword free from another remnant. “What are you doing?”
“It’s okay,” Naito says.
“What’s okay?” I ask, climbing back to my feet. If he’s not going to draw the shadows, I need to. Now. They’re going to fade away if I don’t.
I try to take back my sketchbook, but he holds on.
“McKenzie,” he says, keeping his voice low. “Kavok found a fae who can bring her back.”
“He found a…” A banek’tan, he called it. A fae who can bring Kelia back from the ether.
“He’s been helping me research. He traced the lineages. He found someone who can resurrect her, but he won’t give me the name unless they all make it out.”
“Finish the map.” Aren’s here now. He yanks back the sketchbook, shoves it into my hands.
“Don’t do it,” Naito says. His voice is low. It holds a warning I’d have to be deaf not to hear.
Could Kavok be telling the truth? Is this just desperation on Naito’s part? It’s clear he believes it. God, I want to believe it, too.
“McKenzie!” Aren snaps.
I stare back at the shadows. Shit, they’re almost gone. I drop to my knees again, start to draw a bend in a river, and then Naito loses it.
“I’ll kill you!” he snarls as he leaps at me. “I’ll fucking kill you if you read them!”
Naito’s almost on top of me when Lena steps between us. A slight wave of her hand, and a gust of wind changes his trajectory. He crashes to the ground just two paces in front of me. He’s blocking the middle of the fading shadows, but Tylan’s taken Paige to the same place Kavok took Lee. I’ve seen enough of both to finish the sketch.
“Please!” Naito screams. The desperation in his voice rips at my heart. I know how much he loves Kelia. He’ll do anything to bring her back. I’d do almost anything to help him.
I watch as the last wisp of shadow disappears. It’s been too long since Kavok fissured out. Aren won’t be able to capture him; he’ll have to kill him. What if a fae really can do what Kavok claims?
I want to let them escape. I want a fae to bring back Kelia. I want her and Naito to have their happy ending.
But I can’t put that before everything else.
“Coen.” The city’s name is just a whisper, but it’s loud enough for Aren and the nearby rebels to hear. They fissure out, going to the west coast of Australia.
“No!” Naito yells.
Lena places her hands on his shoulders, shakes him. “Look at me, Naito. Look at me! No one can bring fae back from the ether. Those books you read? Everyone knows about them. They’re fables. They’re fairy tales, Naito. Kelia is dead, just like Sethan is. Kavok tricked you.”
“No.”
“She’s not coming back, Naito. I’m sorry. I’m so sorry.”
“No.” This time, the word cracks into a sob. I’ve never seen Lena do anything remotely tender, but she pulls Naito into her arms, holding him as he cries.
TWENTY-ONE
THE HAIL STORM dispersed as soon as Kavok fissured out. A bright sun lights up the sky now, but it does little to warm the air. I’m waiting with Trev for Aren at the silver wall. Naito’s here, too, staring at the ground. He hasn’t said much since Paige and the others escaped, just that Kavok approached him this morning, offering the name of a banek’tan in exchange for help breaking Tylan out of prison. Tylan wouldn’t leave without Paige, though, and the remnants need Lee if they want to get the Sight serum.