Page 28

Inside Paradise’s community hall, I found Bastien seated in front of a large mural, staring up at the artwork. The familiar, spiraling designs of his tattoos were displayed throughout the artwork, and I wondered what it must be like to feel such a deep connection with something you’d never seen before.

“How goes it, seeker?” I asked, repeating what Wilhelm called him. I ignored the common word from Cirian’s prophecy, squirreling that thought away for another time. I simply lacked the luxury of prophetic deciphering at the moment.

His gaze found me, his stoic contemplation melting away. “It’s… incredible, Tobias. There’s so much here that I thought was lost forever. Scattered to the wind. Before now, I had never even met another Reviled outside of my family.”

“I’m happy for you,” I said, wanting to reach for him but thinking better of it. I couldn’t be distracted from the task at hand. “Listen, something has happened, and I have to leave.”

“What?” Bastien scrambled to his feet, his brow drooping in confusion. “What are you talking about? Wilhelm is gathering the materials we need for the resurrection ritual as we speak. We shouldn’t delay it any further.”

I explained the message Azrael received and the plan to pursue Lynette.

His eyes grew wide at the news of Mother.

“But without your magic, your mother will kill you, Tobias.”

“It’s Lynette, Bastien. I have to go. I have to help her. It’s the entire reason I was there that night, to keep her from dying. If I can’t stop it from happening again, then what was the point of all this?”

“The point?” Bastien repeated, his eyes narrowing. “The point is that you deserve to live, Tobias. There are people who care about you. Lynette included. So, stop talking as if your life has no value.”

“You don’t have to sell me on the value of my life, Bastien. I remember enough to know that I harmed far more people than I ever helped. And yes, I’m terrified of facing my mother again, but I won’t stand by and let her kill my sister.”

“Please,” Bastien said, his voice suddenly pleading. “Please, Tobias. Don’t do this. Just stay with me. Let me fix this—” he takes my hand in his. “Let me fix you.”

“You can’t fix me,” I tell him, pulling my hand away gently. “I did this to myself, Bastien. I was fractured long before you ever brought me back. It’s only because of your kindness that I’ve got this second chance. And I want to spend it making sure that Lynette lives.”

He goes to argue, but I grasped him by the fabric of his sweater, pulling him closer. I kissed him, and his words melted away at the touch of my lips, the tension of his body dissolving as his arms wrapped around me, urging me even closer.

The tether, that invisible connection between us, pulled taut once more, vibrating at a frequency I swore I could hear, as his lips parted and we shared a breath between us that settled into the warm recesses of my chest.

“You can’t go now,” he whispered, clinging to me.

“I have to. But that doesn’t mean that I’m not coming back. Prep your ritual, and I promise that I’m all yours as soon as I return with Lynette.”

“Promise me,” he replied. “Promise that you’re coming back.”

“I promise.”

He nodded, pressing one last soft kiss against my lips before he released me.

I didn’t enjoy lying to him.

“Here,” he said, digging through his pockets. “I’d feel better if you held onto this.”

He handed over the green gem that had once been embedded in my chest. It sparkled in the light, the inner facets lined with shadows. He held it out to me, and I took it, but he covered my hand with both of his, muttering under his breath. The gem grew warm to the touch, Bastien’s hands surrounded by a green light.

“What are you?—”

That invisible thread pulled at my chest once more, and I was stunned to silence as a voice filled my mind. It was a familiar voice. Bastien’s voice.

“Keep him safe. Bring him back to me. Keep him safe. Bring him back to me.”

His intentions poured into the gem till it burned against my hand, and as he pulled away, I looked down to see it buried into the flesh of my palm, opposite the blue one that Cirian had given me.

“You didn’t have to do that,” I told him, cupping the side of his sweat-dampened face.

“Now you have to come back,” he said, his breath coming in small gasps.

“Bastien, I?—”

“Bastien, we’ve prepared the ritual space.” Wilhelm approached with the staccato of her shoes against the polished floor. “Are you ready to begin the preparations?”

“I’m ready,” Bastien said, giving me a slight nod. “We’ll be waiting for you, Tobias. Don’t take too long, now.”

Confusion flashed across Wilhelm’s face, but I hurried away before she could know what had transpired between us.

Heading back outside of the hall, I retraced our earlier path, finding it simple to navigate the narrow streets. The entrance had been toward the fields, so I kept that in mind with each turn, trying not to let the rising panic in my chest spur my pace.

Yes, I was heading back into the viper’s pit, but abandoning Lynette was not an option. And I wasn’t going alone. Azrael would keep me safe. A subtle warmth bloomed in my chest at the thought, but I didn’t have the opportunity to dwell on that fact as I spotted Azrael standing by the path out into the fields. He was speaking with another Unseen, this one with fiery red hair and a long scar that ran across his cheek. He nodded as Azrael spoke, then darted off back into the settlement without a word.

The authority that Azrael commanded caught me off guard sometimes. It was hard to imagine this man was the little boy I used to play with all those years ago at Chateau Greene.

The boy I had shared my first kiss with.

Now was really not the time to dwell on that.

“I’m a bit surprised to see you alone,” he said, craning his neck as if he expected someone to be hiding behind me.

“Bastien is preparing for the resurrection ritual. But he isn’t letting me take off empty-handed.” I showed him the stone embedded in the palm of my right hand, and something flashed behind his violet eyes.

“Ah, so that’s his magic I smell on you. I should have known.”

He smelled Bastien’s magic on me? I didn’t know what to do with that information.

“And to whom does that one belong?” He asked, pointing to my left hand. His warm fingers cupped my hand, drawing it upward so he could inspect it.

“Cirian, the Source’s Acolyte. He made this after rescuing me from the raid on the camp. I depleted the magic at the chateau, though, so I guess it’s merely ornamental at the moment.”

Azrael watched me, the smile on his face fading as he did. “So many lay claim to you, Tobi.” His hand dropped from mine, his thumb rising to my face to gently stroke my bottom lip. “But don’t forget, I was the first.”

A trill shot down my spine, and I shuddered away from his touch, heat blooming across my cheeks. I cursed my body’s reaction, pulling away before it could betray me further.

“Kaine is waiting up ahead,” Azrael said, pointing down the path toward where the sheer wall of the mountain rose. “Go and meet him. I’ll catch up when I can.”

“Catch up? You’re not coming with us?”

“I’ll be right behind you, Tobi. I promise. There’s just one more thing I have to take care of here before I can leave.”

Guilt swelled in my gut. Azrael was dropping everything to help Lynette—to help me—but he was still the leader of the Rebellion. His people came first.

“Okay,” I agreed.

“Right behind you,” Azrael said again, pulling me into an embrace. His strong arms enveloped me, pressing me into his firm chest. My head fit perfectly under his chin, and he rested it on my crown for just a moment, breathing in deeply. A low rumble sounded in his chest, but then he released me and strode away, back towards the settlement without another word.

The nape of my neck prickled as I gathered myself, willing my feet down the path. The rows of crops blocked my view to either side, but I was able to make out the silhouette of Kaine before long, waiting for me by the spot where the wall met the ground.

“Something tells me you’re terrible at staying in one place,” he said as I approached, a playful grin spread across his lips.

“You’re not wrong,” I muttered, rubbing at that prickling spot on the back of my neck. “Guess I ruined your dinner plans, huh?”

He snorted a laugh. “Come on, Greene. We’ve got a ways to go.”

Kaine led me on the path along the wall, and it quickly dawned on me that we weren’t traveling the way that we’d come in.

“Where are you taking me?” I asked, wincing at the suspicion I wasn’t able to keep from my voice.

Thankfully, Kaine didn’t seem offended. “There’s a faster way out of Paradise,” he explained, his pace not slowing. “It’s only one-way, however. But it’s great for a quick escape.”

I didn’t like the sound of that.

A staircase, carved from the stone of the mountain itself, rose up alongside us, and Kaine transitioned us onto it, beginning the ascent. Our position became quickly dizzying as I peered over the edge, watching the rows of crops become smaller and smaller.

My skin was flushed by the time we’d reached what I assumed was the halfway point. The stairs ended abruptly, emptying us out onto a small platform that jutted out from the wall. A lift—a primitive pulley system of ropes attached to a makeshift wooden platform—dangled over the side, two sets of levers flanking it.

“Hop on,” Kaine told me, pointing to the device.

My knees quaked under me.

“You must be joking.”

“Time’s a wasting, Greene. Get on the platform, or you can stay behind. It’s that simple.”

I wanted to scream, but instead, I stepped out onto the swinging platform, my stomach dropping as it swayed beneath me. Kaine pulled one of the levers, quickly hopping onto the platform as it began to rise, running along the sloped ceiling and transporting us even higher.

Paradise lay sprawled below us, the colorful buildings forming a grid that wove its way across the stone floor. Bastien was down there, preparing the ritual that he’d promised would restore my magic. I wish that he could be with me now, but I clenched my fist around the stone, and the warmth of his magic soothed my raw nerves.

“Have you ever seen anything more wonderous?” Kaine asked, holding onto one of the ropes attached to the lift before leaning over the edge to peer down.

I shook my head, the fear for his safety far outweighing any sense of wonder I felt at the moment. We were quickly approaching where the stone roof leveled out, the slope of the ceiling curving drastically the higher we went till we were practically moving straight up.

“We’re going to the top?” I questioned, looking above us into the dark recess of the uppermost portion of the ceiling.

“Almost,” Kaine replied, his hand resting on the lever attached to the pulley system in the middle of our lift. “Don’t worry, we’re nearly there now.”

Kaine pulled the lever a moment later, the lift coming to a shuddering stop. He reached out to a place along the stone wall, running a hand over a knob of stone that sunk into the wall with a clicking sound. As if on a hinge, a section of the wall opened up, lifting outwards.

Wind roared through the opening, buffeting us with a burst of cold air. I shielded my eyes, and Kaine fastened one of the ropes to the side of the wall, holding the lift in place.

“End of the line, Greene. Let’s get a move on.” He gives me a smile before stepping through the opening and into the night air. The stars shone brightly overhead, offering just enough light to make out my surroundings.

I followed him cautiously, finding another platform of rickety wooden planks outside. Two other Unseen were out on the platform, one holding a pair of binoculars to their face and the other taking readings from some handheld device that kept beeping incessantly. I recognized them both as members of Azrael’s group from before—the Urchins—though I hadn’t learned their names yet. I took a moment to orient myself, finding us on the side of the mountain overlooking the mortal town below. Dark buildings lit from within, spilling warm light throughout the valley below.

“Just how are we supposed to get down from here?” I asked, then immediately regretted it when I saw the contraption Kaine was fiddling with.

A line of thick braided metal hung above our heads fastened onto the rocky face of the mountain. A harness of sorts was attached to the line, and I started to piece together our trajectory.

“No,” I said to Kaine, tracing the line of metal wire until it disappeared into the night. “No way.”

“It’s the fastest way down,” Kaine said, pulling on one of the harness belts from a box on the corner of the platform. “Time is of the essence, right?”

“This is insanity!” I cried, my voice getting swallowed by another gust of wind that nearly knocked me off balance. “How long has it been since these were last used? How do we know it won’t snap, and we all fall to our doom?”

“Well, if it makes you feel better,” Kaine said, latching his belt onto the hook that hung down from the wire and giving it a tug. “I’ll be going first. If I die a horrible, painful death, then I give you explicit permission to chicken out. But when I make it, then you’ll be next.”

“Take me back down, Kaine,” I said, moving toward him. But he was already going for the edge of the platform, positioning himself for the takeoff, his cerulean eyes glinting with amusement in the dim light.

“Sorry, Greene. If you want to yell at me, you’ll have to catch me.” He tipped himself forward, allowing his body to fall over the edge of the platform. The line on the harness went taut, the sound of the wheel moving on the metal wire zipping loudly. He rocketed away from us, howling with laughter and disappearing quickly into the darkness over Brierwood.

“I’ve got eyes on him,” the other Unseen with the binoculars said. “He’s going to hit the first brake in three… two… one… There he goes. He’s almost at the bottom now.”

Was it really that quick? It had only been a few seconds.

“Success,” the Unseen with the binoculars said. The other Unseen—with flaming red hair that matched the one I’d seen talking with Azrael back in the settlement—typed something into the device he held, then nodded as if he were logging data. Then he turned to me, his eyes the same fiery red, and said, “You’re up next.”

I wanted to jump back through the cavern door, but that wouldn’t solve any of my problems in the long term.

“There’s a harness over there,” the redhead pointed out. “Let me know if you need help getting it on.”

The other Unseen snorted a laugh, and the redhead slapped his shoulder with an open hand.

“Don’t blame me, you git. You’re the one who said it.”

The two continued squabbling like children while I convinced myself that leaping off a mountain was a good idea.

I grabbed a harness from the box, taking a moment to figure out exactly what parts went where. Once it was on, the redhead came to double-check my work, tugging on a few spots to ensure that the fit was tight enough.

“Kaine will be at the bottom to catch you,” the redhead told me. “Try not to kick him in the process.”

“What if he really deserved it?” I asked, humor distracting me momentarily from the paralyzing panic running through my veins.

Staring up at the wire that ran above my head, I reminded myself that this was for Lynette. If our roles were reversed, I knew she would brave far worse for me. And with that, I swallowed my fears, stepped up onto the edge of the platform, and cast off.

Wind deafened me as I struggled to hold my head up against the buffeting force. My skin was peppered with stinging impacts of what I could only assume were insects, and I clamped my mouth shut even tighter, determined not to swallow the entrails of the creatures I was eviscerating with my descent. My hands ached as I clung to the rope connecting my harness to the cable. After a few moments of disorientation, I seemed to level out, and I risked cracking an eye open to check on my progress. Below, the quiet town of Brierwood was still quite small, but I was close enough to make out the headlights from vehicles, and the chiming of the clocktower by city hall. I wondered if they could see me, too, rocketing through the sky high above. If I carried a light, would they think I was a shooting star? How many wishes would go wasted on the likes of me?

I was almost to the point of enjoyment with my ride when I hit the first of the brakes, the arrested momentum hurling my feet forward and up till I was upside down, the soles of my shoes turned toward the sky. Rocking back, I continued the descent in bursts, hitting brake after brake till my feet were almost skimming the tops of trees below me. Darkness overtook me as I cleared the tree tops, zipping down toward the pitch-black forest floor and finally coming to a stop dangling above a wooden platform attached to the trunk of a tree.

Kaine was there, holding a lantern as he waited for me, an amused grin displaying his fangs.

“Wasn’t that fun?”

I stared daggers at him. “Get me down. Now.”

He laughed as he unfastened the harness, giving me little warning as it suddenly gave, dumping me out on my ass.

“Ooo, sorry about that. Good thing you’ve got some cushion to break your fall.”

Was he commenting on my ass now? I needed to get away from this maniac in a hurry. When would Azrael be back?

The other two Urchins zipped in a few minutes later, wearing a tandem harness. The redhead—Irwin, Kaine called him—and the one with dark hair shaved close to his head.

“Grab the bikes, Reed,” Kaine told the dark-haired one as he tossed a rope ladder down from the platform. “And leave Azrael’s alone. You know how he gets if anyone touches his things.”

Reed’s eyes flickered to me for a moment, then he let out a hearty laugh, disappearing down the ladder.

What was that about?

“Irwin, we’re headed for the City. Go ahead and make a call to the scouts in the area to see if they’ve got any updates.”

“Aye, Kaine.” Irwin vaulted over the railing of the platform, ignoring the ladder altogether.

Kaine sighed, shaking his head. “Those two are going to be the death of me,” he muttered, reaching a hand down to help me up.

“Did you say bikes?” I asked him, my voice colored with confusion. “Wouldn’t it be faster just to catch the train?"

Kaine merely laughed again, dropping down onto the rope ladder and descending with a speed and grace I would never hope to achieve, even if I had two working shoulders. Clumsily, I followed suit, my foot getting caught only twice as he watched me from the ground, his expression bordering on leering.

“This way,” he said, beckoning me to follow him.

We were outside of the town, trees towering overhead, taller than most of the buildings I’d seen there. Kaine led me out onto a worn path through the leaves and underbrush, his footing confident, even in the darkness. We moved in silence for a few minutes, but my curiosity got the better of me, so I made the most of the time we had.

“You’ve known Azzy—Azrael—for a while, yeah?”

“More than a while,” he replied.

“Were you the one who found him? When he was on the street, I mean.”

Kaine glanced over his shoulder at me. “Yeah, I was.”

“How was he? When you found him, I mean.”

He stops then, turning to face me. The playful smile he usually wore had faded, and when he spoke, his words were all fangs, sharp as a warning. “He was a child, Greene. How do you think he was?”

I swallowed down the next question, giving a slight nod.

Kaine resumed his way down the path, his steps heavy as the atmosphere around us had grown. Thunder rumbled in the distance and I couldn’t help but imagine Azrael, cold and alone on the streets because of a foolish decision I made.

I would make it up to him should my second life continue past what lay ahead.

Before the rain could set in, we happened upon Irwin, who stood leaning against a tree, a bar of chocolate between his lips. Beside him, three motorbikes stood in a row, each more ghastly in appearance than the last. They looked as though they’d been made from a scrap heap, with rust spreading across the majority of the surfaces.

“There you are, Kaine. We were about to send a search party,” Irwin teased, his bottom lip covered in melted chocolate.

“Greene here isn’t used to all this hiking back and forth,” Kaine explained, walking over to the larger of the three bikes. “I’ll have to thank Azrael for saddling me with babysitting duties.”

Reed shimmered into existence beside Irwin, the glimmering magic fading from his tanned skin as he said, “The path to the road is clear. We shouldn’t have any trouble.”

Peering through the branches above, I eyed the swelling grey clouds. “And we’re sure the train isn’t an option?”

“Aw,” Irwin hopped on the smaller of the two remaining bikes, kicking the engine to life. “He’s afraid to get a little wet.”

I shoot him a look. “I’m not afraid of rain. I’m wary of skidding off the road on one of those death contraptions.”

“Good thing you’re not driving, then,” said Kaine, patting the space on the long seat behind him.

“Gods, save me.”

Climbing onto the bike, I did my best to maintain a polite distance between Kaine and me, but as the engine rumbled to life and the bike kicked off, my arms wrapped around his waist to keep me from flying off the back.

Irwin howled with laughter as he took off past us, the trees streaking by in shadowy smudges. Behind, I could hear the engine of Reed, who seemed to be the most reserved of the trio, but even he was smiling when I chanced a glance back at him.

Once we left the woods behind, hitting the paved road that led away from the quiet mortal town, Kaine took point, revving the engine as our speed climbed and climbed. The wind whipping past my ears was the only thing I could hear, and as we reached the open road, the sting of raindrops against my skin felt like electricity biting into me.

Lightning streaked across the sky, lighting the way for us in spurts. The rumbling thunder indiscernible from the rumbling engine beneath me as I clung to Kaine, burying my face into his back to escape the painful impact of the rain.

The ride would be long and grueling if this rain persisted, however, when we reached our destination, Death may very well be waiting to greet me.

If these were to be the moments leading up to my finale, I couldn’t have asked for a more dramatic backdrop.

Loosening my grip on Kaine’s waist, I lifted my head from his back, squinting into the streams of stinging rain. Each collision reminded me I was alive. I was still here, no matter what happened, no matter what memories still lurked beyond the chaos of my mind.

I was alive.

Spreading my arms wide, they caught the wind as it rushed by. And in the next rumble of thunder, I let loose a howl of my own from the very depths of my soul, crying along with the heavens.

I was alive. At least for the time being.