Page 19

ONE OF EVERYTHING

GRACE

“ T his isn’t the way we came in,” I say.

We walk down a cobblestone road, leading away from the manor and in the opposite direction of the lookalike university.

We’re alone, surrounded by rocky earth on either side and a massive mountain in the distance before us.

It’s hard to see from here, but I think there’s a town at its base.

“I didn’t realize you were paying attention,” he says.

“It might have been blurry, but there was nothing else to do,” I say. “Seeing how you paralyzed me.”

“Hells,” he says, scoffing under his breath. “Can we not fight already? We’ve barely left the manor. I thought you’d be happy .”

“I’m never happy when I’m with you,” I say.

It’s not entirely true. This is the closest I’ve felt to happiness since arriving in the Echo. I’ve spent far too long within the walls of the manor, especially in my own cell. The glimpse of the courtyard had been nice, but it was too chaotic to enjoy it.

“So why aren’t we going back that way?” I ask .

There had been food stands and little shops. They were far closer to county fair booths than stores, but still.

“Too dangerous,” Sebastian says. He frowns at me, as if gauging whether I’m truly curious or snooping.

He should know by now…the answer is both .

“The witches might sense you,” he says after a pause. “It’s unlikely, but not worth the risk.”

I don’t know how to respond to that, so I don’t. We walk in silence for several minutes, and I breathe in the air. It’s fresh, but still not quite right.

“The air here is weird,” I tell him. “It’s different than in the real world.”

“The real world?” he asks. He has a possessive hand on my lower back, pressed against the thick fabric of my borrowed clothes. We’re matching now, wearing long black coats made of heavy wool. If we were in Aberlena, where people I knew might see me, I’d be mortified.

For now, I’m just happy to be warm. The sun is still out, but we probably only have ten minutes left of daylight. Soon, the sun will fall behind the horizon, leaving us in darkness and frigid wind.

“Yeah,” I say. “That nice, pleasant place you stole me from? Have you already forgotten it?”

“This is also the real world,” he states. He keeps a careful watch on our surroundings, looking behind us every few steps. “And the air is no different from yours.”

“It is different,” I insist. “It smells funky…like burnt hair.”

He glances down at me, arching an eyebrow.

“I’m surprised you can smell that,” he says. He nods toward the mountains. “It’s the dragons. I didn’t figure you’d scent it. Most mortals can’t.”

My steps falter, and I lurch to a stop .

“I’m sorry, dragons ?” I stare at him in disbelief. “You’re kidding, right?”

“Come,” he says. He forces me forward with the press of his hand. “We need to put as much distance between us and that manor before nightfall. My men have instructions to stay put for the night, but someone might decide to test it. I’d rather not have to slaughter anyone in front of you.”

“Because they’d try to kill me?” I ask. Now I’m the one who looks behind us.

The manor stands in bleak magnificence, more like a castle than a mansion. Its dark stones are framed by the dying light of the sunset, and farther, by rows of houses.

“Yes, they’d try to kill you,” Sebastian confirms. “And I figure you’d be in a sour mood if you had to pick clothes while covered in blood.”

He’s not wrong, but I don’t tell him that. We walk for another five minutes in silence. The sun dips lower behind the mountains, staining the sky orange and purple. It’d be pretty, if I weren’t so busy scanning the clouds for freaking dragons.

“So, there are vampires,” I say. I tuck Sebastian’s coat tighter around myself, shivering against the wind. “There are witches. Spider-people things called Nectoa. There are, supposedly, dragons. What else should I fear in this place?”

“Everything,” Sebastian says. He releases a long breath as the sun finally loses its battle in the sky.

The world darkens, and Sebastian shrugs off his coat.

He wordlessly drapes it over my shoulders.

“We’ve got one of everything in this damned place.

If you ever find yourself alone, don’t trust anyone or anything.

There are few creatures that wouldn’t like to devour you, in one way or another. ”

I swallow. I look back to the manor, but it’s disappeared from view .

“We’ll run the rest of the way,” he says. He holds his arms toward me, as if he honestly expects me to leap into them.

“I don’t want to be carried.” I scowl, stepping out of his touch. “This is the first time I’ve been outside in, like, a year. Let me enjoy it.”

“It’ll take us two days at this speed,” he says. He closes the distance, hand finding my back again. “Trust me, there will be plenty for you to explore in the Flight Realm.”

“Flight Realm,” I repeat. I eye the mountains. “How many realms are there?”

“Four or five, depending on who you ask,” he says. He tilts his head at me, once again holding out his arms.

“I’m asking you,” I say. Not because I care what he specifically thinks, but because I can tell all this talk is irritating him.

I smile, watching his fingers twitch as they fall back to his sides.

“Four realms, one neutral territory,” he says.

“We’re in the Night Realm now. Flight Realm is by the mountains.

Day Realm is to the southeast. Float Realm is in the southwest. It’s mostly the ocean, but part of the shore, too.

Neutral territory is at the center. That’s where we came in. The humans live there.”

“Humans?” I ask, unable to hide my surprise. “There are humans here?”

“Of course,” he says. This time, he scoops me up without waiting for permission. I gasp, and he grins down at me. “What do you think we eat?”

Before I can reply, we’re moving, and the world blurs around us in streaks of darkness.

Once Sebastian stops, he returns me to my feet. I shove a foot of distance between us and hunch forward, hands braced on my knees. Even though I’m standing still, the world spins for another thirty seconds. I suck deep, steady breaths into my lungs, until finally, I’m centered again.

I’m still bent over when Sebastian moves to my side. His hand is back, centered just above my waist. When I look at him, his eyes aren’t on me. Instead, he’s scanning our surroundings.

The nearest mountain peak, which was miles away only a few minutes ago, now blots the sky to the east. It rises over us and the quaint town at its base. Village might be a more accurate term. Whatever you’d call it, this place is vastly different from Sebastian’s Night Realm.

There, the buildings are dark stone, covered in gnarled ivy and looking older than time itself.

Here, the architecture is simple. The buildings are made of stucco and pale clay, each one topped with a flat yellow roof.

They’re impossible to distinguish, even up close, and they look flimsy enough to be taken out by strong wind.

There’s little landscaping in the surrounding area, and I’m convinced this place is long-abandoned.

“Stay at my side,” Sebastian says. It’s a command, rough and low, spoken directly against my ear. “Speak to no one. If we are separated, find your way back to the manor. Tell no one who—or what—you are.”

“Hard to tell someone who I am when I’m forbidden from speaking,” I say. My words are more snarled than spoken, but Sebastian doesn’t react.

“Let’s go,” he says. He guides me into the village, and we walk in silence.

I don’t know where, exactly, the Night Realm became the Flight Realm.

The cobblestone road has long faded though, leaving us to walk along a path of flattened dirt.

The nearby mountains are lively. I can see sparse trees and hear the distant caw of birds.

Here, at its base, we’re standing in a lifeless desert.

“This is Hava,” Sebastian says.

There are no numbers on the buildings. No street signs. Nothing at all to indicate where we are or what we’re looking at. Despite this, Sebastian strides forward with his typical, unflinching confidence.

I suppose that comes with being immortal.

“Hava is one of very few places within the Echo that tolerates my kind,” he says.

He leads us down an unmarked street, sticking close to the nearest buildings.

With one hand still on my back, the other glides along the stucco walls to his right.

“Most have no qualms with killing us. Here, we’re safe, so long as we arrive with full stomachs and heavy pockets. ”

“It looks…quiet,” I say. I scan the empty street in front of us. I haven’t seen anyone—or even a sign of life—since we arrived. For all the wagons, there are no horses. There are no people. There aren’t even lights in the endless stretches of buildings.

“It’s freshly nightfall,” Sebastian explains.

“Ever since the curse, this whole world closes its doors once the vampires come out to play. Hundreds, thousands of us, all coming out to feed with the dipping sun. It’s too dangerous for Hava to be alive yet.

They won’t open their doors until near daylight.

By then, my men should be sated, and the Flight Realm should be safe. ”

“You’re saying people are in all these houses,” I say. I sweep our surroundings again. I’m relying mostly on moonlight to see. The nearest lit windows seem miles away, pressed high into the mountainside, rather than here .

“Yes,” Sebastian says.

“I’m surprised the vampires don’t just break into their houses,” I say. “Rip their throats out and feed.”

I’m fishing, and I’m sure Sebastian can tell. If he can, he doesn’t seem bothered.

“Some of your human myths are based in fact,” he says. His mouth slants into an easy smile. “Vampires must be invited by the property owner. No invitation, no entry. It’s why I needed your landlord.”