When they’re out of earshot and eyesight, I say, “Give us a minute, Song.” I don’t look at Wren. Neither does David.
She hesitates but obeys, taking off after no one. Once a loner, always a loner.
When we’re without an audience, I say, “So you’re back.”
David nods. “I cannot tell you for how long. It’s all I can do to focus on speaking. I’ve been screaming to be heard for days.”
I understand. More than he knows.
“How did you break through?” Khloe was my motivation back then. Now Em’s been added to the mix, only making my wall against the darkness stronger.
My brother looks away.
So. He thought of her. The battle with Josh may be ending, but the war for Em has just begun.
“What do you propose?” David shifts topics. “I am here, and I can help. How do we reach Eliyana?”
I hate the way he says her name. As if they share a secret she and I will never have. I don’t dare waste my time by questioning his motive to work with me. Em is the obvious reason. We’ll worry about the logistics of our complicated connections to each other later.
“Well, now we know the Fountain of Time isn’t actually in the Garden,” I say. “We don’t necessarily need to venture there.” Maybe. Maybe not. “I suspect the place everything began is still where we’ll end up. But, for now, we continue on the same path toward the nearest wormhole. That’s the only way to get to Em.”
The way he cringes at my nickname for her is oddly satisfying. David nods, though I’ve studied him well enough to know—he doesn’t fully trust my risk-and-chances plan. Of course, he also isn’t aware I hold a secret weapon. He’ll find out soon enough.
And if the Garden does play a role in the end? Our entrance still depends on the Verity’s vessel. I’d wager Dimitri didn’t enter of his own accord. He penned The Scrib’s Fate. Of course he’d want to paint himself in the purest light possible. Still, I believe the Verity saw him before he entered. I could be wrong, but is it so unfathomable that the Verity was also the Dragon? With as many forms as Isabeau seems able to take, I wouldn’t doubt it’s only with permission from the Verity’s vessel that one is allowed within the Garden’s hedges. With her by our side, nothing will be impossible.
“If Josh returns,” he says, cutting through my musings, “swear to me you will take necessary measures to ensure he never nears her.”
I exhale. I’m hesitant to fill him in, but Khloe’s right. I do know how to be a brother. I promised Makai I’d try. Here goes. “If Josh rears his ugly head again, we’ll wait until you find your way back. There’s no you or him. It’s just a matter of which side you will choose. Even Eliyana, the pure heart chosen by the Verity, has a little darkness in her. The Verity chose you before. It’s chosen me as well. Pure of heart doesn’t mean without darkness, Brother. It means a desire for the light.”
“Now you sound like Nathaniel.”
If I didn’t know better, I’d believe that was a compliment. I don’t acknowledge it. Stuff like that is better left unspoken between men.
We begin walking in the direction Tide and the two girls ran. No need to find Song. She’ll show up in the morning, chipper as ever.
David exhales. “The Void? What will become of it when all is said and done?”
I shrug. “The Void was created by a broken heart. I can only imagine Isabeau wishes to save herself from that very fate. But, unlike us, her intentions are selfish. There’s no knowing what she’s planning at this point. We’re kind of shooting in the dark here.”
“The Fairy Queen is the dark. Her heart is permanently black.”
“Not even death is permanent.” Any heart can be redeemed. I glance at David, then think of Ebony, who once held as much hatred toward Em as Isabeau harbors for Em’s mom. If we ever discover what really happened that day in the Garden, not from Dimitri’s perspective but from the Verity’s, we may be able to reach Isabeau’s heart beyond the walls she’s constructed around it.
Then, perhaps, she not only can forgive but will finally learn to love.
ACT III
Do I Love You Because You’re Beautiful?
TWENTY-THREE
Ebony
Well, isn’t this a lovely little pickle we’ve gotten ourselves into? Alone at night in Nabka Forest with a Mask who can’t transform outside water, a Shield whose Calling can only go so far as to protect us from the climate, and a Magnet who could only make things worse with rain pour.
Perfect. Just peachy. Great plan, Ebony. Lead your group into certain death, why don’t you?
What form do I take? I’m not much help either, am I? A Shield who’s not really a Shield. How pathetic. Oh sure, I could make myself look like Jasyn Crowe himself, but where would that get us?
Yeah. That’s what I thought. No and where.
“Maybe we ought to ask for directions.” Oh, Stormy, our chipper sunshine and rainbows girl. Want me to get you some pom-poms, honey? You can shimmy and shake us out of here in no time.
Okay, that was mean, even for you, Ebony.
I’m sorry, but a lot of stress comes with taking the lead. Usually I just boss people around, tell them what to do without having to suffer any consequences. But this? Even if nothing happens to me, these three get the sour end of the deal, don’t they? Soooo supportive now, but what will they say when we’re still lost in a few hours? I know people, and one thing you can count on? They turn on you the minute things go wrong.
Money back guaranteed.
“Too bad you can only change into different humans.” Leave it to Khloe to remind me of my limits. “Otherwise you could become a bird and scope out the land from above.”
“Maybe we should stop. Take a breather. None of this is familiar. We might’ve taken a wrong turn somewhere.” Tide attempts to take my hand.
I fidget with my bang-braid, pretending not to notice another one of his way-too-sweet-to-be-happening-to-me moves. Don’t misunderstand, plenty of guys have tried to make a move, but my hand was not their body part of choice. No way does this super nice and sweet and somewhat normal guy truly like me. Maybe I’m intriguing now. Oh yeah, I’m all mysterious and whatever. But eventually he’ll come across a girl without a tainted past and zero attitude. The kind of girl he can take home. A girl who doesn’t come with baggage.
I’m so not that girl.
He jogs past, then flips around to face us. “We’ve been walking since sunup.”
Has it really been a day since we left Nitegra Compound? How far have the others gotten? Did they find Nabka Threshold? Was Ky’s plan to travel through a wormhole successful?
“This looks like as good a place as any to settle down and gain our bearings. Start fresh in the morning.” Hands on his hips and chest puffed, Tide appears as if he could start crowing at any moment. “We can eat and get a fire going. What do you girls say?” He crouches, patting a soft-looking patch of grass with the hand that tried to hold mine. Guess Stormy isn’t the only one whose outlook is sunny-side up.
“We don’t even know where we are. You said you knew the way, when clearly you’re just as lost as we are.” Now my hands are on my hips. I’m a replica of how he stood moments ago. Except I’m being realistic and he’s off in Neverland. “Are we even in Nabka Forest still?”