My soul swells as I glide back to earth. Donning all my clothing aside from my shoes, I meander along the shore. My toes squish in the damp sand, leaving sunken footprints in my wake. More of those glistening green and gold stones shimmer, washed over with water and foam. I scoop one up and it looks like colored glass. It could almost be . . .
Hold the phone, is this mirrorglass? I examine the stone, holding it up to my eye and inspecting it in the light. Oh my chronicles, it is. But isn’t mirrorglass rare? I whirl. There must be hundreds of stones on this beach, if not more. They cover this Reflection. They’re in the steps. The walls and floors.
I toss the stone into the air, then chuck it across the water. It skip, skip, skips over the surface.
“I didn’t know you could do that.”
“Hey, Ebony.” I don’t jump at her presence or cringe when she stands beside me, feet bare like mine. “Mom taught me. We used to go down to the Hudson when I was little. We’d skip stones and feed the ducks.”
“My mother never did anything like that with me.” The sadness whispered in her words tugs at my core. “We never just had fun, you know?”
I snatch a couple more stones. Hand one over. “Wanna learn?” Maybe there is something I can teach her after all.
Ebony shrugs. “Whatever. The party felt crowded. I’ve got nothing better to do.”
I should be offended. But I’m not. Because this is her best attempt at a compliment. I take it as such and we stay that way awhile. Skipping stones long after stars dot the night sky. Soon it becomes a game, and we keep score of whose stone bounces farthest. We laugh and talk. At first she’s standoffish, but then the wall tumbles. Guess we’re more alike than I thought. She puts up a front. Guards herself until she feels safe enough to let someone in.
I ask about Tide.
“He’s different.” Her lips perk. Eyes crinkle. She’s so much prettier without all that makeup. “He doesn’t take any of my crud. I like that.”
Inquire about Khloe.
“She’s the first person to just accept me, you know?” Another toss. It’s the farthest stone she’s thrown. Go, Eb! “No questions asked. She knows who I am and that’s okay.”
I question her vast knowledge of things well beyond her years. The Callings. Reflections. Projecting and the Void and the Verity.
She shrugs. “My mother passed on everything she knew to me. It was always ‘You can do more. You can be better.’ And ‘For the Void, Ebony, why can’t you be more like me?’” She mimics Isabeau’s cool tone. Even her stance alters to mirror that of the woman I’ve only met once. “Even when my Shield abilities surpassed those of my peers, when I began to learn to project and find strength in the Verity long before my Confine lifted, it was still never enough.” Her shoulders relax. She flings another stone at the waves.
I nod. Listen. Was it less than two weeks ago I loathed her? Weird how quickly things change.
“It’s what I keep telling you, Em. When something’s right it simply happens.”
Ky’s voice in my head warms me like the Verity. But then, no, not in my head. Breath at my ear. Hands at my waist.
Ebony smirks. “I’ll leave you two alone.” She faces me. “Thanks.” Then she does the weirdest thing ever.
My sister hugs me.
And I hug her back.
It’s awkward and distant, but a hug all the same. She pulls away and trudges up the beach, back toward the music and festivities.
“This is perfect,” Ky breathes in my ear. “You. Me. No one around.”
My entire body flutters as if I’m still in butterfly form. I turn into him. Wrap my arms around his torso. Press my cheek into his chest. “Where’d you run off to earlier?”
His arms tighten around me. “The Threshold.”
I draw back a few inches. Gaze up at him.
“The most recent quake left it completely drained. Looks like Niagara Falls on the other side of the island. Ambrose has had to send Guardians to hinder anyone from venturing too close. If they fell in, who knows where they’d end up.”
The weight on his shoulders is tangible. I want to grasp it, lift it away.
“We’ve no time to waste. The quakes become more frequent and severe each time. We have to move if we want to guarantee passage into the Fifth.”
I lay my head on his chest again. He sways me, tightening his embrace once more. Does he feel it too? That these moments of peace and calm could be the last we ever share? What awaits us in the Fifth? How long will it take to find Dahlia Moon? What if we can’t find her? Where do we go from there?
With each Calling that dwindles, the Verity within strengthens. I strengthen. But what happens when the final Calling dies? What happens if the Void continues to spread inside me? Which will win? Light or darkness? It’s a battle against time. Destroy the Void before it snuffs out the Verity.
My mind drifts back to a time when things were less complicated. When my biggest worries were hiding my complexion and avoiding bullies like Blake Trevor. It seems so far away now. Trivial. Were those really my main concerns? I allowed such things to consume me. An unkind word or mean look ruined my day. Why couldn’t I enjoy the good parts and let the little things go? Like having Mom to come home to each day. Like having Joshua right next door. Carefree. Happy. Void-less. There are moments I wish I could return to. To truly enjoy what I had. But it’s too little too late now. All I have is today.
I crane my neck. Watch Ky. He doesn’t notice the change at first, continues to sway with eyes closed to the beat of the tune he composed inside his head.
“I also tracked down the countess and inquired about the mirrorglass crown.”
I reach behind me. The journal is still shoved into the back of my jeans. I almost forgot I had it. It’s become like a second skin lately. “Did Ambrose know anything?”
“No more than we do. She agreed the crown might have something to do with the domino effect on the Callings and Thresholds.”
“Anything else?”
His lips press together. “Like my blade, all mirrorglass has a reverse effect. I’d wager, and the countess concurred, when David wore the crown it kept the Void inside him dormant. When the crown was removed and transferred to you, he may as well have undammed a flood. In the end it’s all about choice. Whatever he’s doing, his love for you, the Verity’s vessel, is not stronger than the Void he’s allowing to flourish inside him.”
My heart is a thousand mirrorglass pebbles scattered across the shore. How could Joshua allow this to happen? He’s always been the one to put everyone else above himself. What could possibly be going through his mind?
“I don’t know, Em.” Ky breathes against my hair. “And I hate to say this because I know what he means to you, but David is the least of our concerns. Right now all we can do is press forward.”
He’s right. I know he’s right. It’s what the Joshua I used to know would do. And he’d expect me to behave the same. Put aside everything else and focus on what must be done.
“If we leave early,” Ky says, “we can be at the Fifth’s Threshold before nightfall tomorrow. The Seven Seas is still in the Third with the rest of our crew. But Isaach has offered to allow us to return on his ship with him.”
Except I can’t put this aside. This moment. Here. With Ky.