Nil on Fire (45 page)

Getting Zane across was brutal. Keeping his ankle out of the water, trying to keep him upright. But after repeated efforts and a few near-epic fails, Thad, Lana, and I succeeded in getting him across the water. Zane didn't even pass out, which was impressive, because his ankle looked like it'd been smashed between two boulders, which essentially, Thad told me, it had.

Half dragging, half pushing, the three of us even managed to get Zane back up the cliff. We eased him to the ground, then we collapsed, catching our breath. Nothing and no one was around. Just us, panting, and Nil, listening.

My mouth was dry. From thirst, from dread.

“What happened?” I asked Thad quietly. Lana and Zane lay just to our left. “Why were you guys so far south?”

“Zane thought he heard someone. It started at South Beach on our first day out, and we ended up following the voice all the way back to the City. No one was there. Then we turned around, now a full day behind. This morning, Zane started hearing a voice again. A different one, but still. I couldn't convince him it wasn't real.”

“Sounds familiar. Calvin heard voices too. But we never found anyone.”

Thad hesitated. “We didn't either. At first I wasn't sure, because I thought I heard it too. But then—” He glanced at Zane. “He wouldn't listen. He was frantic. We could barely keep up with him. We were at the base of this cliff when that tremor hit, and we were trapped. I don't remember that much lava being here before, but man, there's a river of it now. The rocks shifted so fast, some slid down. Zane slipped, he went flying. When he fell, he messed up his ankle and knocked himself out.” Thad shook his head. “On the upside, he's not hearing the voice anymore.” He shrugged. “Maybe he knocked Nil out of his head, eh?”

“Maybe.”
Concussions as a Nil antidote? More like a Nil side effect
, I thought.

I knelt beside Zane. “You hanging in there, Z?”

“You know it, Chief.” He smiled, then winced. “Sorry I screwed this up. But I really thought I heard him.” Pain rippled across his face like a shadow. “And I couldn't have left him hanging if it was him.”

“Who?”

“Sy.” Zane gave a pained laugh. “But it wasn't him. And I almost walked straight into lava thinking I was seeing Sy. That he was calling for me, for help. Seriously, I nearly barbecued myself. The quake actually saved me. Talk about screwed up.” He sighed, his eyes wide open. “Now Garrett doesn't seem so crazy.”

“Where
is
Garrett?” I glanced around. I'd forgotten all about the rookie.

“He died,” Lana whispered. “It was awful.”

“What?” I stared at her.

“Rives.” Thad looked incredibly uncomfortable. “It's not good. He walked off the cliff. He was talking to someone, and he literally just stepped off the edge, into thin air.”

“Nil made him do it,” Lana said with finality. “It's the only thing that makes sense. I think he saw something, but whatever he saw wasn't real.”

Like Talla in the gate, leading us here.

Nil's head games had turned deadlier than ever.

Lana rubbed her arms; I realized she was shivering. The breeze blew cool against our damp skin. Daylight was fading fast.

This world tasted stale, the air bitter on my tongue.

Skye.

I jumped to my feet, feeling the pressure of dwindling time, like I was trapped at the bottom of an hourglass and all the grains of sand were pouring down on me, weighty and suffocating.

“We need to go.” I quickly slid an arm under Zane's shoulder as I spoke. “Zane, Thad and I will support you, but we have to hurry. We only have a little bit of daylight left. We should light a torch just to be safe. It'll be dark fast.”

“I don't think we'll need a torch,” Lana said. She pointed east. “The island's already burning.”

 

CHAPTER

74

NIL

TWILIGHT

The island watched the various humans scurry around, their laughable plan underway.

Run
, the island thought.
Light your fires. Make your stand.

The island would revel in watching the humans burn.

Burning brought the cruelest pain of all. The island recoiled at the memory, then roared at remembered pain, seething with hate and bloodlust and a thirst for vengeance that would never be slaked.

But tonight would be a start.

Tonight, the humans would burn as one, their group death incredibly useful, providing the long-awaited surge of electria powerful enough to shatter the seam forever. The island would no longer be tethered to this shell. It would be free.

And then it would unleash chaos on a new level, in a new world, in their world.

Yes
, the island thought, trembling with anticipation as the humans crafted their own pyre.
Fuel your fires. We will burn together. But you will be the ones to die.

 

CHAPTER

75

SKYE

AUTUMNAL EQUINOX, FADING TWILIGHT

The island rocked beneath my feet. I felt shaky and weirdly disoriented. Beside me, Calvin stared at the fire.

Fear washed over me like an icy breeze. It woke me up, like a slap to my cheek.

How long had we been standing there?

The sun was a blood-red ball grazing the water, and we still had to put all the torches in place and set the fuse.
It couldn't have been long
, I told myself.

But we'd had no time to lose.
How could this happen?

Starting to shake, I grabbed Calvin's arm and shook him too. “Calvin! We need to go!”

He blinked, understanding hitting with the setting sun. Together we scrambled down the cliff, our feet touching the sandy rock at the base just as Molly popped into sight around the corner.

“Skye!” Molly's cry burst with relief.

“Where's Davey?” I asked.

“With Dominic. They're coming, with Paulo and Kenji.”

“Anyone else?”

Molly shook her head.

“We heard the danger blasts and the SOS. Who's in trouble?” Fear swelled in my heart; I fought it even as I stared at Molly, dreading her words.

“You.” Molly's eyes were sad. “And Hafthor. He's gone, isn't he?”

I nodded.

Molly squeezed her eyes shut, breathing shallowly. “I tried to warn you, but—” She broke off, shaking her head. “I tried.” Tears leaked from her eyes. I wanted to comfort her, but I couldn't. I couldn't hug her, or comfort her, or tell her it was okay, because right now, this entire place was definitely not okay, and the pain pumping through my heart would give her a nasty vision of the future—or at least an extraordinarily painful one.

Mine.

I pictured myself walking into death's arms, torch in hand, taking Nil with me. Molly didn't need to see it too. At least I saw myself winning. That visual gave me strength. It gave me the courage to give up what I wanted most: a future with Rives.

But life wasn't always fair, or easy.

Or long
, I thought.

And deep down, I secretly couldn't wait to give up the pain of this world. It was too much.

Molly coughed, and her eyes flew open as she sniffed. “Is that smoke?”

“Yes.” I focused, because I had to; I fought to think around my pain and fatigue. “We need to lay the fuse and set as many torches as we can. We can't wait.”

“About that.” Molly turned red. “We lost quite a few when the earthquake hit.”

“How many?” Calvin asked.

“All but two,” she said, cringing. “But Paulo and Kenji have a good dozen.” She turned. “Here they come.”

A few seconds later the boys came into sight and we got to work as the last rays of sunlight faded. The wind picked up as darkness fell; it spat sand into my face and grabbed hold of my hair and whipped it around like an invisible bully.

Calvin and Paulo set the fuse line, with Paulo gently feeding it inside the cave. We backtracked, unwinding the line and setting torches to guide Calvin later, but we didn't light them, not yet. We worked quickly, but when we climbed back up, I was shocked at how much the fire had grown.

Flames of orange and yellow tipped with red leaped into the black Nil sky, snarling and hot. Invisible bursts of heat punched us like fists; the entire meadow raged with fire, cracking and roiling and feeding off the wind. Dry grasses, new grasses—all burned with a vengeance.

Rives and Thad's team were still missing, lost in the dark.
To
the dark.

I spun toward Molly. “Can you see them? Rives and Thad?” My voice was pleading, like my heart. “Please tell me they're not trapped in the fire.”

Molly's brows pinched together. “I can't see them; all I see is darkness. Which means nothing. This gift is so useless!” she groaned, grabbing her head.

The wind picked up. It howled, streaking past as loud as a scream. Behind us the water crashed and roared with a frightening intensity, the waves churned by the wind and fueled by the crescent moon.

“I hear her again!” Kenji yelled. “I'm going back.”

“Back?” I snapped my head toward him.

“I'll come with you!” Paulo shouted.

“No!” Molly cried. “It's no one!”

“We have to be sure!” Paulo was already moving. “If there's even a chance, we have to save her! Be right back!”

“Who are they talking about?” I asked Molly as Kenji and Paulo dashed back down to the rocky beach. I moved slightly north, trying to see where the boys were headed.

“A girl. Kenji heard her all day.” Walking beside me, Molly watched the darkness where Kenji and Paulo had vanished. “It's why we were so late. She's behind us. Kenji says she sounds scared. But each time we backtrack, we can't find her, and I've never seen her, not even a glimpse.” Molly turned back to the sea, to the dark open water. “I don't think she's real. I think Hafthor was right about his hidden people, at least about something here that we can't see—that
I
can't see—something that likes to play games.” She didn't move. “It's the island, isn't it?” she said quietly. “It's toying with all of us.”

Like prey, snared in its island web.
I thought back to the day we'd arrived, when Nil had shown each of us a different face in the gate. And in that moment I knew we'd underestimated Nil. The island toyed with each of us, pulling from the past to steal our future, messing with our minds with a power we couldn't fathom.

“Yes,” I said. “But not for long.”

It ends tonight
, I thought, my resolve mixing with relief and anger.
By my hand.

Molly nodded at me, her eyes bright with tears, her smile sad. Then she coughed. The meadow's heat pressing thickly against our faces, like the smoke. She peered at the cliff's edge.

“It's taking the boys too long,” she murmured, worried.

Everything
was taking too long; time was slipping away, and taking our careful plan with it. The noise, the heat, the darkness and flames—the platform felt so far away, our plan crumbling like ashes in the dark.

Where are all the teams?

Where is Rives?
my heart cried.

My name was a dying shout on the wind.

“Did you hear that?” I asked Molly, hope flaring. I leaned closer to the heat. “Someone called my name.”
Maybe
I'm
hearing things now
, my rational side informed me snidely.

Then I heard it again.

“There it is!” I spun toward Molly. “Did you hear that?”

She shook her head sadly.

Dominic stepped up beside me. “I heard it. Your name.” He smiled. “I do not think we both are imagining that voice.”

“Stay here,” I said. “I'm going to go to the platform and see if anyone's there.”

Molly grabbed my arm, her eyes wide as she jerked back. “No!”

“Why?”

“Oh no,” she whispered. She wrapped her arms around her chest, her hands in fists, breathing rapidly, looking between the mountain and the meadow and somewhere I couldn't see.

“Bloody hell,” Davey said from behind me. One hand rested on Molly's back, steadying them both. “Do you see that?” He pointed to the middle of the field, where flames spun in a surreal circle.

“A twister. We're about to have a bloody firenado!”

“Run,” Molly whispered.

Leaving the cliff's edge, we sprinted across the meadow's south border. The wind whipped mercilessly, screaming and churning; a funnel cloud of fire rose into the night, twisting and clawing as if spawned by hell itself. Fire raged; a rhino cut our way. Dominic shifted cleanly out of its path, and one second later, the wind snatched Dominic off his feet. He flew up into the sky and disappeared.

“Dominic!” I screamed.

The wind howled; the air burned. My skin felt as though it were melting.

“Get to the platform!” Molly yelled. “Go!”

Up the steps we raced, curving around the mountain until we piled onto the black rock. Cooler night air, dark rock. Smoke dulled the crispness of the sky. I could still see the crescent moon winking at me.

The abrupt change was surreal.

Cocooned in stillness and peace, the platform stood in stark contrast to the devastation below.

Hafthor, gone. Dominic, gone.

Rives, missing. Like Thad and Paulo.

My head and heart couldn't accept the terrible reality unfolding in the Nil dark.

Molly stood stone still in shock, Davey's arm wrapped around her shoulder. Soot coated her face, her eyes bright and blinking, against the smoke or visions, I didn't know. I didn't ask.

It was a nightmare.