Nil Unlocked (21 page)

Johan sucked in his breath and crossed himself, then looked at Rives, who was staring at me with an unreadable expression. I had the weirdest sense that he was trying to read me.

“This place. The balance—” Johan broke off, shaking his head. He muttered a few words in a foreign language I didn’t recognize, but Rives raised his brows. Johan crossed himself again. “It is not in our favor. Tell me, Rives, what island takes another from the same family, when one was already lost, found, and lost again?”

Rives held up one hand, his light eyes warm. “Hold up, Johan. We’ve talked about this. Nil’s a cluster, no doubt. A parallel-dimension nightmare twenty-four/seven. But the gates aren’t picky; they’re random. The island doesn’t choose people.”

“Doesn’t it?” Johan’s soft tone gave me chills. Then he turned to me, his blue eyes dark with worry. Or maybe fear.

“Be careful, Skye,” he said, his voice still scary soft. “Be afraid. The island brought you here for a reason. Perhaps to keep you, perhaps not. Perhaps because of your uncle—because of something he did or didn’t do. This place has a long memory, I fear. Do not let your guard down.”

Perhaps to keep you.

A chill crept down my spine, and it had nothing to do with the cool spray blowing off the Cove falls.

“There are no coincidences on Nil,” Johan murmured.

I shivered again.

“Okay, now that Johan has completely freaked out Skye,” Jillian said, squeezing my hand, “I’m going to take her back to the City, give her the tour, and get her some clothes.” She turned to me, her worried expression empty of all traces of suspicion, and she smiled. “No island cashmere, but at least I’ve got something that won’t wilt. Sound okay?”

“Sounds great.”

But as we walked away, I couldn’t help looking over my shoulder.

Behind me, Johan was deep in conversation with Rives, and Rives’s fierce expression looked as troubled as Johan’s had moments before. As if he sensed me staring, Rives looked up and our eyes caught. I looked away first. I didn’t want to draw Johan’s gaze to me.

The island brought you here for a reason,
Johan had said.

You’re wrong,
I thought.

I
followed the boy;
I
jumped into that gate.

The island didn’t choose me. I chose the island.

But I was still afraid.

CHAPTER

29

RIVES

DAY 279, AFTER NOON

Johan sighed, his eyes on Skye’s back.

“I didn’t mean to frighten her,” he admitted, “but I think in Skye’s case a little fear would serve her well. Maybe even keep her alive.” His voice dropped to a whisper. “Rives, three nights ago, I felt the island. I felt it
here.
” Johan covered his heart with his palm. “I’ve sensed the island before, but not like that. Never like that. I woke in a cold sweat to a living night, to a sense of anticipation. The intensity—” He paused, running one hand through his hair. “It peaked in the dead of night.”

“I felt it, too.”
And Skye arrived at midnight, through a stationary gate. A kind of gate I’ve never seen.

Johan nodded, then pulled on his hair, hard. A clear tell—of worry and fear. Johan was an easy read.

“Afterward, I couldn’t sleep.” His voice was soft. “And all I could think was that something had shifted again. That the island no longer slept. I feel like the island is building toward something, Rives. Something big. Something not in our favor.” He looked at me, his eyes tortured. “Strange shifts, midnight gates. The island’s power has never been greater.”

Neither has ours.

I took a deep breath. “I need to ask you about someone, a girl who was here before my time. Her name was Ramia.”

“Ramia?” Johan’s entire body went stiff.

“Yes. Did you know her?”

“I knew her.” Johan’s guarded tone was flat.

“Did she have any tattoos?”

“One. Here.” He touched his biceps.

“What was it?”

Frowning, Johan pinched the bridge of his nose. A moment passed. “I can’t remember.”

“Was it all black?”

“Yes. That I remember.”

“And she wore a bone cuff bracelet, right?”

“Yes. We buried it. Me, Thad, and Sy.” Johan crossed himself. “Why do you ask?”

“Because the skeleton in that tunnel has a bone cuff, too.” I pointed at the Cove. “So unless it crept from the grave, it belonged to someone else.” I paused. “Johan, I need you to tell me what you knew about Ramia. What you remember. Anything.”

Pivoting away, Johan tugged his hair with both hands, then walked in a small circle with both hands on his head. “Ramia is one person I cannot forget, try as I might.”

“Why?”

“If you’d met her you wouldn’t need to ask.” Johan’s grin was wry, then it abruptly disappeared. “Ramia had a strangeness about her. And when she spoke, it was as if she looked into your soul. It was disturbing.” Johan looked at the Cove. “I met her here, by the pool’s edge. I introduced myself, and when I reached out to shake her hand, she grabbed it, holding my hand tight in both of hers.
Strong
, she whispered.
Devoted. Defiant. Oh, the island will keep you as long as it can.
Then she murmured,
You will be here almost as long as me
.”

Johan blinked slowly. “I’ve replayed that conversation a hundred times, wondering what that last line meant. Wondering whether it meant anything at all.” Johan swallowed, looking sick. “I buried her, Rives. And her bracelet. And I’m still right here, with twelve days left.”

Guilt ripped me in two.

I’m the reason Johan is still here. Not Nil.

Me.

Because I asked for him to stay. It didn’t matter that the request was silent, that no one heard it but me.
I
knew. And somehow so did the island. Because this was Nil, where nothing escaped the island’s notice, and nothing
escaped
—unless the island agreed.

Then I had a fresh thought and smiled.

If I made Johan stay, then Maaka’s still here, too.

This thought didn’t bring guilt; it brought a sense of power.
Dig in my head, Nil,
I thought grimly.
I dare you.
From now on I’d guard my thoughts like I guarded my life.
You will only hear what I choose.

Johan gripped my shoulder.

I startled, wondering if he’d sensed my thoughts—or my guilt.

“There’s something else. Something Ramia told me after the first funeral I attended here. We’d just buried Kelley. I sat by her grave, wondering how evil this place must be if it takes the life of an innocent girl. Kelley was only fourteen.”

Sometimes I forgot how long Johan had been here. I’d never met Kelley either.

“Ramia and I were the only ones left,” Johan continued. “She dropped to her knees, picked up a handful of dirt, and clenched it in her fist.
Blood runs through this ground
, she told me quietly.
Old blood, fresh blood.
Then she placed both of her palms flat on the ground and closed her eyes.
Feel it, Johan. The heartbeat of the island. It beats in time with our own,
she’d said. Eyes still closed, she’d smiled.
You don’t feel it yet. But you will. Remember my words
.”

Johan crossed his arms. “At the time, I thought she was crazy. I’m not sure what I think now.” Abruptly, his tone turned fierce. “I want to see it.”

“What?”

“The bone cuff.”

Surprised, I nodded. “Not a problem.”

Johan followed me, his jaw as hard as the tunnel walls. He crossed himself repeatedly as he entered.

My torch pile sat intact. Three were left. I lit one, then led Johan directly to the skeleton.

He bent, and, torch in hand, he inspected the cuff. I noticed he kept a healthy distance from the skeleton. “It is like Ramia’s and yet it is not,” Johan said finally. “Something is dark. Strange. The feeling of loss hangs heavy here, but I also sense something else. Hope, maybe? Peace? Choice? I don’t know. But the darkness—it goes beyond these walls.” He stood, then stilled, staring at the carving above the skeleton, the one of the sun with the eye at the center.

“What is it?” I finally asked.

“That”—he pointed at the carving—“was Ramia’s tattoo.”

Now I stared at the carving.

What do you see?
Maaka’s question.

I see connections. Bits. Pieces. Part of a whole.

I’ll figure it out,
I vowed. And I didn’t care if Nil heard.

“Follow me,” I said, turning away. “I want to show you something.”

Johan didn’t move.

“Seriously, I think you should see this. Trust me.”

Taking the torch back, I led a very hesitant Johan to the Looking Glass cavern. Johan exited first. I stuck the torch in a tunnel crag, just before the entrance to the cavern. Partially because of Maaka’s warning, but also because I felt the sacredness of this place, a feeling that grew with each visit. I didn’t want to piss off the island any more than I had to. I would pick my battles, pressing when needed. This was not the time nor the place to press.

Johan stood on the narrow ledge, arms crossed, legs braced a foot apart as he looked over the carvings. A good five minutes passed before I spoke.

“So what do you think?” I asked.

“This place is old, Rives. It belongs to another time.” He turned to me, his expression as troubled as I’d ever seen. “I want to go.” His whisper was so faint I fought to hear it. “This place is light and full of power, but the power is not ours. It’s the island’s, and yet it is not. Being here feels wrong. I don’t belong here.”

“But you belong on the island?”

“No. But now that I’m here, on Nil, I have a choice. And I choose not to spend another minute in the belly of the beast.”

“Fair enough.” I grinned. “Quick question. Do you want to take the shortcut or backtrack?”

Johan didn’t hesitate. “Backtrack. For me, one way in, one way out.”

Like the labyrinths
, I thought.
But the number twelve on the labyrinths doesn’t always mean noon. We just assumed it did.

What else have we assumed?

Fury flared, then exploded into hope. Suddenly I couldn’t wait to get back to Skye, to talk about the journal, her uncle, and the midnight gate. Finally Nil had chosen someone who came ready to fight, locked and loaded with inside knowledge. Or maybe Skye hijacked the gate without Nil’s consent, surprising the island after all. Old blood, new blood; Skye offered the best of both. But not to the island—to
us
. I refused to let her blood run through Nil’s ground.

Nil had taken enough.

I had eighty-six days left to figure Nil out, to save everyone in the City, and myself.

Totally doable.

I actually laughed out loud.

CHAPTER

30

SKYE

DAY 3, LATE AFTERNOON

Jillian filled me in on the City as we walked. Sticking with my new plan, I listened intently and said little.

“Dex is from the UK, obviously. Isn’t his accent the best? He’s a drummer back home. And from what I’ve heard here, he’s really good.” She grinned, maybe even blushed. I couldn’t tell because her cheeks were already pink from the sun. “Ahmad’s from the Sudan but lives in the US—Minnesota, I think. Jason and Zane are American, like us. Jason’s from Omaha; Zane’s from San Diego. Johan’s Dutch. Uri’s Israeli. Julio’s from Mexico.” She counted off her fingers as she spoke.

“Macy’s American, too. I’m pretty sure she’s from Alabama. You’ll meet her soon, and you’ll love her. Brittney’s new, same for Kiera. Alexei and Nikolai are rookies too. Alexei speaks some English. It’s not great, but it’s more than Nikolai, who doesn’t speak English at all, just Russian. Raj is from India; same for Pari. Leila’s from the Philippines.” Jillian paused. “Michael’s Korean, he’s been here as long as Pari. Cho’s new. I think that’s it.”

“What about you? Where are you from?”

“Maine. You?”

I paused, thinking.

“It’s not a trick question,” Jillian said. The edge in her voice was back.

“I know. It’s just that I was going to say Gainesville, Florida, where I live with my mom, but a few months ago she went to Africa for a dig—she’s a professor—and I moved in with my dad. He lives in New Hampshire. I’ve got enough credits to graduate high school already, so I’m not in school; I’m just doing some courses online for my last year. So New Hampshire doesn’t feel like home even though I live there.”

“Wow. That would suck to move in your senior year.”

“It wasn’t great,” I admitted. “I wanted to stay in Gainesville with one of my friends, but my dad said no.”
Did I take that gate to spite him?
The thought dropped without warning, forcing me to consider it. I didn’t think so, but now that I thought about it, I’d been furious and hurt when he wouldn’t let me stay in Gainesville. I’d been mad at Mom too, because she didn’t fight for me. I’d been left to fight for myself, like now.

Hopefully here I’d do a better job.

I’d better,
I realized. The stakes were too high not to.

“What about Rives?” I asked, steering the conversation away from me. “What’s his story?”

Jillian’s face closed up, a total withdrawal. “Rives holds the City together,” she said quietly. “He’s an amazing Leader.”

“I meant, where is he from?”

Jillian relaxed. “Rives is kind of international. I think he lives most of the time in France, or maybe Hawaii. He travels with his parents a lot. I mean, he did. Until—” Jillian broke off, waving her arm at the obvious, her smile warm and real.

“Right.” I nodded.

“C’mon, let me give you the not-so-grand tour,” she said, dropping the subject of Rives like hot lava. Her silence felt protective of Rives.

Rives, a boy I didn’t know at all, and ironically, he was the person I’d spent the most time with on
this
Nil. Other than Paulo.