The Shattered Dark (30 page)

Aren turns back to me, holds out his hand. His chaos lusters leap to my skin when
I take it. It’s as if they know I’m struggling with a decision, and they’re going
to make it as difficult as possible for me to be clearheaded about it.

Aren pulls me gently toward him. “You told me you wanted time. I’ve given it to you,
and I’ll give you as long as you need, McKenzie. I love you.” He tucks a lock of my
hair behind my ear. “You’re worth waiting a decade for.”

He places the softest of kisses on my lips, then takes me into the In-Between.

W
HEN WE STEP
into Corrist, Aren changes. He’s back to his usual, lackadaisical self. It’s like
our conversation never happened. His movements are relaxed, languid even, and, as
we pass through the silver wall, he teases me about my tendency to get hurt—which
I promptly point out is so not my fault. Fae keep trying to kill me, and I wasn’t
born with a sword in my hand like he and everyone else in the Realm practically were.

His voice is still light when we step out of an alley and the Silver Palace comes
into view.

“You’ve been to the
Sidhe Cabred
,” he says.

“Yeah,” I answer, even though he wasn’t asking a question. When we were back in Germany,
he found the anchor-stone that proved I’d been fissured to the Ancestors’ Garden via
a
Sidhe Tol
. “It was three years ago.”

“Lena’s thinking about allowing anyone to enter it,” he says. “The high nobles are
against the idea.”

Of course they are.

“They love their privileges,” I say.

Aren nods. “It’s beautiful?”

I shift my focus from the palace’s silver-rimmed turrets to him. “You haven’t seen
it yet?”

“I’ve been busy.”

True. That’s why we’ve only seen each other a handful of times since Atroth died.

“It’s beautiful,” I tell him, remembering the vibrant green leaves edged in pinks
and purples. “Even at night, the flowers are brighter and more alive than any I’ve
seen in my world, and they’re lit with magic. Their petals are soft. Their scent lingers
on your skin and…”

I stop. The only reason I know that last part is because Kyol laid me down on a bed
of
laubrin
at the foot of the
Sidhe Cabred
’s waterfall. I thought the flowers would be prickly and uncomfortable; they weren’t.
They were sleek and silky, and Aren doesn’t need to know what Kyol and I almost did
on top of them.

“It’s beautiful,” I say again. Aren’s watching me, his thoughts unreadable in his
silver eyes. He doesn’t look away until we near the base of the palace. He calls out
to the guards watching us through hidden slits in the wall, and the small doorway
beside the big, elaborate gate opens, allowing us entry.

“You should try to get some rest before we fissure to Boulder,” Aren says once we’re
inside.

Lena’s decided to give the vigilantes time to pack up and leave for Cleveland, so
we have a few hours before I need to be ready to go. Sleep isn’t a bad idea, so I
nod and tell him I’ll meet him later.

I head to my room to get as much rest as I can, but when I turn down the corridor
that leads to the second level of the residential wing, I see Paige scrambling across
the floor on her hands and knees.

“Paige?” I say, walking toward her.

She’s heading away from me, but she looks over her shoulder when she hears my voice,
and her eyes grow wide. “It wasn’t me.”

“What wasn’t—” I stop. In front of her, a fae lies unconscious on the floor. I’m not
sure who it is. His face is bloody, and he has at least two bruises swelling up near
his right temple. He didn’t go down on the first hit.

“It was Lee.” Paige rises to her feet. “He’s gone after his brother.”

I curse. More than one fae should have been watching their doors.

I start to move past her—I have to find Naito before Lee does—but she grabs my arm.

“Don’t involve the fae,” she says. “Please. I can talk to him.”

“He’s already involved them.” I jab a finger toward the fae on the ground, who’s beginning
to stir.

She looks down. “I know, but we had a fight, and I said some things…”

“He’s a vigilante,” I say. “Do you know what that is?”

“No.” She meets my eyes. “But he’s not the person he’s trying to be. I swear, McKenzie.”

“Vigilantes hate fae. They hate humans who help fae.” I start down the corridor again—I
don’t have time to stand here and have this conversation. Paige follows.

“Did the remnants not know what he was?” I ask when I reach a staircase. I take the
steps two at a time.

“He’s never acted like he hates the fae,” Paige says, descending behind me. “He just
thinks they’re dangerous and he’s…I can take care of myself, but he’s looked out for
me.”

We reach the bottom of the stairs. They lead out to the arched covered walkway that
surrounds the statue garden. Only a few fae are here right now. I spot a guard and
head toward him.

“I thought you hated Lee,” I say to Paige even though I suspected otherwise.

“I
want
to hate him,” she says. “I met him at Amy’s wedding. He asked to meet you, but you
were with Aren, so we hung out. Hooked up. He’s actually fun when he’s not being an
idiot.”

“You said yourself he was using you to find Naito.”

“And Aren is using you to fight the Court fae,” she counters.

I glare at her, but she has a point. Aren and I started off all wrong. “He’s not using
me anymore.” He loves me—I’m 100 percent certain of that—and he’d do anything for
me.

I veer toward the guard. Paige notices where I’m heading immediately.

“
Please
don’t involve the rebels.”

I stop to look at her. She changed out of her wet clothes. Someone delivered new ones.
The narrow-sleeved white top looks more like a jacket than a shirt. It’s laced up
the middle, and the two tails flow over her hips. The tan skirt is short—I think she
ripped off the lower half—but she’s compensated for that with boots that reach up
to her knees. Everything is fae-made, but somehow, it all looks like something she’d
pull out of her own closet.

This is Paige,
I remind myself. My friend. She’s never asked me for anything, and she’s always been
there for me even though I haven’t always been there for her, but if anything happens
to Naito…

No. I can’t risk it just because she asks.

“I’m sorry,” I say.

There’s a glimmer of hurt in her blue eyes when she releases my arm. It’s gone in
an instant, replaced by a carefully neutral expression.

“I understand,” she lies.

It feels like someone’s stabbed my chest from the inside.
I’m going to lose my only friend,
I realize, and it’s like I’m losing my last connection to my human life. Paige has
always put up with my eccentricities and random disappearances. She’s always made
me feel normal. I guess I finally need to accept that I’m not. I never will be.

“I’m sorry,” I say again, then I start walking toward the guard. It’s possible Lee
passed by here, and the fae didn’t detain him. Under Atroth’s reign, humans were hardly
ever stopped or questioned as long as we stayed in the public areas of the palace.
It was assumed that, unless the fae were told otherwise, we belonged here. I know
Lena is suspicious of Paige and Lee—that’s why she put a guard outside their door—but
I don’t know if she’s issued a general alert to all her people.

I’m only a few steps away from the guard when I see movement in the corner of my vision.
Lee leans against the wall in the covered walkway opposite the one Paige and I stepped
out of. He slides down it, sinking to the ground then propping his arms up on his
bent knees. Blood covers one of his hands.

Please don’t let it be Naito’s blood.

I hear Paige take in a breath. She moves toward him before I do, but I’m at her side
a second later.

“Lee?” Paige says when we reach him.

He doesn’t raise his head. “I couldn’t do it.”

Thank God. The blood on his hand is his own. I can see the cuts and broken skin on
his knuckles.

“I should have been able to do it,” he says.

Paige stares down at him. “Are you serious? You’re talking about
killing
a person. You’re talking about killing your
brother
.”

“I hate my brother.” His words come out more like a question than a statement of fact.
“I’m supposed to hate the fae. They’ve been trying to kill my father for years.”

His father has been trying to kill
them
for years, but I don’t correct Lee.

“I’ve been telling myself Dad just needs closure, that he just needs to kill the fae
who killed my mother, but I’m as delusional as he is. Naito’s right. Dad’s obsessed.
Insane. He has to be to order me to kill my brother. I have to be crazy to consider
it.”

“You’re not crazy,” Paige says. “You’re an idiot. What happened to your hand?”

He finally looks up at her. “A wall hit it.”

She sinks down beside him. “Like I said, you’re an idiot.”

“It was a wooden wall,” he adds, a hint of sarcastic humor invading his tone. “I didn’t
expect it to break.”

She rolls her eyes as she inspects his injured hand. Paige went to nursing school
for something like two weeks before she dropped out, but she’s still into things like
blood and stitches and broken bones. There’s plenty of that here in the Realm.

I lean a shoulder against the wall and look down at them, at the way he watches her
face as she unties the ribbon that’s playing the role of a belt around her waist.
She uses it to dab at the blood on his hand. It’s obvious Lee cares about her.

“Paige mentioned you were looking for me at her sister’s wedding,” I say after they
stand. “You knew about my involvement with the fae. How? And how did you know to look
for me at the reception?”

He raises an eyebrow in Paige’s direction. When she nods, he says, “A fae told my
father your name.”

“In person?” I ask.

“Yeah.”

“Do you know who the fae was?” Aren and Lena think Atroth gave my name to the vigilantes,
knowing that they’d find and kill me, but Kyol has sworn that’s not true. I don’t
know what to believe. Nakano’s people did track my cell phone and attack the place
where the rebels were holding me in Germany, and it’s clear they had no problem with
killing me, but I trust Kyol’s word. He says Atroth wanted me back alive, not dead.

Lee shakes his head. “I never saw the fae. I didn’t inject myself with the serum until
Dad left for Germany. He called when they didn’t capture you. He told me to check
out your place in Houston, so I flew down there.”

The vigilantes were
not
trying to capture me, but I let him continue.

“I broke into your apartment and listened to your answering machine. There were enough
messages from Paige threatening to kick your ass if you didn’t show up at the wedding
that I figured you’d be there if you were able to. I found the invitation, went to
the mansion, asked for Paige, and…”

He fades off, looking to the right. I turn. Lord Hison is there. He’s watching us,
walking slowly—even by human standards slowly—through the sculpture garden. He doesn’t
glance away when he sees me looking in his direction. He doesn’t look any happier
to see Paige and Lee now than he did when he passed us exiting the throne room. He’d
rather this war be fought without human help.

“Let’s go back to our rooms,” I tell the others. I don’t want to talk out in public
like this. Besides, they look as tired as I do, and if I want to be useful in Boulder,
I need at least a couple hours of sleep.

I escort them back to the residential wing. It’s not until we reach the second level
that I remember the fae Lee knocked out. He’s not lying on the ground anymore. A new
guard is here, and when I step into the corridor, his hand goes to the
hilt of his sword. Then Lee and Paige emerge from the staircase after me, and the
fae’s gaze moves to them.

I turn to look at them, too. Paige’s eyebrows are raised. How am I going to explain
away what happened? I think Lee is okay now, and I don’t want the fae to be pissed
at him.

“There was a misunderstanding,” I try, facing the guard again. “Is the other fae okay?”

The guard doesn’t answer for a moment. It’s long enough for me to wonder if he speaks
English. Finally, he nods. “He’s fine. I’m to take over his watch.”

“Is anyone else looking for us?” Paige is whispering to me, but fae have good hearing.
The guard shakes his head.

“I was about to call for a search,” he says.

There’s no need for that now. “They’re going back to their rooms.”

I motion for them to go.

“Paige—” Lee begins.

She takes his hand, looks into his eyes, and says, very deliberately, “You can stay
with me.”

Apparently, Paige has forgiven Lee. Either that or she wants to keep an eye on him.
The guard doesn’t seem to mind them slipping into the same room. Neither do I. Hopefully,
they’ll get a decent night’s sleep.