“Tell me, what will you do when the well you draw from fills with poison?” the Meridian asks, appraising me the way one would a bug. “How will you survive when the power you’ve been leeching disappears from the Gray?”
Up close, he’s even more intimidating than he looked from afar. Piercing blue eyes—devoid of the tells of magic; stern, hooded features; a smile that could rot meat. His ashy hair hangs down past his ears in a messy tangle, the waves falling like spent matches against the chalky white of his skin, pale as a deadly cliff. And yet, every part of him exudes charisma. He makes mewantto watch him, even in the silence between threats.
“I don’t know what you’re talking about.” It takes a staggering amount of effort to form the words. “You’re the one leeching power.” He’s quite literally strapping Shades to a table and bleeding the color from their veins.
“I am setting the shadows free!” he roars, the rage twisting his expression into a livid mask. “I’m the only one who can live in harmony with the darkness, the last remaining void among a rainbow of thieves.” His assertion doesn’t make a lick of sense, though I don’t expect that he’ll explain it, nor do I intend to stick around and ask. Whatever his beliefs, we’re never going to agree on his actions, and there’s no point trying to reason with a madness this pronounced. What I need to do is figure a way out of here, before he grows tired of lecturing his prey.
Phase, Raya. You need to phase.In the Gray, the Meridian is a dangerous anomaly, but in the real world, he’s just a man. There are no shadows for him to manipulate there, no darkness to do his bidding or magic to inflame his ire.
Come on, come on, come on.With his power deadening my color, blinking between worlds becomes as grueling as running through a wall of brick—yet I’m sure I can do it. When I commune with thefuture, I have to engage my magic, whereas phasing is more akin to a fluid changing of states. It’s not casting, it’s thinking your body across realms, either towards the pull of shadows or against it. And right now, every ounce of strength I have is begging the shadows to let me go.
Let me go, let me go, let me go.The pressure surrounding me increases, the weight of smoke and ink crushing the marrow from my bones.Please, you have to let me go.When finally they do, it feels as though my flesh is ripping, like the strain of victory might rear up and shatter me whole.
But it doesn’t.
I return to the real world with a growl and a crisp rending of air, to a nausea so intense it doubles me over.
Damn it, Raya, you don’t have time for this. Run. Now.I force my feet to start moving, to find the nearest shelter, the nearest alley, the nearest crowd, any place that could hide me should the Meridian choose to chase me across realms. It’s only once I’m several streets removed, breathless and drenched in sweat, that I begin to suspect he didn’t bother.
Clearly, he’s decided that one lone Shade is unlikely to upset his plans.
And to be perfectly honest, I can’t say I blame him.
Because what I watched him do was so impossible—so contrary to color theory—that I wouldn’t believe my story, either. Without proof, all the Council will see is a desperate Indigo trying to save face with a lie.
Akari’s your proof.The thought jolts me back to attention. What if Ezzo hasn’t freed her from the cellar yet? What if Alara got the better of him? What if by the time we pulled our plan together, Akari was already dead?What if, what if, what if. . . my mind is suddenly awash with dread.
It was my fault that she was there to begin with.
My poor decision that kick-started this chain of events.
If she dies, it’ll be because I was so busy thinking about myself—about my future, my problems, my broken magic—that I sent heroff to sell her skillsalonein some sleazy tavern, just so I could get the answers I wanted without her learning of my mistake. And I did that despite knowing full well how dangerous Sarotuza has become for Shades, that she wouldn’t be safe out there on her own.
Show me where I’ll find her.
It takes all of my courage to ask the future that question. So long as she’s still with Ezzo, I’m confident it’ll answer, butwhatit might show me is another question altogether, a whole different testing of fate. Though as it turns out, my fears have been concentrated in the entirely wrong place, on Akari’s death instead of Ezzo’s.
Oh, crap.The vision that greets me is almost too predictable. A relief, yes, but also a disaster I should have seen coming from several hundred miles away.
Crap, crap, crap.I immediately start running towards the inn the future is flashing in my head. Saving Akari from the Divine Meridian was one thing, now I have to go save Ezzo from the wrath of my best friend.
CHAPTER 19
EZZO
In hindsight, the mistake I made was trusting a Shade.
Again.
With Akari weak from the blood loss and barely able to stand, we didn’t stray far from the laundry hall—or from the plan I’d made with Raya.Just go to the nearest inn. That way,if the future won’t show me where you are, I’ll know where to look, she’d said, right before we phased back into the cellar.
So that’s exactly what I did.
I led us to the inn at the top of the street, a middling but clean establishment where I traded one of Alara’s charms for a room and a couple of hot meals—both of which I gave Akari. Hells, I even offered to play lookout if she wanted to phase into the shadows and regain her strength.
Which she did.
Much faster than I expected.
