And the moment she shed the effects of the iron, her patience for sharing space with a half breed dropped from “barely there” to “no longer exists”.
Where’s Raya?When she first barked that question at me, I told her the same thing I did in the cellar: Raya’s job was to distract the Meridian and she’ll double back to find us the second she gives him the slip. But as the minutes ticked by, that answer stopped placating Akari’s anger and her questions began to grow teeth.
Why is it taking so long?
When will she get here?
What if the future’s refusing to show her the inn?
That’s when—in my exasperation—I made my second mistake of the day: I told her the future seems plenty happy to send Raya visions when they somehow involve me.
It was the wrong thing to say.
And it’s the reason I find myself pinned to the wall by an angry flash of Orange magic, an invisible noose tightening around my neck.
“Akari—stop, I—I told you where she is.” My protest is a feeble gasping of air, stifled by color and cut through with fear. Of all the ways I could have died during this rescue, this is by far the dumbest, but it’s also the most likely to succeed. Because there is no fighting Akari’s power; if I can’t talk her out of strangling me, death is where this tantrum leads.
“Stop lying to me! If that was true, she’d already be here!”
Black spots start dancing at the edge of my vision, my lungs screaming—no, begging—for reprieve.
“Did you hurt her, huh? Is she dead?” Akari only intensifies her grip. “Damn it, half breed, tell me what you did!”
“I didn’t—I’m—she’s not—”
“Kiri—no!” The door suddenly bursts open, a very alive Raya barreling her way in. “Let him go!”
Yes, please, let me go.I never thought I’d be happy to see a Shade, nor that the relief I’d feel at seeing her would extend beyond her ability to save my skin.
“No. Not until he stops lying about what he—” Akari trails off abruptly, her mind slowly catching up to who she’s seeing. “Oh my Gods, Ray!” In an instant, she’s crossed the room to pull Raya into a tight hug, though her hold on the magic doesn’t give an inch. “I thought he killed you.”
“No such luck, I’m afraid,” Raya says. “But you do have to stop killing him.”
“Why? He’s a Hue. Isn’t this what we—?”
“It’s a long story.” Raya’s quick to cut her off. “Just please, let him go.”
“Fine.”
As the noose finally slackens, I gasp and fall to my knees.
“But I suggest you talk fast.”
*
“Of all the stupid, reckless, self-destructive things you could do.” Akari paces her anger up and down the tiny room, though—thankfully—it’s no longer directed solely at me. “You promised me you wouldn’t do this, Ray. You promised me you wouldn’t ask an open question.”
“I know, Kiri, I—”
“No, uh-uh, you don’t get to Kiri me right now. How the hells did you even manage it?” Her hands rake bruising tracks through her hair from scalp to tip. “Saleen’s spell should have stopped you doing anything that irresponsible for days.”
“Killen.” Raya’s reply is another unfamiliar name. “I asked him to accelerate off the compulsion.”
“I’m sorry—Killen?” At that, Akari only grows more irate. “Your ex-boyfriend who hates you, Killen? That’s who you chose to tell?”
From what I can gather, it sounds as though Akari went to great lengths to stop Raya from risking her magic, only for Raya to go to even greater lengths to do it anyway, and that between them, they managed to involve half the school.
“No, I didn’ttellKillen, exactly.” Raya’s eyes stay glued to her feet. “He sort of just . . . guessed when he caught me looking up fate-touched magic in the archives the next day.”
