“What?” both Akari and I say.
“The Divine Meridian—he said something else before I could get away. He said:what will you do when the well you draw from fills with poison? How will you survive when the power you’ve been leeching disappears from the Gray?”
“So . . . what do you think it means?” I ask, trying to make sense of the words. Stealing from the Gray has long since been a charge levied at Hues but never at Shades. The story is always that we take while they balance, that they live in harmony with the shadows while we drain.
“I don’t know, but it has to be related to what he’s doing, right?” Raya worries at her bottom lip. “If he’s bleeding Shades and phasing typics, then he must think that it will somehow . . . stop the leeching? Or protect the shadows, maybe? What do you think?” She aims the question my way. “Is this the same thing you encountered last year?”
“No, that man wanted to expand the Gray into the physical realm, kill every typic.”
“Okay, so then maybe this one wants to do the opposite, kill every Shade.”
“Well, I, for one, am just about done with these hypotheticals.” Akari’s patience finally gives. “I say we do what we should have done an hour ago—hand the half breed over to the Council and focus on what’s important: fixing your magic.”
My entire body tenses, even though I should have seen that declaration coming from a whole continent away. They’re both Shades, after all—and not rogues, either, but Academy bred. The Council’s lies are far too entrenched.
“We can’t hand him in, Kiri.”
Which is why I find myself surprised that Raya objects.
“The future, it . . . it seems to want him here, for some reason. We might still need his gift.”
Less surprised that it’s for an entirely self-serving end, and not because I’ve earned my freedom by saving her ungrateful Orange friend.
She is never going to believe you deserve freedom.For the first time since Eve shattered, I feel my sense of self-preservation kick in. No matter what I do or what I say, Raya is never going to see me as anything other than an illegal half Shade. That’s just who she is, and who I am, and it’s not a reality either of us can change, regardless of what the future wants or how deeply the mystery of the Meridian hasworked its way into my veins. How it kept me here far longer than it should have.
“Forget about his gift, Raya.” Akari continues to talk about me like I’m not standing three feet away. “He’s already dead, don’t you see that?”
I mean, I certainly will be if I don’t hurry up and make my escape—especially with the way she’s casually advocating for my murder. So, while the two of them are lost to their bickering, I do what I should have done in the first place: I fish out a couple of Alara’s charms—an Orange to distract them while I flee the room and a Red that’ll compel them not to give chase—and toss them into their midst.
This ill-advised alliance is officially over.
CHAPTER 20
EZZO
The urge to find a tavern and drink myself into oblivion is almost overwhelming. For a brief second there, I’d felt useful again; I had a trail to follow and a puzzle to distract me from the pain. But now, I don’t really know what to do anymore. On the one hand, I want to keep tugging at this tangled thread, see what answers I can unravel. On the other, I want to leave Sarotuza to the monster it created, let the Divine Meridian continue killing Shades. It’s nothing less than they deserve, and the shadows, well . . . it doesn’t seem fair for their fate to once again fall to me. I’ve already done my part, haven’t I? Given all I had to give?
That’s not how it works, Ez.Eve’s voice wraps my fingers around my scry, the ghost of her patience making the decision for me.Where are they?The cynical part of me says they’re long gone, that when I ran off with a Shade they decided that two saves was enough contrition, they didn’t need to stick around for number three. But down deep, I think I knew that they’d still be here, that my scry would lead me to another abandoned house, where they’d decided to hole up while they waited to see if I would require that third rescue. That whether I want them to or not, they’re trying to make amends.
“We were just starting to get worried.” Cemmy welcomes me back with only the barest amount of grief. “I see you dumped the Shade?”
“Turns out you were right, she was a bad idea.” The moment those words leave my mouth, I sag against the wall, consumed by the crushing weight of the day. Of the last few days, actually. Fromcapture, to court chamber, to cellar. Chase might have healed the injuries to my body, but there’s some damage that no amount of Green magic can fix—like a fundamental break in spirit. Why else would I have been so happy to let the trackers catch me again? Why else would I have risked my freedom for a drink or willingly shackled myself to Raya?
“You look terrible, Ez,” Cemmy says, low and quiet. “When was the last time you ate?”
Honestly? I can’t remember. But the second she says it my stomach growls with a hollow ache.
“Too long ago.”
“Then come on, we’ve got plenty of food to spare.” She leads me into the front room, where she and Chase have turned an old trunk into a makeshift table, laden with a modest spread. A loaf of bread, a heel of cheese, a cup of caramelized nuts and a handful of stale pastries—all things Cemmy can steal without drawing attention, even in the real world, though she tends to do her stealing in the Gray, where no merchant could race after her should her sticky fingers accidentally reveal their bent. A perk of the physicality of her gift.
Speaking of gifts . . .Before I fold down to the dusty floor, I phase into the shadows for a moment and blink into mine, quickly scanning the area for trails.
“All clear?” Cemmy doesn’t so much as blink when I reappear. She’s used to me popping in and out of existence without warning, though there is a tiny hint of a smile playing at her lips.
“For now.” I do my best to ignore it. I didn’t check the coast for them, I did it for me; I’m not ready for another cell yet.
“How’d it go with the Shade?” Chase asks, adding to the table a wrap of butter and some cured meat. “She give you anything useful?”
