CHAPTER 21
RAYA
Akari and Ezzo were never going to mix; I should have realized that the second I forced them together. That Akari wouldn’t allow me to keep working with a Hue, and that Ezzo wouldn’t stand idly by while the two of us discussed his fate, that he’d find a way to escape this room and the Council’s clutches. Again. He has, after all, spent his entire life ducking Shades.
Good for him.A small part of me is glad he’s gone. Because despite what he is, and the pain his Gold put me through—the pain helethis Gold put me through—it feels as though he’s earned the right to see another day. And no, I never thought I’d say that, but I also never thought a Hue would risk his life for a Shade. Ezzo didn’t have to stop me getting caught in the Meridian’s cellar. He didn’t have to help me save Akari. And he sure as hell didn’t have to stick around while she regained her strength.
But he did.
He kept his promise.
Which is making it damn near impossible to root for his death.
There’s a difference between not rooting for his death and hoping he’ll get away. The guilt coils inside me like a snake. I shouldn’t be swayed to a Hue’s side so godsdamned easily. I shouldn’t be worried about where he’s going, or what he’s doing, or who he’s doing it with. And I should definitely not be so affected by the look I saw on his face.
He was surprised when I told Akari we shouldn’t hand him in.
Pleasantly surprised, I’d venture, until I went and ruined it by implying I only cared about his gift.
After that, his expression didn’t fill with ice or anger the way it should have, it filled with something far, far more gutting: disappointment, like I had just lived up to all of his worst expectations, like he had finally caught a glimpse of the true me.
And he didn’t like her.
I doubt I’ll ever forget the sheer weight of that realization. So if the future still thinks we’re destined to fall in love, well . . . it might want to get its fated paths checked.
Or maybe it should go reveal itself to a better Indigo. I never was much good at interpreting my visions, and this one seems to be going the same way as all the rest. So maybe I didn’t actually see what I thought I saw. Maybe I inferred the wrong meaning from the future’s abstract offering, or misinterpreted the haze of feelings, colors, and tastes. Or hells, maybe it was all an elaborate trick, a red herring designed to coax me into showing Ezzo some grace, so that he could help me learn about the Divine Meridian—or perhaps so that I would help him. I honestly don’t know what to believe anymore. The only thing I know for sure is that Ezzo’s gone and that has to be for the best. For everyone.
“I told you he couldn’t be trusted.” Akari tosses the spent charms onto the bed. “Do you see that now, Raya? Do you see what he is?”
“Forget about him, Kiri—he can be the trackers’ problem,” I say. They’re more equipped to deal with his kind than we are anyway, and I want Ezzo to stop cannibalizing all the space in my head.“Let’s just focus on the Meridian, okay? If we can find out what he meant by he’s avoidor why he’s phasing typics into the Gray, then that should buy us plenty of favor with the guilds.”
“You’re right, we should forget the half breed.” Akari nods, dropping down to his vacant chair. “As for the Meridian, well . . . could you ask the future where we should start looking? Or is that completely off the table now that you’re, you know—?” She doesn’t use the term fate-touched but I can see it written into every line of her face. I can see her hurt there, too, feel it in the way she can’t seem to hold my eye without quickly glancing away, in how tightly her shoulders arewound and the way her voice has filed to a blunt edge. She’s grateful for the rescue, yes, but that doesn’t mean I’m off the hook for going behind her back to break Saleen’s spell. Which is why—even though I fear it’s futile—I reach for the power in my blood and say, “I can try.” Regardless of the fact that Ezzo has been at the heart of every vision the future has granted me all day.
Where will we learn more about the Divine Meridian?
Since I don’t truly believe it’ll answer, I’m completely unprepared for the sudden assault of sights, sounds, and pain, for the fates to awaken a memory so ugly and vivid it sends me crashing to my knees. And while it isn’t me Chase is draining in the vision, I still remember the way it felt to have his magic rip the color out through my skin. It’s the kind of torture I wouldn’t wish on anyone. Not even a selfish viper like Saleen.
“Ray? Raya?Ray!”
By the time Akari snaps me out of the vision, I’m shaking—or rather, she’s shaking me back to the present, her hurt entirely replaced by panic, the worry in her expression cut deep.
“By my colors, Ray, what happened? Are you okay? Was that a vision?”
“Yeah, I—” A violent one. And not the kind of future she’ll want to hear. “Akari, did you—you didn’t tell Saleen we were leaving the castle, did you?”
“What?No. Of course I didn’t tell Saleen.” She reels back as though offended. “When would I have even had time? You were with me from the moment we decided to leave.”
While that’s technically true, I did spend a few minutes arguing with Killen, and scrys do exist—so does shimmering.
“I’m not asking because I’m mad, Kiri—it’s just, if you didn’t tell her, then can you think of any reason why she might have done the same thing?”
“Gone after the half breeds? No. Never. You know how she feels about tracking.” Akari’s words turn bitter, since that was the cause of most of their fights before they split, the way Saleen kept shaming her for wanting to pursue a job that made sense to everyone except Saleen.
“Then might she have come looking for you, do you think?” I ask, gentle as I can manage. “If she noticed you missing?”
“What are you getting at, Raya?” Though not gentle enough, it seems. “What does Saleen have to do with your vision? What the hells did you see?”
“I saw her,” I say, trying to keep my voice level. “And she’s in trouble, Kiri. I think she’s been caught by the Hues. Their Gold, he—I saw her getting drained.”
