“No. That’s not possible.” Akari’s head shakes and shakes and shakes. “The Sapphire only left here a few minutes ago, there’s no way he’s had time to find them and then find her and then overpower a Red.” She forgets, for a moment, that I see the future not the present, and that Ezzo’s gift could have put them straight onto Saleen’s trail. “And didn’t you ask the future about the Divine Meridian, anyway? Why would the vision show you Saleen?”
Because the future seems to be playing by its own rules today, answering questions with whatever vision it deems relevant, even if that relevance isn’t immediately clear. And because, where one of these Hues goes, the other two follow, and I just gave the fates the perfect opportunity to steer my path back to Ezzo, like it’s been doing all fucking day.
“Fate-touched magic is unpredictable, remember?” I sidestep that unhelpful observation. “The important thing is that it’s not been wrong since I asked the open question.” Every one of my visions has come to some manner of fruition, even if there are parts of them that I’m actively refusing to believe.
“Well then . . . shit, did you see where they’ll be?” Akari runs both hands through her hair, hard, as though she can claw the truth away.
“No, but I could probably find them.” I guess the future just wants to hear the right question from me.
“Then please, Ray, I know you don’t like her—hells,Idon’t particularly like her right now—but Saleen’s important.” The fear in Akari’s voice almost breaks me, the idea that she’d think, even for a second, that I wouldn’t help her just because I don’t like Saleen. So as much as I don’t want to give the future the satisfaction, doing it for her means I cast the question quick.
Where will I find him?
When it comes to Ezzo, I don’t have to be specific for the fates to reward me with all the detail I need. And just like that, there’s no more talk of leaving the Hues to the trackers. Now that Akari’s learned Saleen’s in danger, the only thing on her mind is the looming Gold threat, and while, yes, her fear scares me, what scares me more is that, deep down, I’m relieved. Not that Saleen’s in danger, but that we’ve found a reason to go after them—to go afterhim.
I’m relieved because Iwantto go after Ezzo.
And I don’t have the faintest clue what that means.
*
It just means you want to thank him.As we follow the future’s directions, that conviction solidifies in certainty and strength. I want to apologize to him, is all, to not letwe might still need his giftbe the last memory he has of me. I want him to know I’m grateful—that Shades can be grateful. That we’re not all the selfish monsters his kind was conditioned to see.
Around us, the world has smudged to ash and cinder, the shadows wisping to vapor as we shimmer like two Shades on a spree.
“Are you sure we’re going the right way?” The closer we come to the street in my vision, the more uncomfortable Akari seems.
“I’m sure,” I say, though I share her unease. The color district is the last place I’d ever expect to find three Hues—let alone three Hues holding a captive Saleen. And yet, that’s exactly where my vision leads, to a two-story house that clearly belongs to a family of healthy means. Not rich, like my parents, but comfortable. The kind of house where a couple of well-regarded guild members might live. “Why? What’s wrong?”
“Nothing, it’s just . . . this is her house, Ray.” Akari’s words don’t strike me asnothing.
“Who—Saleen’s?” Because as far as coincidences go, this one feels pretty fucking big.
“Yeah.” Akari’s face is as pale as porcelain, her worry beading sweat along her upper lip. “I don’t understand, her parents aren’tdue back from their hunt for another week, so why leave the Academy to come here?”
The better question might be: why would Chase choose to top up his Red in the most Shade-rich part of the city, where they’re more likely to be seen? Has Ezzo’s lack of self-preservation finally spread to all three?
“I don’t know, Kiri, but they’re definitely inside—I can feel it.” And as we scale the porch one careful step at a time, I start to hear it, too, the sounds of a Shade who’s desperately trying to keep her pain locked up within, to not show the Gold draining her an ounce of weakness.
A feat at which she’s slowly failing.
Oh Gods.I’m suddenly back in that abandoned house, chained to a pipe whilemycolor is being stripped, begging Chase to stop, and to show mercy, and to go rot in every one of the nine hells.
Akari has no such memories pinning her in place. The second Saleen betrays a scream, she dispenses with caution, wisping through the door with a frantic call for her ex.
“Sal?” She charges through to the living room at full pelt. Without a plan. Without my help. Without so much as checking to see if she’ll be facing one Hue or a Gold and both his friends. “Saleen! Where are you—? Get away from her, you filthy—”
Time slows to a crawl as Saleen’s surprise meets Akari’s rage. As Akari makes to unleash a violent spell in Chase’s direction and Saleen is forced to raise her own hand in his defense, her yell of “Ari,don’t” ringing not with a plea, but with the command to obey. She compels Akari to cease casting.
What in the—?And everything about the scene is wrong, from how at home Chase looks in this house to the irritation flitting across Saleen’s face. That’s when I realize that she isn’t tied up or being held down, she’s sitting—willingly—on the floor opposite Chase, even though he was very clearly draining her magic; I can tell that much from the pain still wincing her expression and the swiftness with which her spell breaks.
So then, why compel Akari and not him?
The moment she regains the ability, Akari asks a similar question herself. “What the hells is going on, Sal? Why did you—? Why is the half breed here?”
“TheHueis here because I invited him,” Saleen says, her voice drawn with fatigue.
“Youinvitedhim?” Akari’s eyes bug out of their sockets as, with Chase’s help, Saleen climbs to her feet. “Why would you do that? And how can you let him touch you right now? He’s a—he wasstealingyour color!”
